# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/141 "2003-02-19T15:20:25Z")
I though “Ibid” was some fabulous book that had everything I needed to know in it. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/142 "2003-02-19T15:24:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max Carnage \* > > > [@](#): > > > > _Originally posted by Helena_ > > It wasn’t until I was well into my twenties that I learned that “buttercup” is not another word for daffodil. Hey, it makes sense, right? I mean, they’re yellow, and they have that cup-shaped thing… > > They aren’t the same thing? :smack: Nope - though I grew up around both, so that probably helps. Daffodils are long-stemmed, and shaped kind of like a lily - long, cupped flower, pretty large in size. One flower per stem/bulb pretty much. Buttercups grow very close to the ground, with a cluster of round largish leaves. They have thin short stems, and look much like how little kids would draw short-petaled flowers - stubby round petals and a bit of yellow fuzz in the middle. You’ll find several flowers on each plant. ---
**Author:** ![noddygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/47e85d/32.png) [@noddygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/noddygrrl)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/143 "2003-02-19T15:31:26Z")
I was about 22 when I learned that “aria” doesn’t rhyme with Mariah. It took ages before I figured out what FOAK meant. Drove me absolutely bonkers. I used to think there was an obscure local band called “TBA” that opened up for a lot of bigger names when they came to town. Perhaps most embarrassingly, I wasn’t quite sure which part(s) “down there” constituted the labia until a fair while after I lost my virginity. ---
**Author:** ![garius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@garius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garius)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/144 "2003-02-19T16:29:44Z")
sorry about the “Ribena” thing guys. Although trust me - you’d lovee it 🙂 > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ivylass \* > **Can I just tell you, garius, that I really liked your story, with the English slang and all? Very nice.** Awwww Thanks. I’m pretty mild accent/slang-wise in comparison to many out there though. Be warned, however, the more legless i get the more dick van dyke i become. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/145 "2003-02-19T19:43:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by moi \* > \*\*I didn’t make the connection that “Weird Earl=Weird URL” until my husband said it out loud…a good 300 posts after I started hangin’ around these parts. \*\* :o Thanks for cluing me in… ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/146 "2003-02-19T20:31:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MeanOldLady \* > \*\*_light bulb_ Wait a second. Let me try something. … > > la la la > > (previews while crossing fingers) > > YESSSSS!!! 😃 \*\* Does this work? damn hell ass kings Yay!!! hrh ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2003, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/147 "2003-02-19T22:35:03Z")
Iceberg \ that’s a good one, **garius**. One story from when I worked in a grocery store, a lost man with a list needed “egg noodles”. Thank goodness his wife had the sense to draw a picture of a wide, wavy noodle on the list or I don’t think we ever would have found them. I managed to embarrass myself in a college literature class by mispronouncing Salome (girl who danced for Herod) as Sal-O-meh. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by big alex \* > \*\* ribena is blackcurrent concentrate drink. That you have to dilute, like squash. > Ok, ok can’t spell cordial \*\* About two years ago I found out that Aussies and/or Brits use the term “Cordials” as a generic term for non-alcoholic concentrates you dilute with water to make drinks. Here in A-merry-kay, “Cordials” are either spiced/fruited wines or hard alcohol. A whole lot of on-line conversations with Aussies suddenly became clear. ---
**Author:** ![bluemoonz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c57346/32.png) [@bluemoonz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluemoonz)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/148 "2003-02-20T00:32:29Z")
most of the things on this page i never knew with the exception the few _cough_ squirrels with testicles _cough_ obvious ones ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/149 "2003-02-20T01:43:54Z")
My first year of going to school, one of the other, older kids suggested I go up to all the girls on the school bus and ask them, “Can I suck your tits?” I had no idea what tits were, but it sounded like fun, and I did it, and sure enough there was much screaming and shouting and attempts to hit me. But the BIGGEST reaction was the one I got from my mother when I got home and excitedly told her about the great game I had played on the bus.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/150 "2003-02-20T01:53:43Z")
This one is fairly terrible… I read a lot of Twain when I was too young to really know what was going on. I grew up in rural CT, which is VERY white (can you see where this is going?). One day, my Mom and I went to the big city. Walking down the sidewalk, I yelled out, “Look Mom, a ni\*\*er!!!” I had no idea it was a bad word, and had never heard it said before, but if I could read it, I could say it, right? WRONG! The most embarrasing moment of my mother’s life. Told you it was terrible. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/151 "2003-02-20T01:55:34Z")
I still don’t know what OEM means. I always thought WAG was _wager a guess_ & didn’t like it when people would say " this is a WAG" instead of “I’d WAG that…” Took an embarrassingly long time before I realized Dubya stood for “W” and wasn’t pronounced Doobya. I just figured it was a goofy nickname. When I was a kid my mom told me all about how painful labor pains & childbirth can be. For the longest time I was seriously dreading my eventual pregnancy & labor. I mean seriously. Imagine my relief when I found out _men don’t get pregnant!_ This was TMI probably for me at a young age, but my mom clued me in about homosexuality. I asked what the guys do. She said something to the effect that “they um, swallow each other’s penises.” I was absolutely shocked, disgusted, horrified. How could someone be so sick as to derive any pleasure from biting off another man’s penis & swallowing it??? Or letting someone bite their penis off? I mean geez, you could only do it one time & then you’d have no penis! What a relief when I found out she was talking about blow jobs. Thanks for psychologically scarring me Mom! Lessee, what else? I have an intelligent banker friend who was pretty embarrassed to find out a fossil wasn’t just a brand of watch. Gotta love dem California public edjamuhcations. ---
