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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.
Michael Largey 5 months ago
I used to see those roadside crosses when I was a kid and think "Why are Christians such bad drivers?"
Jay 5 months ago
Like Trump claiming all the memorial crosses in South Africa were the Graves of farmers. He needs to join BP and learn a thing or two in that hard head of his
UKGrandad 5 months ago (edited)
What? They're not free flower stalls? EDIT: Get a sense of humour, dearest downvoters.
RELATED:
#2
A pony is not a baby horse. Also, a reindeer is a real animal.
Bored Trash Panda 5 months 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.
Riley Quinn 5 months ago
We best keep this a secret before the alpha males hear this and raise a stink about how feminists are ruining Christmas.
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Becky Samuel 5 months ago
Seems you can't fix unpleasant and bítchy either.
Load More Replies... #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.
DeoManus Argentem 5 months ago
Wow, is this true? I thought that's what the air conditioning was for. Why does the fan come on in some bathrooms whenever the light is turned on, especially in bathrooms that don't even have a bath/shower?
Geoffrey Scott 5 months ago
In our case it's because I'm too lazy/cheap to do a double switch. It was an option when I installed it but, nah. Big enough p.i.t.a running the vent to the soffit.
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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.
Crystalwitch60 5 months ago
They are actually lol , along with haggis heheh joke haggis ain’t , but leprechauns,and our Welsh dragon very much are real
Load More Replies... Crystalwitch60 5 months ago
It’s at the end of a rainbow don’t you know lol , my son in law is Irish 😂
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elmortero 5 months ago
Keep us updated, and tell us how you feel when you find out that Titanic was not just a movie but it is based on a real disaster
RosaTheWitch 4 months ago
Oh, now you've gone and spoilt the ending! When my mum was at work she said there was a woman in the office who honestly said this - she genuinely didn't know if 'the (random) ship' would sink or not, and she complained how they'd ruined the movie for her! 🤷♀️
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BarfyCat 5 months ago
They still exist today. Beware when sailing off the coast of Somalia!
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Crystalwitch60 5 months ago
Erm do NOT let the Irish hear you say leprechauns aren’t bloody real pff ,, THEY VERY MUCH ARE REAL !
Rich Black 5 months ago
who would win a fight? A pirate or a leprehaun? remember, leprechauns have magic, but pirates have swords. think carefully.
CP 5 months ago
How are leprechauns and pirates in the same category? Did this person think pirates weren't human?
Jill Rhodry 5 months ago
No. They thought they weren't real - it says it right there
Load More Replies... #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.
Uncle Panda 5 months ago
It's a good thing he didn't hear it as 'craap-sleeves'.
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Blue Bunny of Happiness 5 months ago
(As a woman), I assumed wedding dresses were very much of a muchness and that yes, people would prefer different styles, but there wasn’t a huge amount of difference between 2 lace A Line dresses for instance. I therefore wasn’t particularly fussed when starting to plan my own wedding. I then watched Say yes to the dress (I was recovering from surgery and hadn’t found BP yet!) and it turns out some wedding dresses are absolutely hideous. I really should have realised this a lot earlier!
V 5 months ago
I used to help my mother make wedding dresses for friends. I have helped make some beautiful dresses and some urgh dresses over the years.
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Robin Roper 5 months ago
Don't tell him about spaghetti, puffed balloon, bell, leg of mutton, or Bishop sleeves.
#6
I wasn't eating "a sparagus", I was eating "asparagus".
Mreoww 5 months ago
When I was like 4 years old, I used to tell everyone I was allergic to asparagus because I hated it (I’ve never even tasted it, I just hated the look of it 😂).
Tim Douglass 5 months ago
If you have one more spear than you want to eat it's a spare, I guess.
Crystalwitch60 5 months ago
Oh good grief 🤦♀️lush stuff is asparagus on , used to grow it on the farm
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.
Bored Trash Panda 5 months ago (edited)
Aw it's so cute!! Wait, who the hell thought they filled with air... under WATER
Crystalwitch60 5 months ago
God only knows lol maybe they got a secret stash of oxygen tanks down there 😂
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#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 5 months 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.
