Things you were shockingly old when you learned

I think I was like 16 or 17 when I learned that cows and bulls were the male and female versions of the same animal and not two distinct animals.

What sort of seemingly basic facts did it take you a surprisingly long time for you to learn?

How a candle works.

Practically everything.

that SHIFT + 6 = ^. I think I figured it out a month or so ago. I always wondered how people got that character.

DO you have a Mac?

The best things about macs is that making any character is stupid easy.

¢™
øºÖØ°

&¶¶¶¶¶¶

!

That (most) BMWs are named according to engine size (I was a car freak as a child but never knew this until being informed by a German flatmate while I was a PhD student).

i.e. 318 = 3 series 1.8 litre engine etc.

Didn't know that black and green olives are identical, just different stage of maturity, until a few months ago.

Didn't realise that Adam Ant was a pun, until a year or so ago. Likewise Lipps Inc.

I've got a mac and I still don't know how to do any of, um, ^ those ^

I end up going to wikipedia and copy-and-pasting when I want unusual characters

The cows-and-bulls thing, plus Adam Ant, are the only things on this thread that I do know

how to cook an artichoke properly

(a julia child recipe steered me right)

How to tie my shoes (velcro, you see..)

Didn't realise that Adam Ant was a pun, until a year or so ago.

^^^ this. Same with Sandy Shaw.

Fay Fife of the Rezillos.

(i.e. it's a pun on "I am from the town of Fife, my good fellow" in broad scots)

What's the Adam Ant pun? Adam Ant = adamant? If so... pretty lame pun.

That's it.

xpost Tell that to Lai Mpun, the lead singer of Bangkok's Phleng Chat.

I am 33 and didn't know any of these things. Wait - how the hell DOES a candle work?!

Same with Sandy Shaw.

i don't know how to explain it but i used to think chickens had a really weird way of "mating", something to do with the rooster's legs. (!!?!?) :)

I thought penguins were as tall as humans until that march of the penguins movie

"that SHIFT + 6 = ^. I think I figured it out a month or so ago. I always wondered how people got that character."

^^^Dude, you beat me by a month. Thanks!

I once spent a half hour trying to eject a cd from a Mac before someone finally told me there's an eject button on the keyboard. I was going through all these crazy menus and preferences...

I think I was like 16 or 17 when I learned that cows and bulls were the male and female versions of the same animal and not two distinct animals.

What sort of seemingly basic facts did it take you a surprisingly long time for you to learn?

― filthy dylan, Wednesday, November 12, 2008 5:30 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I thought penguins were as tall as humans until that march of the penguins movie

loooool one of my friends thought this and it was since passed into running joke territory.

I think I've done that Mac eject button thing too :(

Pronounced lapels like 'labels' for years until corrected but happily don't dress well enough to use it often

My girlfriend was shocked to learn, at the age of 33, that a 'Flea Circus' is actually a rather charming mechanical toy, and is in no way operated by any parasitic insects.

Ismael, at the age of 32, is shocked to learn the same thing. This thread is getting embarrassing

WAT! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flea_circus

I thought penguins were as tall as humans until that march of the penguins movie

one of my friends thought this and it was since passed into running joke territory

no but seriously, what is this about?

i mean i can see that there's rarely anything to size them against in the big white antarctic, but why would anyone then automatically think okay here's a bird i could play tag with

u could still play tag w/it tho

But you could make the same assumption with ostriches in the big yellow desert (or wherever they live), and in that case you'd be right!

I'm still in touch with several grown adults who genuinely believe there's 'something' to supernatural claims about ouija boards, despite its fairly obvious origins in parlour games / illusions which utilised the (admittedly fucking spooky) ideomotor effect.

aw no-one said 'where babies come from'

I've had a lot of experiences in my adult life with mispronouncing words I understood as part of written text, but hadn't heard aurally in the context of conversation etc. For example, I was well into my twenties before I knew the word "vehement" wasn't pronounced veh-hee-ment. I wish others would politely correct you when you do that instead of letting you blindly sound like an idiot.

I'm a bit like that, but now I'm in the habit of saying works incorrectly, I can't get out of it. Canal is not pronounced can-el, but there's fuck all I can do about it now.

^ This happens to me all the time too - so much so that I actually now find it quite amusing when I realise, midway through a sentence, that a word I've never heard before is looming at the end. I suppose that people who talk a lot, rather than reading, must find the same with spelling. It only annoys me when some moron uses it as an opportunity to score cheap points (sadly fairly often)

I was going to start a thread like this, but it was going to be more about 'life lessons' that took you forever to learn, rather than trivia.

Anyway it's taken me this long to fully realize how unreliable first impressions can be when it comes to people.

but why would anyone then automatically think okay here's a bird i could play tag with

haha

TAL have an episode on this in the "best of" section on their wesite. people who thought unicorns were real, etc., lots of awkward silences at cocktail parties: good stuff.

i like to tag birds. (runs)

There's a penguin here and he wants to say "you didn't touch me ner ner ner"

I thought penguins went "weh weh weh"

I'm still in touch with several grown adults who genuinely believe there's 'something' to supernatural claims about ouija boards, despite its fairly obvious origins in parlour games / illusions which utilised the (admittedly fucking spooky) ideomotor effect.

