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Things you learn from Watching TV (light hearted)

(41 Posts)
62Granny Tue 09-Jun-26 20:42:05

Just watching Spring Watch (Tues), I never realised a whirligig was actually a real thing, I always thought it was an old fashioned word for a fairground ride.
Anybody else learnt something from the TV.

Alison333 Sun 14-Jun-26 17:40:24

Maggiemaybe

Whoops, posted too soon!

…And even on minimum wage, everyone can afford to eat breakfast in the caff, lunch in the pub and dinner in the bistro most days.

Yes, it's quite extraordinary, isn't it!

Alison333 Sun 14-Jun-26 18:06:18

In Eastenders, nobody seems to have a washing machine. Instead they get service washes from the launderette.

BoggledMind Sun 14-Jun-26 19:42:22

In Death In Paradise, Saint Marie appears to have the most efficient and successful police force in the world. Four cops and a Commissioner have a 100% crime solving rate between them, and manage to keep the communities safe.

I want to move there.

Mollygo Sun 14-Jun-26 20:05:20

BoggledMind

In Death In Paradise, Saint Marie appears to have the most efficient and successful police force in the world. Four cops and a Commissioner have a 100% crime solving rate between them, and manage to keep the communities safe.

I want to move there.

I agree, but the downside is that like Saint Mary Mead and Miss Marple, there’s an awful lot of murders.

AskAlice Sun 14-Jun-26 20:15:17

We had my DGS1 over the weekend and last night and this afternoon he watched Pointless and Tipping Point with us, just for a change from his XBox. He really enjoyed it, got a Pointless answer and was really enthusiastic about trying to answer the questions He'll be 10 in a couple of week's time.

What we learnt was that the younger generation can still enjoy doing something different, are not all social media-zombies and can bring something special to our lives - although not sure it will be the same when he turns into "Kevin the Teenager" in a few year's time!

WithNobsOnIt Sun 14-Jun-26 21:09:04

I thought a. Whirligig was some kind of cheap, children's chocolate bar.

Wyllow3 Sun 14-Jun-26 21:19:56

BoggledMind

In Death In Paradise, Saint Marie appears to have the most efficient and successful police force in the world. Four cops and a Commissioner have a 100% crime solving rate between them, and manage to keep the communities safe.

I want to move there.

I worked it out, one murder per episode for 16 series plus 15 Christmas specials = 143 murders over 16 years on a Caribbean Island. Approx 8.9 each year.

I hope the .9 are OK now.

BoggledMind Sun 14-Jun-26 21:23:29

@Wyllow3 😁

Grandma70s Sun 14-Jun-26 21:52:36

I learn a lot from programmes like University Challenge and nature programmes. I’m especially keen on history programmes, because although I passed O-level history many years ago, I feel I was badly taught, and anyway there isn’t time to cover much history at school.

Seabreeze Mon 15-Jun-26 14:33:39

Lucy Worsley does some very informative historical programmes. She makes it fun too.

Chocolatelovinggran Mon 15-Jun-26 15:05:30

I'm another Lucy Worsley fan, too, Seabreeze, and I have had to rethink some of the history which I learned years ago, in the light of her excellent analyses.

Cossy Mon 15-Jun-26 15:13:30

Marydoll

62Granny

Just watching Spring Watch (Tues), I never realised a whirligig was actually a real thing, I always thought it was an old fashioned word for a fairground ride.
Anybody else learnt something from the TV.

We call rotary dryers, whirligigs here. I have never heard it called anything else, well apart from the shortened version, whirlie, which is the usual term.

Is too. It’s the only thing I’ve ever called a whirligig

NotSpaghetti Mon 15-Jun-26 16:14:44

I prefer Mary Beard to Lucy Worsley who my husband and I both find pretty annoying. Her TV seems rather thin.
I have found out a lot via Mary Beard though.

Chocolatelovinggran Mon 15-Jun-26 17:25:35

Mary Beard, too, NotSpaghetti, but she usually covers a different period in time.

pennyg Thu 18-Jun-26 21:03:54

Mollygo learned how to remove gloves by watching The Sullivans, I learned how to fold paired socks from Dot Cotton in the launderette!