Geoffrey Scott 5 months ago
No, according to most maps it's between Mexico and the US border, and right next to Hawaii.
Load More Replies... Auntriarch 5 months ago
I did used to think it was an island, imagine a Greenland to the left of the Americas. But I was very young at the time.
geezeronthehill 5 months ago
The miraculously straight border on the east side should have been a clue.
Sam Trudeau 5 months ago
I'm Canadian, and I thought it was a part of the Yukon (Alaskans might understand). As for why it's shown as an island, it's the "America first" logic you use where you would crop out every country besides Canada, which results in Alaska looking like a random island.
Esmeralda Villalobos 5 months ago
OMGWTFBBQ! ME TOO! I never really thought about it, even though I'd seen a globe dozens of times. It was the books! I was like 13 (supposedly "gifted").
GalPalAl 5 months ago
I think people often refer or classify AK as an island. I only recently realized that you can drive there, but again I think people are omitting pertinent information when referring to it as an island, eluding to it being detached.
#9
Narwhals are real. Age 28.
Nota Robot 5 months ago (edited)
Some sources argue that Narwhal horns (teeth, actually) are the origin of the unicorn legend.
Julie S 5 months ago
Narwhals are made up to protect the Unicorns, so people don't go hunting for them.
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London Paris 5 months ago
I'll forgive this one . . . . . Seriously, describe one to someone and listen to yourself: at SOME stage, ya actually HAVE to show a picture.
Svenne O'Lotta 5 months ago
Are you finding joy in the systematic dismantling of the American education system?
Load More Replies...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 5 months 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.
PeepPeep the duck 5 months ago (edited)
We skip the stupidity in Australia and just sell ugly and broken carrots cheaper in a different basket to the normal big carrots. No need for shaving and reshaping
Load More Replies... Ace 5 months ago
Baby carrots are not common where I shop in France and Switzerland, but on the odd occasion I see them they are indeed baby carrots, not reshaped larger ones. I do recall the baby-cut ones in the past, possibly in the UK, but they're quite easily-recognisable by their rounded ends and lack of root and top.
Indi 5 months ago
Technically, you are not wrong. They do taste better. Because they are usually cut around the core, so the sweetest part, therefore they do taste juicier and sweeter.
Becky Samuel 5 months ago
The core is the woodiest part, not the sweetest part.
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Geoffrey Scott 5 months ago
Lady I worked with got SO mad at her son. He used baby carrots as deer bait "You know how EXPENSIVE those are?"
Becky Samuel 5 months ago
Chantennay carrots are a different type of carrot, they're not just normal carrots grown to a different size. That's like saying that a Golden Delicious is a small Granny Smith.
Load More Replies... #11
Bandicoots are real animals and not just the Crash Team Racing character. I was about 27.
Khavrinen 5 months ago (edited)
An animal that isn't trying to k i l l you? Are you sure it's really Australian?
Load More Replies... PeepPeep the duck 5 months ago
It’s ok, as long you aren’t actually Australian 😝
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#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.
GirlFriday 5 months ago
I used to think this too. Any time someone was talking about making "ends meet," I thought they were talking about making "Ends Meat" like it was a meal. I asked my dad about this in high school when he said they were finally able to make ends meet on with the crops. I was so disappointed when we had regular old grilled chicken and rice the next night for supper.
PeepPeep the duck 5 months ago (edited)
Kids minds are so weird 😂 i remember being disappointed cos i was dragged to the pub as a small kid with my dad so he could get drunk etc another guy goes - come back to mine for a barbie. 5 yr old me was like I have no idea why this guy wants us to come over to play barbies but im sooooo IN. It was the first time I learned it was just a barbecue.
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Jeremy James 5 months ago
In Southern BBQ, we have a dish called, "burnt ends," that's just meat.
geezeronthehill 5 months ago
The old sausage joke. Why is one end nothing but filler. Couldn't make both ends meat.
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.
Ace 5 months ago
And what did you think happened to the wax? (thinking particularly about those on the picture, or even the little tea-light ones).
