REALLY obvious things you've just realised

[Marc Meakin]

There was an episode of QI where they mentioned a guy in history who could read silently and without moving his lips and this impressed people at the time and, if that's true, I've just realised that the first person who sang and played guitar at the same time must have seemed like a fucking wizard or something.

I think anyone who can play music without sight reading is a wizard

[Steve Hyde]

In non-leap years, January 1 and December 31 fall on the same day of the week.

In any given year, 4/4, 6/6, 8/8 and 10/10 fall on the same day as eachother (as do Halloween, 4th July and Boxing Day). Knowing *what* day this is for any given year is typically how people learn to quickly tell you what day of the week any given date was (aka the Daaniyal Ali trick)

[Mark James]

When a footballer fakes a shot so that the goalie dives and makes it easier to score with a real shot, what they've done is essentially lied. This creates a culture of dishonesty. Is it any wonder players also pretend to be fouled to win free kicks and penalties?

[David Williams]

When a footballer fakes a shot so that the goalie dives and makes it easier to score with a real shot, what they've done is essentially lied. This creates a culture of dishonesty. Is it any wonder players also pretend to be fouled to win free kicks and penalties?

I doubt if you do actually believe this. The other way of looking at it is that it is the goalie who is cheating by trying to anticipate where the shot is going before the ball has been struck, so putting it the other side is just and fair retribution.

[Gavin Chipper]

Also are we saying that any sort of "dummy" in any sort of competition is unfair? Declaring an 8 with confidence in Countdown when you know it's really dodgy.

[Graeme Cole]

Deceiving an opponent within the rules of a game is a completely different thing from deceiving the referee.

[Mark James]

When a footballer fakes a shot so that the goalie dives and makes it easier to score with a real shot, what they've done is essentially lied. This creates a culture of dishonesty. Is it any wonder players also pretend to be fouled to win free kicks and penalties?

I doubt if you do actually believe this. The other way of looking at it is that it is the goalie who is cheating by trying to anticipate where the shot is going before the ball has been struck, so putting it the other side is just and fair retribution.

No I don't. It was tongue in cheek.

[David Williams]

Also are we saying that any sort of "dummy" in any sort of competition is unfair? Declaring an 8 with confidence in Countdown when you know it's really dodgy.

That's OK. Declaring an 8 as dodgy when you are 100% sure it's OK is more debatable.

[Marc Meakin]

The Elgin marbles are not a set of spheres but sculptures

[Elliott Mellor]

The Elgin marbles are not a set of spheres but sculptures

I'm impressed you have managed to live for over half a century without learning this. Just wait until you find out what a titmouse is, or a gravy train, or a cat burglar

[Adam Gillard]

The Elgin marbles are not a set of spheres but sculptures

I'm impressed you have managed to live for over half a century without learning this. Just wait until you find out what a titmouse is, or a gravy train, or a cat burglar

I also assumed they were spheres until recently.

[Marc Meakin]

The Elgin marbles are not a set of spheres but sculptures

I'm impressed you have managed to live for over half a century without learning this. Just wait until you find out what a titmouse is, or a gravy train, or a cat burglar

I thought I was the only one but my partner (6 months older than me) with a degree in History, thought the same.
Also
Indian Ink is Chinese.
You sit in a football stand.
Public school is posh
There isn't any obvious difference between flammable and Inflammable

[Adam Gillard]

There isn't any obvious difference between flammable and Inflammable

What a country!

[Marc Meakin]

It's easier to get crack cocaine or weed than antibiotics for a tooth abscess on a sunday

[Gavin Chipper]

Public school is posh

"Public school is private" is probably a better way of putting it.

[Johnny Canuck]

Public school is posh

"Public school is private" is probably a better way of putting it.

On this side of the pond, public schools are the government-run ones and private schools are posh!

[Sam Cappleman-Lynes]

I had a realisation last night that would absolutely have qualified for this thread if it were true.

I suddenly had the thought that "deciduous" must come from the Latin for the number 12 (dec(em) for 10 and duo for 2), referring to the number of months in the cycle of such a plant.

Never mind that the 2 and the 10 are the wrong way round compared to the Latin "duodecim" or words like "duodecimal" because, yes, it's complete rubbish and it actually comes from the Latin word "deciduus" meaning "falling down or off", from the verb "decidere". Ah well.

[Marc Meakin]

Football commentators in the seventies didn't pronounce European teams names correctly like Ajax and Real Madrid

[Rhys Benjamin]

What the TDF mix on "You Spin Me Round" stands for.

[Mark James]

Is it any surprise Jim Corr went off his nut? Imagine being in band with three gorgeous chick's that you can never hook up with.

[Marc Meakin]

Is it any surprise Jim Corr went off his nut? Imagine being in band with three gorgeous chick's that you can never hook up with.

I always remember the Donna Air interview.
First question, where did you meet

[Gavin Chipper]

Is it any surprise Jim Corr went off his nut? Imagine being in band with three gorgeous chick's that you can never hook up with.

I didn't know about this but I don't think so. People are hardwired not to think of siblings in that way aren't they?

[Marc Meakin]

The "wagon wheel" effect.
Always thought my brain was malfunctioning

[Mark James]

Is it any surprise Jim Corr went off his nut? Imagine being in band with three gorgeous chick's that you can never hook up with.

I didn't know about this but I don't think so. People are hardwired not to think of siblings in that way aren't they?

Yeah, but have you seen them? That's kind of the joke, that they are so hot it broke Jim's brain and now he's a conspiracy loon.

[Marc Meakin]

I always thought the lyrics to Give Peace a Chance was For we are saying.... and not all we saying

[Marc Meakin]

There are over 300 bodies on Everest

[Marc Meakin]

A jigsaw puzzle was named after the tool used to make them.
So damn obvious yet I've only just made the connection

[Andres Sanchez]

A jigsaw puzzle was named after the tool used to make them.
So damn obvious yet I've only just made the connection

Actually, jigsaws weren't used to make jigsaws at all.

