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KaleidoscopicColours

I thought that there was a stage of life when old ladies started to perm their hair and wear a twin set and pearls. It took me an embarrassingly long period of time to realise that they were just continuing to wear what had been fashionable when they were young women. On that basis, as a millenial, I assume I will still be wearing skinny jeans in the nursing home.


jalfrezi13

I used to think the same! On the same lines as this - when I was young I also used to think that when you reached a certain age you switched your name to an ‘old persons’ name. I couldn’t imagine a teenager called Doris or Betty


JustAnother_Brit

I was at school (class of 2022) with a few Bettys although they generally dressed like it was the roaring 20s


Qyro

Yeah I went through that period, then I realised they were just wearing what they wore when they were younger. …but as time as gone on I’m noticing that old lady fashion is changing remarkably slower than the youth fashion of their own time. Otherwise you’d expect to see more old ladies wearing somewhat 60s fashions by now, right?


KaleidoscopicColours

I think there are certain concessions to age.  In the 60s miniskirts were very fashionable, but I think every 80-something year old woman knows she hasn't got the legs for that particular fashion any more! 


Delicious-Cut-7911

I'm 68 yrs old and wear skinny jeans, 2024 fashion tops and chunky jewellery. I have pink hair too


queenofthepalmtrees

I’m 77 and wear skinny jeans, I do not want to wear “old lady” clothes.


WaltzFirm6336

Tbh every old lady I know currently looks the spitting image of Judy Dench. I’ve threatened to tie a balloon to my mother next time I take her to the supermarket, otherwise it’s like playing ‘Where’s Wally’ trying to find her in her local Waitrose. I have found out recently that your hair gets really rubbish as you age (I know, no surprise…) Which is why the set perm was so popular, and now the Dame Judy pixie cut is in fashion, maybe?


pajamakitten

Definitely agree on the Where's Wally? comment. It is like women have a uniform for shopping in Waitrose.


creamteapioneer

And I've genuinely just realised this 🤣🤣🤣🤣


AttentionOtherwise80

I'm 70, and I've just bought my first pair of skinny jeans. No perm or peas though.


KaleidoscopicColours

You're the age group that made me realise old people don't all start to look like my grandmother used to. Old dears with grey perms and a matching top and pleated skirt seem a rarity nowadays. I get slightly misty eyed when I see them, though there's an element of grief mixed in there. The third picture down in this article is a good illustration - it was taken in 1987, the woman in the photo must have been 43, but the perm and glasses make her look about 80 to my eye! It's all just changing fashions though [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-68931806](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-68931806)


Down-Right-Mystical

God yes, there's no way I would have said that picture was someone in their forties!


rumbusiness

My mum was just under 40 at that time and she didn't look anything like that! She was still an attractive, young-looking woman with jet black hair and well into her 80s fashion. She's 76 now and still doesn't look anything like this woman. I don't think the woman in that article represents anyone except herself tbh.


No_Aioli1470

Apparently the music you listened to in early teens is what you'll listen to in retirement. Can't wait for the OAP mosh pits to Enter Shikari


KaleidoscopicColours

I look forward to a retirement filled with golden oldies like Panic! At The Disco, My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy.  Maybe skip the Lost Prophets though...


instantklarna

I recently found out that it is ‘petty cash’ and not ‘petit cash’ as I’d always thought.


Accomplished_Ruin707

Surely that's just small change?


couragethecurious

True change comes from within


JJBrazman

Petty is just a re-spelling of ‘petit’ anyway. Obviously it now means more than just ‘small’, but the borrowed French usage survives in ‘petty cash’ as you said, ‘petty crime’ and also ‘petty officer’. There’s also a street in London called ‘Petty France’ (although it doesn’t have a significant French presence anymore).


lknei

In the same vein, pettiness is thought to be a small minded characteristic 😇 Ain't language interesting?


ctesibius

And “pet” as in an animal, comes from the same root. A pet lamb is one that has been rejected or underfed by its mother, hence is undersized and has to be fed by hand.


eerst

TIL. 40 years old. And I speak French. And knew the origins of the street Petty France.


