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Original poster

When the penny drops about dumb things that you should have known!

1000 replies

malificent7 · 11/01/2024 22:02

For ages I thought there was a poster called Tia. I always used to think it was a bit weird that they would sign their name....not very anonymous. Now I realise it means thanks in advance.
I am 45.

OP posts:
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19
aliasname · 12/01/2024 22:01

Not a misunderstanding, but I think it’s interesting nonetheless.

Echinacea only grows in North America. It’s named after the Latin for hedgehog, because it has spiky flowers.

There are no hedgehogs in America.

Snooks1971 · 12/01/2024 22:15

NiceUnusualDifferent · 12/01/2024 21:23

No it's period after opening not from when you buy it

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She literally said an open pot, she didn’t say anything about when it was bought

vipersnest1 · 12/01/2024 22:23

katseyes7 · 12/01/2024 21:11

I actually believed (years ago, admittedly) that Center Parcs was under some kind of huge perspex dome, much like the Eden Project.
Not quite as bad as a friend who thought, when Sky TV started, that the studio was literally somewhere 'in the sky' like some kind of space station or similar.
I've no idea how they thought that would work.

The one at Thetford did have a very large dome, encompassing the pool complex and several shops and restaurants until it got burnt down some years ago.

NiceUnusualDifferent · 12/01/2024 22:27

Snooks1971 · 12/01/2024 22:15

She literally said an open pot, she didn’t say anything about when it was bought

Show quote history

She did! My mind missed that word when I read it. My mistake

katseyes7 · 12/01/2024 22:34

vipersnest1 Ah, then l wonder if that's where l got it from? I had a friend who went there years ago, and maybe she mentioned it!

Alalalalalongalalalalalonglonglilong · 12/01/2024 22:46

CarolinaInTheMorning · 12/01/2024 14:07

Years ago when I was a student, I was traveling through France on a train with a friend. She fell asleep and awoke as the train made an intermediate stop. My friend looked out of the window at the signage and said, "We must be in Sortie."

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I had a similar one in France too, with my sister and parents. I was just a kid and we were doing a lot of driving, it was a bit boring for me. One day she was talking about the sign post to centre ville (she said it in French) and I said finally we have reached centre ville, you have been talking about it for days.

WormHoleInSpace · 12/01/2024 22:57

TheUltima · 12/01/2024 16:54

How are we 26 pages in and no one has mentioned the channel tunnel yet?! That’s normally right up there on these threads

*Snooks1971 · Today 17:55

Apologies I’ve only got to page 12 so not sure if it’s been mentioned yet.*

I am puzzled why @TheUltima is on page 26 , @Snooks1971 is on page 12 and I read both of their comments when I am on page 7.
I didnt realise that there was such a big difference in the way the pages could be displayed.

When the penny drops about dumb things that you should have known!
JudgeJ · 12/01/2024 22:59

mrsconradfisher · 12/01/2024 21:36

I used to read a lot as a child so I had seen loads of words written down that I’d never heard spoken. One of these such words was, epitome.
Always remember the absolute deathly silence and laughter at High School years later when I pronounced it epi-tome (to rhyme with bone).

I have never forgotten the History teacher's face when I said that the Magna Carta was signed at Ruddymede, I misread it rather than not knowing it!

JoelyJoe · 12/01/2024 23:09

mrswinter69 · 12/01/2024 12:00

That the line from the song teenage dirtbag "he drives a Nyroc(?)" Is actually "he drives and I rock!" For years I wondered what kind of car a Nyroc was! 🤣🤣🤣

OMG, I always thought it was "he drives a Nyroc".
Also Bat out of Hell
"I'm gonna hit the highway like a battering ram, On a Cilla Black phantom bike".
(Silver-Black apparently....)

WormHoleInSpace · 12/01/2024 23:11

My GF like watching wrestling, as kids we would often be at his house on Saturday afternoon and he would say 'go and play outside get out of the way I want to watch Giant Haystacks fighting '
It was a long while before I realised he wasn't watching big piles of hay fighting each other in a field

Greenpolkadot · 12/01/2024 23:14

Iam4eels · 11/01/2024 22:04

"This little piggy went to market", it wasn't going shopping...

Omg..!!I thought it was going shopping too..and I'm 68

infor · 12/01/2024 23:23

aliasname · 12/01/2024 22:01

Not a misunderstanding, but I think it’s interesting nonetheless.