― Huey in Bristol (Huey in Melbourne), Wednesday, November 12, 2008 7:08 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

you couldnt get me in the same room as a ouija board

I was about 35 when I figured out Open Sesame = Open Says Me.

i used to think HAZCHEM was a foreign word for danger like Achtung

I just figured out, like 2 days ago, that the lyrics are "highway to the danger zone"

(until then, thought they were "I went to to the danger zone")

*whispers*: it's about druuuugs

as it's Oscars time: I didn't know that Paul Thomas Anderson was taught English by David Foster Wallace at college

Only people were three names were allowed in his class.

With not were

a rutabaga is called a 'swede' in the commonwealth countries

My wife heard "UConn" in a basketball context and of course assumed "Yukon."

― calmer chameleon (Ye Mad Puffin), Saturday, March 14, 2026 12:02 AM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

this used to confuse me as a kid bc their mascot is the Huskies! Feels like it almost can't be a coincidence? Puns that I had missed?

well whaddya know, it is a coincidence

The university's teams are nicknamed "Huskies", a name adopted following a student poll in The Connecticut Campus in 1934 after the school's name changed from Connecticut Agricultural College to Connecticut State College in 1933; before then, the teams were referred to as the Aggies.[3] Although there is a homophonic relationship between "UConn" and the Yukon, where Huskies are native, the "Huskies" nickname predates the school's 1939 name change to the University of Connecticut; the first recorded use of "UConn" (as "U-Conn", both separately and with "Huskies") was later in 1939.[4] However, in a 1997 interview, the student body president from 1935 claimed the Husky mascot selection was a direct reference to the Yukon / UConn homophone.[5] The university and its athletics programs officially rebranded themselves as "UConn" in the spring of 2013.[6]

whatd i learn on wikipedia today

as a longtime Connecticut resident, now ex-resident I just assumed it was a pun.

i've listened to Spiritualized's LaGWFiS album for the last 20 years and it only dawned on me recently, and this is despite being fully aware of the lyrics, "Cop Shoot Cop..." had nothing to do with police.

― My homies buttthole surfers' record sounds like a f (Western® with Bacon Flavor), Saturday, March 14, 2026 12:14 AM (two days ago) bookmarkflaglink

omg

this just clicked for me, too

would have helped if he'd put commas between the words, and / or added the word "Repeat" instead of using an ellipsis

That Stephen Fry is Jewish

He appears to be pro Israel from what I heard as a response from Alexei Sayle over comments he made in an Xmas message.
Shame I used to enjoy things he did.

Nero’s brand name is a play on words on the infamous lyre playing Roman emperor. Nero Burning Rom(e).

This one is great not just for how clear they made it but also bcz I’m hoping you haven’t used it in like 15 years and it just rattled to the top

we used to fiddle a rom, now we fiddle for the ram market

I was watching a Bob Marley interview and he quoted the bit from the Bible in Malachi where God says "and my name is dreadful among the heathen." And it finally clicked for me that the "dread" part of "dreadlock" refers to literal dread/awe of God (and also the dread/awe that the godly inspire in non-believers). This got me thinking about the word "dreadnought," which also has a meaning that I never put together before: something so powerful (like a ship) that it fears nothing (nought). I guess I always thought these words might be related, or else that "dread" in "dreadlock" might be a Jamaican way of saying "thread" but anyway

I mean, the rastas love word play, so I'm guessing somebody has thought of thread/dread lock

I think it represents dedication of purpose. Ties in with earlier religious zealots I think.You'll note a tie in with Xian/Jewish religious iconography if you listen to Roots Reggae.
Unfortunately a lot of it repeats Zionist imagery with frequent repeats of the words Israel and Zion which is a major pain with current connotations. Though I think in the music they are more traditionally based but presumably had negative connotations to a lot of people at the time. Though the strength of the Israel as underdog surrounded by bullying neighbours is strong enough to only be being shaken for a lot of people now. If they have been awake enough even now.

Well those mentions are in the context of the Black Israelites thing, which is its own can of worms but unrelated to the statem

lol yeah those words have particularly different meaning in Rastafarian culture

Their Zionism is still based in an unreachable Utopian dream destination. Except with them it's Ethiopia and they don't want to colonise it.

I don't have any issues with mentions of Zion or Israel or Israelites in reggae music, it's a completely different thing

Sure but the idea of a "forgotten tribe" seeking to return home predates the modern concept of zionism. And of course you can see how it would resonate with the descendants of slaves who truly were taken from their home.

xpost

The references tend to rankle as one listens to the music in current circumstances which is uncomfortable when the music is still so good. The same words are being sung so its a little difficult to just think solely they mean the other thing each time.