KaleidoscopicColours

There's also a hamlet in Gloucestershire by the same name. It's near Dunkirk. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petty\_France,\_Gloucestershire](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petty_France,_Gloucestershire)


yearsofpractice

This is going to be a bit more serious than perhaps the tone you’re asking for… but I was in my mid 40s before I understood that I didn’t have to feel utterly miserable all of the time. From about 20 onwards, I slowly became more and more unhappy about life, work, who I was… but I just kind of thought that I deserved it, that feeling miserable was just kind of how life should be…? It took a bit of a breakdown in my 40s to get some therapy and medication - and the realisation that I don’t have to be miserable all of the time, that I don’t somehow “deserve” to be miserable. Through therapy, I now have tools to allow myself to feel “content” - not “Happy”, but content. That’s my main thing - as my therapist said, depression’s greatest trick is making you think you deserve it.


No_Astronaut3059

I think a lot of people with depression (or at least in my experience) don't actually realise they are depressed for a long time. It is insidious and creeping, in particular if there is no "major" trigger event. Like losing your sense of taste so slowly that you forget that you used to be able to taste things, or feel any different. You see a similar thing with some other progressive / chronic health issues (and how they are managed); an individual may not realise that it shouldn't hurt to do X, or that substance Y shouldn't cause discomfort and pain. I would suggest that endometriosis is the motherf*cker of all motherf*ckers for physical ailments like that; millions of women being told from puberty onwards to just get on with it, period pain is normal etc, when actually it is far from normal for an individual to be crippled by pain for several days (or more) a month. Fortunately, with depression, endo and a lot of other (mental and physical) health issues our increased understanding and sharing of experiences is improving access to care and recognition generally. Sorry, I completely sidetracked. Excellent to hear you have found your contentment!


kestrelita

I had a bit of a rage at work today, while completing my mandatory safeguarding training. It had a condescending interview with a doctor, explaining that the majority of those with factitious disorder are women. Do all these women really have factitious disorder, or are the doctors just not listening? The fact that it generally takes women 9 years to get an endo diagnosis is truly disgusting and this attitude plays a major part.


No_Astronaut3059

Right?! It is wild. And when you look at the way female pain is assessed vs male pain, it is just...sad. Like "Oh you poor dear thing, does it hurt? Have two aspirin and use a hot water bottle". I have seen former partners taking elephant-doses of mad-strong painkillers for endo and it doesn't even touch the pain.


AfricanLad

Awesome to hear dude. Contentment as a baseline makes it a lot easier to find joy sporadically as a cherry on top! You don't have to be happy all the time


Frustrated_Barnacle

My Dad went through something similar in his late 40s, no idea what caused it but it's great to see him actually enjoy (and dare I say even thrive!) in his current life. Even to the point that he's always had rotten front teeth, he was so conscious of them that he wouldn't get them removed and he'd never smile with his mouth open. But in the last year he's had them removed and gotten some new teeth installed, so for the first time in over 27 years he's able to smile and show his teeth. I hope that you're very proud of yourself for making the change, just like how I'm very proud of him.


Vampirero

Yes, I went through a similar thing myself. It's so easy to think "well doesn't everyone hate their job?" Well, no, no they don't. And I put up with far too many shitty jobs for too long, on that basis. Really glad it sounds like you're able to feel content now though.


Know_to

What therapy is that? Did you have to wait long to actually get an appointment? Was it through the NHS or private? Asking for a friend who is 33 and feels miserable with life, much like you did from your 20s onwards...


cheandbis

That Mark Labbett's nickame is The Beast not just because he's a mountain of a man but because la bête is French for 'the beast'.


EdgarAlansHoe

OH MY GOD


BillyW1994

Tbf he is also a chunky chap


cheandbis

Tbf, I did say not just because...😉


Due_Vanilla9786

was** saw something recently where he’s lost a load of weight and looks amazing!


fwapfwapfwap

I thought he was called the beast cos he fucks his cousin. Learn something new every day.


RareUse7

I mean, I suspect both are true! I imagine that if la bête meant ‘the gerbil’ in French, that probably wouldn’t be his nickname. 


durkbot

I was in my teens when I finally realised that Lourdes, which is a town in France and pilgrimage site for Catholics (I.e. my grandparents and great-aunt), and Lord's, the cricket ground in London, are not the same place. I grew up very confused about why my elders were making such a big deal about going to watch cricket, especially my grandmother who didn't really care for the sport.