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Anonymouse 5 months ago
interestingly, the solid wax melts, the liquid wax "wicks" up the wick, and vaporizes, it is the gaseous wax that actually burns, if you look carefully there is a gap between the flame and the wick! A cool trick you can do, since the gas is what burns is blow a candle out and as it is still smoking, light the smoke about a foot away from the candle and the flame will travel down the smoke and relight the candle! way cool!
Pengie 5 months ago
This is incorrect. the wax vapor is what burns. The wick absorbs liquid wax, the heat of the flame vaporizes the wax, and it's the vapor that ignites. The wick's primary function is to draw the wax up and facilitate the burning process by exposing the wax to the flame. The vapor fuels the flame. Jesus
CP 5 months ago
My science teacher made a real good point about this in MS I remember. Most kids thought the wick just burned, but then the teacher asked what happens to the wax then. It seemed my class collectively had an ah ah moment and learned the wax is fuel. At least that is what I remember from my imperfect brain.
#14
I was 25 when I discovered that Sherlock Holmes was not a real person. I was so disappointed and betrayed.
John O'Donnell 5 months ago
I used to work around the Baker Street area, and the amount of tourists who thought he was real is frankly insane.
geezeronthehill 5 months ago
Socrates may have been Plato's fictional creation, but then Plato may have been fictional, himself.
#15
You can just twist the deodorant to remove the protective cap instead of wrangling it out with your teeth.
Papa 5 months ago
I assume people use their teeth if they don't have enough strength in their hand to grab it and pull it out.
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Jaya 5 months ago
I was really confused because in my countries none of the deodorant kinds have a protective cap that is hard to take off, so I looked it up, and deodorants in other countries look very different!
Ace 5 months ago
I'm familiar with aerosols, solid blocks and roll-on types but have never ever come across any with a cap that you could get your teeth around. A search reveals a plastic film on the top of the stick-type ones, but why anyone would remove it with their teeth is (still) a mystery.
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to old to care 5 months ago
I am 66 yrs old and have never though to do that.....it was always a job for my teeth.
GirlFriday 5 months ago
This made me laugh so hard. I realized this waaaaaay too late in life.
Sue 5 months ago
I don't remember them when I was younger, but then I think my parents used roll-on.
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CultOfBambi 5 months ago
Possibly - but it's also a UK thing and probably elsewhere too. It depends on the type of deodorant and the brand. Dove, Sure and Mitchum all have this on their stick-type deodorant. It's a plastic cap that covers the end, which you have to remove before you use the deodorant for the first time.
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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.
Lukas (he/him, it/its) 5 months ago
Sometimes, maybe originally, but any Liam I've met it's just been Liam.
The Other Guest 5 months ago
Yes, originally it was a shortened version of Uilliam (Irish) or William (German/British) but today it's a name in and of its own right.
Load More Replies... Johnnynatfan 5 months ago (edited)
Billy is short for William in the US and Ive always thought it was weird. Same as all the others but the most outrageous one is D ICK being short for Richard.
Julie S 5 months ago
My granddad was William but everyone called him Bill it confused the hell out of me when I was little.
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CP 5 months ago
Beth for Elizabeth, Bert for Robert, Tina for Christina, and the far less popular Yatt for Wyatt.
Philly Bob 5 months ago
If Harry is short for Harold... is Barry short for Barold?
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#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 5 months 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.
V 5 months ago
We still have a number of shoe shops and higher end department stores that will help with fitting if you ask around us. But you are going to pay more for the shoes from places that do that because they hire more staff than just enough to man the register and sometimes refill the stock which not everyone is willing or able to do.
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Trillian 5 months ago
I often see that in women when wearing sandals. The toes almost hanging over the edge. That looks so ridiculous, they are just too small.
Geoffrey Scott 5 months ago
And the older you get? Your feet grow. Wore a size 10 boot for years, had to get another pair as they started crowding my toes. Went up a full size.
GalPalAl 5 months ago
There used to be, and may still be, a metal device that show stores would keep on hand to give you an accurate shoe size simply by laying your foot on the plate and moving the side to adjust. The other way to tell is by holding up shoes that you feel are a comfortable fit, up to a new pair of shoes by the soles. Sometimes sizes can vary, so go by the visual fit rather than the size number.
