# Stuff you were embarrassed that you didn't know **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 19, 2010, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206 "2010-11-19T06:42:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/81 "2010-11-21T06:00:11Z")
zweisamkeit, what nationality are you? Maybe the term is more prominent in some countries than others. Or maybe it’s an older term that doesn’t get used much any more. All I know is, as a 30 something American it’s been pretty rare to hear that word. > [@Zsofia](#): > > What did he think “lavatory” means? Literally, washroom. I don’t know if he knew the literal meaning or not. I know I didn’t. And if anybody brought it up he probably would have just said something like, “Well, after you go you wash your hands, right?” > [@adhemar](#): > > ceramic defecatorium Awesome! ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/82 "2010-11-21T06:05:30Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > zweisamkeit, what nationality are you? Maybe the term is more prominent in some countries than others. Or maybe it’s an older term that doesn’t get used much any more. All I know is, as a 30 something American it’s been pretty rare to hear that word. > > I don’t know if he knew the literal meaning or not. I know I didn’t. And if anybody brought it up he probably would have just said something like, “Well, after you go you wash your hands, right?” > > Awesome! I’m American and I’m 28. Now, perhaps the quirk is that I went to Catholic schools for K-12. Some of the education style was a bit more old-fashioned (yes, we had a distinct grade for handwriting from grades 3-8! We also learned how to diagram sentences, which was apparently unusual for the public schools around here). Maybe that’s related to using “lavatory”. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/83 "2010-11-21T06:09:56Z")
Lavatory has always struck me as a word people use to sound more high class or more “proper”. It doesn’t surprise me that it was predominantly used in a Catholic school. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/84 "2010-11-21T08:32:00Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Lavatory has always struck me as a word people use to sound more high class or more “proper”. It doesn’t surprise me that it was predominantly used in a Catholic school. In this part of the world, the “Bathroom” is the room where the bath (and the shower) are. Sure, there’s usually a toilet in there too (at home), but somewhere like a school? It’s not a bathroom, it’s a lavatory, loo, toilet, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/85 "2010-11-21T10:20:15Z")
Yes, here too at home a bathroom has a bath and/or shower, but a lot of Americans call rooms that have toilets bathrooms. And if somebody has to poop or pee it’s not uncommon for them to say, “I have to go to the bathroom.” regardless of whether they’re in a house or anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/86 "2010-11-21T10:45:30Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > Just the other week I learned that the small sea creature is an _anemone_ not an _anenome_. I have said it wrong all my life and no one has ever corrected me. I guess the few times I came across it written I didn’t notice the spelling. I’m not sure I have ever needed to write the word until it was in the NYT crossword the other week. I was stunned. Damn. Really? ---
**Author:** ![Terra1041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Terra1041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terra1041)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/87 "2010-11-21T16:29:14Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > I was probably legally grown before I knew that “cock” meant a male sex organ and not a female one. It finally became clear what a cocksucker was and why that was significant. All that time I had been visualizing a chicken lollipop! I thought that a “cunt” was a penis for quite a while. I also thought that a “dick” was a dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/88 "2010-11-21T16:45:39Z")
> [@Terra1041](#): > > I thought that a “cunt” was a penis for quite a while. I also thought that a “dick” was a dictionary. “I want to put my dictionary in your penis.” ---
**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:** [November 21, 2010, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/89 "2010-11-21T19:36:17Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > In this part of the world, the “Bathroom” is the room where the bath (and the shower) are. Sure, there’s usually a toilet in there too (at home), but somewhere like a school? It’s not a bathroom, it’s a lavatory, loo, toilet, etc. In Australia and the UK, the “toilet” is the room; in the US, it’s the fixture _in_ the room. [This has caused some minor confusion.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=522728) ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/90 "2010-11-21T19:59:14Z")
One time in Jr High some kids claimed that another creamed his pants. I thought they meant that he pooped his pants. ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/91 "2010-11-22T06:30:15Z")
Okay; until I saw that WKRP in Cincinnati episode where Les Nessman dumps live turkeys out of a plane or helicopter, assuming they could fly, if asked I, too, probably would have assumed they could fly. I have seen wild turkeys fly, although they seemed to be pushing the envelope of their natural abilities in doing so. And if I had thought about the aerodynamic properties of farm-bred turkeys with their insignificant wings and giant bazooms…well…as Monty Python said, “They did not so much as fly as plummet.” ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/92 "2010-11-22T16:21:14Z")
I had no idea until a two minutes ago that Stevie Nicks is a woman. I’m 31. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/93 "2010-11-22T18:08:41Z")
Did you know that Gene Wilder is a man? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Gedd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gedd/32/4938_2.png) [@Gedd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gedd)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/94 "2010-11-22T18:09:34Z")
I guess I never made too many long distance phone calls when I was younger, but I was in college before I knew you had to dial (in the US) a 1 before the area code and number. That explained why I never got my grandparents when I called them. Wait, Stevie Nicks is a woman? Learn something new every day. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/95 "2010-11-22T18:24:10Z")
Did you know that [Jerry Lewis & Jerry Lee Lewis](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=1170534&postcount=15) are _not_ the same person? ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/96 "2010-11-22T18:26:02Z")
There was some comedian who made a joke about what it would be like if they were the same person, “Goodness gracious MY BALLS ARE ON FIRE!!!” Well, it was funny when he said it. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/97 "2010-11-22T19:52:08Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > There was some comedian who made a joke about what it would be like if they were the same person, “Goodness gracious MY BALLS ARE ON FIRE!!!” > > Well, it was funny when he said it. I liked **lno** ’s version (in **Annie X-mas** ’s link above) better: “Goodness gracious great balls of HEY LAAAAAAADY!” ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/98 "2010-11-22T20:43:29Z")
I thought Carly Simon was black until I saw her on tv about 10 years ago. She sounds like a MoTown singer on _You’re So Vain_ ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/99 "2010-11-22T20:57:36Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > I had no idea until a two minutes ago that Stevie Nicks is a woman. I’m 31. Well, I found out quite some time ago, but I didn’t realize this for a while, and still need to think about it. It doesn’t help that Lindsey Buckingham has a freakin’ girl’s name. (Obviously, I get the two of them reversed in my mind.) ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206/100 "2010-11-22T21:21:15Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > I know that during Bill Murray’s early days at Saturday Night Live that he was allegedly goaded into hitting Cheve Chase by John Belushi… What kind of monster has to be _goaded_ into hitting Chevy Chase? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-you-were-embarrassed-that-you-didnt-know/561206.md?page=6)