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AIBU?

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Original poster

To have reached the age of 38 without knowing

443 replies

lougle · 08/01/2018 15:57

That pineapples don't grow on trees, but grow in the ground? I'm well educated, went to university (twice), but I had never thought about where my pineapple had come from, and it never occurred to me that the 'chopped' end was on the bottom and not the top!

What didn't you know until recently?

OP posts:
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Booboo66 · 09/01/2018 18:53

I’m 38. I have been driving for 21 years and only found out a couple of months ago that it’s not really illegal to drive with your interior light on. it’s been a myth all along!

Agadoo is definitely responsible for people associating pineapples with trees. I did know they grew on the ground but my brain struggles to retain that fact due to the early childhood conditioning of black lace!

Hyeenas do generally look fed up even though they sound cheerful. I now know why!

manicmij · 09/01/2018 18:54

Why are strawberries not a fruit? Always thought a fruit was classified as "developing following flowering". Hence rasp, blue, black berries. Do pineapples flower?

Original poster
lougle · 09/01/2018 18:59

🥁 Drumroll.... I have a banana update: the banana plant 🌾is indeed a herb, but the banana 🍌 that you eat is definitely a fruit. So the 'banana' is both a herb and a fruit, depending on which variety you are talking about.

OP posts:
Fekko · 09/01/2018 19:01

I like bananas.

wanderings · 09/01/2018 19:09

Where is Leeds Castle?

Leeds.

No, wait. Leeds Castle is in the south east of England, nowhere near Leeds!

Original poster
lougle · 09/01/2018 19:12

Strawberries are fruits, but they aren't berries. They are fruits because to be a fruit they have to be the ovary of a flowering plant. But to be a berry, a fruit has to come from a single flower, and contain at least two seeds, like an apple, an orange, etc.

Blackberries and raspberries are drupes.

Strawberry plants have flowers with more that one ovary, so they are an aggregate fruit, and the subunits are on the outside, containing seeds.

OP posts:
sneeders · 09/01/2018 19:12

If you are in London you can go and see pineapples growing at Kew Gardens inside the house with all the orchids, now they really are weird

brogueish · 09/01/2018 19:18

What's the baby vests thing?

Catsize · 09/01/2018 19:23

brogue, you can pull an envelope-necked babygro downwards when dealing with hideous poo-related situations. No need to take it off over the baby’s head. Wish i’d known for mine...

Confrontayshunme · 09/01/2018 19:45

My husband and 5yo DD were pissing themselves over Christmas when they discovered that I thought snails were slugs that found a shell, a bit like hermit crabs. Apparently they are different species and I am an idiot. We didn't have snails or slugs where I grew up so how was I supposed to know?!

Kimbosonya · 09/01/2018 20:08
  1. Just found out about pineapples, banana trees and cashews. Mind blown! Shock
Weedsnseeds1 · 09/01/2018 20:13

Should read pier joining an island to the mainland, sorry!

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 09/01/2018 20:15

I never knew that either 👋🏼

meredintofpandiculation · 09/01/2018 20:15

Are any nuts, nuts? Hazelnuts are nuts (I said this up-thread, but it was a lot of posts ago). So are beechnuts, I think.

The bit of the strawberry we think of as the fruit, isn't in fact a fruit. A fruit is formed from the ovary, the reason we eat the strawberry is its swollen receptacle, the swollen bit at the top of the stem which supports the flower, ovaries and all the rest. The strawberry fruits, developed from the ovaries, are what we think of as the seeds.

meredintofpandiculation · 09/01/2018 20:16

weedsnseeds1 - ah, that makes sense, thanks!

meredintofpandiculation · 09/01/2018 20:20

A banana is a berry.

Weedsnseeds1 · 09/01/2018 20:20

Acorns are nuts.
Walnuts aren't. Nor are walnuts, shea nuts, coconuts or tiger nuts

Weedsnseeds1 · 09/01/2018 20:21

My brain and fingers aren't coordinating tonight. ...nor are pecans, Shea nuts, coconuts or tiger nuts

Arborea · 09/01/2018 20:22

Confrontayshunme Where doesn't have slugs or snails? I thought they were everywhere and I hate the little feckers so I want to retire where they're not

Dixiestampsagain · 09/01/2018 20:38

As someone who works ‘in education’ I think it’s vital we overhaul the entire curriculum ASAP as we’re evidently not covering the things people need to know!!

NB I only found out about the pineapples thing due to getting a board game question wrong over Christmas (I’m usually one of those types who pooh poohs the things people don’t know!)

lolamaiM · 09/01/2018 20:41

Definitely a right of passage, I too am 38 and at this very moment found out that pineapples do not grow on trees 👍😂

Shraz · 09/01/2018 20:45

Yep a rite of passage. I'm 38 and have now been educated in pineapples. I'm going to have to Google. Do they just sit on the ground or cut from a plant.

Original poster
lougle · 09/01/2018 20:59

Shraz, to save your scrolling

To have reached the age of 38 without knowing
OP posts:
Original poster
lougle · 09/01/2018 21:11

Apparently, the Oxford Junior Dictionary had had over 50 nature related words, such as acorn, removed to make way for technology related words since 2007. That's not going to help general knowledge, is it? [Sad]

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MERLYPUSSEDOFF · 09/01/2018 21:15

My kids told me that the word 'million' has the same amount of letters as 1 000 000 has digits. How I never realised until now ....