What's the dumbest idea you had at age when you shouldn't be that dumb?

[retroenzo]

A few years ago we had a layer of snow. Not a huge amount, but enough to cause some slippery patches to appear on main roads.

I was driving home from work. The roads were all main roads apart from on my estate. I drove onto my estate and saw a car in front of me struggling to get grip on a nasty part of the ice. I slowed while I watched the other driver's efforts to get up the hill. He eventually gave up, turned around and drove off. I thought I'd give it a try and gave it a little run. Sure enough, I started slip-sliding too so I didn't try for long.

Now what I should have done is park up and walk the rest of the way home (only about a couple of hundred yards).

What I did do was turn around and head for the main road and try to enter my estate from the top instead. I was fine at first as I drove in at the fairly flat part of the road. Then as I got further onto my estate, the incline increased. Suddenly, bye-bye grip and I started to slide down the hill slowly but helplessly. I saw a parked car getting closer and closer and nothing was slowing me down. I just waited and hoped. My car slid slightly to the left, just enough to hit the kerb. That stopped me from hitting the car.

Now what I should have done HERE is park up and walk the rest of the way home (I was now literally just around the corner from my home).

Instead, I pulled back out from behind the parked car and somehow found just enough grip to pass it. Then I lost grip and started to slide again, but I was headed for the junction to my street. Just as I got there, my car found grip once more and I drove in. I'd normally go to the end of the street, turn around and park but I was sure my luck was going to run out. I got to my house and parked it, facing the wrong way.

I was very lucky not to hit anything that day (cars, pedestrians, etc) and I could have just given up and walked the rest of the way home at any point, but I was obsessed with getting the car home. Since then, I've had two other cars, another job and I've moved house but not had an icy road like that since. My new street would be even harder to get to in those conditions so I'm not looking forward to finding out, but I'm hoping I'll have more sense now than to try to get the car home.

 

[Smellmet]

Placing my genitals, backside and forehead on a fully lit BBQ for a drunken dare. At the age of 40.

 

[KyleRaynous]

To be 23 years old, to know exactly how the world works, and still believe my stories have at least a 0.1% chance of reaching Hollywood or the market in general.

 

[Greg Cox]

I only just recently discovered that Holland is not a country, but simply a region of The Netherlands.

Clearly, geography is not my strong suit.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

I only just recently discovered that Holland is not a country, but simply a region of The Netherlands.

Yeah, however, Holland is a widely used shorthand name and the Dutch don't appear to care much -- it's not derogatory and not really dumb. Worse would be to refer to the UK as England, which pisses off the Welsh, the Scots, and the Northern Irish.

Holland is also a region of the English county of Lincolnshire.
There is a village in the English county of Gloucestershire called Pennsylvania.
An area of the English city of Derby is called California.
England has both a town and a village called Washington. One of George Washington's ancestors was associated with the Washington in Tyne and Wear.

 

[thestrangequark]

Today I googled "why does salt make food taste better" and learned the answer(s). I don't know if that qualifies for this thread but I wonder that I never wondered about it before.

 

[urbandefault]

I don't want to admit how old I was when I discovered that Rhode Island wasn't actually an island.

Imagine Hank Johnson's surprise when someone finally told him you can't capsize an island.

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[auntiehill]

 

[Stephen!]

Placing my genitals, backside and forehead on a fully lit BBQ for a drunken dare. At the age of 40.

Sausages on the barbecue, so to speak ....

 

[Starbreaker]

In 7th grade, we were playing with devices in science class. The object was to make circuits to make a light bulb illuminate. So... after hearing form our teacher that you could generate enough electricity from your braces to light the bulb, our group hooked up mine. But... they also used a light switch. I blacked out for a second and spit all over the table.

 

[Mudd]

That every harm one does to another can be repaired.

 

[Tribble puncher]

Until I was 13, I had "Chester Drawers" living in my room. When I finally found out it was pron. "Chest of Drawers" it all made sense obviously as it's a freaking chest, with drawers in it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

How's this for dumb:

It wasn't until I was in college that I realized "Jack" is a nickname for "John".

Not making that up. I literally did not know this until that time. And you know what tipped me off? The "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" thing. I'm like, who the hell is "Jack Kennedy"? Then it dawned on me...

 

[auntiehill]

^

That's not all that dumb. My grandmother had 8 kids--and named many of them names that should have been nicknames. Her oldest boy was named Jim--not James; his birth certificate read "Jim." The second oldest boy was named Jack--not Johnathan or Jackson; his birth certificate read "Jack." One of the girls was named "Patty," not Patricia or Patrice-- it was just "Patty."

 

[Smellmet]

How's this for dumb:

It wasn't until I was in college that I realized "Jack" is a nickname for "John".

Not making that up. I literally did not know this until that time. And you know what tipped me off? The "Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy" thing. I'm like, who the hell is "Jack Kennedy"? Then it dawned on me...

I didn't know that until I read this post.

 

[scotpens]

Until fairly recently, I never realized that "Niagara" has three A's! I only noticed when I typed "Niagra" (which is how everyone pronounces it) and my spellcheck flagged it.

It also somehow escaped me that the name Malcolm has a silent L, like Lincoln.

My grandmother had 8 kids--and named many of them names that should have been nicknames. Her oldest boy was named Jim--not James; his birth certificate read "Jim." The second oldest boy was named Jack--not Johnathan or Jackson; his birth certificate read "Jack." One of the girls was named "Patty," not Patricia or Patrice-- it was just "Patty."

It's not uncommon for nicknames or diminutives to become full-fledged given names. Nancy, for example, was originally a diminutive of Ann or Anne. I knew a girl whose first name was Abby -- not Abigail, just Abby. And then there's the musician/songwriter Sonny Curtis. Sonny is his actual given name!

 

[Greg Cox]

Until fairly recently, I never realized that "Niagara" has three A's! I only noticed when I typed "Niagra" (which is how everyone pronounces it) and my spellcheck flagged it.

It also somehow escaped me that the name Malcolm has a silent L, like Lincoln.


It's not uncommon for nicknames or diminutives to become full-fledged given names. Nancy, for example, was originally a diminutive of Ann or Anne. I knew a girl whose first name was Abby -- not Abigail, just Abby. And then there's the musician/songwriter Sonny Curtis. Sonny is his actual given name!

I suspect the same thing happens with Peggy, which started out as a derivative of Margaret of all things. (Which is somewhat less than obvious.)

Meanwhile, it took me forever to figure out that "misled" was pronounced "mis-led." I used to think it was pronounced "myzled." Really.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I also didn't know that 'Ted' can be a nickname for Edward. (Learned it from a Python sketch. ) I always thought Ted was only short for Theodore.

 

[Evil Robert]

Okay here is one.

For the longest time I thought the water container under the hood/bonnet of ones car (for the window wipers) was refilled naturally by rainwater. After all I never actually had to refill mine. I turned out my dad (who use to tinker on my car everytime I visited my folks), just kept filling them up.

 

[B.J.]

As as kid sometime in the early '80s, I overheard a TV news report that was talking about Lenin's tomb. For years, I was really confused as to why one of the Beatles was buried in Moscow!