#18
A cow has to have had a baby to produce milk.
Philly Bob 5 months ago
There aren't any pink cows, so how do they get strawberry milk. (Not from momma strawberries!)
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AutumnGirl 5 months ago
Like any other mammal mother, which makes dairy industry a very cruel industry.
Ben Aziza 5 months ago (edited)
Isent it a natural byproduct of farming cattle? Meaning it will eventually happen... I don't see why this is any more cruel than farming as a concept. The only way it could be seen as cruel is if you have an alternative like cloned lab grown meat and milk. Even then you will have to solve the whole animal species that were bio engineered for thousands of years having 0 chance of survival in the wild. Releasing them like that would indeed be cruel. Think of it this way a mongolian or bedouin herder and their goats/sheep/camels/cows would both all d*****f without the other.
Load More Replies... Robin Roper 5 months ago
Yea, the babies are taken from their mom's and fed a formula and the mom's are milked so people can have milk. After giving birth, the cow will produce milk for about 10 months but are impregnated 2-3 months after giving birth to assure a calf is born every year.
Spencer's slave no longer 5 months ago
This is not the case in every country that has a dairy industry.
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Riley Quinn 5 months ago
Aside from the condition Galactorrhea and the medical procedure of induced lactation (successful replication of the appropriate hormones), all mammals have to become pregnant in order to produce milk.
Motherofguineapigz 5 months ago
My daughter asked me where veal comes from. Of course she freaked out, then understood that everyone would have to stop drinking milk (kefir in her case) to get rid of veal or make breeders to create cattle that can be both dairy and beef producing. Or just become a vegetarian.
Nikole 5 months ago
Um… You know what they do with the veal calves, right? They’re kept in crates and can barely move because that would make the meat tough. It’s horrible. Don’t eat veal.
Load More Replies... Daniel Atkins 5 months ago
Diary cows are different from the meat producing breed in that they produce more milk than their meat producing counterparts and it has a higher fat content. If you left the calf with its mother it would eat too much and get scours. That is the cow equivalent of Diarrhea which is fatal. So there is excess milk. I grew up on the a farm and we had a milk cow. sure we separated but the calf got milk and we kept the extra. We would get two gallons per milking (twice a day) one for the calf and on for us.
#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.
Daniel Atkins 5 months ago
If you take the songs in this order and look at the lyrics you have a song about some one having a tough time with love. 1st. Walking in a Winter Wonder Land 2nd. I'll be home for Christmas 3rd. Last Christmas 4th. Santa Baby 5th. I Saw Momma Kissing Santa Claus.
Sam Trudeau 5 months ago
There's a movie called "The Santa Clause" (three of them) where Santa falls off the roof and a guy is, via Santa's contract, obligated to replace him. The sequel has the guy's kid tell him how his dad is the best thing ever, and he can't tell anyone.
#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.
Mel in Georgia 5 months ago
OMG, I pride myself on being word-savvy, but this is an honest TIL. Duh! Can't believe I didn't get this before.
Sam Trudeau 5 months ago
I'm autistic too, it takes me a moment to figure some things out. It's normal
#21
I was diagnosed with adhd at 40. All the signs and symptoms were there my entire life.
Uncle Panda 5 months ago (edited)
I ain't claiming nothin', see, but I finally took a look at the ADHD symptoms/behaviors and holy craap, it's like they were following me around taking notes. 9 out of 10!
CultOfBambi 5 months ago
I got 7 out of 10 on the autism questionaire I found via a link on the NHS website and it was quite eye-opening. Not sure what good a formal diagnosis would achieve though, as I'm obviously quite good at masking/coping. But it's good to know that there is at least a reason why I am the way I am. My brother in law has been formally diagnosed with ADHD in his 50s and he's found it quite helpful.
