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― Abbott of the Trapezoid Monks (Abbott), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 06:34 (fifteen years ago) link
!
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 07:11 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― krakow, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 07:54 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Zelda Zonk, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 07:59 (fifteen years ago) link
I've got a mac and I still don't know how to do any of, um, ^ those ^
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 08:01 (fifteen years ago) link
I end up going to wikipedia and copy-and-pasting when I want unusual characters
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 08:02 (fifteen years ago) link
The cows-and-bulls thing, plus Adam Ant, are the only things on this thread that I do know
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 08:03 (fifteen years ago) link
how to cook an artichoke properly
― nelson algreen (get bent), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 08:09 (fifteen years ago) link
(a julia child recipe steered me right)
How to tie my shoes (velcro, you see..)
― Sugar hiccup, Makes a pig soar and swoon (Pillbox), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 08:12 (fifteen years ago) link
Didn't realise that Adam Ant was a pun, until a year or so ago.
^^^ this. Same with Sandy Shaw.
― NotEnough, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:34 (fifteen years ago) link
Fay Fife of the Rezillos.
― Mark G, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:35 (fifteen years ago) link
(i.e. it's a pun on "I am from the town of Fife, my good fellow" in broad scots)
― Mark G, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:36 (fifteen years ago) link
What's the Adam Ant pun? Adam Ant = adamant? If so... pretty lame pun.
― Mordy, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:37 (fifteen years ago) link
That's it.
― Mark G, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:43 (fifteen years ago) link
xpost Tell that to Lai Mpun, the lead singer of Bangkok's Phleng Chat.
― I CRIED (G00blar), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:45 (fifteen years ago) link
I am 33 and didn't know any of these things. Wait - how the hell DOES a candle work?!
― Savannah Smiles, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:53 (fifteen years ago) link
Same with Sandy Shaw.
― I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE UP TO (Colonel Poo), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:54 (fifteen years ago) link
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. (!!?!?) :)
― Ludo, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:55 (fifteen years ago) link
I thought penguins were as tall as humans until that march of the penguins movie
― I CRIED (G00blar), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 10:56 (fifteen years ago) link
"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...
― Nate Carson, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 12:10 (fifteen years ago) link
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
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
― With a little bit of gold and a Peja (bernard snowy), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 12:23 (fifteen years ago) link
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
― The Slash My Father Wrote (DJ Mencap), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 12:34 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Huey in Bristol (Huey in Melbourne), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 12:56 (fifteen years ago) link
Ismael, at the age of 32, is shocked to learn the same thing. This thread is getting embarrassing
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 12:57 (fifteen years ago) link
WAT! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flea_circus
― Øystein, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 12:59 (fifteen years ago) link
I thought penguins were as tall as humans until that march of the penguins movieone of my friends thought this and it was since passed into running joke territory
one of my friends thought this and it was since passed into running joke territory
no but seriously, what is this about?
― negotiable, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:01 (fifteen years ago) link
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
― negotiable, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:03 (fifteen years ago) link
u could still play tag w/it tho
― SNAKES! (ice crӕm), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:04 (fifteen years ago) link
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!
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:07 (fifteen years ago) link
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, 12 November 2008 13:08 (fifteen years ago) link
aw no-one said 'where babies come from'
― Cittaslow Mazza (blueski), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:14 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Sugar hiccup, Makes a pig soar and swoon (Pillbox), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:16 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― NotEnough, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:39 (fifteen years ago) link
^ 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)
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:40 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― invisible jet (wanko ergo sum), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:42 (fifteen years ago) link
but why would anyone then automatically think okay here's a bird i could play tag with
haha
― Ant Attack.. (Ste), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 13:57 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― rent, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:00 (fifteen years ago) link
i like to tag birds. (runs)
― Sugar hiccup, Makes a pig soar and swoon (Pillbox), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:01 (fifteen years ago) link
There's a penguin here and he wants to say "you didn't touch me ner ner ner"
― Mark G, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:12 (fifteen years ago) link
I thought penguins went "weh weh weh"
― ╓abies, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:14 (fifteen years ago) link
― 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
― a country packed with ponies (sunny successor), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:42 (fifteen years ago) link
I was about 35 when I figured out Open Sesame = Open Says Me.
― Rotgutt, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:44 (fifteen years ago) link
i used to think HAZCHEM was a foreign word for danger like Achtung
― Cittaslow Mazza (blueski), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 14:45 (fifteen years ago) link
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")
― homosexual II, Wednesday, 12 November 2008 15:03 (fifteen years ago) link
ooh i like that
― Ant Attack.. (Ste), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 15:07 (fifteen years ago) link
lol mandee those are even better
― Uncle Shavedlongcock (max), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 15:22 (fifteen years ago) link
Nothing, as I'm not shockingly old.