Echinacea only grows in North America. It’s named after the Latin for hedgehog, because it has spiky flowers.

There are no hedgehogs in America.

There are no hedgehogs in North America today, they used to have these:

https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Amphechinus

Amphechinus

Amphechinus is a genus of hedgehog in the Erinaceidae family, which lived in Asia and Europe during the Oligocene and in North America, Africa, Asia, and Europe during the Miocene. Amphechinus was named by Jake paul in 1850. It is not extinct. It was a...

https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/Amphechinus

Greenpolkadot · 12/01/2024 23:24

RobertaFirmino · 11/01/2024 22:36

It took me a while to realise that a 'miniseries' is a mini series. I was pronouncing it in my head as 'min-is-eries' and thinking 'what the hell is that?'.

I thought it meant it was a really miserable programme. Full of misery and angst.
I sure am learning a lot tonite..

MissusWeasley · 12/01/2024 23:25

I thought a biopic was a by-opic said like ‘myopic’

Greenpolkadot · 12/01/2024 23:28

Mapletreelane · 11/01/2024 23:07

I was 43 years old when I found out red, yellow and green peppers are only different colours as they are at different stages of ripeness. And not necessarily different types of pepper. Like tomatoes (which I knew ). Hence green peppers are so bitter as they are not ripe.

Your joking...I never knew that.
Christ I'm dumber than I thought

theduchessofspork · 12/01/2024 23:34

MalibuBetty · 11/01/2024 23:59

I was 40 when I learned that the dishwasher doesn't fill up with hot water and suds 😳

It doesn’t?! 😲

Well then how does it wash??

KnickerlessParsons · 12/01/2024 23:36

The spinny things spin round and water squirts out of them and cleans the dishes.

Splat92 · 12/01/2024 23:45

In the Christmas Carol "The First Noel", I suppose because of the emphasis on the word, I assumed for several years that certain was a verb. I thought those poor shepherds were being certained (not sure I thought about what that might mean though).

marshmallowfinder · 13/01/2024 00:02

ComorosPearl · 11/01/2024 22:26

I always thought you searched for something with a fine toothcomb. Thought a toothcomb was some ancient implement.

About 2 years ago it dawned on me, out of nowhere, that it's a fine-tooth(ed) comb, ie a comb with very close, fine teeth so nothing much could get thru it unseen💡

Oh god yes. I think it's perpetuated because of the stupid way people say it. They should say fine-tooth COMB. Instead they say fine TOOTH-comb.

NoBinturongsHereMate · 13/01/2024 00:14

Fink · 12/01/2024 20:46

But do they still do that thing where they suddenly stop if you take them out of drive and into neutral? That's what gave me whiplash from a petrol automatic.

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No, that sudden stop is also a function (or dysfunction) of the gearbox. Electric drive mechanisms can't do that.

You press the accelerator pedal, it goes faster; you release the accelerator pedal, it slows down. If you need to slow down more rapidly you use the brake pedal. That's it.

There's no gearstick, no automatic-style paddle thing, just a button or knob to twist if you want to switch between going forwards and going backwards. It's impossible to put it into neutral by accident because there is no neutral.

If you've used an electric sewing machine, it's more like driving one of those than it is like driving an ICE car.

NoBinturongsHereMate · 13/01/2024 00:18

And I'm still 1 square short on my 'things I just found out' thread bingo card. Can everyone nip over to Google maps and check they know where the Falklands are?

ErrolTheDragon · 13/01/2024 00:18

However, I've just discovered that a toothcomb is an actual thing too - teeth used for combing!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothcomb

ErrolTheDragon · 13/01/2024 00:21

NoBinturongsHereMate · 13/01/2024 00:18

And I'm still 1 square short on my 'things I just found out' thread bingo card. Can everyone nip over to Google maps and check they know where the Falklands are?

Er, yes.

Have you got which oceans the eastern and western ends of the Panama Canal are in yet?

JudgeJ · 13/01/2024 00:24

NoBinturongsHereMate · 13/01/2024 00:18

And I'm still 1 square short on my 'things I just found out' thread bingo card. Can everyone nip over to Google maps and check they know where the Falklands are?

Still where they always were! Is there a problem?

NoBinturongsHereMate · 13/01/2024 00:25

I think that's the QI bingo card. Things I just found out usually fills up with arguments about petrol cap arrows before getting to the Panama canal.

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