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Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
Relatives are saying, get tested, but I have meds and life and what good would it do? Probably autistic plus add, but it's not like a diagnosis can magically make me not disabled. Might take my disability safety net away instead
Load More Replies... London Paris 5 months ago
To all the right wing conservatives and RFK cultists out there: there hasn't been an INCREASE in the number of diagnosies because "chemikills, toxins and chemtrails": the increase has come from better diagnostic tools and ALSO for the nut job wackos out there, it is NOT a debilitating life ending diagnosis. I cannot believe that in the age of the internet and sophisticated medical SCIENCE FREELY available online, that we STILL have people with a level of ignorance akin to Tunguska feudal peasants .
CP 5 months ago (edited)
Same! Age and everything. NGL people had asked me if I had it a various points of my life and my thought was, I made it this far without it. I think it finally caught up with and started messing with my mental health. Wish I would have gone sooner. Even when I was doing well coping with it, I don't think I ever felt as good as I do now.
Child of the Stars 5 months ago
This is common, especially in Millennial women, because it often manifests differently. It's less so now since the diagnostic criteria has been updated.
Sam Trudeau 5 months ago
I don't know how this got downvoted. I hope it wasn't the listed age, that just says more about whoever downvoted.
Load More Replies... #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 5 months 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.
Daddy’s Girl 5 months ago
They used to be called the Boston Patriots until 1971 when the team was moved to Foxborough MA and it was decided the team should represent the entire of New England not just Boston
White Sauce Hot Sauce 5 months ago
New York, New Jersey, New Mexico. I can see how some might think New England is a state.
Becky Samuel 5 months ago
Not everyone is American. How much do you know about the historical counties of the UK?
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#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 5 months 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.
Mreoww 5 months ago
Mm. My hair has some really pretty, wavy locks in it when it’s all tanged and not brushed out. I wanna get the tangles out, but brushing it just makes it frizzy and gets rid of the pretty locks.
GirlFriday 5 months ago
Get a wide tooth comb. I swear it will change everything for you. You can get them for $1 some places.
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#24
My mom is 64 and she just learned that the sun is a star. She thought it was its own thing I suppose!
London Paris 5 months ago
Nope and that's the problem: I am so unsurprised that thinking functional adults with jobs actually DONT know something so blindingly obvious .
Load More Replies... Sam Trudeau 5 months ago
Well, ever heard of "The Sun King"? Lous XIV, he called himself that because he thought that the sun was the center of the universe, and that he was the centre of it in terms of superiority. He was sort of a nutjob of kings though, like making a law that he was the only one who could wear his shoe style. Also, there's a saying "Louis XIV a construit Versailles, Louis XV a habité à Versailles, Louis XVI est mort à Versailles"
#25
Dinosaur bones in museums aren't real bones only a cast (sometimes smaller displays will be real but they will state so).
B Jones 5 months ago
For the best probably if you see how most people act in museums these days
Load More Replies... Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago (edited)
The real ones are usually darker and c*****d etc. But there's really something about seeing an actual fossil Edit: cràckéd means there are crácks in the bones, you censor mook
Sam Trudeau 5 months ago
It makes it easier to show them I think. Also more forgiving if one breaks
Daniel Atkins 5 months ago
Plus the fossil would weigh making the framework more intrusive and hinder your view of the display.
Load More Replies... #26
That the song i thought was called ice capade by janet jackson is actually called escapade.
Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
The number of things you sing to English lyrics songs when you don't understand the language... Like: Faa lii faa lii faa lii faa lii in love (Of Twin peaks fame)
Little Bit 5 months ago
Until I was about six years old I thought that most song lyrics were made up words. Even now I often have to Google lyrics because I don't understand a word of what is being sung. I guess I have poor hearing.
#27
The Normans that invaded England way back? Were from NORMANDY….. I’m not sure why that never dawned on me.
Apatheist Account2 5 months ago
Go back a couple of generations and they were actually Vikings.
GirlFriday 5 months ago
I suppose that is better than thinking it was a group of people named Norman.
Steven Anzaroot 5 months ago
Likewise the Harveys which invaded even earlier were from Harvandy
Cynthia Christie 5 months ago
The Normans on the way to England “I know this guy, he’s not a Norman his name is Dan!” Dan gets chucked off boat.
#28
I thought Charles Barkley the basketball player and gnarles Barkley the musician were the same person.
