Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
30 People Share How They Used To Believe In Something That Turned Out To Be An Embarrassing Misunderstanding
No matter how smart we think we are, no matter how many degrees we might have, everyone (everyone!) has at least one embarrassing knowledge blindspot. You might be like Ted Mosby from the hit TV show How I Met Your Mother who pronounces ‘chameleon’ with the ‘ch’ like in ‘chocolate’ and the ‘leon’ part like the name Leon.
Or you might be like comedy writer Ariane Sherine who used to think that pigs would snuff out chocolate truffles from the ground like they do normal truffles. When Ariane shared this fun fact on the internet and added that one of her friends thought that Colonel Sanders’ bow on the KFC logo was a stickman body (we can’t unsee it now, by the way), she sparked an amusing thread about the most embarrassing misunderstandings that people have had. Scroll down, upvote your faves, and share your own embarrassing blindspots in the comments below! I’ll get the ball rolling by saying that I keep forgetting that New Zealand is to the Southeast of Australia—in my mind, it’s always to the Southwest! Whoops! Sorry, Kiwis.
"I share a lot of the knowledge blindspots other people have confessed to. For example, when I was young, I also thought the word ‘misled’ was pronounced ‘mizzled!’ And I’m sure I’m also guilty of hundreds of misunderstandings I can’t remember now," Ariane told Bored Panda. "I think that’s why the thread was so popular—everyone can identify with the idea of an embarrassing misunderstanding! Can’t help you with Colonel Sanders though—I fear that image is seared into your brain forever..." Scroll down for the rest of our interview with Ariane.
More info: ArianeSherine.co.uk | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
RELATED:
"I think some people think they’ll lose face if they admit to not knowing things. But no one can know everything! Having gaps in your knowledge is just a natural part of being human. And sometimes, as the thread proves, those gaps can be amusing!"
Ariane also revealed to Bored Panda what she's been up to during the Covid-19 quarantine. "I’ve been working on a really fun book for ages 8-12 set during the coronavirus lockdown. Unfortunately though, my agent has stopped work during lockdown, so if any children’s fiction publishers would like to read the manuscript, please hit me up! I’ve also been proofreading my next book, called How to Live to 100. It’s a funny health science book which tells you how to live a long and healthy life, and is out on October 1," she said.
#5
Peachikeen 5 years ago
And that mummys had girl babies and the daddys had boy babies. Childhood is a strange time.
#6
Vanta Black 5 years ago
I'd be willing to bet most of us have had this thought at one point or another.
Michelle C 5 years ago
LMAO....I thought they were gorillas fighting each other and used to wonder why is this news (without watching the news) and who is naming them and teaching them to use guns....ahhhhhhh, I miss pot
Porto DaMartinica 5 years ago
[...]I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Navy Seals, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on Al-Quaeda, and I have over 300 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla warfare and I'm the top sniper in the entire US armed forces. You are nothing to me but just another target[...] one the internet's oldest and best copy-pastas of all time
Elida Lechuga 5 years ago
Yup, me too. I always heard it as gorilla warfare. When I finally figured out what they were saying I wondered why people can't just pronounce it the correct way (with a Spanish pronunciation).
lara 5 years ago
Years ago Mad Magazine had "illustrations" of things being said on the news. The one I remember was "Gorillas on the Plains of Jars." It was actually "guerillas on the "Plains of Jars" but it was illustrated with gorillas running over mason jars. That was about 1963 or so.
glowworm2 5 years ago (edited)
There was a children's book called "A Chocolate Moose For Dinner" written by the late actor Fred Gwynne (AKA, Herman Munster) in which a child takes all the things her parents say around her literally. One of them featured a literal"Gorilla War" with Gorillas wearing army helmets and holding weapons.
Load More Replies...
Freya the Wanderer 5 years ago
Yes - humans are primates. In fact, zoologically we are apes.
Load More Replies...
Grace Note 5 years ago
I saw a trailer for the planet of the apes TV show and thought it was the news. Spent a long time fearing the imminent arrival of the ape army. These days I'd be welcoming them with open arms.
Katie and Jared Coates 5 years ago
I was confused about this too for a bit when I was young. I thought it was how British people said it or something (between Clayton in Tarzan and the British in The Patriot..)
