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People Embarrassingly Admit They Didn’t Know About These 38 Simple Facts Until They Were Much Older
Learning is a continuous journey that people go on for their whole lives. Even though we might learn things from school or people, books, movies, and other sources, there might be certain facts we miss out on. It can therefore be embarrassing if we only figure those things out for ourselves very late in life.
This list is full of such realizations from folks who feel a bit sheepish about the apparently common knowledge things they learned later on. Who knows, maybe this might be a learning experience for you as well.
More info: Reddit
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#1
Those roadside memorials are not actually where they buried the person. I always thought that was so disrespectful to just leave people in the ditch where they died.
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#2
A pony is not a baby horse. Also, a reindeer is a real animal.
Bored Trash Panda 1 week ago (edited)
Also, Santa's reindeer are all females because only the females keep their antlers in the winter, while males shed theirs in the fall.
#3
I didn't know the exhaust fan in the bathroom was there to get rid of the humidity in the room to prevent mold. I thought it was there to get rid of the smell.
I was 68.
It’s easy to think that general knowledge is, in fact, “general”—but the truth is that not everyone is as clued in as we think they are. There are some facts about life and the universe that ideally everyone should know, but for whatever reason, they don’t figure them out. That’s okay, too, because there will always be chances to learn these things.
Sometimes, folks might not be taught such facts in school or have never discussed them with friends. It then becomes difficult to stumble upon the information on a normal basis. People have to actually pick and choose what they want to learn because that decides what they spend their time on. Otherwise, there’s just a vast amount of information to consume.
#4
I didn’t know pirates were real until I was like 27. Fully thought they were made up characters like leprechauns.
#5
I know absolutely nothing about fashion and my wife watches a show called “Say yes to the dress” about picking wedding dresses. They kept using a term to describe sleeves and after hearing it a dozen times I paused the show and said “JFC! What the hell are CAT-sleeves? Nothing about em looks like a d**n cat”
She informed me the term is “Cap-sleeves” and now if she seees that sort of sleeves on someone she turns to me and meows.
#6
I wasn't eating "a sparagus", I was eating "asparagus".
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago
It makes my wee smell weird. Anyone else? It is a genetic thing apparently, does not happen to everyone.
Apart from all the facts on this list, there are some important life lessons that people need to learn as well. One of the most valuable beliefs is that you are the architect of your own life and that nobody else can control who you want to be. Although many people learn this lesson a bit too late, understanding and following it is the key to living a happy life.
There are many such positive self-beliefs that most people aren't taught by their parents or in school. They may then end up becoming adults who harshly criticize themselves or feel they need to conform in order to fit in. It’s therefore essential that kids are taught these things early on so that they don’t limit themselves.
#7
Pufferfish fill with water, not air.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago
Where would it get air from? I do not think this was ever thought through.
#8
I was an adult when I found out that Alaska is not an island and, in fact, is attached to Canada. All the maps as kids showed Alaska like an island next to Hawaii.
I swear, I’m a well educated person. 😂.
Devin Schmitt 1 week ago
Wait, you mean Alaska's NOT located right off the coast of Washington???? I guess that explains why it takes 3.5 hours to fly SEA to ANC.
#9
Narwhals are real. Age 28.
It might be funny to read some of the posts on this list and marvel at the fact that so many people were clueless about such basic things. One of the reasons for this could be that schools are primarily focused on academic subjects, and they don’t leave much space for kids to pick up any practical or essential life skills.
Children need to learn about personal finance, develop social skills, figure out how to manage their time, and also find the space to be creative. When they miss out on so many key things, it becomes a task for them to complete on their own later in their lives. That’s why so many of us are still confused about the fact that a tomato is a fruit and not a vegetable.
#10
I thought baby carrots taste different than big carrot cause the baby ones always seem more wet and I don’t like that….so figured they were also grown differently like maybe they were a different species of carrot - 🥕 turns out they are just big carrots cut up and shaped. I like big carrots 😂.
Karl der Große 1 week ago
Originally, baby carrots were types of carrots that grew smaller. I used to grow them in my garden. Somebody figured out it was more cost effective to cut big carrots, so that's what they started to do. Some places have laws that require the label to say "baby-cut carrots" if they are not actually baby carrots.