Daniel Atkins 5 months ago (edited)
Yes, Gnarles Barkley is a duo with him and Danger Mouse
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#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 5 months ago
You find something when you are looking for something else that you misplaced that you couldn't find, and so on.
Little Bit 5 months ago
I always find the best way to find something you've lost is to buy a new one.
Crystalwitch60 5 months ago
It means lol it’s the last p,ace you would think it’s gonna be lol n it’s always the same , you search everywhere then think well ,I,ll try there but there is no way it will be n yup there it is 😂
Blue Bunny of Happiness 5 months ago
Unless you’re my ex, in which case I find the item in the exact same place you claimed to have looked in…..
Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
I always thought it meant the last place you would look. Even knowing it was wrong, the amount of things in the last place I can think of makes it worth while
#30
How to pronounce "ethereal", i didnt know it was like eth-ear-eal like cereal, i thought it was ether-eel LOL.
JB 5 months ago
Dad pronounced “misled” as myzelled until late teens because, somehow, he’d only ever seen it written; never heard it said out loud. Or at least that’s his story and he’s sticking to it.
Auntriarch 5 months ago
Your dad is perfectly correct, the readers are the ones who mispronounce most, because they've read more words than they've heard. As it happens I got misled right, but you don't want to know how I pronounced titled.
Load More Replies... CP 5 months ago (edited)
JB hit it on the head. People that read words first without hearing them are going to just make up whatever makes sense to them at that moment. There is nothing wrong with that nor does it mean a person isn't smart. I feel like this has happened to me but I don't remember any specific words I mispronounced. I read LOTR in middle school. I can't imagine all the words I probably mispronounced in my head.
Sue 5 months ago
When I was little in the early 70's, there used to be a cartoon in the newspaper called "Small Society." I thought it was said "Small Sockety" until I mentioned the cartoon to my parents.
Load More Replies... The Other Guest 5 months ago
Mine was "AW to MAY tun" instead of "uh TAW muh TAWN" (automaton). Also used to know someone who said "ideal" instead of "idea."
Tabitha 5 months ago
Had a teacher in elementary school (like 5th grade, so somewhere around 1970-1971), who said her grandmother used to pronounce “encyclopedia” as “ensk-lopedia”.
Riley Quinn 5 months ago
Hyperbole tripped me up. Brian Regan (Epitome of Hyperbole) has a funny joke about mispronouncing it.
UKGrandad 5 months ago
I had an English teacher who pronounced 'hyperbole' as 'hyper-bowl', and always said 'semitics' instead of 'semantics'.
Blue Bunny of Happiness 5 months ago
I had an English teacher who insisted trait was pronounced tray….
Load More Replies... London Paris 5 months ago
Can relate. Watching tv and heard it being pronounced correctly . . . ."Ohhhhhhh . . . . . not an eel then"
#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 5 months 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.)
Robin Roper 5 months ago
This is why there are so many unplanned pregnancies. It turns out keeping people uneducated about their bodies has consequenses.
Load More Replies... Riley Quinn 5 months ago
Knowing how babies are made is something all farm kids learn at a young age. Wasn't that difficult to make the connection between seeing the animals "playing" and then later the births.
Cee Cee 5 months ago
I briefly attended a convent boarding school in the '60's. Part of the human reproduction in biology included a diagram of a pènis on a chalk board. No scale so no idea of size. The nuns had a pair of donkeys in the field next to the hockey pitch. One was male and when we saw his pènis hanging down we thought that's what we were in for when we married. Terrifying.
Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
Tell kids the basics of s3x people!!! Knowing things like how babies are made, how to protect yourself from illness and how to know bad touch is something kids should know early, before middle school and really early
Sue 5 months ago
I started by daughter at 5 with an "cartoon" book first showing animals together. Then it showed a man & woman in bed together but covers up. She told me "I'm tired of this." By the time she was in high school, her friend told her she should be a gyno because she knew so much. My sisters & I learned a lot of it, beyond the basics, sneaking & actually reading my dad's Playboy's.
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Karl 5 months ago
I went to school in the 70s in N.Ireland in an area where the school governors were extremely prudish. I recall we were all waiting for the juicy details of sexual reproduction in Biology class and, when the lesson came, the teacher used the example of potatoes! This might explain why I reproduce in a highly unusual way.