― Eric H., Wednesday, 12 November 2008 15:23 (fifteen years ago) link
Misheard lyrics are always better. The singer of my old band had this (intentionally) corny line that went "sleep all day til the telephone ring / head to the bar and shake that thing", the latter half of which I always thought was "head to the barber and shave that thing".
― monkey bonkers (╓abies), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 15:28 (fifteen years ago) link
My friend always thought that Op Ivy song Take Warning went "skate boarding", which is way better.
― monkey bonkers (╓abies), Wednesday, 12 November 2008 15:30 (fifteen years ago) link
Was it one of those “buckle up bitches, I’m blasting truth at you!” type tweet storms?
― O 'Tis Redding (Boring, Maryland), Saturday, 21 September 2024 17:05 (six days ago) link
a little bit yeah heh, even if it was all wrong it was argued very well
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 21 September 2024 17:10 (six days ago) link
Last names predate capitalism by a number of centuries.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Saturday, 21 September 2024 17:12 (six days ago) link
Or are you thinking of enclosure? Those are two different events.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Saturday, 21 September 2024 17:13 (six days ago) link
I am thinking of enclosure; I think this person was arguing that it was a kind of proto-capitalism (though I may have made that up in my head)
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 21 September 2024 17:32 (six days ago) link
ever wonder the meaning of your last name? because it’s probly “oppression,” use that one instead.
― well below the otm mendoza line (Hunt3r), Saturday, 21 September 2024 17:37 (six days ago) link
mine’s Dicks
― she started dancing to that (Finefinemusic), Saturday, 21 September 2024 23:42 (six days ago) link
Sri Lanka is not south of the equator.
― O 'Tis Redding (Boring, Maryland), Sunday, 22 September 2024 04:14 (five days ago) link
sports bras were originally made from two jockstraps stuck together
peak "tell me you're a butch without telling me you're a butch"
― Kate (rushomancy), Sunday, 22 September 2024 15:57 (five days ago) link
Conkers ward off spiders.
― bored by endless ecstasy (anagram), Monday, 23 September 2024 12:32 (four days ago) link
citation needed
― a mysterious, repulsive form of energy that permeates the universe (ledge), Monday, 23 September 2024 12:36 (four days ago) link
I've heard of that.
― pisspoor bung probe prog (Tom D.), Monday, 23 September 2024 12:54 (four days ago) link
i only know waht conkers are because my kids watched the show kipper-- and i had horse chestnut trees in my yard growing up so i knew what they are, just unknown term to me
― well below the otm mendoza line (Hunt3r), Monday, 23 September 2024 15:18 (four days ago) link
correction "tree"
― well below the otm mendoza line (Hunt3r), Monday, 23 September 2024 15:19 (four days ago) link
i just realized i've never listened to the actual original version of the Minutemen's "Double Nickels on the Dime"!
― Western® with Bacon Flavor, Tuesday, 24 September 2024 19:40 (three days ago) link
dunedin is just a translated edinburgh
― tuah dé danann (darraghmac), Tuesday, 24 September 2024 20:54 (three days ago) link
i was in my late 40s i think when it occurred to me that the word written as "epitome" & the one said like "epitomy" were the same word. i guess this must mean that i never tried to write this word anywhere, nor read a passage containing it out loud.
― this train don't carry no wankers (doo rag), Tuesday, 24 September 2024 23:55 (three days ago) link
Epitome seems like a word used far more in spoken language as an intensifier (similar to "literally") and not nearly as frequently in writing.
― Theracane Gratifaction (bendy), Wednesday, 25 September 2024 14:55 (two days ago) link
was at a wedding for a good a friend years ago and his best man/brother gave a toast and pronounced it eppy-tomb.
― dan selzer, Wednesday, 25 September 2024 15:13 (two days ago) link
A repository for used medical pens?
― Stevo, Wednesday, 25 September 2024 15:38 (two days ago) link
Last resting place for a duelling sword?
― Stevo, Wednesday, 25 September 2024 15:44 (two days ago) link
I’m sure I have related this before but I was convinced there was a separate word “misled” that was pronounced “mizzled” and it meant pretty much the same thing as the correctly pronounced word except with a tinge of harried frustration about it
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 25 September 2024 16:26 (two days ago) link
apart from epitome (also same as above) my example of the above (isnt there a term for a word you can use perfectly correctly but pronounce incorectly apart from "snobbery"?) is 'awry' which i pronounced awry for years until i heard it pronounced awry at which point the penny dropped
― tuah dé danann (darraghmac), Wednesday, 25 September 2024 16:32 (two days ago) link
I don't know about you.but if I can't find an acute accent,it's going to sound like epee to me.
