Realizations that make you feel really stupid

[darkrose50]

I thought the vampires teeth worked as straws. Like they were some type of weird supernatural mosquitos.

In some stories this is the case. The stories we have change. In the old stories dead werewolves would become vampires.

Ever "see" a dark figure standing over your bed when you are sleeping, and cannot move? Vampires are a story about "seeing" those figures. They were said to feed on mental energy or life-force of some-such.

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OH MY BEST ONE!

My first time going to Indianapolis (GenCon moved there) I rented a room in the hotel. The plunger on the faucet that makes the drainage stopper-thingy go up and down was missing. The sink would fill up, and not drain.

I went to the office, and the lady said . . . all calm and matter of fact . . . "Oh, people take those for their crack pipes."

I told this story at work, and my boss was all like "Dude. You stayed in a crack den."

[Fadal]

I'm a native English speaker who is mostly fluent in Spanish after spending two years in the Caribbean. I did a Spanish minor in college to learn actual grammar. In one of my translation classes, we had a bunch of songs to translate. I was getting frustrated because I could not figure out what a bunch of the words meant because I had never seen them before and couldn't find them in any dictionaries. Imagine my surprise when it turns out those words I couldn't figure out were actually two words smashed together. Apparently, in Spanish they will tie words together on one beat when they have similar vowel endings and beginnings. Somehow I never saw the little tie below the words indicating what was going on.

[Sajiri]

My two most recent ones- been playing persona 5 lately and was a fair ways in before I realised you could auto heal wherever you wanted. I thought you could only do it in safe rooms..so many times I'd run all the way back just to heal when I never needed to..

Also was kind of excited while looking up info on the new south park game coming out soon, and after all these years it just randomly clicked in my head why the character Token is called Token

[Wardog]

I thought the vampires teeth worked as straws. Like they were some type of weird supernatural mosquitos.

There was a whole thread about that a while back. Half the people were saying "lol - what!", and the other half were saying "wait, that's not how they work?".

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For a long time, on account of only ever seeing it written, I was mentally pronouncing quinoa as "kwinola". The "kw" is understandable, but I've no idea where I got the L from.

[Lord Joeltion]

A while ago I found out that the word "quesadilla" is a portmanteau of "queso" and "tortilla." I only discovered this when I was narrating my kitchen activities in Spanish.

Wait, what? My language can have portmanteaus and I never knew??? Now I feel stupid. I always thought quesadilla was a funny diminutive for "queso". Dayum.

(I dont live in the country where they come from)

I'm a native English speaker who is mostly fluent in Spanish after spending two years in the Caribbean. I did a Spanish minor in college to learn actual grammar. In one of my translation classes, we had a bunch of songs to translate. I was getting frustrated because I could not figure out what a bunch of the words meant because I had never seen them before and couldn't find them in any dictionaries. Imagine my surprise when it turns out those words I couldn't figure out were actually two words smashed together. Apparently, in Spanish they will tie words together on one beat when they have similar vowel endings and beginnings. Somehow I never saw the little tie below the words indicating what was going on.

I guess you refer to "pa' lante" (para adelante) or something like that? I wouldnt say those are not tied words, just a double contraction. AFIK, the proper way to write songs is Spanish is without tying the words, but marking contractions with '. What I mean, if you saw "pa'lante" that would be a very uncommong convention for lyrics (and I would argue, it's borrowed from USA form of writting).

Now, phonetically, yeah, they are pronounced as if they were a single word. Altho that may also happen to many natives (making hard to understand Spanish speakers from different regions).

EDIT: Now I just remember a very specific number of expressions can indeed form ties of words (e.g. "m'hijo", "mi hijo"). But they are all localisms and shouldnt be interpreted as a rule, but the exception.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Wait, what? My language can have portmanteaus and I never knew??? Now I feel stupid. I always thought quesadilla was a funny diminutive for "queso". Dayum.

You did know:

• Carricoche.
• Agridulce
• Altibajo
• Tejemaneje
• Duermevela
• Pelirrojo
• Sabelotodo

It's just not called portmanteaus (because screw the French), but "compound words". In Spanish it is less likely than in English that a syllable will be dropped from the originals, it seems. The ones that are "true" portmanteaus ("fusion") are much rarer (e.g. "espanglish").

Grey Wolf

[Lord Joeltion]

You did know:

• Carricoche.
• Agridulce
• Altibajo
• Tejemaneje
• Duermevela
• Pelirrojo
• Sabelotodo

It's just not called portmanteaus (because screw the French), but "compound words". In Spanish it is less likely than in English that a syllable will be dropped from the originals, it seems. The ones that are "true" portmanteaus ("fusion") are much rarer (e.g. "espanglish").

Grey Wolf

I must admit I'm only familiar with "agridulce" and "pelirrojo", and I never looked at them as compound words but their own thing (like automobile). Well, ok, I also know "altibajo", but there's other words with "alti-". I guess my mind just assumed it was always a prefix (?). Now I have to look more suspiciously to words I thought I knew where they came from. Those I understand why they could be potential "portamanteaus", since they need to modify the original words.