London Paris 5 months ago
And this is why religion is a cancer: stop listening to religious but jobs who don't like reality and instead, teach S*x Ed, evolution and "looking out the f******window and dealing with the real world you ignorant peasant" .
#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.
Moon Puppy 5 months ago
And, just to mess with y'all, there is a variety of cucumber called a "pickling cucumber (or cuke)", that only grows and matures in a small size, for home picklers to use.
#33
That sheep have tails
I genuinly did not notice they had tails.
Blue Bunny of Happiness 5 months 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)
Tracy Fultz 5 months ago
This is still common practice. It's for sanitary reasons and disease and parasite prevention. when the lamb/sheep relieve themselves, fecal matter and urine can build up around/under their tails and then blow flies will lay eggs and, in return, maggots will grow and burrow into the animals skin. It's called "fly-strike". But for your teacher to KEEP a shriveled up tail is gross and obviously traumatizing! You poor thing!
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#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 5 months 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!)
Mreoww 5 months ago
I used to pronounce the word cumbersome the way you pronounce cucumber. In my defence, I’ve never heard the word anywhere, just read it.
UKGrandad 5 months ago
Cumbersome is pronounced just as it's spelt, with 'cumber' as in 'cucumber'. How are you pronouncing it now?
Load More Replies... Karl der Große 5 months ago
In the US, I usually hear "bio - pic." In the UK, they seem to say it to rhyme with "myopic."
The Other Guest 5 months ago
Bio pic is correct, though, at least in the US
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Sue 5 months ago
Some words I pronounced wrong in US English I found out later were actually correct in British English. And I don't know why the AP decided for several years to have everyone pronounce "negotiation" as "negociation," which I had heard British people say. Then it just disappeared. I also wondered why, at least in the South, we pronounced "button" as "bu-un," at least until I heard some people with British accents say it similarly & figured it was our ancestors. Now I hear it pronounced "bu-un" all the time. Same with cotton and some others.
Panda McPandaface 5 months ago
No such thing as 'British English', it's just 'English', you know, from England.
Load More Replies... Crystalwitch60 5 months ago
Also pronounciation depends on if your from uk etc or USA that completely changes things lol
#35
I was like 50 when I found out the Everly Brothers were white guys.
Pferdchen 5 months ago
The crowd at the Apollo got a huge surprise when Buddy Holly showed up.
Papa 5 months ago
Some country music venue patrons often got a similar surprise when Charlie Pride showed up.
Load More Replies... Lady Eowyn 5 months ago
Some people thought that about the Righteous Brothers. Who were white. And not brothers.
UKGrandad 5 months ago
The Everly Brothers couldn't have sounded more like white guys if they tried. I think that OP has the wrong group in mind.
#36
How to cook rice without a rice cooker. (Still use one when I can, though. Cause it's just better.).
Moon Puppy 5 months ago
Growing up, I always thought rice was just another form of pasta. Mom used to boil it just like any other pasta, spaghetti, rigatoni, etc. Not until I met my hubby-to-be, when I was about 25 years old, did I learn that rice was a grain. I bought my first rice steamer, and I've never gone back. For Asian dishes, I steam my rice. However, when I make a meat sauce, and I use rice for the base, I still boil the rice. They have two totally different tastes.
Panda McPandaface 5 months ago
Microwave rice is great for single people - especially the brown rice, so much quicker and no waste.
Load More Replies... Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
without rice cooker: Add rice, add water and salt and stuff. 1 rice 2 water. Put on the lid and pray. with rice cooker, no need to pray
#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) 5 months ago
No- it's an artificial flavor, the taste is a combination of pineapple, banana and cherry.
bElLa sTairZz 5 months ago
huh, i was allways told it was the same flavour as raspberry, just a different colour because there were too many reds already. knew that didnt feels right though
Load More Replies... Bret Sander 5 months ago
The person that breeds out a true blue raspberry will be rich beyond belief.
Remi (He/Him) 5 months ago
There's a name for the mix of raspberry and blueberry and it's queen berries. Somebody using flavoring and naming to deceive people is just wrong
#38
The numbers on the dial on a toaster are minutes, not levels of toasty-ness. 🤯.