#11
Bandicoots are real animals and not just the Crash Team Racing character. I was about 27.
#12
I just realized the other day that to “make ends meet” had nothing to do with meat. Like I got what it meant from context but I thought it was like I’m so poor I can’t make ends meat like it was some kind of dish.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago (edited)
If any Peta members or vegans are around you should say "make ends tofu" so as not to offend them.
There’s nothing to be embarrassed about if you don’t know some facts or are still learning about the world. Some people embrace the idea of lifelong learning and love the fact that there is still so much for them to figure out. The way to go about this is to always be curious about new things and to keep asking questions.
People who always want to learn don’t feel any shame or guilt about the fact that they may not know something. Instead, they treat that as an opportunity to learn, and they talk to people who know a lot more than they do. This is actually a very healthy way to figure out more about the world and also get a personalized learning experience.
#13
That the wax in candles are actually the fuel for the flame. I thought that the wick was soaked in fuel and the wax just melted away to reveal it. I was well into adulthood when I learned this.
#14
I was 25 when I discovered that Sherlock Holmes was not a real person. I was so disappointed and betrayed.
#15
You can just twist the deodorant to remove the protective cap instead of wrangling it out with your teeth.
There are just so many facts to learn about the world and the universe that we need to give ourselves a break if we don’t know some of them. It’s time for us to take pride in the fact that there are some silly things we’ve just figured out, so that we can laugh about them and then learn something new.
That’s why we want you to share the funny things you’ve just learned about. We promise we won’t judge you.
#16
That the name Liam is short for William.
#17
My shoe size lol I though shoes were supposed to fit snug to the foot, turns out I was wearing a half size to a whole size down lol.
Karl der Große 1 week ago
I miss the days when the shoe store person would check to see if the shoe fit properly. Now you just grab a pair of shoes and hope that you know what you're doing.
#19
That in “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus,” Santa is the dad in a costume. Until I was mid-20s I really thought the mom was cheating on her husband with Santa.
#20
I vividly remember the moment I realized the “every kiss begins with Kay” commercial was a play on words with kiss literally beginning with the letter K(ay). I thought they were just bold and claiming kisses begin with their jewelry brand. Yes I’m autistic and yes I have more examples, that’s just my favorite and first big one.
#21
I was diagnosed with adhd at 40. All the signs and symptoms were there my entire life.
#22
59 years old when I found out New England is NOT a single US state -- it's a region of 6 states. Maybe I thought so because of the New England Patriots?
Motherofguineapigz 1 week ago
My late husband thought this too. Absolutely because of the New England Patriots. After all, all of the teams are either a city or state.
#23
That I have curly hair… my entire life I thought o was cursed with dried out, frizzy Hermione hair… turns out my hair has some solid locks when I ditch the brush, avoid combing while hair is dry, and get a satin night cap lol.
E Menendez 6 days ago (edited)
I had this same issue and do the same things. But it took me a long time to figure it out. My mom had pin straight hair and no idea what to do with mine. I was 12 when a friend told me my hair brush was for dogs. I asked my mom about it and her response was that it worked for poodles, so she thought it would work on my hair. Well, now.
#24
My mom is 64 and she just learned that the sun is a star. She thought it was its own thing I suppose!
#25
Dinosaur bones in museums aren't real bones only a cast (sometimes smaller displays will be real but they will state so).
#26
That the song i thought was called ice capade by janet jackson is actually called escapade.
#27
The Normans that invaded England way back? Were from NORMANDY….. I’m not sure why that never dawned on me.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago
Normans, was a variation of Norsemen or Northmen. The Vikings invaded and kept a large part of France, Normandy. The British Isles were ruled by Vikings living in France.
#28
I thought Charles Barkley the basketball player and gnarles Barkley the musician were the same person.
#29
You always find the thing you are looking for in the last place you look. I get that it means it’s the last place because why would you keep looking after you find it. But what I always thought it meant was the thing is always in the last place you would consider looking at to find it.
Serena Myers 1 week ago
You find something when you are looking for something else that you misplaced that you couldn't find, and so on.
#30
How to pronounce "ethereal", i didnt know it was like eth-ear-eal like cereal, i thought it was ether-eel LOL.