Bettye McKee 5 years ago
That's because children take things literally based on their current knowledge. Kids are more familiar with gorillas than with guerrillas.
SciFi Vortex 5 years ago (edited)
The army WAS fighting "primates". Humans ARE primates. Subspecies, "apes". Ape type: "homo sapien". One of the "four great apes" Do a bit of Googling and find out what "kind" of animal you are. Homo Sapiens. Apparently one of the most intelligent species on Earth, yet most of them (mostly in the U.S) don't know what "kind" of animal they are. I'll forgive a Poodle not knowing it's a "dog" or a pigeon" not knowing it's a "bird" or a "shark" not knowing it's a "fish" but a homo sapien/human not knowing it's a primate/ape ... Embarrassing.
Leslie Burleson 5 years ago
Same ! Lol. I was like 7 years old and they were showing dead people in the news . I asked my parents what happened and they said "guerilla warfare". I thought to myself "why are gorillas killing people "
39-year-old Ariane has many talents besides her talent with the quill: she’s also a comedian, campaigner, and a songwriter. But she’s best known for her writing skills. If you’re a fan of British TV, then you’ve probably enjoyed some of her work without even knowing it. She’s written scripts for BBC shows like My Family, Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, The Story of Tracy Beaker, and Space Pirates, ITV1’s The New Worst Witch, and jokes for Channel 4’s Countdown.
She’s incredibly energetic and also a regular on TV and radio programs like BBC Breakfast, Sunday Morning Live, The One Show, Victoria Derbyshire, iPM, Woman’s Hour, Sunday, and Night Waves.
Ariane’s a seasoned journalist, too. She has written over 90 columns for The Guardian and The Spectator, a few travel pieces for The Sunday Times, book reviews for The Observer, album reviews for NME, and features for The Independent, Independent on Sunday, and Esquire. That’s the sort of experience that any journalist would be glad to add to their CV.
So if someone as talented and hard-working as Ariane can talk about her embarrassing misunderstandings openly, there’s no reason for us to hide our own knowledge blindspots. Don’t you think so, dear Pandas?
#15
#21
Pseudo Puppy 5 years ago (edited)
Well, if your parents weren't into retro music when you were a kid, and didn't listen to the Beatles... logically speaking, this is actually a very reasonable assumption to have as a kid.
#27
#30
Whatshername 5 years ago
Please don't take this the wrong way. Things like this honestly always make me wonder if people in the USA (not saying Mr. O'Neill is American) get taught topography of the world in school? Maybe it's just that there's so many Americans and in Europe we hear a lot from you. Maybe that's why things like this get noticed. It is not my inention to be rude, I am honestly wondering. As to me this is unimaginable. We get taught stuff like this when we're about 10-12 years old.
#32
Pseudo Puppy 5 years ago (edited)
the joys of English NOT being a phonetic language, and taking the majority of its words from other languages (that are also not phonetic), then bastardising them even further by mispronouncing them..... makes it near impossible to correctly pronounce every word. And then there's the plethora of accents within the english language. :o
#37
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Pickles 5 years ago
When I was 5-6yrs old, I thought that the laugh tracks heard in sitcoms was the laughter of all the other people also watching the show around the world. I went so far as to talk into the tv speaker, introducing myself in hopes of communicating!! Eek!!!
RaroaRaroa 5 years ago (edited)
I remember thinking that the people shot in cowboys programmes on TV (Zorro I think) were people who wanted to die. I knew they were actors, but thought they really died. I was very young.
Load More Replies...
Meghann Davies 5 years ago
I was 16 when I realised (quietly) that Neil Armstrong said "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" and not "one small step for a man, one giant leap for magpies" which to me made sense because it would in fact be a giant leap for a magpie...
Daria Z 5 years ago
Suppositories in Russian are called "candles" and I believed they were thin medical candles that you have to stick up your bum and then LIGHT them. Ohh, learning the truth was so embarrassing, especially since I was well into my 20s 😳
Binxyminxem 5 years ago
Lol right as I was reading this one of my dogs farted, he couldn't have timed it better! 🤣🤣🤣
Load More Replies...