CP 5 months ago
Yes, but if OP thought the heating coils changed temperature it is something new learned. I wonder if people know ovens don't technically stay on the entire time they are in use. Now OP can go do something for 5 minutes while it toasts with that knowledge, perhaps. It is a small piece of knowledge but could be useful.
Load More Replies... Bi.Felicia 5 months ago (edited)
I honestly think this varies depending on manufacturer, model, etc. Check your users/operating manual, to see what exactly your number scale translates to, for your particular toaster. If you don't have it, they are often online.
Lady Eowyn 5 months ago
Mine isn't minutes, I've timed it. Just arbitrary doneness levels.
Load More Replies... Blue Bunny of Happiness 5 months ago (edited)
If you were listening to the radio 2 breakfast show recently, you will know that whilst this may be the case with some toasters, it isn’t for the majority of them, judging by the number of people messaging in!
mhoulden 5 months ago
Nope. Simple test. Put some bread in and time how long it takes. Then put some more bread in without changing the dial. It will toast more quickly because the toaster is already warmed up. It's a thermostat, not a timer.
Khavrinen 5 months ago
Yes, thank you for saying this. I can't believe how many people have either never made toast twice in a row, or just swallow whatever they read on the Internet without bothering to think about it, because the difference is quite obvious if you're paying attention. Besides, in most cases a thermostat is much simpler and cheaper to manufacture than a timer.
Load More Replies... thesbianism 5 months ago
Yeah, I used to think they were levels of heat and that you could put it on a higher setting and take it out earlier to save time.
Debby Keir 5 months ago
Nope nopity nope. Try toasting anything in a toaster for 5 minutes and you'll just get a fire.
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Karl der Große 5 months 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 5 months 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 5 months 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.
SaladSpinnerDeux 5 months ago (edited)
My husband had to explain what "going commando" means. I thought it meant going crazy and yelling like GI Joe (the cartoon)...it means no underpants. Can't count how many times I misused that term. Oops.
Katie The Bug 5 months ago
I believe a better term for going crazy and yelling may be "going ape."
Load More Replies... 
Lost Panda 5 months ago
I was 18 when I learned what "dress to the left/right" meant when they were measuring me for my dress blues.
Jaya 5 months ago
What does it mean? (And also: what does dress blues mean?)
Load More Replies...
Melanie Filmer 5 months ago
I didn't know Timbuktu was a real place til I was in my 30s, I thought it was just an expression "off to Timbuktu" like "none of your business where they're going"
Sarah Suelzle 5 months ago
I was way too old, like 50, before I realized that thunder is the SOUND of the lightning. I always thought it was two different things (ಠ_ಠ)
Scott Rackley 5 months ago
There is a difference between ignorant and stupid. Also, ignorant is not technically a bad thing. Just means you haven't been exposed to certain information. Like you and vocabulary.
Load More Replies... Karl der Große 5 months 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 5 months 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 5 months 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.
SaladSpinnerDeux 5 months ago (edited)
My husband had to explain what "going commando" means. I thought it meant going crazy and yelling like GI Joe (the cartoon)...it means no underpants. Can't count how many times I misused that term. Oops.
Katie The Bug 5 months ago
I believe a better term for going crazy and yelling may be "going ape."
Load More Replies... Lost Panda 5 months ago
I was 18 when I learned what "dress to the left/right" meant when they were measuring me for my dress blues.
Jaya 5 months ago
What does it mean? (And also: what does dress blues mean?)
Load More Replies... Melanie Filmer 5 months ago
I didn't know Timbuktu was a real place til I was in my 30s, I thought it was just an expression "off to Timbuktu" like "none of your business where they're going"
Sarah Suelzle 5 months ago
I was way too old, like 50, before I realized that thunder is the SOUND of the lightning. I always thought it was two different things (ಠ_ಠ)
Scott Rackley 5 months ago
There is a difference between ignorant and stupid. Also, ignorant is not technically a bad thing. Just means you haven't been exposed to certain information. Like you and vocabulary.
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