# Things you didn't know but everyone else did **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 12, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673 "2003-02-12T21:55:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![big\_alex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e56c9b/32.png) [@big\_alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/big_alex)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/81 "2003-02-14T20:26:59Z")
Ego \_Mk2 ribena is blackcurrent concentrate drink. That you have to dilute, like squash. Ok, ok can’t spell cordial ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/82 "2003-02-14T20:32:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by big alex \* > \*\* > ribena is blackcurrent concentrate drink. That you have to dilute, like squash. > \*\* 😕 still. But, don’t mind me. Go on. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/83 "2003-02-14T20:55:34Z")
I used to be amazed that every city I drove through had a street called “Feeder Road”. I was starting to think that Feeder Road was one long street that went clear across the country until someone explained it to me. My college literature professor called Don Quixote “Don Kwee-sote”. ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/84 "2003-02-14T20:56:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by senor \* > \*\*That male squirrels have testicles. \*\* I think all male mammals have testicles. Some are more noticeable than others. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/85 "2003-02-14T21:17:06Z")
This was back in the early 80’s, when I went to NC State, and they had just won the NCAA championship in basketball. I was in pep band, and we got to play at the victory celebration in the brickyard when the team got back. Coach Jim Valvano does his speech, and reads a letter to the crowd. It’s a letter of congratulations. It goes on and on, and then Coach V says “signed David Thompson.” The crowd goes wild. I’m back there with the pep band, and I ask, “Who’s David Thompson?” Everybody turned to look at me, either stunned or angry, and say with much chagrin, “You don’t know who David Thompson is? How could you not know who David Thompson is?” I said “Really, I don’t know who he is. Who’s David Thompson?” This was met with more rolling of the eyes and further looks of disbelief. By this time I was getting pretty pissed and started cursing everybody for not telling me who David Thompson was. It turns out that he was the player who pretty much singlehandedly won the NCAA championship for NC State back in '74. But I wasn’t a native, so how the hell was I supposed to know??? ---
**Author:** ![Misha77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Misha77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misha77)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/86 "2003-02-14T21:45:54Z")
I didn’t realize that the comic strip title Frank & Ernest was a pun until last year or so. (I’m 25.) I felt like the biggest twit for not seeing it sooner. I also always thought that astigmatism was a stigmatism, and people would have a stigmatism sort of like they’d have a sty. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/87 "2003-02-14T21:52:06Z")
My stupidity is in 2 parts. When I was little, I thought the thing on the front of boys’ underwear was a little pocket. After I got older I realised how stupid that was, I thought the fabric was doubled there, so it would soak up pee drips better. It wasn’t until I was married that I found out it was an opening! ---
**Author:** ![BiblioCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed8c4c/32.png) [@BiblioCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiblioCat)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/88 "2003-02-14T21:55:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by scr4 \* > \*\*By the way, _do_ women know about shrinkage? My girlfriend in college didn’t know till she saw that Sienfeld episode. \*\* [Elaine] It shrinks? Really? I don’t know how you guys walk around with those things. [/Elaine] ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/89 "2003-02-14T22:27:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by hillbilly queen \* > \*\*My stupidity is in 2 parts. When I was little, I thought the thing on the front of boys’ underwear was a little pocket. After I got older I realised how stupid that was, I thought the fabric was doubled there, so it would soak up pee drips better. It wasn’t until I was married that I found out it was an opening! \*\* Did you think the King was walking around with his hand in his “pocket” to look casual? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/90 "2003-02-14T22:48:07Z")
It was in college when I learned **Martin Luther** and **Martin Luther King** were two different people. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/91 "2003-02-14T23:02:37Z")
This isn’t _exactly_ a pronunciation issue, but I thought “Kim Jong Il” was pronounced “Kim Jong the second”. I also did not get the title _Shanghai Noon_ until I saw it the second time. ---
