what stunningly obvious pieces of knowledge escaped you for years and years?

[thewomanwhothoughtshewasahat]

I managed 25 years of life without knowing who Pele was. I managed 36 years without knowing a dodge was a kind of american car. dh managed 25 years without realising that the name The Beatles was a play on the word beat. how do educated well-read people manage stuff like this? and don't you love it when you learn something like that?

I only recently worked out that parasol translated as for sun. Doh!

Ahem, never knew that about The Beatles.

Not quite the same but I know two women who are friends of the family. Both lovely ladies one could Hilda the other called Hazel.

Well after knowing them both for about 15 years I commented to my grandmother how alike they are and she looked at me blankly and told me they are the same person. She uses one name in her job and one at home!

Felt like a right twat but it does explain a lot!

Oh, who was it that didn't know John Lennon had died? I chortled for days over that

I daresay there are loads of things like that (eg I have no idea who Pele was even now - was he a footballer perhaps?) that I didn't know - but I can't think of any just now

at the dodge car thread though, I read it out to dh and he phsl at you wanting to start a new thread whereby we all pretended we had't heard of it ....

the beatles is a play on the word beat? Seriously i thought they just couldn't spell?

Umm to long to list all of mine so here are some highlights.

FOund out last month that Steven Spielberg and George LUcas are not the same person.

Worked out 2 years ago why star trek and star wars were called that ('I see its because they were having a war in the stars' )

Took me approximately 18 yrs of my life to get that 'tap dancing and fell in the sink' joke (i thought they were tap dancing on the draining board cos of the nice sound).

There are many others but too long to list.

And I'm part way through my history degree and hoping to take an MA after.

the proper pronunciation of detritus and it still really pisses me off
It does not sound right!!!!

i still dont knwo anything about golf or rugby or the vlaues of note s in music depite getting to grade % in piaino

Which is it piff? de-tree-tus or de-try-tus? I never know....

have never seen star wars or drank lucozade

I always thought that the exhaust on heavy goods vechicles was some sort of chimney!

Neena!!

I never thought of the Beatles thing,despite being huge fan.
Always vaguely wondered if Lebanon had a border with Germany (I know,I know)when reading about Bayreuth festival...

alos thoguht "sight screens" were claled "side screens "in cricket

I only got to grade £

grade % cod - ????????

Well the beatles one and parasol are both news to me...

5#

if there wer lots of notes i played em fast
dtill dotn know me quavers from me crothects

until last week i thought salubrious meant the opposite

i.e. thought that a salubrious area was a rough one

ok, not stunningly obvious, but for a language pendant it's a bit of a shock

hunker, I only got grade " !!!

me adn "hoi polloi" too

I always thought it was short i as in trip
so de trit us
It is bizarrley pronounced de try tus

me adn "hoi polloi" too

that...oh the absolute shame.....that Barcelona is on the coast.

Are you sure Piff?
That can't be right.

Dh taught me the other day that you can do something with your car radio so that traffic news bursts over whatever you are listening to.