I recall having trouble with "chifforobe" in To Kill a Mockingbird, but "wardrobe" I figured out from context -- you know, place where you hang up coats, it's got to be a closet-object of some kind. Whereas "torch" for "flashlight," that took me a couple of reads as a child before I could convince myself that they weren't all carrying flaming sticks around with them.

but it gets annoying to constantly hear, "Oh, you know about that?" in a suprised voice.

It's a quick way to make a buck, though. In the same way, my grandfather once bet me I didn't know who had originated the phrase "armchair panther," which I had used in conversation one day. I made $10 off him by asking whether Thomas Wolfe had stolen it from somebody else. Preying on other people's perception of your ignorance is like an honest form of a con game.

Whereas "torch" for "flashlight," that took me a couple of reads as a child before I could convince myself that they weren't all carrying flaming sticks around with them.

This one still gets me on occasion.

I'm still not entirely sure what a chiffarobe is, though I remember asking my teacher about it when we were doing To Kill a Mockingbird in class. Maybe she didn't know either.

And in my experience a wardrobe is anywhere you hang clothes, not just a free-standing thingummy.

And I'm seeing it tomorrow,so yays for that.

This one still gets me on occasion.

Me too. For all that I can automatically translate bonnet intto hood, lift into elevator, and lorry into truck, somehow torch always = flamey stick in my head.

Whereas "torch" for "flashlight," that took me a couple of reads as a child before I could convince myself that they weren't all carrying flaming sticks around with them.

I was EXTREMELY disappointed.

I'm still a little disappointed, actually.

I'm still not entirely sure what a chiffarobe is, though I remember asking my teacher about it when we were doing To Kill a Mockingbird in class. Maybe she didn't know either.

As far as I recall, it's pretty much what I'd call a wardrobe -- a freestanding thing to hang up clothes, with some drawers and shelves and stuff too.

For all that I can automatically translate bonnet intto hood, lift into elevator, and lorry into truck, somehow torch always = flamey stick in my head.

I think "public school" annoys me the most. I do know that spanner = wrench. Oh, are crumpets the same thing as English muffins?

I do know that spanner = wrench.

That took me a long time to figure out because my first introduction to the word came from Red Dwarf. I just assumed it was some kind of futuristic tool.

(Edited to remove unnecessarily redundant redundancy.)

ETA: On further reflection, I think I read the word in HHGttG first, made said assumption and then was amused when Red Dwarf had a tool called the same thing. Me=dense.

Oh, are crumpets the same thing as English muffins?

English muffins are sort of a pale imitation of a proper crumpet.

Crumpets don't really get as crisp as English Muffins. And they're riddled with little air pockety holes which absorbs scads of butter and jam.

Crumpets don't really get as crisp as English Muffins. And they're riddled with little air pockety holes which absorbs scads of butter and jam.

So texture-wise, are they about halfway between an English Muffin and a scone, or are scones a whole different texture completely?