But "sabelotodo" isn't blending words (I mean, they are just put together); and I'm unsure to consider portmanteaus the same as compound words. Otherwise compound words in German would count as portmanteus and I don't think they are. Of course it's basically the same linguistic phenomena, but a difference should be there. Somehow. I'm not sure tho, since my specific knowledge of the topic is very limited. Most portmanteus I have knowledge in Spanish don't have a Spanish origin ("claroscuro"= chiaroscuro).

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A quick wikipedia research in Spanish says "portmanteaus" are seen as acronyms from out perspective. Again, I have no knowledge whether this claim actually holds any value.

[JeenLeen]

For me, there's some phonemes that I don't easily differentiate between, or at least I used to not differentiate. One is a long and short a, like 'Ana' (ah-nah) vs 'Anna'. (an-nah). That one is clear to me know, due to someone close to me in my life who really dislikes one pronunciation.

Another is how to pronounce the word 'melt'. I generally say it as 'milt', except when talking about a patty melt. I didn't realize it until some friends were puzzled when I said I "melted something". It took several tries of them correcting my pronunciation before I even realized the sounds were distinct. I still have trouble with that and can't easily tell which sound I make.

In contrast, I can hear and try to pronounce the 'u' in 'colour', verses the more common 'color' of where I live.

A while ago I found out that the word "quesadilla" is a portmanteau of "queso" and "tortilla." I only discovered this when I was narrating my kitchen activities in Spanish.

A long time ago, I didn't know what a quesadilla was. I was at a Mexican place during my lunch break, but wanted to order something vegan. So I decided to look over the menu for something that looked good and order it no cheese. Quesadilla has cheese and veggies in a tortilla. Sounded nice, so I ordered one no cheese.
I forget what I wound up getting, but I remember the waiter giving me an odd look and asking if I was sure.

This wasn't really a realization, as I forgot it about it, learned about quesadillas in the meantime, and then remembered it later with some faint embarrassment.

[Lord Joeltion]

In contrast, I can hear and try to pronounce the 'u' in 'colour', verses the more common 'color' of where I live.

There shouldn't be a "U" sound in colour. It might be a local form. At least, that's what Cambridge says.

[TuggyNE]

Not a long-term one, but still my crowning moment of not realizing something. I'm running late for work one day (my wife has already left). I'm panicking because i can't find my phone. My wife calls me...

Her: "Can you do me a favor?"

Me: "No time. I'm running late and I can't find my phone".

Her: "You can't find your phone?"

Me: "No! I don't have a clue where it is!"

Her: "I know where it is. Go into the bathroom". (pause) "Do you see the counter?"

Me: "Yes, I do".

Her: "Look three feet above it".

Me: "$%^&%^!!!"

To this day I still don't know where the phone was when I answered it.

You're not the only one with a similar problem.

[In4Dimensions]

I do swimming, and the number of times I’ve dived in with my goggles on my forehead will surprise anyone who doesn’t know me.

[Vinyadan]

To stretch the muscle that you use to pull your leg forward, you need to pull your leg backwards.

[HalfTangible]

About a day or two after brain surgery I got up for physical therapy. It was at that exact moment I realized that there was a wall IMMEDIATELY behind me, as opposed to five or six feet back.

[Mystic Muse]

That the word "Decipher" comes from the word 'cipher'

Things like this happen more frequently than I would like.

[Jay R]

Before taking a shower, I went to the bathroom, and so of course I immediately washed my hands. At the sink, I recognized how silly it was to be washing my hands immediately before taking a shower, and realized that I was only doing it out of habit. So I made a resolution that henceforth, I would not act through blind habit. I would think my way through what I did, and not do something mindlessly stupid.

Thirty seconds later, I caught myself mindlessly drying my hands, immediately before taking a shower.

[BWR]

Realizations that make me feel stupid? All the time. Can't remember most of them. Usually it's some word that I suddenly realize the etymology of and I wonder how I didn't see the connection before.

Simply not noticing the blindingly obvious?
Well, some years ago a couple of friends and I were at a store. We split up, one goes off on his own and the other and I wandered around a bit. Then we wanted to find the other guy. We looked all over. It wasn't a particularly big store, and you could circuit it in a couple of minutes with time to spare. We went all over several times looking for him and could not see him. Finally we called his phone.
"I'm upstairs."
Upstairs?
Then we notice the big effing staircase in the middle of the store. Straight in from the door, 5 meters across up to the second floor that had a big opening so those on the second floor could look down on the first, people walking up and down it regularly.

[sktarq]

That my ex's habit of being a much less nice person when not in my presence was something I should have paid a lot more attention to.
Previously it would have been that my best friend had a crush on me, and was gay. Totally obvious in retrospect on both counts. Learned both at the same time.

[AuthorGirl]

Standing outside of the dining hall: "So, my schedule says it's lunchtime, do you know where we're supposed to go?"

Yay for church camp. Gotta feel stupid once in a while.

[rooster707]

Standing outside of the dining hall: "So, my schedule says it's lunchtime, do you know where we're supposed to go?"

