# Stuff that took you too long to realize **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 5, 2012, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506 "2012-08-05T09:37:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/101 "2012-08-08T22:51:23Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Also, it was only a few years ago that I realized that the sports brand name is “Title-ist,” not “Tit-leist.” 😃 Good thing I’m not a golfer, because I HATE seeing that name. I want to go around crossing out all the Es (of course “tit-list” isn’t much better). ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/102 "2012-08-08T22:53:35Z")
> [@Dr.Love](#): > > In cooking AFAICT, Coriander = seeds, cilantro = leaves. Only in the US, and only until you buy the snooty high-end spice jars. I’ve got a jar of “coriander leaf” with an $11 price tag. (That I got out of a cardboard box at the food pantry for nothin’.) ---
**Author:** ![Why\_Child](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b782af/32.png) [@Why\_Child](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_Child)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/103 "2012-08-08T22:55:59Z")
> [@Yarster](#): > > It wasn’t all that long ago that I made the realization that coriander = cilantro (snip) > [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Coriander is cilantro?! That changes everything! > [@Dr.Love](#): > > In cooking AFAICT, Coriander = seeds, cilantro = leaves. Are we sure they are they same thing? I LOVE coriander and I HATE cilantro. I’m checking because I don’t know what “AFAICT” means. :o I think coriander is kind of sweet, whereas I don’t think feel that way about cilantro. Cilantro gives me a memory of a weird, chemical, disinfectant sort of smell/taste. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/104 "2012-08-08T23:07:56Z")
> [@Why\_Child](#): > > Are we sure they are they same thing? I LOVE coriander and I HATE cilantro. I’m checking because I don’t know what “AFAICT” means. :o I think coriander is kind of sweet, whereas I don’t think feel that way about cilantro. Cilantro gives me a memory of a weird, chemical, disinfectant sort of smell/taste. They come from the same plant, yes. Promise. But it’s also true that when most US cooks call it “coriander”, they’re talking about the seeds or fruits, and “cilantro”, they’re talking about the leaves. They don’t taste the same any more than sunflower seeds taste like sunflower plant leaves. Many people who taste the “soapiness” in the leaf like the seed just fine. But if you’ve ever enjoyed coriander leaf, I’ve got some news for ya… > **[Coriander](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coriander)** > > Coriander (/ˌkɒriˈændər, ˈkɒriændər/), whose leaves are known as cilantro (/sɪˈlæntroʊ, -ˈlɑːn-/): 90  in the U.S. and parts of Canada and dhania in India and East Africa, is an annual herb (Coriandrum sativum) in the family Apiaceae. > Most people perceive the leaves as having a fresh, slightly citrus taste. Due to variations in the gene OR6A2, some people perceive it to have a soap-like taste, or even a pungent or rotten taste. ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/105 "2012-08-08T23:10:50Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > That Kanye West and Cornell West are two different people. That Leslie Mann and Kristen Wiig are two different people. I just thought she kept changing her hair. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/106 "2012-08-08T23:25:25Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > That Kanye West and Cornell West are two different people. > [@moejoe](#): > > That Leslie Mann and Kristen Wiig are two different people. I just thought she kept changing her hair. Speaking of “two different people,” some of us old-time Dopers still [remember](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=62082): > [@My rage burns with the fire of a million suns.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-rage-burns-with-the-fire-of-a-million-suns/56599/1): > > **And finally, to Jerry Lewis, and Jerry Lee Lewis.** > You two both deserve to rot in the umpteeth circle of hell. Not because you directly affected my life in any way, but because \* for the love of God I lived twenty-four years without knowing you were two separate people.