Here's a clip from QI XL that talks about that.

[Marc Meakin]

A jigsaw puzzle was named after the tool used to make them.
So damn obvious yet I've only just made the connection

Actually, jigsaws weren't used to make jigsaws at all.

Here's a clip from QI XL that talks about that.

Not originally, as the puzzles pre dates the tool which was invented in the 1880s but the puzzles name changed due to the association later

[Mark James]

Water Boarding sounds fun as fuck until you find out what it really is.

[Mark James]

The guy the movie Catch me if you Can is based on lied about his lies.

https://nypost.com/2023/03/13/catch-me- ... -his-lies/

[Gavin Chipper]

If the night seems to have gone way too quickly and when you have to get up it seems like you've only been in bed for about 5 minutes, it probably means that you actually slept really well, making it a good thing.

[Gavin Chipper]

The clocks went forwards this morning.

[Marc Meakin]

The clocks went forwards this morning.

Also smart phones and fitbit adjust automatically

[Johnny Canuck]

The singer of "Bad to the Bone" having the last name Thorogood is the greatest irony that will ever occur in the history of music.

[Mark James]

Wasn't sure what thread to put this in but I have just realised that I was unaware of possibly the greatest news story ever until today.

Check out Nicholas Alahverdian, an accused sex offender who faked his own death and fled America for Scotland where he pretends to be a disabled Irish orphan with a fake British accent called Arthur Knight. This should be the top story on every single news report. Couldn't give a fuck about Ukraine or Covid or anything, I just want to know what this looper is up to next.

[Mark James]

https://twitter.com/YeOldeMoby/status/1 ... 6065809408

Most oil rigs are essentially boats with their hull under water. They are not usually attached to the sea bed.

[Gavin Chipper]

Burying someone at sea is just chucking them overboard. They don't really bury people at sea.

[Gavin Chipper]

https://twitter.com/YeOldeMoby/status/1 ... 6065809408

Most oil rigs are essentially boats with their hull under water. They are not usually attached to the sea bed.

It would appear that the one that became a country is on the sea bed.

The fort was towed to a position above the Rough Sands sandbar, where its base was deliberately flooded to sink it on its final resting place.

Oh wait - it's not actually an oil rig? Well, I'm in the right thread.

[Tom S]

That WhatsApp is a play on words of "What's Up?"

[Mark James]

90% of gambling addicts stop just before they're about to win big.

[Johnny Canuck]

90% of gambling addicts stop just before they're about to win big.

91% of gamblers do too.

[Matt Rutherford]

90% of gambling addicts stop just before they're about to win big.

How much more effective gambling helplines would be if every fifth caller was a winner

[Ian Volante]

90% of gambling addicts stop just before they're about to win big.

I don't get this one at all. Can you explain?

[Mark James]

90% of gambling addicts stop just before they're about to win big.

I don't get this one at all. Can you explain?

I'm baiting degenerate gamblers to keep gambling.

[Ian Volante]

90% of gambling addicts stop just before they're about to win big.

I don't get this one at all. Can you explain?

I'm baiting degenerate gamblers to keep gambling.

Ah okay. I forget that sometimes a post might not be serious!

[Marc Meakin]

I've never been a gambler ever since I gave my Irish friend 5 to 1 on The Republic of Ireland beating England in the Euros in the 80s (100 quid lost and 6 months of ribbing)
But I'm always amused when people spend a small fortune on a fruit machine only for it to pay out the minute someone else takes over

[Marc Meakin]

Sriracha sauce is named after a place and not a pepper or spice

[Gavin Chipper]

That's pretty niche.

[Marc Meakin]

That's pretty niche.

I work at Waitrose so we sell Sriracha sauce and Crisps

[Adam Dexter]

That's pretty niche.

I work at Waitrose so we sell Sriracha sauce and Crisps

The way that's written, it seems like the selling of Sriracha sauce and crisps is dependent on you working there - fair play, I know it's somewhat of a mutual business, but didn't realise each employee was quite so important to the stock.

[Marc Meakin]

I mean it's not niche, although I can't speak for other supermarkets

[Ian Volante]

I mean it's not niche, although I can't speak for other supermarkets

I think the point is that it's not really obvious as per the thread title. Maybe if most people here were Thai-based, it might be different.

[Marc Meakin]

This definitely niche
I only learned this week that "amygdala hijack" is a thing that scam artists and charlatans like mediums play on to phish for gullable people to fall for their scams

[Jon O'Neill]

Axl Rose is an anagram of Oral Sex.

[Marc Meakin]

Axl Rose is an anagram of Oral Sex.

Coincidentally he sucked at Glasto

[Ian Volante]

This definitely niche
I only learned this week that "amygdala hijack" is a thing that scam artists and charlatans like mediums play on to phish for gullable people to fall for their scams

Do we then need a thread for things you just found out that weren't at all obvious in the first place?

[Marc Meakin]

This definitely niche
I only learned this week that "amygdala hijack" is a thing that scam artists and charlatans like mediums play on to phish for gullable people to fall for their scams

Do we then need a thread for things you just found out that weren't at all obvious in the first place?

Maybe I should rename it, things I thought were obvious that I just found out but we're in fact not obvious at all

[Gavin Chipper]

The version of Despacito that has 8.1 billion views on YouTube (second only to Baby Shark with 13 bill) does not have Justin Bieber on it. He was just an afterthought and the most watched version with him on "only" has 676 million views.

[Mark James]

Elon Musk is such a douchebag that he makes Mark Zuckerberg, one of the world's foremost douchebags, look like less of a douchebag.