Sure but the idea of a "forgotten tribe" seeking to return home predates the modern concept of zionism. And of course you can see how it would resonate with the descendants of slaves who truly were taken from their home.

xpost

― a ZX spectrum is haunting Europe (Daniel_Rf), Wednesday, March 18, 2026 1:52 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

which was part of what I was referring to as more traditionally based. The idea of 'next year in Jerusalem' as an ideal to strive for but one that would never be reached was around for centuries apparently. Until a waning colonial empire set up a situation that allowed it and we're still living with the consequences.

🖼

The references tend to rankle as one listens to the music in current circumstances which is uncomfortable when the music is still so good. The same words are being sung so its a little difficult to just think solely they mean the other thing each time.

this is just you.

Hugo Ball’s surname is correctly pronounced to rhyme with pal, not fall.

Noted

Hugo "Fuß" Ball

That you can salt your cooking water all you want, the pasta will absorb less than half a gram of salt per serving (125g), and the rest is drained.

that doesn't mean that just adding half a gram per serving will get you the seasoning you'd want though

I have absolutely oversalted pasta water before

that doesn't mean that just adding half a gram per serving will get you the seasoning you'd want though

― willem, Friday, March 20, 2026 9:40 AM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

^^^

The salt you add to the pasta water should be influenced by the sauce. A very salty sauce, like carbonara or a sauce with anchovies, capers, and olives, I don't add much if any salt to the water. For basic tomato sauces, I do not add much if any salt to the sauce, so I oversalt the water.

yeah i mean the amount of salt that pasta can scientifically absorb or whatever doesn't account for the fact that the salt is gonna glaze the surface of it after evaporation, see dry lakes. also like my tastebuds tell me pretty clearly that salt in water is directly related to saltiness of pasta so.

seems to me that different shapes with varying surface areas would play a part in salt absorption too

also agree with having felt like my salted water made a noodle taste way to salty for my tastes before

i thought you added salt to the water to lower the bp and not overcook yr pasta ha- and i’ve never noticed much absorption in it

Xp table.

I know that I am not alone in thinking that and am a little bit surprised to be told otherwise.

Are you trying to wind me up?

That you can salt your cooking water all you want, the pasta will absorb less than half a gram of salt per serving (125g), and the rest is drained.

Except that one often reserves said salty (and now starchy) water to add back to the pasta to loosen the sauce!

yeah, or to add to the sauce if needed

but also *to thicken the sauce

anyway when a scientist can cook me a beautiful carbonara, i might consider taking into account what they have to say about the cooking process

https://preview.redd.it/my-new-favorite-meal-spaghetti-carbanana-v0-fxfo0w5qkxf11.jpg

it isn't worth trying again haha

"Sure but the idea of a "forgotten tribe" seeking to return home predates the modern concept of zionism."

That was basically the plot of Battlestar: Galactica, and that show actually predates recorded human history. At least the early-2000s reboot predates recorded human history. The original, 1979 version was apparently set in 1973:
https://en.battlestarwikiclone.org/wiki/The_Hand_of_God_(TOS)

That's a "thing I was shockingly old when I learned". The other thing I was shockingly old when I learned is that the last episode of the 1979 version of Battlestar: Galactica did make a half-hearted attempt to wrap up the series. I always assumed it just ended. Nonetheless the fact is that modern human myths and legends - including the 1979 version of Galactica - are just vague recollections of original Caprican myths. And also this explains why the world has gone in a bad direction over the last few years. It's because the people who wrote the early-2000s Galactica ran out of ideas and started writing badness. And that has leaked into modern human society.

This raises the question of why the people who make modern Star Trek haven't hired Tricia Helfer yet. She's still around! She still acts. Imagine how Star Trek nerds would react if Jeri Ryan and Tricia Helfer had an act-off. They would be ecstatic.

On September 17, 1978, the full 148-minute pilot premiered on ABC to high Nielsen ratings. Two–thirds of the way through the broadcast, ABC interrupted with a special report of the signing of the Camp David Accords at the White House by Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, witnessed by U.S. President Jimmy Carter. Following the ceremony, ABC resumed the broadcast at the point where it was interrupted.

Could you imagine making it two hours in with one more to go and that happens? On a school night?

listened to Spiritualized's LaGWFiS album for the last 20 years and it only dawned on me recently, and this is despite being fully aware of the lyrics, "Cop Shoot Cop..." had nothing to do with police.

xposts - check out John Prine's "Sam Stone" and the lyric Jason cribbed from, then it's really obvious

The rather gruesome origin of the term 'hamstrung', I'd never thought about it before. Ouch.

For most of my life I thought that in the Lion the Witch and Wardrobe that Lucy said of Aslan "Terrible paws! As if he didn't know how to velvet them!" but she actually says "Terrible paws! If he didn't know how to velvet them!"

I thought velveting was some kind of skincare routine that lions did to make their paws look nice and Aslan didn't know how to do it. But it just means when they keep their claws retracted, and Lucy meant terrible in the older sense of "terrifying"

That is a good one

oh, terriblepaws

I still call moisturizing my hands before bed "doing my velvet paws"