Things you know NOTHING about that everyone else does

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Not, you know, who finished third at each Open Championship of the 1980s. But the stuff that at any social gathering, everyone has an opinion of, rudimentary knowledge of, but you literally can't offer anything to the conversation.

My glaring one is cars. I drive, have done for almost 20 years. I have absolutely no interest them as machines any more than I do refridgerators, nor any more understanding at all about how they work or which is a good one.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

What the one above said

[WOM]

Currently, celebrities. I recognize almost nobody on the front of tabloids, have no idea what a Kardashian or a Jenner looks like. And recently, someone named Daniel Caesar played 5 sold out nights in a row at the Danforth Music Hall and I'd never heard of him once in my life.

[Toby Gymshorts]

Television in general. I watch a lot of sport and the occasional crime drama, that's it. Makes those work conversations easy.

"Did you see...."

"Probably not."

"Have you been watching...."

"Nope."

I just can't be arsed. Watching a series takes effort and I just can't give it my attention.

[Me Old Flower]

Mortgages. OK, I doubt many people are extremely knowledgeable about them, but I don't know the first thing about them as I've only ever rented.

(Though I suppose this might be more common than I might think, given how hard it is to be a first-time buyer nowadays).

[Bored Of Education]

The thing with mortgages is that you know pretty much everything about them when you need to deal with and then instantly forget every single detail as soon as you have made the first cup of tea in your new house. Which is a pain when, as I am, you are into the two years mark when you are supposed to renegotiate.

[Amor de Cosmos]

The stock market (which, given it's where most of our money is, is more than a bit stupid.)

[elguapo4]

A lot of the above,also computers and modern technology,I constantly amaze and amuse my co workers with my lack of knowledge

[adams house cat]

Gardening. Home improvements. I am the kiss of death to anything horticultural and I need to get a tradesman in for even the most basic repairs.

"Your yard would look nice if you planted some...". I mumble excuses and make for the drinks.

"If you use a 16mm socket with a..." I start to whimper.

[WOM]

The thing with mortgages is that you know pretty much everything about them when you need to deal with and then instantly forget every single detail as soon as you have made the first cup of tea in your new house. Which is a pain when, as I am, you are into the two years mark when you are supposed to renegotiate.

This. I once did a spreadsheet showing how much Mrs WOM's pension will be if she works until 52, 54, 56, 58, 60 etc. I mean, calculated to the dollar based on her 85-factor, present salary, correcting for inflation, etc. I guarantee it would take me a week to get my head around how to do it again.

[Pietro Paolo Virdis]

How to keep a plant alive.

[3 Colours Red]

Cooking.

I mean, I can heat something up in an oven for a requisite amount of time OK but ask me to follow a recipe and it's like the start of an episode of Casualty. Hence why 95% of my "hot meals" diet is microwaveable, boil-in-the-bag, add-hot-water or takeaways.

I never stood a chance though, with the exception of my older sister my entire family are equally abysmal.

[HeavyDracula]

Videogames. It's such a massive thing amongst teens to forties but I have so little knowledge (despite being generally interested) that it's hard to talk about them in any meaningful way.

[Satchmo Distel]

The Greatest Showman - no fucking clue

American sports team nicknames which my students have known since the cradle but which leave me stumped.

[WOM]

As previously confessed, electricity. No understanding at all. Is it a 'thing', a chemical, black magic? No idea. None. Not even a rudimentary understanding of a watt or a volt or anything.

That said, I can successfully rewire a lamp. Make of that what you will.

[Crusoe]

Cars
Electrics
DIY in general
Rugby (and I don't care)

[johnr]

Blimey, I'm an amalgamation of much of the above...

Cars
Electricity
Gardens
DIY
Mortgages
Gas
Pensions
Celebrities
Television
Pop music
Bringing up kids

I'm generally known to have a happy demeanour. Maybe it's cos I don't know anything about that lot.

[Hot Pepsi]

Computers. I suppose it makes me a failure in this day and age that I don't know how to code, but there's nothing that I want my computer to do that it doesn't already do except for transcribe interviews, and I'm certain that I could never code a computer to do that in my spare time given that billions of dollars, person hours, and genius have already been poured into doing that and they haven't quite cracked it yet. And in my limited experience with coding in high school and a little in college, I hated it and hate fighting with machines that are invariably designed for people who are, apparently, nothing like me.

When there's something I want to know how to do, I can usually learn to do it. I understand how html works, I just find it a pain in the ass.

In most almost every other kind of situation where I think "I wonder if there's a way to do this," the answer is either a) That defies the laws of physics, so no. b) Yes, but it requires hardware you don't have and can't afford c) Yes, and it requires software you don't have and IT won't let me download it onto the system d) Yes, and here's the way to do it using a free thing that is easily downloaded so don't bother trying to reinvent it.


Electricity for me too. I have studied it and have, at times, understood it and known what capacitors, transistors, etc, are. But for some reason it just slips through my brain and I have to look it up again each time. So, for example, right now I can't explain how alternating current works.

[Diable Rouge]

Videogames. It's such a massive thing amongst teens to forties but I have so little knowledge (despite being generally interested) that it's hard to talk about them in any meaningful way.

Snap - thankfully, the whole Fortnite fad has passed me by.

[Jah Womble]

If you substitute 'pop music' for 'current pop music', then pretty much everything listed so far on this page...

[Hot Pepsi]

Snap - thankfully, the whole Fortnite fad has passed me by.

Yeah, me too. But for me, it's more "I've spent enough hours playing video games for one lifetime" than anything wrong with the games themselves. If I owned a big TV, a gaming console, and had a need to spend hours away from my family, and nothing more interesting that I wanted to do, then maybe I'd be into it. But I have none of those things and the money it would take to acquire them would be better spent on other things.

Indeed, as I'm getting into the second half (optimistically) of my life, I'm finding there are a lot of things I did when I was younger that I'm just done with. Sure, the games now are more sophisticated and look better than the ones I was into 15+ years ago and there are times I think I'd like to buy a PS4 so I can play MLB the Show or the latest FIFA, but it's still the same basic experience that it's always been and I've done enough.

[San Bernardhinault]

Much of the above:

Cars
Basketball
Music post-2010 (maybe post 2000, I've lost touch so much)
DIY/Fixing things
Celebby stuff
Trashy mainstream telly stuff
And a lot of computery stuff

[WOM]

Snap - thankfully, the whole Fortnite fad has passed me by.

Not quite yet, if the shouting, cursing, recriminations and calls to murder emanating from my basement [at this very fucking moment] are anything to go by.


<In cracking teenage boy voice> "Jimmy. Jimmy. Jimmy shoot. SHOOT. BEHIND THE TREE. Other guy....what's your name? No, other guy. Hi Lucas. Leave that for me. I got it. I got it. CAN YOU NOT!!!! Kill him. KILL HIM. Lucas...another one behind the wood pile. Okay, I left you some ammo. NOOOOO! Okay, I gotta go for dinner...."


Non-stop for almost three months now.

[Toby Gymshorts]

A three month dinner is probably excessive.

[Femme Folle]

Can't think of anything.