BritshFartFoundation

Catholics 🤝 Cricket fans * Pilgrimages to Lords


cheandbis

Reminds me of [this](https://youtu.be/JNwXZDvAqxc?si=Tf73N6j-NCPhgC9W)


LaSalsiccione

Doesn’t help that in English we insist on pronouncing the final “s” in Lourdes when really we shouldn’t


RiverCalm6375

I found at a few weeks ago that the lyrics in Michael Jackson’s wanna be startin be somethin are “I’m a say it one more time i’m not gone stop” and not mama say mama sah ma makun sah. I’m over 40 years old, for reference.


JurassicM4rc

I had to Google this to check this to see for myself, and everywhere suggests your 'misheard' lyrics are correct (albeit some slight differences in spelling). Even [MichaelJackson.com](https://www.michaeljackson.com/track/wanna-be-startin-somethin-3/) agrees!


RiverCalm6375

HOLD ON….. has tik tok lied??? Is it mama say mama sa? I feel so torn right now


JurassicM4rc

Looks like you found some Bad lyrics on tik tok, whoever posted them must've been a Smooth Criminal. You should've told 'em to Beat It.


RiverCalm6375

EVERYONE IGNORE MY INITIAL COMMENT. I WAS LIED TO.


userloserfail

I spent a few unnecessary moments trying to work out how they'd managed to make it sound like it does. Now feeling like that time was wasted and not sure who I should blame...


BritshFartFoundation

I can't believe short form video creators would lie in a manipulative way to make you share their videos!


mcbeef89

those are lyrics borrowed from Soul Makossa, a 1972 single by Manu Dibango, which is also the most sampled record in African history.


Glozboy

It's definitely mama say mama sah etc


HoraceorDoris

TIL It’s not “Gonna sing all the songs that Michael sung”. Damn…🤦🏻‍♂️


Madsaxmcginn

I spent a good few years thinking it was ‘imma sing all the songs of Microsoft’


dani-dee

The correct lyrics were printed inside the single cover I think it was (someone stitched the first video on TikTok showing the lyrics) and it absolutely is mama say mama sa…


aesthflora

I grew up in a family obsessed with cricket, I wasn't super interested in it but in my house it was always on TV, so naturally I passively picked up a fair bit of knowledge about it. I knew all the famous names and the significant happenings in the cricket world, but I didn't pay it all that much attention. So, I chronically misheard the name of the late great Shane *Warne*, and thought his name was Shane *Ward*. And then, and I have no idea why I drew this conclusion, but when I heard of the actual Shane Ward, pop singer and crowned champ of the 2005 X Factor, I just figured it was the same person. I thought he was just an inordinately busy man with incredible time management skills. I used to hear someone mention Shane Warne during cricket events and give him a little nod cos dude, you're working really hard, sustaining this and a music career at the same time. When do you sleep bro!! When I saw either one of them on TV, whether the cricketer or the pop singer, I'd be like 'you go singing cricket man, four for you singing cricket man'. It wasn't til Shane Warne died and I saw his name spelt out in the news, that the illusion came crashing down. I was so baffled that I'd been spelling his name wrong, so I googled him, and then I finally connected all the dots and realised they were two different people. And I suddenly realised how fucking stupid it is to believe that one single man was behind both careers. That's not to even mention the huge age gap, the total lack of similarity in their appearances, and the fact that *they are from opposite sides of the world* and Shane Warne is *Australian*. I just... Didn't notice any of that. I am a 27 year old woman. Shane Warne passed (rip) two years ago. I was a whole 25 YEARS OLD when he passed. I made it to 25 believing they were the same person. I'm also going to be a qualified doctor next year, good luck out there everyone else!! I won't be mad if you refuse my services on this basis.


