Ridiculous things you've only recently realised you've been wrong about your entire life

[Seasidedolly]

I genuinely thought if you pulled the reverse cord on ceiling fans, it would circulate warm air.

My friend thought the yellow average speed cameras on motorways were there to look for missing children.

I had another recent revelation but I can't remember it now

OH MY GOD citybushisland - I came on to say I thought Surbiton was a made-up name for The Good Life as well! I don't know anyone who thought this IRL, I get laughed at for it a lot (especially by friends who are from Surbiton.)

On a similar note, only realised last year that Gothenberg is a real city in Sweden. Not the place where Batman plies his trade.

I watched Dumbo as a child and sobbed at the Baby Mine song. I couldn't believe we didn't see Mummy Elephant at the end, and hated the ending for years. Mentioned it in passing to BIL who'd watched it the day before with his kids,and he looked puzzled and said " But she is there,she was waving her trunk in one of the train carriages!" Watched it a few weeks ago,and sure enough she is! Must have missed it all those years ago! Feel so much happier now. ......

Thank you. :)
My excuse is that English is not my first language.

Rattle and Tayto, so pleased to meet other believers in the "peppery goodness" of Fudge!

I thought Tipperary was in America, this was many years ago now.........

I thought a wolf whistle was made by a wolf for years, and was terrified whenever anyone mentioned them!

Hang on, Arkansas and Arkansaw are the same place? What?

I also thought reindeer were fictional at one point. My DM had me convinced that she was 19 for several years during my childhood. I was old enough that I should have realised...

The biggest realisation that comes to mind in recent years was actually when I looked at the Disney logo and for the first time saw that it was a capital D. I'd always thought it was an oddly curly lowercase d.

Yellow dandelions turn into dandelion clocks.

Whaaat!!? No way!

I only figured out the dandelion thing last year. I sat watching time-lapse videos on Youtube. DP thought I was joking. I'm so glad I'm not alone.

Cigars I thought the same. I only found out they were the same place about a year ago!!

I thought dinosaurs were fictional until I sat in on dd's lesson as a parent helper and the topic was dinosaurs.
I thought lamb was old sheep not an actual baby lamb. As a child my mum told me it was only called lamb as it sounded better than roast sheep. I haven't eaten it since.
Isn't it funny, what you just carry on believing.

I didn't realise Timbuktu was a place (in W.Africa if you're interested) I always presumed it was fictional.

Interesting that a few people have said this, as I've always thought it was fictional too until recently finding out that it is indeed real, and a place in Africa!
I blame Roger Hargreaves as I used to love reading the Timbuctoo series when I was little. Did any of you others thinking it was fictional used to read those books?
About a series of animals called things like Cluck, Moo, etc and they all lived in Timbuctoo.

Years ago I used to think C of E was C of V.

I used to think that about Timbuktu.

The mere existence of Kaliningrad completely passed me by until a few months ago when I was looking at a map of Europe and thought to myself, "Hang on, that's not Russia!".

Until I decided to make one a few weeks ago, I was misreading and mispronouncing terrarium as "terranium"...

I was ancient when I realised that Zanzibar was a real place, in fact, Freddy Mercury came from there.

my very intelligent friend was bought an oil burner for her birthday she was just about to poor some cooking oil on it when she was asked what she was doing it transpires that she thought the little candles that come with it made any old oil smell nice she didnt realise you got nice smelling oil to put on your oil burner she has a PHD!

I thought dinosaurs were fictional until I sat in on dd's lesson as a parent helper and the topic was dinosaurs.

Unmarriedhousewife, please tell me you're joking. Surely nobody gets to adulthood thinking that? Did you not study basic evolution at school?

I've learned a couple of things from this thread such as the origin of asbestos but I thought I was gobsmacked that so many people thought Gibraltar was an island. But you win the thread hands down along with the poster who thought dragons were extinct.

There should have been a disclaimer at the beginning of this thread, NO TAKING THE PISS.

PushaPushPop - I thought "spare ribs" were ribs that the animal didn't need to use, so could be eaten by people without killing the animal. I feel sure I have my dad to blame for this.

I knew a lovely lady in her 40s (seemingly of normal intelligence) who genuinely didn't realise that you had to kill pigs to get bacon and sausages...

"I also thought Welsh rare bit was a rabbit dish. I don't know why I even thought that. I just assumed."

That's not a silly assumption. It is sometimes called 'Welsh rabbit'. Explanation at blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/07/origin-welsh-rabbit/

Yes, Vulcan, you're right of course. I'm just stunned that anyone can go through childhood unaware of dinosaurs.

You know what, AbbyCadabra, I knew that gardening by the moon meant "according to the phases of the moon", I used to work in a bookshop that sold a worrying number of books about it.

But it's only this second occurred to me, reading your post, that you wouldn't ACTUALLY HAVE TO DO THE GARDENING AT NIGHT to know what the phase of the moon was.