As someone born and raised in Hawaii, I had no idea that some people didn’t know how pineapples grow until I saw a post on social media expressing astonishment at a photo of a pineapple field. I thought, well, yeah, that’s how they grow. So what? How did you think they grew? It turns out that not everyone knows that, having not grown up in a region in which they can grow.
What’re your examples?
Pineapples were my first thought.
What the word “of” means in the time related phrase “quarter of [hour].” Until I read here some people find it baffling, I never in a million years would have thought it was possible someone might interpret quarter of seven as 7:15 instead of 6:45.
It is DUCT tape
Not DUCK tape
Yes a brand may be duck; but originally it was for taping duct work
It’s common for us in Ontario, and most of Canada, to speak of electricity as hydro. This stems from utility names such as Ontario Hydro, which really means hydroelectricity. So, we call electricity hydro and it baffles some people.
50% of our “hydro” comes from nuclear plants in Ontario, but we still call it hydro thanks to Niagara Falls, etc. When we say “hydro tower” we’re really talking about a tower suspending electrical distribution lines.
Is this a strange usage in the US?
I never actually considered how pineapples grew. i think maybe I thought more like coconuts in a tall tree rather than the short things I just saw in a google search. I wonder what else I have no clue how it grows?
Some people have asked if stories of the old west and the people were just myths. Being from the Midwest and have visited Deadwood, Abilene, and other famous areas of the west I can tell them that while stories have been exaggerated, the base was quite real.
Most people outside of the US are clueless on both American football and baseball.
I had no idea that so many people thought Denver was in the mountains, and thus, buried in snow all winter.
A friend’s family in North Carolina actually sent her a care package after they saw a news story that the mountains had received several feet of snow. Meanwhile, she was sitting in Denver enjoying the sunshine and temps in the low fifties.
Actually, it WAS originally “Duck Tape”, named after cotton Duck fabric (as I’ve long suspected). See the Wikipedia article on it, specifically the long “History and Etymology” section:
It was first used for ducts well after it was first called “Duck Tape”. Ironically, it turned out a few years ago that standard Duck/Duct tape isn’t very good for taping ducts.
On more than one occasion, I’ve heard Americans express surprise that there are people living in Washington, DC, I guess they thought it was just a collection of empty buildings.
Once I made a semi-joke using the “My name is Pantastic, and I’m an X-aholic…” formula, and a guy asked me how long I had been sober. He genuinely believed that the only way you’d know about that line was if you were in AA or another recovery program, and seemed to completely not believe that it’s been a staple of comedy and drama shows so much that it’s used as shorthand for ‘recovery meeting is starting’.
I doubt they thought it was empty buildings. I bet it was more an idea that it’s a ‘government part’ like an ‘industrial park’ where there are a lot of buildings that people work in, but people actually live in surrounding areas and not in DC itself.
I was absolutely amazed that, when Pete Seeger died, people said “Who is Pete Seeger?” American people, how could you not know Pete Seeger?
Man was an icon.
I do not fancy myself an expert, but that is not the way Wikipedia sees it. It was first used in WWII, called “Duck tape.” Then in the 50s, some people started using for ducts (of which it is actually a pretty poor product (see later in article)).
But I can see why it is confusing which came first.
ETA: Cal beat me to it!
I’m often surprised by how many people (to be fair, primarily my students) who think that humans have walked on Mars, or that people have visited other stars.
Jimi Hendrix being the exception, of course.
Who? looks him up on the internet
Oh. That guy.
I think that might be a generational thing. I would bet he doesn’t come up much on the playlist of the typical 20 year old.
Apparently in St. Louis the kids tell jokes to get candy while Trick or Treating. My fiance, despite living in Chicago now for several years had no idea it wasn’t a national thing until I told her last year.
I’m 45 and while I recognize the name I couldn’t have told you who he was. I was never into folk music and neither were my parents.
If I had to guess I would have said he was some artist that’s played on classic rock stations.
I tend to associate referencing “quarters” in time to an older generation, but I have always heard “quarter to” or “quarter after.”
“Quarter of” is a pretty ambiguous phrase. If I had to guess, I would have guessed it meant after.
The different phrases may be reginal, but I will say that I consider the use of “to” and “after” to be superior terminology.
If I didn’t live close to him and see him perform a bunch of times I’d get him confused with Bob Seger. Pete’s music is recognizable but I’m not surprised people can’t tie that to his name.