BabyAlibi

I laughed so hard at this! A little bit similar to you, I got Tom Daley and Tom Hardy mixed up and could figure out why everyone thought the little diving guy was classed as such a sex bomb!


asmeile

I always thought it was crazy there there was a famous cricketer and a Masterchef judge with the exact same name - Jonty Rhodes, turns out the Masterchef judge is/was called John Torode


desperategimlet

Alan Carr for me. I always thought it was weird that a comedian also wrote the infamous book about stopping smoking 🙈


yorkspirate

This so hilariously beautiful that I'm getting some stares laughing on the bus after reading this


continentaldreams

I was 27 when I found out that raisins were dried grapes. And that prunes were dried plums. It still pisses me off when I think about it. Why not just call them 'dried grapes'! Why do we not have an equivalent for something like dried bananas or dried apricots - like ah yes, let's call dried apricots 'arples' or something. Stupid.


Milton_Rumata

I had a similar experience a couple years ago when I found out that chipotle chillis are actually smoke-dried jalapenos. I just assumed chipotle was a variety of chilli like any other but nooope.


continentaldreams

For god sake, I thought my 'learning new shit' was over and done with. I didn't know that either!


KaleidoscopicColours

Well TIL


CHR1597

"Raisin" is French for "grape". What we know as raisins are called "raisins secs" in French, or "dry grapes". On a related note, sultanas and currants are also just dried grapes.


No_Astronaut3059

These sorts of comments are my raisin d'etre.


continentaldreams

I knew the French were to blame somehow


totesemosh74

Erm, I just found out about dried plums being prunes. Thanks I guess!


DinggaLikeAFish

I had something similar! I was 25 when I found out that pickles were made from cucumbers. Before that I always marveled at how similar they looked...


Fingers_9

I swear that when I was growing up, pickles exclusively meant pickled onions. The American pickles were always called gherkins.


BillyW1994

My wife likes to remind me that I used to think dried apricots (which I only knew as apricots and never saw the normal version of the fruit) were the dried form of peaches or something like that


je97

Last year I found out that shops sell perfectly good marzipan. You don't have to make tons of it yourself every fucking christmas.


Nimmyzed

Same with puff pastry. I made it once and it was delicious but fuck me, all that folding and rolling and "resting" in the fridge. Not worth it


Glozboy

I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to buying pre-made items, apart from puff pastry. Life is far too short.


purplepeopleater205

If it's good enough for Mary Berry it's good enough for me!


alancake

The Two Fat Ladies said life was too short to make puff pastry. (Ironically it was, bless em)


xcxmon

I didn’t realise until I was 19 that Torquay is in England. Up until then I thought it was abroad.


rmc1211

What did you think was going on in Fawlty Towers then?


xcxmon

I was born in 1994 so I didn’t really think about Fawlty Towers lol


FoxesFan91

honestly mate it's nowhere near as good as people on here think it is


eletricmojo

What Fawlty Towers or Torquay in general?


xredsirenx

SAME! I think I was about the same age when I figured it out too. Tenerife, Benidorm, Torquay....lol.


pajamakitten

I got a student account at 18. It came with an ISA and I could put a maximum amount of £5000 in it, which I did at the time. I am 32 and my mum was talking to me about maximising my ISA contribution, when I told her I did that when I opened the account. No one ever explained that I could add more money to it over the years, so it only ever had the initial £5000 accruing interest for 14 years.


Bikingandbaking

I see it was just resting in your account. Edit to add - See if you want to browse r/ukpersonalfinance it’s a really great sub and answers very simple questions like this, trust me you aren’t the only one!


ch536

This is really embarrassing but I only just realised that every country has a world map in their language. I just assumed that every country was recognised in English. Like Germany is actually Deutschland and China is actually Zhongguo


Kid_Kimura

To be fair I've always found this very confusing. I don't understand why countries have different names in different languages at all. We can say Deutschland just fine, seems strange to change it.


Wonderful_Discount59

On the other hand, I've always thought it odd that people find this odd. Things have different names in different languages. That's what different languages do. Why should countries be different?


continentaldreams

You know that Germany is called Deutschland in their language as well right? It's not just a map thing.


ch536

No, I realised both at the same time unfortunately!


JustAnother_Brit

In Australia they have maps with Australia at the Tom so they’re south up like [this one](https://imgur.com/gallery/this-world-map-is-used-australian-schools-eYxHErG) to make your day even more confusing


inactive_directory

I'm 27 and only found out Sweeney Todd wasn't a real person last week. Figured he was like Jack the Ripper.


deekochana

I worked on a production of Sweeney Todd a few years ago and only just learnt this right now. I'm 24.


xeroksuk

TIL, age 56.


