To ask the most basic thing you never knew/misunderstood until adulthood

[ChanandlerBongsLeftShoe]

I feel like a completely ridiculous excuse for an adult but the other day I found out the difference between cottage pie and shepherds pie.

I am in my 30s and gobsmacked (also feel a bit stupid now it's so obvious). I genuinely thought they were the same thing.

Is there anything you discovered as an adult that was just common knowledge to everyone else? Or perhaps there's a phrase you've found out you have been saying wrong all this time etc...!

Help me feel a bit better.

PigletJohn
they climb up the chain and escape.

Noooo that's even worse! That means there could have been hundreds of undetected spiders every year

Only very recently discovered that Gibraltar isn't an island.

For years thought that Enid Blyton was pronounced Guide Blutton.

I got to the grand old age of 39 before finding out that birds do not sleep in nests each night

Wait, what?

That you don't hold the mascara wand the same way to do both eyes. You turn it so the brush end faces towards your nose each time. I found this out a few months before I was 51.

DrMadelineMaxwell OMG!! l thought that about the tides!

These are hilarious. Pluffman's Lunch

I thought a lime was an unripe lemon 🍋

"I thought (as a child) that once a woman started her periods she would bleed forever" my mum didn't explain this well. I initially thought they were once a YEAR, I have endo, I bloody wish they were!

"Found out last year, at 54, that ducks do not eat fish." Eh? A quick google confirms they do! Among other things.

Pic of Gibraltar NOT being an island (awaits shock of those who didn't realise how close to Africa Europe was)

Simon and Garth Funkle

Puts my John T Rhodes (the cheffy bloke) in the shade.

TroysMammy that makes perfect sense given the shape of the brush so how come I've never thought of turning the brush around!!

Until I was in my 20's I didnt realise that when the sky was all white or light grey it was complete cloud cover. 🙄

Some of these are brilliant!

As I child, I remember doing school work about a train that had crashed and we had to write a story. I didn’t realise stationary meant that the train was stopped, I thought it contained pencils and rulers etc, so wrote ‘the stationary train, which was standing still...’ I remember being so embarrassed when the teacher picked up on it!

Had an interesting conversation with dh recently too, youngest dd has turned 10 so I said ‘it’s crazy she’s into her second decade already’ and he just wasn’t getting what I meant at all. I told him that being in his 40s, he was already in his 5th decade, he was arguing blind that he wouldn’t be in his 5th decade until he hit 50!

Omg I thought they were the same thing until I read ur post lol

The song with the lyrics “My love has got no money...he’s got his strong beliefs...” I thought they lyrics were “...he’s got his Stromboli”. In my mind, he was a wandering minstrel and his Stromboli was a kind of mandolin-like instrument.

And when I went to university and was offered cash back at the Sainsbury’s...I wondered for a split second if it was free money. I now work in financial services.

I rewatched ghostbusters lately with dd it got to the point where Segourney weavers character talks about being the "gatekeeper" and Rick Moranis is is the "key master" and they head off so he can put his key in her gate... so glad my dd is as naive as I was.

When I was young we used to go to football matches on Saturday afternoon then the highlights would be on TV that evening. I was amazed that the players knew exactly how to play the game a second time.
When we sang the hymn There Is a green hill far away without a city wall, I was always puzzled about why not having a city wall was so notable. Oddly, in my 30s and having a similar conversation as this thread a few friends commented well, what does it mean it is doesn't mean that? In this case 'without' means outside a city wall.

I had to google the America/Russia/Alaska thing.... wow! It’s blown my mind!

Russia practically touches Alaska and Canada is huuuuggeeeeee and Alaska isn’t joined to USA and I can’t believe I didn’t know all this!!!

I though Simon and Garfunkel were two brothers- Simon and Garth Funkel!

Simon funkel? For some reason that's made me cry with laughter

Every day’s a school day!!! Goodness me I’ve learned a thing or two tonight

When I was a kid I thought the song "King of Rock n Roll" went 'hot dog, jumping frog, Albert Cookie....'

I always wondered who this Albert bloke was 😂

A friend of mine thought worms came down with the rain as worms are always on the pavement after showers-she was nearly 20 when she mentioned this to us all!

I thought the saying was
'Give up the Goat'.

I still don't understand what relevance a Ghost has either 🤷🏽‍♀️

My daughter, moving from Bristol to Edinburgh refused to belief that she was moving west!

I have a friend who didn't believe that seahorses existed. She thought they were like unicorns.

I went to an aquarium and sent her pictures to prove they were real 😂

Wait. BIRDS DON'T SLEEP IN NESTS ?!

And yes yes to Yo Sammity Sam

I thought that a shark was a mammal until fairly recently,I'm 38 my 65 yr old dad thought an espresso was an expresso and ordered one because he thought it would be quicker for them to make