# Totally wrong stuff you believed to an embarrassingly advanced age **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 18, 2007, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477 "2007-06-18T16:42:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 21
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/401 "2007-06-24T20:56:11Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Caution: that’s a Real Video file download, and not a YouTube or similar link. [/QUOTE] Yeah shit, sorry, that was supposed to be the [surrounding page](http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/april/1/newsid_2819000/2819261.stm) rather than a direct link to the download. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2007, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/402 "2007-06-24T22:45:17Z")
[QUOTE=Licentious Ectomorph] Am I the only one who never gave any thought whatsoever as to how pineapples grow? This “revelation” is a big _shrug_ to me. [/QUOTE] Me too. I never really thought about it one way or another. I just figured they grew on some form of planty thing, I don’t understand why discovering the particular configuration of the planty thing they grow on is so cerebellum-wrenching for some of you. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/403 "2007-06-24T22:53:41Z")
I know very little about the history of the Vietnam war. In movies I kept hearing about Ho Chi Min, and for some reason I assumed for years they were talking about a person. I only realized a couple of years ago that it’s actually a city. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![hawksgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ed655f/32.png) [@hawksgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hawksgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2007, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/404 "2007-06-24T22:58:38Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] I know very little about the history of the Vietnam war. In movies I kept hearing about Ho Chi Min, and for some reason I assumed for years they were talking about a person. I only realized a couple of years ago that it’s actually a city. :smack: [/QUOTE] Umm, it was a person. The city was named after him. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2007, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/405 "2007-06-24T23:53:43Z")
[QUOTE=Peter Morris] I know very little about the history of the Vietnam war. In movies I kept hearing about Ho Chi Min, and for some reason I assumed for years they were talking about a person. I only realized a couple of years ago that it’s actually a city. :smack: [/QUOTE] [Ho Chi Minh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho_Chi_Minh) was the leader of North Viet Nam. He died during the middle of the war(1969). You may have heard of Saigon? Doesn’t exist anymore. It became Ho Chi Minh City _after_ the war was over. ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/406 "2007-06-25T03:08:57Z")
Until I was 38, I thought the Greek lamb dish, the gyro, was pronounced like gyroscope. Then I found out it is pronounced gear-o. But, I grew up in NYC - it’s possible they do usually pronounce it JY-ro. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/407 "2007-06-25T03:21:58Z")
**INRS** , I once had a Greek restaurant sell me gyros and call it shwarma, so don’t feel bad. (I did, though. I was pissed.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/408 "2007-06-25T03:32:53Z")
I always heard the Greek “gyro” pronounced CHEE-ro, with the first syllable like the end of the German “Ach,” as if you’re clearing your throat. ---
**Author:** ![Havik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Havik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Havik)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/409 "2007-06-25T03:34:03Z")
[QUOTE=It’s Not Rocket Surgery!] Until I was 38, I thought the Greek lamb dish, the gyro, was pronounced like gyroscope. Then I found out it is pronounced gear-o. But, I grew up in NYC - it’s possible they do usually pronounce it JY-ro. [/QUOTE] Well, shit. The other day, a friend and I were driving around and saw a greek food resturaunt with a sign that said “fresh GYROS!” or something like that. My friend was like, “what the hell is a Gyro(Jy-ro)?” To which I replied, “Some sandwich thing. It’s pronounced hero, by the way.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/410 "2007-06-25T03:36:44Z")
I’ve always heard it pronounced as “year-oh”. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/411 "2007-06-25T03:38:21Z")
[QUOTE=NajaNivea] I’ve always heard it pronounced as “year-oh”. [/QUOTE] That’s the way I’ve always heard it pronounced, too. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/412 "2007-06-25T03:40:27Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] **INRS** , I once had a Greek restaurant sell me gyros and call it shwarma, so don’t feel bad. [/QUOTE] Maybe they called them shwarmas because they couldn’t pronounce gyros. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/413 "2007-06-25T03:43:43Z")
Don’t EVEN ask me how I used to think the name “Hermione” was pronounced. ---
**Author:** ![1010011010](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/ea666f/32.png) [@1010011010](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1010011010)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/414 "2007-06-25T03:58:35Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Don’t EVEN ask me how I used to think the name “Hermione” was pronounced. [/QUOTE] I didn’t actually give much thought to how Hermione should be said until I got to the point in _Goblet of Fire_ where Viktor Krum is mispronouncing it. ---
**Author:** ![jastu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/43a26b/32.png) [@jastu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jastu)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/415 "2007-06-25T03:58:50Z")
[QUOTE=NajaNivea] I’ve always heard it pronounced as “year-oh”. [/QUOTE] I’ve always wondered about this one too so I asked a friend in Greece about Yiros/Gyros. He said Yiros was correct so I don’t know where Gyro spelling comes from. I’ve only heard them pronounced as year-ohs too. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/416 "2007-06-25T04:27:25Z")
[QUOTE=jastu] I’ve always wondered about this one too so I asked a friend in Greece about Yiros/Gyros. He said Yiros was correct so I don’t know where Gyro spelling comes from. I’ve only heard them pronounced as year-ohs too. [/QUOTE] None of them are wrong. Its a regional thing. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/417 "2007-06-25T05:29:41Z")
And shwarma is the Lebanese name for a similar food. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/418 "2007-06-25T05:57:36Z")
Shwarma isn’t just Lebanese; I learned it as a Hebrew word in Israel, where it’s almost as popular as falafel and much more popular than gyros. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/419 "2007-06-25T06:35:58Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] Shwarma isn’t just Lebanese; I learned it as a Hebrew word in Israel, where it’s almost as popular as falafel and much more popular than gyros. [/QUOTE] Sort of. _“Shwarma”_ is not Hebrew – it’s clearly a loan-word from Arabic, nobody thinks it’s originally Hebrew. I **did** just now learn that it is a loan from the **Lebanese** (rather than local Palestinian) dialect. There is _no such word_ as _“gyros”_ (any pronunciation) in Hebrew. In any case, for reasons of “Kashrut,” Shwarma is (sacrilegiously IMO) served with humus and tehina rather than with yogurt… ☹ But that’s a whole 'nother rant. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2007, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477/420 "2007-06-25T07:05:51Z")
Re: John vs. Jonathan - I suspect there’s a religious/cultural element in play here, with “John” being more common among Christians, while “Jonathan” is more typically Jewish. Just to be anecdotal, I know plenty of Jonathans (including my father), but few Johns, and none of the latter were Jews. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477.md?page=20) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/totally-wrong-stuff-you-believed-to-an-embarrassingly-advanced-age/408477.md?page=22)