Yay for church camp. Gotta feel stupid once in a while.

I was also at a church camp this weekend!

My personal moment of stupidity was lying in bed awake at 1 AM, listening to people snore and wishing I had brought earplugs.

[Gnoman]

It took me an oddly long time to realize that "never put hot things in the fridge" was because doing so would make the fridge too warm. For the longest time, I thought that cooling your food too fast was supposed to bolster bacterial growth or something - this was bolstered when I started making beer, where the time spent cooling the wort makes a major difference in the quality of the end product.

[Tvtyrant]

It took me an oddly long time to realize that "never put hot things in the fridge" was because doing so would make the fridge too warm. For the longest time, I thought that cooling your food too fast was supposed to bolster bacterial growth or something - this was bolstered when I started making beer, where the time spent cooling the wort makes a major difference in the quality of the end product.

See, here I thought it was because hot metal or glass will warp or shatter when cooled too rapidly. I was injured last Thanksgiving by a glass dish that exploded when my sister put it inside a larger pot with cold water in it.

[In4Dimensions]

I was also at a church camp this weekend!

My personal moment of stupidity was lying in bed awake at 1 AM, listening to people snore and wishing I had brought earplugs.

I was at a retreat for my synagogue this past weekend, and after setting my stuff on my bed, I asked a friend “So where do we sleep?”

[HalfTangible]

In Avatar the Last Airbender, (minor spoilers for the first season)

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Sokka's first girlfriend (by his own description) became the moon at the end of season 1.

He ends the series with a girlfriend named 'Tsuki'.

'Tsuki' is japanese for 'moon'.

It took me years to realize this. I have watched the series multiple times while knowing what 'Tsuki' meant.

[ve4grm]

In Avatar the Last Airbender, (minor spoilers for the first season)

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Sokka's first girlfriend (by his own description) became the moon at the end of season 1.

He ends the series with a girlfriend named 'Tsuki'.

'Tsuki' is japanese for 'moon'.

It took me years to realize this. I have watched the series multiple times while knowing what 'Tsuki' meant.

[Nemirthel]

Standing outside of the dining hall: "So, my schedule says it's lunchtime, do you know where we're supposed to go?"

Yay for church camp. Gotta feel stupid once in a while.

Could be worse. I was a counselor at a leadership camp for 3 years, and the last year after looking for another counselor I finally found him and asked "Mahesh*, have you seen Mahesh** anywhere?". Not the best question I've ever asked.

I've also realized on more than one occasion that there's no point washing and drying my hands right before taking a shower, but I keep doing it anyway.

*Not his real name
**Still not his real name

[Jay R]

There was a time when I realized that the etymology of the word "ignorance" showed that it's the act of ignoring facts.

And I'd seen the letters all my life. Not putting it together was clearly ignoring the facts in front of me, and therefore ....

[Peelee]

Oh lord, I have too many to count. One of the most prominent ones I can remember, I was in my early 20's before I discovered that Milo's wasn't a national chain. Imean, I've been in a few places out in the boonies, and you could still get the tea in the grocery stores there, so I figured that they just weren't big enough for a Milo's. Never knew it was exclusive to my city. I even knew Jack's was Alabama-only, but I never thought about Milo's like that. Everybody goes to Milo's!

Also, I've found the tea as far north as Michigan. Not the best tea out there, but certainly the best tea you can get at the store. Glad to know that if I ever need to move, there's a good chance I'll still have access to it.

[BWR]

In Avatar the Last Airbender, (minor spoilers for the first season)

Spoiler

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Sokka's first girlfriend (by his own description) became the moon at the end of season 1.

He ends the series with a girlfriend named 'Tsuki'.

'Tsuki' is japanese for 'moon'.

It took me years to realize this. I have watched the series multiple times while knowing what 'Tsuki' meant.

Actually her name is Suki, not Tsuki.
Yue on the other hand is how most English people would write/pronounce the Mandarin word for 'moon'.

Another feel stupid moment?

[HalfTangible]

Actually her name is Suki, not Tsuki.

Irrelevant. The T is silent and these words were not originally written with this alphabet anyway

Yue on the other hand is how most English people would write/pronounce the Mandarin word for 'moon'.

Another feel stupid moment?

It would be, except that 'Yue means moon' is one of those things I found out at one point but forgot later More an "Oh yeah, I remember that now" than "oh my lord, HOW DID I NEVER NOTICE THIS?!"

[BWR]

Irrelevant. The T is silent and these words were not originally written with this alphabet anyway

I'm not quite sure what you are trying to say. Her name was never, AFAIK, meant to be 'moon', unlike the one who actually turned into the moon. And I'm pretty sure the writers used English spelling for just about everything during writing and added Chinese stuff afterwards - the correct spelling of Sokka is Sokka and the correct spelling of Suki is Suki. The Japanese professor we consulted on the subject was quite adamant that the t is pronounced in tsuki, and I'll take his word on it.

Unless you can find something to support your position, this is most likely just you imagining connections that aren't there.