Things you really should have known sooner...

[TheDodgyEnd]

I’ve just learned that Casablanca is not in South America at all and is, in fact in Morocco! Who knew 🙄🤦🏼‍♀️
Anyone else got any tidbits they learned far too late in life?

I have just learnt from a previous poster that Portsmouth is an island !! I grew up down there and visit regularly !!!

I also watched a couple of episodes of game of thrones before I realised it was fantasy and not based on ancient historical events . This realisation only came about when I started to question why we no longer train ravens to deliver post !!

Gherkins has reminded me of one I found out this year, a marrow is actually a courgette that hasn't been picked from the plant at courgette stage, if you leave them growing on the plant they become marrows.

I think I found out about it on here but it might have been elsewhere, I then checked about 4 websites before I believed it, and started telling everyone and not one person I told already knew it go on, someone is going to prove it's false now aren't they

You thought Torquay was in Japan..........

How??

Thanks DadDadDad all is right with the world again

I worked with someone who wasn’t great at geography.

She was surprised to learn that Hong Kong is, in fact, not the capital of Poland.

Someone also once mentioned someone visiting the Middle East and the same girl asked ‘is that the Middle East of this country?’

@cfc1789 amazing

I have just remembered one from school, a girl started eating crisps in a lesson (we were about 16 at the time). Teacher says “Are you peckish?” - her reply? “No, I’m English”

Classics? This thread is fun, but it doesn't quite feel that it's soared to the heights of being a classic. Standards obviously falling around here.

@DadDadDad blame the tortoises

Portsmouth is not the uk's only island

I give you:

Canvey Island - two ways on and off
Mersea Island - one way on and off - depending on the tide, sometimes you can't get on or off for an hour or so.

My geography and history in general is dismal actually. I barely know where any countries, counties or cities are, their borders etc.

It took many years to learn Rome is not in Greece, but in fact Italy.
I think it's to do with the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans both being things you learn about a lot in school history, featuring films etc, and I just combined them in my head

Also I thought Dunkirk was in Scotland.

I'm not proud. I'm better in other areas, but geography and history are big no-no's. Still managed a B-grade GSCE though, haha

Mine is v embarrassing. Many moons ago I was with my pals dancing to YMCA. I complimented my friend on how good she was as I always forgot the actions. She then explained the dance moves were the initials I have now nailed it.

I always thought when I watched university challenge (admittedly I haven’t seen it often), that the two rows of contestants were actually sat one on top of the other as that’s how they show them on screen before they buzz in with their answers. I thought some of them had to go up a little ladder to get to the top section. DH pointed out they were both sat on either side of Jeremy Paxman and they just did that to show who buzzed in first. I had no idea!

Turquoisesea - Same!! It looks like they're in a staggered seating area haha

Starkid glad it’s not just me who thought that!

Capers are the unopened flowers on a bush called caperis. Pretty white fluffy flowers when they do open! My aunt grows them.

My husband didn’t believe moleskin trousers were not made from moles...

@Islandpotter that’s brilliant 😂

I used to think that too. I used to think you'd need a hell of a lot of moles to make one pair of trousers!

Ghd as in the hair straighteners brand stands for Good Hair Day

Who knew? Everyone except me

I used to think that Dartford Tunnel was built through the water (as opposed to underground) I always wondered how the kept the water out while they were building it. My dad was in fits of laughter when he told me 😳

That polar bears and penguins are in seperate poles and not together

there was a geography text book for schools a few years ago that said penguins were part of polar bear's diet....

needless to say it wasn't the only error and there were a lot of complaints.

Gherkins - if you grow gherkins, they are a type of cucumber, but not one usually grown and eaten in UK.
They are short fat cucumbers with a slightly prickly skin. I grow them every year as my girls love gherkins, but we always forget to pick them when small enough to pickle and so end up peeling them and eating as cucumbers.

When we lived in Central Asia, pickled gherkins were a BIG part of the diet (as was pickled anything) and the fresh cucumbers sold in the market were nearly always gherkin cucumbers

There's one place in the northern hemisphere where penguins live...

Bagpipes can be tuned.

It was 2000 before I knew this....

Omg I have been spelling February wrong all my life too mortified.