s/o adults should know this - retrospectively obvious things you've just learned

[menley]

When I was a kid, I had a babysitter who told me the at the "FL" in "FL OZ" that's on canned drinks meant floral I was only 3 or 4 at the time, so I believed her without questioning why "floral" would be on a can of Coke!

And since it's not something that regularly comes up in conversation, I didn't think about it at all until I was much older (maybe high school or college? I honestly don't know). I was staring at a can of Coke and thought "Fluid ounces. Wait. Jamie told me it was floral... ... ... Sweet monkey fritters! was she thinking??"

But still, to this day, when I look at a package that has "FL OZ" on it, the first word that pops into my mind is floral, even though I know better. Thanks, Jamie.

[guihong]

I had heard the word epitome and knew what it meant/proper usage. But for some reason when I read it, the voice in my head pronounced it "ep-ee-tome" I was living in a world with both words for years

Well, here's my contribution to the thread  .  How is it pronounced?

[menley]

I had heard the word epitome and knew what it meant/proper usage. But for some reason when I read it, the voice in my head pronounced it "ep-ee-tome" I was living in a world with both words for years

Well, here's my contribution to the thread  .  How is it pronounced?

eh-pih-toh-mee

[HenrysMom]

I had heard the word epitome and knew what it meant/proper usage. But for some reason when I read it, the voice in my head pronounced it "ep-ee-tome" I was living in a world with both words for years

Well, here's my contribution to the thread  .  How is it pronounced?

eh-pih-toh-mee

I used "epitome" in talking to DH a few days ago.  He replied, "Don't use words you've only read in books."

[cwm]

I had heard the word epitome and knew what it meant/proper usage. But for some reason when I read it, the voice in my head pronounced it "ep-ee-tome" I was living in a world with both words for years

Well, here's my contribution to the thread  .  How is it pronounced?

eh-pih-toh-mee

I used "epitome" in talking to DH a few days ago.  He replied, "Don't use words you've only read in books."

I have this problem SO frequently. My sister teases me about it, but at least I'm reading, encountering new words, and then incorporating them into my vocabulary, so there is that, right?

[Shalamar]

Until book 4 (I think) of the Harry Potter series, I had no idea how to pronounce Hermione's name.  One of the character's (Ron?) got a bit drunk and said it very slowly and deliberately:  "Her-MY-oh-NEE", and I was all "... ohhhh."

[GreenHall]

Even with familiarity (from movies) of the hand crank on the front of a car it was just a couple weeks ago that the connection between that handle (crank) and the term for starting the car today (CRANK!) was made...boy did I feel silly.

I'm not certain, but the idea could have percolated finally, due to a comment somewhere recently about recent generations not knowing why we say 'dial' the phone.  (I saw them, on occasion at grandparents, and we had one when we moved at one point, but changed that pretty quick).

[cwm]

Even with familiarity (from movies) of the hand crank on the front of a car it was just a couple weeks ago that the connection between that handle (crank) and the term for starting the car today (CRANK!) was made...boy did I feel silly.

I'm not certain, but the idea could have percolated finally, due to a comment somewhere recently about recent generations not knowing why we say 'dial' the phone.  (I saw them, on occasion at grandparents, and we had one when we moved at one point, but changed that pretty quick).

Also, kids growing up likely won't know why the save button in most programs looks the way it does. They've never had to deal with actual floppy discs. Cut/paste used to mean actually cutting the paper and pasting into a new place, which honestly hurt my head a bit when I finally figured it out.

[Seraphia]

I had heard the word epitome and knew what it meant/proper usage. But for some reason when I read it, the voice in my head pronounced it "ep-ee-tome" I was living in a world with both words for years

I did that with 'beige.' For me bay-szhh was the color of the walls, while bejji (like veggie) was the color of the sweaters in the clothes catalogs.

[staceym]

The one I learned previously on eHell that still amazes me I missed all my life is that there is an arrow near the gas gauge in cars  indicating which side the gas tank is on. When I read it I immediately went and checked both our cars. At least 70% of the people I have shared that knowledge with never knew it either.

when I got home last night from work and got in my car - first thing I checked and darn if there isn't a little arrow pointing to the right side 

[jedikaiti]

I had heard the word epitome and knew what it meant/proper usage. But for some reason when I read it, the voice in my head pronounced it "ep-ee-tome" I was living in a world with both words for years

Well, here's my contribution to the thread  .  How is it pronounced?

eh-pih-toh-mee

I used "epitome" in talking to DH a few days ago.  He replied, "Don't use words you've only read in books."

My contribution: I went to a Catholic high school, and was raised more or less Catholic (this is at least semi-relevant), but it wasn't until college that I knew how to pronounce the last name of St. Thomas Aquinas. 5 years of French class had trained my brain to think "qui" is pronounced "kee" so I thought Aquinas = ah-kee-ness, not A-kwhy-ness.

[lowspark]

I had heard the word epitome and knew what it meant/proper usage. But for some reason when I read it, the voice in my head pronounced it "ep-ee-tome" I was living in a world with both words for years

Well, here's my contribution to the thread  .  How is it pronounced?

eh-pih-toh-mee

I used "epitome" in talking to DH a few days ago.  He replied, "Don't use words you've only read in books."

Really? Wow. I absolutely do not agree with that advice. My younger son is and always has been an avid reader. He learned a great deal of vocabulary from books. And based on the context, he could understand the meaning of lots of words without having to look them up.

Often, while growing up, he would use a word properly but mispronounce it. I would correct him on his pronunciation and then commend him on not only growing his vocabulary, but on retaining the meaning of words he'd never heard said out loud.

What difference does it make how you expand your vocabulary, whether it's from reading, talking to people or whatever? I'm scratching my head over this one. 

[KenveeB]

Until book 4 (I think) of the Harry Potter series, I had no idea how to pronounce Hermione's name.  One of the character's (Ron?) got a bit drunk and said it very slowly and deliberately:  "Her-MY-oh-NEE", and I was all "... ohhhh."

No one was drunk. Hermione was trying to explain the pronunciation to a foreign visitor (Viktor Krum). I already knew it, but only because I'd studied Shakespeare's "A Winter's Tale" a few years before, and the queen there is named Hermione.

[Sheila Take a Bow]

Until book 4 (I think) of the Harry Potter series, I had no idea how to pronounce Hermione's name.  One of the character's (Ron?) got a bit drunk and said it very slowly and deliberately:  "Her-MY-oh-NEE", and I was all "... ohhhh."

My best friend and I figured it out when we saw the movie.   As soon as we walked out, the first thing we said was, "So *that's* how her name is pronounced!"

[ladyknight1]

She was Her-me-own to me for a whole year! (I was a late adopter of HP)