\* I went through life thinking that “Goodness gracious great balls of HEY LAAAAAAADY!” came from the same person. I thought that the performer whom the French strangely love was the same performer who married his underage cousin in Kentucky. You have no RIGHT to do this to me. You have no IDEA how aghast I was when this was explained to me. No, this was not explained to me in the privacy of my own home. No, this was not explained to me in the company of a few close friends, who would snicker momentarily and then forget about this. No, this was not even explained to me while giving a presentation to a board of directors. YOU TWO KEPT UP THIS CHARADE UNTIL MY GIRLFRIEND WONDERED WHAT THE HELL I WAS TALKING ABOUT. She’ll never let me forget about this. She now has the nuclear weapon of relationships. She can merely whisper “Jerry Lewis!” into my ear and I’ll curl into a mortified fetal position. She can win any argument, no matter how many cites I provide, or how many links to authoritative sources. > > Jerry Lewis, you go to hell. Jerry Lee Lewis, you lead the way. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/107 "2012-08-08T23:28:37Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > I’ve always disliked it, too, for using “left” and “right” for something that’s twisting in a circle: for every part that moves “righty”, there’s a part moving an equal amount “lefty.” So if someone told you, “turn the knob to the right,” you wouldn’t know what they’re talking about? ---
**Author:** ![Pazu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pazu/32/15522_2.png) [@Pazu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pazu)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/108 "2012-08-08T23:47:27Z")
Until fairly recently, I thought that they were called the “Salvation Army” because they, well, salvaged old stuff. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/109 "2012-08-09T01:41:07Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Also, it was only a few years ago that I realized that the sports brand name is “Title-ist,” not “Tit-leist.” 😃 Beavis, your balls are filthy. Go to the ball-washer. Now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/110 "2012-08-09T03:08:43Z")
If, in High School, you are attracted to pretty girls who dress nicely and groom themselves… you probably shouldn’t dress like a slob and expect them to appreciate the ‘inner you’ rather than those ‘superficial external trappings’. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/111 "2012-08-09T04:35:12Z")
Hasn’t been around for that long, but should have been obvious: > [@hogarth](#): > > Chick-Fil-A doesn’t rhyme with Godzilla. Took 50+ years for this one to dawn on me: > [@Jragon](#): > > the verb “gyp” was not an innocuous, ethnicity-neutral word spelled “jip.” These took all of my life up to ten minutes ago: > [@Skammer](#): > > the word “brooch” (as in the piece of jewelry) is not pronounced “brooch” but is, in fact, pronounced “broach.” > [@CalMeacham](#): > > The Boy Scout motto, _Be Prepared_ , has the same initials as the founder of Scouting, Baden-Powell. This last one is especially galling, because I excel at that type of wordplay, _and_ I was an Eagle Scout (with three Palms), Order Of The Arrow, and an Explorer (Sea Scout) after that. **B** e **P** repared / **B** aden **P** owell. :smack: Again I say :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/112 "2012-08-09T05:08:01Z")
> [@Yarster](#): > > It wasn’t all that long ago that I made the realization that coriander = cilantro Not really. Coriander is the seed and is therefore a spice. Cilantro is the leaf and is therefore an herb. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/113 "2012-08-09T06:02:09Z")
**Why Child** I think AFAICT means “as far as I can tell.” But I don’t know what ETA means. (I think that’s it.) I see it a lot. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/114 "2012-08-09T06:07:16Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > So if someone told you, “turn the knob to the right,” you wouldn’t know what they’re talking about? Sure, but I’d still think it was a poor way of communicating what they want, like using “less” rather than “fewer” for countable items. Although, if the knob were above my eye level, I might very well turn it the wrong direction if I didn’t stop to think about it. I suspect that using “right” or “left” for “think of the direction the top of the circular thing kinda moves, but not really” is cultural. It’d be interesting to know if other languages re-use “left” and “right” that way, or if they insist on actually using clockwise and widdershins or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/115 "2012-08-09T06:14:48Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > **Why Child** I think AFAICT means “as far as I can tell.” But I don’t know what ETA means. (I think that’s it.) I see it a lot. In message board terms it usually means “Edited To Add”. In another context it could mean “Estimated Time of Arrival”. I have to look up Internet/message board abbreviations from time to time. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/116 "2012-08-09T06:18:06Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > In message board terms it usually means “Edited To Add”. In another context it could mean “Estimated Time of Arrival”. I have to look up Internet/message board abbreviations from time to time. 