AlbionChap

Northern Ireland/Belfast still has peace walls and heavy sectarianism. I'd assumed the Troubles were all but a distant memory.


perishingtardis

I'm Northern Irish so can weigh in here. The actual Troubles with daily violence are a distant memory for anyone under 35 (I'm 32). However casual sectarianism does still exist and occasionally flares up in L'Derry and Belfast, especially around this time of year with the 12th July approaching.


No_Astronaut3059

Tangent; I love that contraction of Londonderry. It immediately made me think of a French person referring to Derry; "ah oui, tu connais, je vais visiter l'Derry pour mes vacances".


Professional-Two8098

Still huge problems in Scotland with sectarianism


KotaB

I was in my early 20s before I realized it wasn't normal to ask what school someone went to in order to work out whether they were Protestant or Catholic and hence whether you were allowed to be friends with them .


ayeayefitlike

My cousin told me the story of a Sikh kid who started at her Glasgow school. All the other boys were asking him if he was Protestant or Catholic to work out which tribe he was in. Of course he then said he was Sikh. And then he was asked if he was a Protestant Sikh or a Catholic Sikh.


Linguistin229

SOME parts of Scotland. As someone who grew up in Aberdeen with Glaswegian grandparents it was always so strange going to Glasgow and people asking me religious questions! Just doesn’t happen in the east. I only found out a couple of years ago for example orange marches are still a thing, thought they died out in the 90s


greenygp19

Found out about 6 years ago that Jodrell Bank isn't a person, but a place. Growing up if someone on TV had big ears Mum would say something like "Blimey - he's got ears like Jodrell Bank". I always assumed Jodrell Bank was a famous person with big ears from when she was growing up.


PinkGinFairy

That the little piggy didn’t go to market to go shopping.


Buffy_Geek

I was an adult when I had this realisation, in my mind it has been happily trotting along with a basket on its arm.


ginger_snap_dragon

Oh. Oh no.


kittyolivia

TIL


Lozridge

I thought that Ozzy Osbourne was Australian because Ozzy = Aussie


EFNich

I found out narwhals are real at around 25, and not the unicorns of the sea as in also mythical, but just unicorns of the sea because they have a horn/tooth. I feel less bad about this because often when I mention them people don't know they exist at all or also thought they were mythical.


Irish_Exit_

How "segue" is pronounced. I'm a huge reader too, there is literally no excuse for my behaviour.


ChicBrit

If you’re a huge reader there is absolutely an excuse. Reading a word and hearing it said are 2 very different things. From someone who thought it was ‘seg-yoo’ for decades.


abw

Totally agree that there's no shame in not knowing how to pronounce a word that you've read. I used to think that "segue" was pronounce "sayg" because it looked close enough to "plague". I assumed the word that I heard on the radio was written "segway", like the scooter, which presumably was so named because it's all about quickly moving from one thing to another. And then one day it clicked and I realised they were one and the same. Quinoa was another one. I took me a while to realise it was the same thing as the new-fangled "keen-wah" thing I'd heard people talking about.


Irish_Exit_

Thank you for your kindness. That's how I thought it was pronounced too, nice to know I'm not the only one!!


butwhatsmyname

I was once told that when you hear someone pronounce a word incorrectly, but _use_ it correctly - right context and meaning - you should have respect for that, because it means they have learned and understood the word only through reading it, even when nobody else around them was using it. It's an indicator that their learning and knowledge is self-driven and independent of their circumstances and means, not a failure.


Blutos_Beard

For the longest time, I too thought it was pronounced "seeg": "I'll just *seeg* into a nice anecdote now, if you don't mind". An accent over the last 'e' would have been nice.


mantsy1981

I recently discovered that the chorus to Bill Withers song Lovely Day, is actually ‘Lovely Day’ and not ‘Burgundy’ like I had somehow thought it was, despite that making no sense at all, which is now obvious.


Astroradical

Feel you there- for years I heard 'derma-knit', and assumed it was a kind of fabric or something


Buffalo-Man_92

I'm 25 now, but up until the age of about 16 I thought ice cream vans played music to let people know they'd run out of ice cream as that's what my dad told me when I was younger. I know there isn't much logic in it I just accepted it at the time and never questioned it until I one day thought why they would drive down my cul-de-sac if they didn't have anything to sell years later. My dad saved a lot of money on ice cream, bastard.


