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What did you discover relatively late on in life that everyone else had known for years?

(193 Posts)
SirChenjin Sun 01-Dec-19 19:53:23

Come and confess at the Alter of How Did I Not Know This - no judgments made here! grin

1. I didn’t know that the Earth was tilted on its axis - I thought we just moved further away from the sun in winter and closer in summer, which of course makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

2. I thought gravity was a sort of magnetic force emanating the centre of the Earth that pulled every downwards.

3. I was fascinated to learn that Brazil nuts are actually seeds (that doesn’t make me sound quite so daft as the first two blush)

tiredoldwoman Mon 02-Dec-19 09:59:42

My father was Polish . At Good King Wenceslas he used to exchange the words to ' bring me vodka, bring me wine , bring me Polish sausage ' . I was in the school choir and used to sing it heartily , even to this day I don't know the real words .

shysal Mon 02-Dec-19 10:17:23

For those who haven't seen this on previous threads. The push-in holes in the ends of foil and clingfilm boxes are to hold the roll in place when dispensing the contents. I learnt this on a Youtube video of useful hacks.

Auntieflo Mon 02-Dec-19 10:27:57

I used to think Neil Diamond sang 'Reverend Blue Jeans', instead of Forever in Blue Jeans.

cangran Mon 02-Dec-19 10:33:04

I didn’t know that not everybody in Britain (I am Canadian) has Christmas tea consisting of many jellies and blamanches as husband (English) said until our future son-in-law looked at the table full of wobbly stuff and said ‘This is surreal’. There’s been a few changes since then!

Ginny42 Mon 02-Dec-19 10:33:22

Anyone remember Terry Wogan introducing Kenny Roger's song, 'You picked a fine time to leave me loose heel(Lucille)'?

Cotswoldslass Mon 02-Dec-19 10:36:52

Whilst chatting to a friend last summer about the lovely selection of gins on offer nowadays I mentioned that I like a g & t with lots of ice but it does get diluted as I don't drink very quickly. She asked me why don't I cut citrus fruit into slices and freeze then, they are then popped into the drink and keep it cool, add a flavour and don't dilute! Never heard of this before - where have I been living??!! Sounds simple but it has revolutionised my g & t habits!!

Jeanlizzie Mon 02-Dec-19 10:39:46

Maggiemaybe who did The Stranglers lay down with?

whywhywhy Mon 02-Dec-19 10:40:02

That "some" men just cannot be trusted and will never change! I have a lovely husband now but I was so naive when young and yet plenty of people seemed to suss out these blokes long before me.

Happygirl79 Mon 02-Dec-19 10:41:04

I am 66 and that's a new one on me
Thank you

MarciaB Mon 02-Dec-19 10:42:48

That oxo cubes were designed so that they could be crumbled in their foil without making a mess!

schnackie Mon 02-Dec-19 10:48:09

I was so naive that I never realised in the Led Zepplin song "Whole Lotta Love", when they say "gonna give you every inch of my love" that it was a very unsubtle penis reference, until my husband explained it when I was about 35. blush

Framilode Mon 02-Dec-19 10:48:49

That loofahs are not from under the sea but grow on a climbing plant and look like cucumbers. The loofah bit is the inside with the seeds in which is dried in the sun.

endlessstrife Mon 02-Dec-19 10:48:52

PageTurner I only just found that out too! Shows how often I put petrol in the car!

Framilode Mon 02-Dec-19 10:51:09

I always thought the music 'Guadalajara' was 'Once in a Meadow'.

Scottiebear Mon 02-Dec-19 10:51:37

I was in my late 30s before I realised that lots of ladies have to shave. Neither of my sisters or my mother had to shave, despite the fact that whilst one sister and myself are fair, my other sister and mother were dark haired. I suppose back that many years ago women didn't discuss the matter.

frankie74 Mon 02-Dec-19 11:01:21

@ shysal...."I heard Tomasz Shafernaker the weather man saying on TV that until a film shoot he went on in Wales, he hadn't known that lambs were baby sheep!!!"

I do like his name, and am sure that his name actually does derive from a word for "sheep".... perhaps it means "sheep-field"

Cabbie21 Mon 02-Dec-19 11:04:18

I am still learning all sorts of things, not least, how to be less frugal.
Having grown up in a family with not much money post war, and having brought up my own family on little money, many things just did not enter my life or my thinking. Even now, I still look for bargains, and value for money, even though it is not so scarce.

FC61 Mon 02-Dec-19 11:11:43

I didn’t know until last year the Scottish English border was diagonal southwest to northeast! In my mind it was straight east west. I’m half Scottish half English and I’m amazed I’ve never noticed when driving north ! blush

winterwhite Mon 02-Dec-19 11:14:32

After 25 years of making Christmas cakes I was amazed to learn that marzipan can be bought in shops.

Wilma65 Mon 02-Dec-19 11:18:08

How does gravity work then?

SirChenjin Mon 02-Dec-19 11:22:28

This is a good explanation of gravity (apologies for the basic level but it’s set at the level my brain can grasp) www.physics4kids.com/files/motion_gravity.html

I thought there was something like a big magnet right at the centre of the Earth but it turns out every object pulls on other objects to a greater or lesser degree, depending on its mass. I genuinely had no idea (which is probably why I failed O Grade physics)

00mam00 Mon 02-Dec-19 11:31:03

I only discovered when we traded our last car in that it had a place in the boot to plug in the cool box. I spent years moaning about leads trailing through the car from the cigarette lighter.

As a teenager I didn’t know that Australia had summer when we had winter. In my 20s I found out what ‘phallic symbol’ meant.

There are many things I am discovering now that I hadn’t thought of before, so still not too old at 73 to learn new tricks. Can’t think of any right now.

mauraB Mon 02-Dec-19 11:48:11

A seasonal one! I always thought that the three kings were 'Vory and Tar' meaning Very noble and black. I still think of them like that.

grandmaz Mon 02-Dec-19 11:51:31

I had my beloved old Peugeot 306 for twenty years ...as I was showing it to the chap who ended up buying it - he did something to the rear wiper control which made it squirt water up to clean the rear windscreen. I had no idea! blush

Truffle1 Mon 02-Dec-19 12:06:13

How about this one then - it wasn't until my mid 20s that I learned that suspender belts fastened at the back, not the side like my skirts. I had been using one for years and used to complain bitterly about the strap adjuster being right under my bum when i sat down!! - painful!