😉 Thank you! But isn’t that redundit? (Because the post does read _edited…)_ ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/117 "2012-08-09T07:03:58Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Thank you! But isn’t that redundit? (Because the post does read _edited…)_ Yeah, when I edit a post to add something I hardly ever put the “ETA” in it, but I have used it before. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/118 "2012-08-09T13:27:00Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > So if someone told you, “turn the knob to the right,” you wouldn’t know what they’re talking about? This actually happened to me when I was about 7 years old. I was playing in the back yard, and my father was watering some plants. At one point he told me to turn off the water. He figured that I’d never done it before, so he said “Turn it to the right.” I looked at the damn thing and immediately understood that no matter how I moved the top, the bottom would move in the opposite direction. So I asked “Which part?” My father responded, impatiently, “Just turn it to the right.” And I asked “The top or the bottom?” At which point he came to me and shoved me out of the way, with “I’ll do it my goddamn self!” Yes, my father had zero parenting skills. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/119 "2012-08-09T14:39:58Z")
I’ve had my car for a few years, and a while back, out of the blue, only the driver’s side window would go down. I didn’t have time to investigate it then, and the problem corrected itself somehow eventually. Then, just yesterday, I found that the windows were stuck again. I fiddled with the switches for a bit, and then, I happened to notice that the [little button above the door lock button](http://media.caranddriver.com/images/10q1/335883/2011-scion-xb-power-window-and-door-lock-controls-photo-335884-s-520x318.jpg) was pressed in. I had always ignored this button because I never knew what it did and couldn’t be bothered to find out. I looked closely, and realized that the icon on it looked a lot like a window rolled halfway down, with little arrows pointing up and down, and a big ol’ X over it. Using my superior powers of deduction, I realized this \*might \*have something to do with the windows going up and down. I pushed it, it popped up, and my windows were unlocked. In a different vein, I only realized a few months ago - and still have trouble remembering - that even if I’m totally justified in being angry about something/at someone, that doesn’t mean I _have_ to be angry. I always used to feel like I earned that anger fair and square, and I’d be damned if I was going to let it go unused. And if it was a person that made me angry, I felt like they deserved to know how pissed I was. Now, I try to remember that it’s okay to feel angry, but it’s also perfectly fine to just let it go, and that my anger is not really a punishment to anyone but me. > [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > > [@Becky2844](#): > > > > Thank you! But isn’t that redundit? (Because the post does read _edited…)_ > > Yeah, when I edit a post to add something I hardly ever put the “ETA” in it, but I have used it before. I don’t consider it redundant, because you might have edited to _remove_ something, or correct your grammar or spelling, or what have you. I tend to use it only when I’ve written a post, and in the interim, someone else has added a post that I want to respond to, or I think of a point that I should have addressed. There isn’t time to rewrite the whole post to incorporate this new idea, so I tack it on at the end. But just adding it on like that can feel a bit awkward to me, so I’ll use “ETA” as a shorthand way of saying, "Oh, and by the way, **SoAndSo** just reminded me of another thing that I forgot to mention, which is… " or “And having said all that, I just thought of one very important exception, which is…” Although I guess I do both, sometimes: “ETA: **Whosis** just reminded me of a very important exception…” so there’s not really a point to it. But it makes me feel better about the disjoint in the flow of my post. ETA: And I do realize that caring about the “flow of my post” makes me a nutball. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506/120 "2012-08-09T14:57:28Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Well I’ll be damned. I thought the real spelling was ‘broach’ too. Both spellings are correct. “Brooch” would eliminate confusion and be more clear in writing because “broach” has several different meanings. [Cite.](http://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=brooch) [Another cite.](http://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=broach) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-that-took-you-too-long-to-realize/630506.md?page=7)