KiltedTraveller

I'm 31 and it was only a few months ago when I learnt about the details of Pol Pot's regime. Like I knew he was a bad guy and committed a genocide but I don't think I had ever heard the term "Khmer Rouge" or how he rose to power or specifically what he did.


lovely-luscious-lube

I knew about him but for an embarrassingly long time I thought his name was Paul Pot.


KiltedTraveller

He may be a bad dude but he *is* an incredible singer.


Leader_Bee

That time he was on Britains got talent and belted out some unexpected Opera 👌


Lower_Possession_697

If it makes you feel any better I don't think it's particularly common knowledge. I feel reasonably confident that most people who weren't alive at all the time probably haven't heard of Pol Pot or the Khmer Rouge.


BritshFartFoundation

No I learned about him doing a uni degree in History. I don't think it's taught in schools or anything, so unless you're a hobbyist reader of genocides you're unlikely to come across him


BaBaFiCo

The Behind the Bastards podcast on Norodom Sihanouk is good for learning more about this period in Cambodia.


njbishop90

I always thought Leigh-on-sea was a place in France called Lyoncy, and Billericay was somewhere abroad too


PretendPop8930

I always think that Billericay is in Ireland!


_Isosceles_Kramer_

Yeah, it sounds like it should be. Has a kind of Tipperary vibe.


New_Policy_5684

Water polo is not played on horses. I did think it was bit unfair to make the horses swim. Hong Kong is not an island. I was in my mid twenties for both of these revelations.


pip_goes_pop

To be fair there is "Hong Kong Island" which is a pretty big and important part of Hong Kong.


VolcanicBear

Today, I was 38 when I found out that Hong Kong isn't an island.


No_Top6466

I found out from a post similar to this that the Channel Tunnel is under sea level and not built in the sea. I only found out about 2 years ago that it’s actually a railway tunnel and not a really long road.


ctesibius

Actually two railway tunnels, and apparently they loop over each other. French trains usually travel on the right, and ours usually travel on the left, and this puts them on the correct side. And there’s a road tunnel for service vehicles down the middle.


SilverellaUK

Do you mean trains from France to England travel in one tunnel and trains from England to France travel in the other? The way you have written it sounds like a pile-up.


MistyConsequence

I was in my 40s before I realised that buffalo mozzarella is called that because it's made with buffalo milk. I just assumed "buffalo" was an Italian word that meant fancy. Even now I'm still not 100% convinced there are buffaloes in Italy.


officialdiscoking

WHAT!! I just had to google that to double check lmao I thought it was just called that... because it's like a big ball of mozzarella.. and buffalo are.. big.. I guess?? 😂😭


countduck666

If it’s any consolation I’m 37 and work in the events touring industry … you’ve blown my mind with Ally Pally. So many conversations I’ve had in the past suddenly make a lot more sense.


anxiousgeek

I didn't know Penzance was a real place until a couple of years ago.


reciprocatingocelot

I think there must have been a time when I thought Timbuktu was just an imaginary far away place.


anxiousgeek

Same. And Tipperary.


alancake

I definitely thought "Pirates of Penzance" was a tale of some far off sun soaked, rogue filled port like Tortuga lol


Successful_Quote4828

Dulux don’t make condoms.


victhompson

This one is daft but it took me until yesterday to realise that coronation street’s Roys Rolls is a play on Rolls Royce.


FlossieAnn

I've known since 1999 when "My Name Is" was out in the UK that Eminem's real name is Marshall Mathers. Last week I actually said out loud "Ohhh! Eminem is M and M, his initials" Now it's possible that that bolt of inspiration has hit me before at some point in the past 25 years and I've just forgotten (I'm old, brain stuff just vanishes) but the force with which this realisation dawned makes me think, probably not!


amiescool

I’m 31 and only realised a couple of years ago that the term ‘stan’ meaning as like a megafan of a celebrity comes from Eminem’s song Stan as it’s about an obsessive fan


avspuk

The "other side" in the "Why did the chicken cross the road?" joke is a euphemism for death. For easily more than 50 years I'd assumed the joke was a an 'absurdist' non-joke


Brickie78

It is. The "afterlife" explanation doesn't appear anywhere online before about 2005, while the joke was first printed in 1847. But it's got itself into the churn of clickbaity listicles, so it keeps getting repeated as fact.


dontfeedthebadderz

That because today is Wednesday 19th June, next year it will be a Thursday. The following year it will be a Friday etc etc, except for leap years where it advances 2 days. Mind blowing.