**Author:** ![Yorikke](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yorikke/32/4335_2.png) [@Yorikke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorikke)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/152 "2003-02-20T02:16:46Z")
I always thought that the word “penalize” had something to do with penis, until I was about 12 or 13… hrh ---
**Author:** ![CadburyAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c2a13f/32.png) [@CadburyAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CadburyAngel)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/153 "2003-02-20T06:34:58Z")
Oh, yeah! Just remembered. When I was in sixth grade, one day everybody started calling each other lesbians. I thought it was a type of alien from Star Trek or something. Ya know, Klingons, Romulans, Vulcans, Lesbians. ---
**Author:** ![ECJones29](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c77e96/32.png) [@ECJones29](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ECJones29)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/154 "2003-02-20T15:46:33Z")
Shelley Winters had to have the concept of time zones explained to her by Johnny Carson one night on the “Tonight Show” many years ago. It was a complete revelation to her. I also worked with a real blowhard once who was aware of way more words than he knew how to use correctly. For example, he thought that “common” and “carnal” were synonyms, and was always finishing his stories with, “well that’s just carnal knowledge…” Chevy Chase used to open “Weekend Update” at the desk on the phone to his girlfriend. One night he said into the phone, “no, no, honey, you don’t actually blow on it; that’s just an expression. Whoops. Gotta go. Here now the news.” ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/155 "2003-02-20T18:15:05Z")
I was typically very gullible and very impressionable as a kid. When traveling, my dad would tell us to look for short-legged cows. Cows with the legs on the right side of their bodies would be longer than the legs on the left side. So they could walk on hillsides and not tip over. Oh and they had to walk backward at night to get back to the barn. And eating raw potatoes will give you worms. (so don’t sneek a bite before they’re boiled!) But weirdest… When I was about 9, my mom was taking about an unmarried aunt who got pregnant. She was mad “Flo knew better! She knows all it takes to get pregnant is to spread your legs around a man.” Yep. I was terrified if I didn’t keep my ankles crossed every time I sat down, that some unscrupulous man would impregate me. I was such a confused child… ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2003, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/156 "2003-02-20T18:25:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DeVena \* > **But weirdest… When I was about 9, my mom was taking about an unmarried aunt who got pregnant. She was mad “Flo knew better! She knows all it takes to get pregnant is to spread your legs around a man.” Yep. I was terrified if I didn’t keep my ankles crossed every time I sat down, that some unscrupulous man would impregate me.** Then it’s just as well you never saw any Japanese tentacle hentai … ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/157 "2003-02-21T09:08:07Z")
> [@](#): > > I didn’t make the connection that “Weird Earl=Weird URL” I just got this, as I’ve always said, “yourl”, or U-R-L. Does anyone say it, “Earl”? ---
**Author:** ![Maxxxie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Maxxxie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maxxxie)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/158 "2003-02-21T12:45:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cardinal \* > \*\*I just got this, as I’ve always said, “yourl”, or U-R-L. Does anyone say it, “Earl”? \*\* You mean it’s NOT “Earl”??? All this time I’ve been wondering who the hell Earl is! :smack: Ok, here’s one that’s terrifically embarassing. For me, at least. You know the word “misled”, right? It’s pronounced “miss led”. Well… up until I was about 20 - every time I saw it written down, I read it as “my-zuhld”… and totally thought it was some strange word I didn’t know the meaning of. One day I thought to myself… godammit, I’m gonna find out what the hell this “my-zuhld” word means. So I looked it up in a dictionary. Oops. :rolleyes: :smack: Max 😃 ---
**Author:** ![IrishRideGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b4bc9f/32.png) [@IrishRideGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IrishRideGirl)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/159 "2003-02-21T18:30:52Z")
Just an FYI: Ribena (undiluted) is also used as blood in the movies and on tv. Up until I was almost 17, I though what everyone meant when they used the term “giving head” was that you took a penis and rubbed it on or against your head. My high school boyfriend is still probably telling that story, lol. ---
**Author:** ![Psycho\_Pirate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Psycho\_Pirate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Psycho_Pirate)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2003, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673/160 "2003-02-21T18:40:31Z")
For the longest time (well into my twenties) I thought that the “To Be Announced” listing in the TV Guide was the name of a television show. I had convinced myself that it was either some boring news show or some Christian prophecy show a la “Jack Van Impe”. I also stink at deciphering song lyrics. Examples? Sure. Theme from the Jeffersons. “Now we’re up in the big leagues. Kiss my burnin’ fat.” And that old Dusty Springfield chestnut, “You don’t have to say you love me”: “You don’t have to say you love me just because I asked…” Psycho Pirate 🙂 ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-but-everyone-else-did/154673.md?page=9)