Don't be embarrassed, nobody knows everything. I know lots of adults with mistaken knowledge on various things, doesn't make them stupid or any less lovely people than they are.
I learned today via a similar thread that cellophane is made from wood. I'm not particularly scientific but do hold a nursing degree so a basic knowledge of science but I was sure it was a plastic made from oil products.
I love learning new stuff all the time.
However, I do also reserve the right to enjoy taking the piss out of my brothers shock at how geographically close USA and Russia are which he didn't realise until his 30's, at which point he finally "got" that this was partly why the USA were so scared of them (being completely politically and culturally opposite to USA while being in close proximity to). He didn't believe my sister and I that Alaska used to BE Russian either - we had to prove it.
"BTW I make my shepherd's pie with beef mince, whatever anyone says." Sorry to be pedantic but while it's good to learn it's good to be correct once you know too, it's not shepherds pie then, it's cottage pie.
"Call it shepherds pie to a Hindu and you're in trouble." 👍😂😂😂
"What is the difference between shepherds and cottage pie" shepherds pie - lamb mince
Cottage pie - beef mince
What would a pork mince one be called? Swineherds pie? 
"Omg Magenta82, same! It's like when you realise Penny has an abortion in Dirty Dancing and isn't just a bit poorly" I must admit I was very surprised when a massive dirty dancing friend of mine said she'd not let her dd see it "yet" when our dds were about 12/13? I'd let dd see it and she was fine but they're practicing Catholics and I'd forgotten the abortion storyline was in it. Mind you, could have been an interesting discussion between her and her dd "mum why is this your favourite film when the major plotline revolves around an illegal abortion?" - guessing that's why she didn't want her watching it, didn't want to deal with the awkward questions.
"The clocks going backwards and forwards. I’m not saying anymore. It’s too embarrassing" ugh! I hate this! So confusing, never on same dates each year, I can never remember which is which (and yes I know there's a rhyme but it still makes sense if you reverse! You can spring/fall backwards OR forwards) I HATE losing an hour of sleep and I wish we'd just stick to the winter one! I get we need to be operating when it's most light a la winter timing but in summer it doesn't matter just bloody leave them alone! In addition these days I'm never completely confident if my tech has altered automatically or not and I don't possess anything manually set like an analogue watch to check against so then I have to check via something like a scheduled news programme to confirm. HATE IT.
"I thought New Zealand was North East of Oz not South East until very recently. (Last year) I checked lots of maps online as I didn't believe it!" If you REALLY want to confuse yourself view a map that DOESN'T have uk centralised or the "northern" hemisphere at the top. Such a simple thing - mind blowing! Weirds me out too much to even find a link!
"I have an English Literature A-level" wait til you see spelling/pronunciation ones pop up on threads like this
Hyperbole
Epitome
Bruschetta
Mischievous
Moustache
Niche
Arctic (especially in relation to ARticulated lorries)
Cache
Forte
Respite
Wrote the above before I read
"Took me until my degree in English to realise "Hyperbole" was not pronounced to rhyme with "super-bowl". It was a very public and embarrassing realisation."
SadieContrary my ex didn't believe me when I told him that about peppers, pre internet days so tough to prove to him short of dragging him to a library (not sure he's EVER been in one), until a friend/colleague (who was a keen cook) of his outright laughed at him for not believing me. Then he told me off for "not making sure he believed" 🤔 yea he's a twat!
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_pepper
Green (horrible bitter unripe ones) go in stews, curries and soups here. I buy the 3 pack as its cheaper but I wish there was an option to choose colour (yes yes I know we've just explained why!) and I HATE getting 2 or even 3 green in a pack (MIXED Sainsburys it says MIXED that means AT LEAST 2 DIFFERENT colours!)
"I always wanted to know what eggplant tasted like, I heard of it on American TV shows and I always looked for it in the supermarkets" I'm assuming you mean you now know it's an aubergine and you have actually eaten it?
@babysharkdododont I've sent you a PM hope that's ok
"I personally loved discovering that the names in Harry Potter were meaningful. Sirius was an animagnus that changed into a dog. Sirius is the Dog Star. Others too but can't think off the top of my head." It's great that people enjoy that but it irks me when people act as if jk Rowling invented it and is some kind of literary genius! It's a literary device borne out of oral storytelling traditions (so preparing books even) that's LONG been used in novels, it's called "true naming" sometimes it's very literal, sometimes more symbolic.
"Wait WHAT. Why is it called the dark ages, then?" I think it means as in "unenlightened" and "unknown" as we don't know very much about this period of history, plus the era that followed was more "enlightened" more knowledgable, more progressive scientifically and culturally? I think?
"I assumed it was so expensive because they could guarantee that it never rained & was always warm." We wish! This misunderstanding is largely believed to be due to the following ad
m.youtube.com/watch?v=cllEP3O3fEk
Which gave the impression to many that most of the activities/parc were under the dome.
"What?? Holland isn't a country?? Then what the hell is it??"
It's a region WITHIN the country of the Netherlands. To be fair our forefathers mistake on this has only relatively recently been commonly corrected. I'm sure I remember even newsreaders still referring to the Netherlands as "Holland" into the 90's. I've lived there so to me it's always been Netherlands as I was quite young when we did.
"Sellotape is a brand name for sticky tape.its not an item called sellotape" to be fair there's tons of examples of this that people may not be aware of or even where the original brand has since gone out of existence! Do you say you're going to "vacuum clean the living room"? I don't I say I'm going to "Hoover the living room" what fascinates me is why this differs so much across English speaking countries. Americans will say "vacuum" but also when referencing sticky tape or tissues "scotch tape" and "Kleenex". I know I could go and search why certain ones took off in uk that didn't in USA but I suspect I'd have to look up each individual brand and it has much to do with successful (or not) ad campaigns.
The most obvious ridiculousness from this that's arisen because the brand owners are SO litigious is when you ask for a "Coke" in a bar or restaurant and you get "we don't have Coke is Pepsi ok?" Gah! They know you mean "whatever cola drink you serve here" but have been reduced to this ridiculous questioning.
"As we can see from this thread, the English language is a minefield!" Mainly because it doesn't really exist! It's a mash up of hundreds of other languages, mainly Latin, Greek and Germanic but, mainly due to colonialism, also words from many other country's original languages, quite a bit of Indian words for example. And that's before you get into brand names and portmanteau and abbreviations and dilutions etc. There's even words that were originally mistakes that have now become such common usage they're now "correct".
"Minuscule is another. I’m sure when I was younger it was miniscule!" Me too - see also yogurt/yoghurt I'm sure in spelling tests as a kid it was WITH the "h"
EnchantingRaven - do you mean "6 of one half a dozen of the other"? I've never heard it said as "6 and 2 threes" although both make sense.
Flaming yon - filet mignon
"Filet Mingnon" sorry I know it's a typo but 😂😂😂
"What are dates?" You mean the fruit kind? Erm...dates! You get them fresh or dried.
"Which makes me wonder WTF do cows have to do with Cottages?" Farmers (I think particularly cow farmers?) used to be called cottars which I think is where the word "cottage" comes from? Like here in Scotland we have crofters, originally referred to the land but has come to mean the building as well as the land.