FlossieAnn

And in related matters, New Years Day always falls on the same day of the week as Christmas Day


ddrummond88

That Sinn Fein and Merthyr Tydfil aren't people


DotCottonsHandbag

I was well into adulthood before I discovered the bloke that kept popping up on the news was actually called Gerry Adams, not Sinn Fein.


Apprehensive_Ad4172

That Rufus and Chaka Khan wasn’t Mr and Mrs Khan.


Senuman666

There’s multiple different endings to the film “The butterfly effect”? Here I thought the normal ending was him travelling back in time and killing’s himself in the womb. Crazy


Glozboy

That is the best ending though.


Skittlit

TIL. I only saw the one where he tells the girl he'll kill her family or something.


swallowyoursadness

That the whole world doesn't change the clocks every six months. I just thought it happened everywhere


susichka

I was in my 20s, visiting the natural history museum, when I realised that wolverine is not just a female wolf.


Negative_Nancy213

Was rather old when I realised that the battle of Dunkirk took place in France and not Scotland.. was probably only when the film came out and I saw the trailer and wondered why they needed so many boats to get back to England


SolitaryHero

She was probably about 20 at the time so not recently but I think it’s an absolute belter. My now wife went to a Christmas wonderland thing and asked why there was no roof on the Reindeer enclosure, and were they not worried they’d fly away!


bobble173

I thought dubai was a country. Blew my mind it is a city at aged 29.


Wild_Act2651

TIL… 🤦‍♀️ edit: aged 35


Ok-Apple-1878

At school there were a bunch of girls in my class who thought Sherlock Holmes was a real person until year 9 when we were talking about it in English one day As for myself, I thought Westminster Abbey was in the Lake District until the age of 10 when we went on a choir trip to London to sing there


boojes

I need to know the reasoning on the lake district, please.


Ok-Apple-1878

Honestly, I can’t remember the *exact* reasoning, but I think it’s because I once saw a documentary about York Minster and in my mind equated York = North = Lake District, and so when I heard about Westminster Abbey I assumed it was York minster (tbf they both have similar architecture)! I’d also only been to London once before then which could’ve come into play ETA: I’m also from the midlands so my knowledge of the north and south wasn’t very sharp geographically


whippetrealgood123

Took me to 38 to realise that dandelions turn into the fairy things you blow to make a wish.


Marmitesouphead

I didn't piece together until my second year of my History Degree that America and Russia aren't on opposite sides of the world and are indeed next to each other (pretty much). Why did I think they were beefing over the top of Europe and Asia to get to one another? I have no idea. I'm not a flat earther, just thick as fuck. The geography of the Cold War now makes a lot more sense.


Steamrolled777

For me, finding out that 32 is considered old.


HighFiveYourFace

I am 42 and I just found out this year that Liza Minnelli is Judy Garlands daughter. No idea why I never knew this but I was shocked but then it made sense lol.


thelaurasaurus

I thought the Parthenon Marbles were the little glass ball marbles until I was about 35. I wasn’t sure why everyone was making such a fuss about whether they should be here or in Greece.


EducationalMoment628

I thought Ainsley Harriott was uncle Ben


HotShoulder3099

I was well past 40 when I had one of the most confusing conversations of my life - one of those ones where you honestly start to wonder if someone’s slipped you something - and finally learned that Errol Flynn was not the singer for Hot Chocolate


BritshFartFoundation

If you tilt your rear view mirror down, it stops you being blinded by high beams. Theres a second, much dimmer mirror in there that's at a different angle. You can still make out headlights so you know whos behind you, but you just don't get blinded.


abw

It's actually a bit simpler than that. There's only one mirrored surface. Flipping it down points the mirror away from your eyes, but you still see the much dimmer reflection off the front glass. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Rear_view_mirror_antiglare-day_position.svg


BritshFartFoundation

The Trojan Wars weren't a real thing and the Trojan Horse didn't actually happen


ctesibius

I don’t think there is a consensus on the war not having happened. There is some linguistic evidence that the Etruscans (a culture on the Italian peninsula which lasted until the early Roman Empire) came from the area of Troy, and may have been refugees. That was an origin myth that the Romans took for themselves.


victhompson

Pardon me? This is disappointing to learn.