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/92 "2003-02-14T23:16:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bricker \* > **I had a lot of those – I was a voracious reader, but didn’t get a chance to use these words in conversation.** I have a lot of them too. Telling each other the words we mispronounced in our heads for years has long been a source of amusement for our family. One day we realized, or at least hypothesized – someone can correct me here if necessary – that speakers of languages that are totally phonetic, such as Spanish, must miss out almost completely on this amusing phenomenon. **I do speak Spanish as a second language, and I don’t remember ever coming across a word that I didn’t know how to pronounce (course I guess I could be pronouncing them wrong and no one’s told me…).** ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/93 "2003-02-14T23:33:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CrankyAsAnOldMan \* > \*\*I never knew until another Doper told me LAST YEAR that Passover and Easter aren’t just coincidentally around the same time. I didn’t know that the last supper was a passover seder! > > \*\* Semi-related…I always knew that Passover and Easter were related. But I couldn’t figure out until I was, oh, 40 years old…why the movie **The Ten Commandments** was always on TV around Easter time. I mean, it has a religious theme, and Easter is a religious holiday, but the connection is really tenuous… Oh…Moses. Exodus. Passover. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/94 "2003-02-14T23:48:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mith \* > \*\* > I’m 25 and I’m still not sure… do birds have sex? \*\* They reproduce “In the manner of all children of Iluvatar”, as Tolkien would say. In other words, you betcha. ---
**Author:** ![Parallax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Parallax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parallax)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2003, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/95 "2003-02-14T23:54:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lindsay.reid \* > \*\*I had a boyfriend in high school who was valedictorian of his class. Yet he (at age 18) didn’t know the difference between a dress and a skirt. He thought “dress” just meant it was long and a “skirt” referred to everything above the knee. \*\* When I first read this I must admit I was confused - I figured it worked the same way. After reading this to my wife I realized what the difference was. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![LindyHopper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@LindyHopper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LindyHopper)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/96 "2003-02-15T04:43:32Z")
Hey, **Copper\_moon** , this isn’t by any chance the “it looks like you blew a seal” joke, is it? Involving a female penguin? I only ask because I have a (female) friend who told this joke in _very_ mixed company, not understanding it. So, is that the one? ---
**Author:** ![aaaaaarrgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@aaaaaarrgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaaaaarrgg)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/97 "2003-02-15T06:07:50Z")
oi this is embarassing… well i was down in the dc area with my mom and a friend, collegehunting. we visited a friend of my mother’s in virginia while we were there and as we were driving to her house the three of us were talking about this friend and her family. my mom said that the woman’s daughter goes to james madison university and plays water polo. and then we got into a discussion about water polo and which schools we knew had water polo teams…when someone mentioned columbia it got me thinking, so i said ‘i wonder where they keep the horses.’ the two of them erupted in laughter. apparantly it was common knowledge that there are no horses in water polo. you see, whenever i had asked what water polo was exactly, i would be told ‘oh it’s just like polo, only in water’. and i know that horses can swim–i read ‘misty of chincoteague’, i know the deal! needless to say, i heard about that one for a while. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![aaaaaarrgg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@aaaaaarrgg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aaaaaarrgg)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/98 "2003-02-15T06:18:20Z")
by the by…what does IIRC mean? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/99 "2003-02-15T06:29:43Z")
If I Recall Correctly. ---
**Author:** ![okielady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/fbc32d/32.png) [@okielady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/okielady)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/100 "2003-02-15T07:17:55Z")
When I was a freshman in high school I started dating a senior on the football team. Shortly after we started dating, I asked him what position he played. He replied, “Deep snatch.” Now being naive to football positions at the time, as well as slang terms for body parts, I took him for his word. Not long thereafter, my parents wanted to know what position my boyfriend played on the football team. LIKE YOU CAN’T SEE THIS ONE COMING! LOL So I told them. Oh yeah, THAT went over well. I think it was a couple of years before I figured it out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673.md?page=6)