#31
This one is hard to admit, but how babies are actually made. I learned when I was 16/17. I knew where they come out of but not how they got in there.
Tabitha 1 week ago
I was in fifth grade when they started teaching s*x ed in school, so about 1970-1971. It was very vague and left me wondering how s***m can go through pajamas when a man and woman are sleeping. Then in sixth grade the girls were sent to the auditorium, while the boys stayed in the classrooms, so they could show us “THE Movie”. The boys would try to ask to go to the bathroom to get out of the classrooms and try to peek into the auditorium to see the movie. They always posted the toughest women teachers at the doors for this reason, as it was tried numerous times every year since that movie was made. However, the movie was also so vague that us girls still had issues and accidents the first year or two, until we learned to track and deal with it. (If you know, you know—-if you don’t, you’re not old enough to be on BP, or smart enough to understand it.)
#32
I realised the pickle thing around the same age as you.
I was 16 when I suddenly realised that pine cones came from.pine trees.
#33
That sheep have tails
I genuinly did not notice they had tails.
Blue Bunny of Happiness 1 week ago
They used to put a rubber band round new born lambs tails so they fell off. I recall this because on a class trip to a farm, our teacher came back with a tail and put it on the nature table. I really hope they don’t do that to lambs now, (or traumatise 8 year olds)
#34
I am an educated man in my 40s. I have travelled the world. I have loved and lost. I engage with a wide variety of creative media, so as to expand my understanding of the world while also engaging my mind.
I was wildly mispronouncing "biopic" the entire time. I am a dolt.
Mel in Georgia 1 week ago
If you read a lot, there are many words that you pronounce in your head wrong because you never hear them in real life. One of mine was banal. I thought it rhymed with a-n-al (curse you, BP!)
#36
How to cook rice without a rice cooker. (Still use one when I can, though. Cause it's just better.).
#37
I was too old when I learned blue raspberry is just a mix of raspberry and blue berry and not a real fruit.
Lukas (he/him, it/its) 1 week ago
No- it's an artificial flavor, the taste is a combination of pineapple, banana and cherry.
#38
The numbers on the dial on a toaster are minutes, not levels of toasty-ness. 🤯.
What do you think ?
Karl der Große 1 week ago
The first time I saw the Mona Lisa in an art book I got excited because the "original" was hanging in our school library.
thesbianism 1 week ago
As a kid, I would read about the Sears Tower in Chicago in books, but in my town, there is a pretty prominent abandoned Sears (the department store) water tower that says SEARS on it in big letters, so I always thought that that was just a common thing everywhere and that's all they were talking about. Also, the part in the song Winter Wonderland where it says "In the meadow we can build a snowman/ And pretend that he is Parson Brown/ He'll say are you married we'll say no, man/ But you can do the job when you're in town" I thought it was "parse and brown", that parse was an adjective meaning handsome, and that they were saying he could do the job, not meaning to marry them together like a priest, but meaning to get married to both of them at the same time. Turns out my dad and brother thought the same thing. Tldr: I am an idiot, and so is my entire family.
Bored Trash Panda 1 week ago
I thought road runners (the bird) were just something made up on Looney Tunes until I moved to Texas and saw a dead one. I was 20.
Karl der Große 1 week ago
The first time I saw the Mona Lisa in an art book I got excited because the "original" was hanging in our school library.
thesbianism 1 week ago
As a kid, I would read about the Sears Tower in Chicago in books, but in my town, there is a pretty prominent abandoned Sears (the department store) water tower that says SEARS on it in big letters, so I always thought that that was just a common thing everywhere and that's all they were talking about. Also, the part in the song Winter Wonderland where it says "In the meadow we can build a snowman/ And pretend that he is Parson Brown/ He'll say are you married we'll say no, man/ But you can do the job when you're in town" I thought it was "parse and brown", that parse was an adjective meaning handsome, and that they were saying he could do the job, not meaning to marry them together like a priest, but meaning to get married to both of them at the same time. Turns out my dad and brother thought the same thing. Tldr: I am an idiot, and so is my entire family.
Bored Trash Panda 1 week ago
I thought road runners (the bird) were just something made up on Looney Tunes until I moved to Texas and saw a dead one. I was 20.
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