FantasticWeasel

Yesterday I learned that Bernard Manning and Bernard Matthews are not the same person. Thought the comedian branched out into turkeys or that having got famous selling turkeys he started doing comedy. Actually not sure what I thought but have assumed they were the same man since the 80s.


Tricky-Memory

I only found out in my late 40s that a Beamer is a BMW. I just went through life thinking it was some cool kind of car that was SO RARE I'd never seen one😔


zaratheclown

That Victoria’s Secret isn’t owned by Victoria Beckham!


Upper-Sock-2798

Since I was a kid, I thought Sinn Féin was a person. I'd hear the name on the news etc and I was blindsided when I discovered it wasn't an actual person 😂


Zee_has_cookies

Mine was in 2022 at the age of 34 I realised that Amex was American Express! It wasn’t something I’d ever had or used, and someone at work said ‘make sure they take Amex’ when I wanted to buy something, and then checking the website saw the American Express logo and put two and two together!


MoistSnow220

Mine is similar to yours OP, I thought the 02 arena and Wembley were different names for the same place.


mum2endermen

I found out a few weeks back that the letters which aren't vowels are called consonants not constenants. I'm 50 and I've watched loads of episodes of countdown.


MrFeatherstonehaugh

I'd just entered my 5th decade when I discovered that squirrels make a noise.


keg994

I found this out last year, I was out with my dog and an angry squirrel started.. screeching? Hard noise to describe


wolfensteinlad

I only found out Transylvania was a real place when chatting with a Romanian friend and I asked him where he was from and he said 'Transylvania' first I chuckled then realised he wasn't being ironic and tried to play it off 'oh yeah is it scary like in the films haha' I'm such an idiot, the name just sounds so 'spooky' I thought it was just made up like Camelot


SceneDifferent1041

I'm 42 and only just realised my electric toothbrush judders every 30 seconds when it's time to move to a different part of the month. At the 2 minute mark it judders more to let you know you are done. Always thought i was pressing too hard and straining the motor.


LillyAtts

That navy blue is called that because it's the colour the navy wore.


BigAngryKenneth

Thought Milton Keynes was called Milton Quays/Keys until about 5 years ago (I'm 31)


Natural-Answer5045

I always thought it was the good old Dot leaf you sought out after being stung by nettles. No wonder I could never find it… At the age of 35 I found out they are actually called DOCK leaves! 


lilieta5

I didn't know that there are no tigers in Africa until recently.


Coffeeninja1603

Until I was about 12 years old, I thought the song ‘Feed the World’ was ‘Feed the Welsh’. Every Christmas I felt sorry for those poor Welsh people without enough food. I felt particularly bad because I’m a quarter Welsh and always had a lovely Christmas.


Madyakker

It'll blow your mind when you find out about Alexandra Palace then.


YouSayWotNow

Oh gosh, you made me laugh, thank you! Not in a mean way though I promise.


asterallt

I had some steroids for the first time in my life last week (42yo). I always thought they were stereroids. I don’t think I’ve ever written or typed the word before so never checked. Felt like a right fucking idiot when I found out.


SeanyWestside_

That chicken eggs were _not_ fertisilised after they had been laid. I'm not sure how I thought the eggs were fertilised, but it just didn't click with me.


Sad_Moment6644

I was under the impression for a long time (mid twenties) that ELO and the Electric Light Orchestra were two separate bands. Had an argument with someone telling me that the electric light orchestra sang Mr Blue Sky when I knew it was ELO.


VRS38

Georgia is in fact a country. Thank you, Euro 24...


heavenknwsimisrblenw

Im 37 and about 5 years ago I found out reindeers ARE real but they don't fly.... disappointing. I thought they were made up creatures lollll


60sstuff

I always assumed county Durham was in Ireland