# Things you didn't know were real until you were an adult **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 2, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906 "2013-11-02T03:51:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/121 "2013-11-12T15:49:33Z")
> [@fanganga](#): > > Is that different from [caramel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caramel)? No, that’s what we’re talking about. Some people pronounce the candy, caramel, as ‘carmil’, which is different from the California town Carmel, pronounced car-mel. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/122 "2013-11-12T16:15:03Z")
Another one here who always thought the Washington Redskins were in Washington state. It’s one of those things that I have to keep relearning, too. It wasn’t until I was 19 and began working in a pharmacy that 'I found out chiggers were a real thing. Sure enough, we had Chiggerex and other salves that promised relief from chigger bites. I always thought it was a cutesy folk name for ticks or something, like “skeeters.” And at the same time, I discovered that a lot of products I’d read of in novels, like Carter’s Little Pills, “gripe water,” Goody’s headache powders, and 666, were real and not simply inventions of the authors. ---
**Author:** ![solosam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@solosam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solosam)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/123 "2013-11-12T22:03:12Z")
> [@](#): > > I could never figure out why the people on TV always acted surprised when they found out they were pregnant; surely they would know if they had had sex. I’m pretty sure a lot of people in my High School missed this as well. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/124 "2013-11-12T23:52:26Z")
> [@Student\_Driver](#): > > Another one here who always thought the Washington Redskins were in Washington state. It’s one of those things that I have to keep relearning, too. Fortunately, this problem is now solved [once and for all](http://www.theonion.com/articles/washington-redskins-change-their-name-to-the-dc-re,34161/). ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/125 "2013-11-13T12:49:12Z")
I am guilty of the Redskins misunderstanding, and I am from bordering state Oregon so I really should have known better. I mean, I knew that Seattle had the Seahawks, and Washington isn’t a really populous state so there is no reason they would have 2 teams. I just never thought much about it. And coming from the PNW, you just get used to associating the word Washington with the state, not the capital. I finally learned it within a year or two ago. To be fair, I’m really not a big football fan. I think now that others have mentioned it, when I was a young kid, I was also briefly under the impression that sex always resulted in a baby, and was similarly confused when people were surprised to find out they were pregnant. But that thankfully ended before I reached high school or possibly even middle school. The sherbet thing is something I only recently learned I think, and I’m a young adult now so I think that counts. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/126 "2013-11-13T13:16:31Z")
> [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > Well, this was well before adulthood, but I didn’t realize there was no “r” in Amish until my early teens (I grew up in Maine, if that explains anything). ? Armish? Ramish? Amirsh? Amisher? Exactly how did you think it was pronounced? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/127 "2013-11-13T13:30:51Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > ? > Armish? > Ramish? > Amirsh? > Amisher? > > Exactly how did you think it was pronounced? If you’ve ever met anyone from Maine, this is easy to figure out. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/128 "2013-11-13T19:57:24Z")
I finally remembered one of mine. When I was young, an episode of “Superfriends” or “The Justice League” or something showed Batman in an airplane, using what a narrator told us were “mathematically proven methods of _triangulation_” to find some criminal. I was sure that was a made-up bit of impossible tech. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/129 "2013-11-13T20:19:20Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > If you’ve ever met anyone from Maine, this is easy to figure out. A little help for those of us who apparently haven’t? ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/130 "2013-11-13T20:31:51Z")
It’s the non-rhotic New England accent in which the word “Armish” would sound identical to Amish. Steven Wright said when he was a kid he thought Hoss Cartwright was actually named Horse, for this exact reason. Wright is from Boston. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/131 "2013-11-13T20:36:13Z")
The mind boggles. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/132 "2013-11-13T22:18:49Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > . . . Steven Wright said when he was a kid he thought Hoss Cartwright was actually named Horse, for this exact reason. Wright is from Boston. But. Isn’t hoss just Old Western for horse? The character’s real first name was Eric (per wiki). I thought the nickname meant he was big and maybe a little slow. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/133 "2013-11-14T00:32:33Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > But. Isn’t hoss just Old Western for horse? The character’s real first name was Eric (per wiki). I thought the nickname meant he was big and maybe a little slow. Well, it really doesn’t matter what it represents, it has no “r” in it; however it’s easy for certain New Englanders to think it does. Certain kids I knew growing up were convinced that Spock was actually “Spark.” I don’t know what accent Fred Flintstone had, but Barney was always “Bahney.” ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/134 "2013-11-14T08:02:57Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > But. Isn’t hoss just Old Western for horse? The character’s real first name was Eric (per wiki). I thought the nickname meant he was big and maybe a little slow. There’s a dead guy in _The Adventures of Tom Sawyer_ who was known as “Hoss Williams” when he was alive, although when Tom and Huck are lying up in the graveyard (and shortly before witnessing a murder) they refer to “Hoss Williams” and are shortly afterwards remorseful to have spoken disrespectfully of the dead. Later, when the murder trial takes place, the judge (or counsel for the defence, as it may have been) pronounces Williams’s name as “Horse Williams”, so the reader is free to doubt that it was a nickname. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2013, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/135 "2013-11-14T22:50:53Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I don’t know what accent Fred Flintstone had, but Barney was always “Bahney.” Brooklyn. Where Jackie Gleason [grew up](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Gleason). ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2013, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/136 "2013-11-15T11:08:12Z")
That Led Zeppelin was singing about an actual historical event in “When the Levee Breaks.” I had to buy a couple books on the 1927 Mississippi flood to explain the situation. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/137 "2013-11-16T02:10:28Z")
Also, that swastikas were considered good luck symbols out in NM, at least until 1932. [http://southwestcompass.com/2012/12/swastika-symbol-in-new-mexico/](http://southwestcompass.com/2012/12/swastika-symbol-in-new-mexico/) ---
**Author:** ![Purin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Purin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purin)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/138 "2013-11-16T03:29:50Z")
I thought the phrase “turn on” was a figure of speech for actually getting excited about something, instead of the… other ‘exited’ it suggests. I would say it around adults and they would say, “Don’t say that, you’re too young!” I was so confused. ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2013, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/139 "2013-11-16T23:30:12Z")
I was an adult (in my thirties) before I found out the Giants were both a football and a baseball team. I just had (and have) zero interest in any sports. Stuff would come on the radio or TV and I’d just zone it out. Why there’s not a basketball team called the Giants, seems a missed PR opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/140 "2013-11-17T00:04:31Z")
I didn’t know until embarrassingly late that green and red bell peppers were the same thing, only harvested at different times. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906.md?page=8)