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Things you can't believe people have never heard of

(335 Posts)
Biscuitmuncher Fri 26-Mar-21 21:08:14

Well my children are in their early twenties and I was talking about the big ship stuck in the Suez Canal. To which they all said "The what!" I just can't believe they've never heard of it

Kaimoana Sat 27-Mar-21 09:47:28

I just pour boiling water over my tea bags and leave them to mash; I don't dip them in and out at all. grin

honeyrose Sat 27-Mar-21 09:38:08

Another innocent here on the pearl necklace issue. I’ve just googled it. I’d never have guessed ....! ?

Urmstongran Sat 27-Mar-21 09:33:46

Well I livened this thread up didn’t I? ??

Kaimoana Sat 27-Mar-21 09:32:06

I was in my 70's before I knew what a merkin was - and I studied history !

It was part of a joke about George Dublyah who began his speeches with, 'My fellow Merkins...' and I didn't know why people around me were laughing hysterically.

And it was watching another comedic sketch in which the stand-up mentioned a dental dam which informed me about that particular item.

Mind you, I am a recluse smile

BlueBelle Sat 27-Mar-21 09:31:36

I ve never heard either of those phrases don’t think a Pearl necklaces look much like that and the second one makes me feel a bit nauseous

I do know about growing pampas grass in your garden though

Witzend Sat 27-Mar-21 09:23:27

Goodness, Shropshirelass - I’ve sometimes expected similar for a turnip, but it’s not happened so far!
Especially when dh recently didn’t know the difference between that and a parsnip...

Alishka Sat 27-Mar-21 09:20:26

Didn't know tea bagging.
Sometimes Ignorance is Bliss!grin

Mollygo Sat 27-Mar-21 09:19:08

I’ve got one of ‘those’ in my jewellery box and I’ll never look at it the same way again!??. Learn something new every day to keep the brain active. ✔️

grandmajet Sat 27-Mar-21 09:14:44

Oh no! Tea bagging.?
When did all these connotations creep in? It makes me wonder what I may have inadvertently said over recent years!

Shropshirelass Sat 27-Mar-21 09:13:36

I was going through a supermarket checkout when a girl (in her very late teens or early twenties) looked at my shopping and said ‘What’s that? Is it an orange? I was speechless, she wasn’t joking either!

Jaxjacky Sat 27-Mar-21 09:10:01

There I was, innocently dipping into this thread...? well, just educated my DH, including what a saltire is, I hope that still means what I think it does, or do I have to consult the urban dictionary?

Mamardoit Sat 27-Mar-21 08:46:51

I won't be able to look at a photo of Maggie Thatcher in her Pearl necklace without thinking of this.

Off to google tea bagging.

Maggiemaybe Sat 27-Mar-21 08:45:39

So what are we supposed to ask for if we want a certain item of jewellery on our 30th anniversary? There’s one in my jewellery box, so I must have mentioned it back in the day - I can only hope my friends were, like me, too innocent to think about the connotations. smile

sodapop Sat 27-Mar-21 08:44:37

Tea bagging ? There are a couple of things on here that I had never heard of either 75 years in blissful ignorance.
I did have to explain to someone about making tea in pre tea bag days. Having a cup of tea then was more of a ceremony, unlike dunking a bag in hot water.

Witzend Sat 27-Mar-21 08:33:17

My mother, bless her innocence, once said she thought that oral sex was only invented in the depraved 1960s.

At the time I was doing a multi-disciplinary OU course on Homer - the materials included images of very graphic paintings on Greek vases.
Once I’d shown her some of those, she no longer imagined that ‘orgies’ were only invented in the 60s, too.

ixion Sat 27-Mar-21 08:31:50

Well I never.
A thread of enlightenment- that's two new phrases to add to my repertoire to avoid in certain company!!

Sunlover Sat 27-Mar-21 08:20:28

When I was teaching a ten year old was heard talking about tea bagging. Very few of the staff had ever heard of it ( me included). A younger member of staff enlightened us. ??

Auntieflo Sat 27-Mar-21 08:12:24

Another innocent who had to look it up.

Grandma70s Sat 27-Mar-21 08:11:30

An old school friend of mine, who is, I thought, reasonably well educated, had never heard of Stephen Hawking.

DanniRae Sat 27-Mar-21 08:07:14

I don't know what a 'pearl necklace' - don't think I want to know either!
I took some women's magazines to a very elderly aunt and when she was reading the problem page she said to me "What is oral sex?" I then had to explain to her what it involved. I don't recall what I said but she must have grasped the facts because she replied "Well I'm glad uncle xxxx didn't expect me to do that!" blush

mokryna Sat 27-Mar-21 08:05:51

Had to look it up as well but that is the norm for me these days. Who starts these double meanings?

JackyB Sat 27-Mar-21 08:03:26

I haven't heard of some of the things mentioned above (but I have lived outside the UK for over 40 years.) Who is Clarice Cliff?

There are lots of things that we would talk about quite normally here and you wouldn't have heard of, and it's always amusing trying to explain to youngsters what life was like when the "Iron Curtain" was still up.

I do know what a p..n. is though.

Witzend Sat 27-Mar-21 07:58:53

Ooh, I loved the Incredible String Band! Goes back to very first days with dh. ‘First Girl I loved’ is my favourite.

grandmajet Sat 27-Mar-21 07:52:19

? just googled pearl necklace! ?

Hetty58 Sat 27-Mar-21 07:52:12

Well I never (had to look it up too)!