― Stevo, Wednesday, 25 September 2024 17:13 (two days ago) link
I love these kinds of stories. For awhile as young i thought awry was a weird word of it’s own unrelated to a-wry. As a kid my word proficient dad didn’t realize facade was like, façade, he just didn’t get it.
― well below the otm mendoza line (Hunt3r), Wednesday, 25 September 2024 18:54 (two days ago) link
Not when he was a kid, i meant he told me when I was a kid.
― well below the otm mendoza line (Hunt3r), Wednesday, 25 September 2024 18:55 (two days ago) link
― Stevo, Wednesday, September 25, 2024 10:38 AM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Stevo, Wednesday, September 25, 2024 10:44 AM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
Are you Will Shortz?
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 25 September 2024 22:01 (two days ago) link
my version of this is "behemoth," which i'm pretty sure i first encountered on a magic: the gathering card and which i pronounced and stressed similarly to Beowulf, i.e., BAY-uh-moth
― budo jeru, Wednesday, 25 September 2024 22:05 (two days ago) link
When I was a kid I encountered the "that door is a jar" word puzzle before I knew what "ajar" meant and I was so terribly confused
― Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 25 September 2024 22:14 (two days ago) link
A kid on the playground once told me a joke
Q: What do you call a herd of cows masturbating?A: Beef Strokin-Off
Except I didn't know what 'masturbating' meant so I just laughed like I 'got it'
― Andy the Grasshopper, Wednesday, 25 September 2024 22:18 (two days ago) link
I worked as a valet parker in hs in the early 80s and i cannot remember which car brand but it always announced “your door is ajar” ad foreverr it was infuriatingly persistent.
― well below the otm mendoza line (Hunt3r), Wednesday, 25 September 2024 22:20 (two days ago) link
I got into an argument around age 6 that the word curb was a mispronunciation of the word curve. I could not imagine there was actually a word “curb” that ended in a b nor that it referred to something with an obvious curve (a little elevated pavement connected to the road). I was wrong! I felt immense shame after that.
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Wednesday, 25 September 2024 23:16 (two days ago) link
I know someone whose first language is Spanish who consistently says "curve" when they mean "curb." They also talk about people "owning" them money.
― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Thursday, 26 September 2024 00:10 (yesterday) link
In "free stuff" posts on social media I see "curve alert" posts now and then.
― nickn, Thursday, 26 September 2024 00:20 (yesterday) link
Kind of a relief that at least my logic was good.
― Piggy Lepton (La Lechera), Thursday, 26 September 2024 00:58 (yesterday) link
Ditto for awry!
― bert newtown, Thursday, 26 September 2024 02:05 (yesterday) link
I try to kerb my enthusiasm, which definitely keeps it damped. Lightly moist really.https://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/2020/05/curb-kerb.html?m=1english is ridiculous
― well below the otm mendoza line (Hunt3r), Thursday, 26 September 2024 13:58 (yesterday) link
During the first lecture of my MA the professor (a brilliant woman I was desperate to impress) asked the student sitting next to me to read a passage that contained the word 'gaol'. To my shock he pronounced it 'jail', not 'gaul'. It was a close one.
― Sam Weller, Thursday, 26 September 2024 14:12 (yesterday) link
yeah as a yank i love the existence of the spelling “gaol” it doesnt even look like a fucking word
― well below the otm mendoza line (Hunt3r), Thursday, 26 September 2024 14:29 (yesterday) link
squad gaols
― this train don't carry no wankers (doo rag), Thursday, 26 September 2024 19:03 (yesterday) link
nice
― tuah dé danann (darraghmac), Thursday, 26 September 2024 19:41 (yesterday) link
when i was young i thought there was a place called "yurip", which was a different place from the "europe" people wrote about in magazines and newspapers
― Kate (rushomancy), Thursday, 26 September 2024 19:45 (yesterday) link
it was only recently that I learned a charwoman was not a tea lady
― fetter, Thursday, 26 September 2024 20:00 (yesterday) link
I learned how to pronounce gaol from the Selling England By The Pound album, which had printed lyrics.
― nickn, Friday, 27 September 2024 00:15 (twenty-one hours ago) link
I've just realized that's Bryan Cranston playing the annoying neighbour in The King Of Queens.
― pisspoor bung probe prog (Tom D.), Friday, 27 September 2024 07:14 (fourteen hours ago) link