Becca Gizmo the Squirrel 5 years ago
I laughed so hard at the KFC sign with legs. I still have years in my eyes.
togcrewsc 5 years ago
I cracked up when I read this, bc I imagined calendars stuck in your eyes.
Load More Replies... Tardis42 5 years ago
When I was little, I was terrified of thunder, so my mother tried to help by telling me it was just the sound of clouds banging into each other. Unfortunately, I believed that into high school when I was corrected after asking what was in clouds that could make that much noise.
Liam Walsh 5 years ago
My mother told me God was rearranging the furniture!
Load More Replies...
glowworm2 5 years ago (edited)
Until (embarrassingly) recently, I thought that Ted Bundy, the serial killer was also an Actor on Married with Children--and that he played the father character--Al Bundy. I thought he became a serial killer later.
Katie Allen 5 years ago
that was a joke on Beavis and Butthead! they were all "that dude on Married With Children killed people, cool, huh huh huh"
Load More Replies...
Foxxy (The Original) 5 years ago
I have a few. I thought the M and F on toilets stood for Mother and Father. imagine my embarrassment walking into the male toilets. I thought Sarsparilla was made from dogs. I thought my head would fall off after having a small lump cut out of head. That’s just those ones I can remember right now.
Jon S. 5 years ago
"I thought Sarsparilla was made from dog" that's really funny! Any idea where you got that idea from?
Load More Replies... cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
When i was a kid i thought that the "slippery road sign" was the head of Zephyr from Babar. panneau-ze...7e5a77.jpg 
CbusResident 5 years ago
Also, 1. I thought for the longest time that the US National Anthem (The Star Spangled Banner) went: 'Jose can you see'. 2. On TV when a cop arrests someone in the US and reads them their Miranda Rights, I thought this was a command that the person must be silent - or else anything they say would be used against them in a court of law. As a lawyer I now know that technically they're actually giving you an OPTION to not talk - because what you say could be used against you in court. I think a lot of people misunderstand that though.
LoPandas 5 years ago
Geoffrey Holland then I must be really f*****g stupid
Load More Replies...
Mary Padgett 5 years ago
I thought the steeple or cross on top of churches worked like a tv antenna to channel God.
Gipsy Kings fan 5 years ago
When I was a little kid in the '60s, I read dozens of my brother's classic Marvel comics (pre-superhero era, many featuring monsters or beings from other planets). I thought that "alien" only referred to a person / creature from another planet. I can't remember how many years went by or how old I was when I found out it also means a person from a foreign country! :-D
Cyndi Hafele 5 years ago
I used to think pubic hair was called public hair, and I couldn't understand why, because it's the most private of all your hair.
Binxyminxem 5 years ago
Lol reminds me of when I used to call pawns in chess "prawns"!
Load More Replies... 
Bunzilla 5 years ago
When I was really little, like... 4...?? or younger, I remember being in my kitchen with my mother and my older brother, and suddenly having this grand revelation. "Ohh, I get it now! Milk comes from cows, eggs comes from chickens, and quackers (crackers) comes from ducks!" I couldn't understand why they were both laughing at me and felt very offended, haha.
CbusResident 5 years ago (edited)
1. As a 4-5 year old, my family's neighbors had a crew of guys fixing their garage roof for a week or so, & since a few of them wore bandanas I kept nervously telling my mom they were pirates. 2. Around those ages I thought at movie theaters that the screens could only show people b/c those people were in back of the screen doing it all, that we were just seeing live action mediated through the screen. (Though I didn't know how to explain that to anyone then, good thing I never did, laughing face palm). 3. The Arby's logo: I had no clue it was a cowboy hat for the longest tine. 4. The 1990-era Blockbuster ad w/ the cheezy jingle 'Wow, what a difference! Blockbuster Video!' - I thought was saying 'Ghostbuster Video!' 5. This is worse: for the movie Tropic Thunder, a pal of mine was so thrown off by the fake previews they show at the beginning of fake comically bad movies for the fictional Hollywood stars in Tropic Thunder. I had to explain this to him like three times, like: 'See, that's one of the dumb action movies that Ben Stiller's CHARACTER would have done...Do you understand?!' He did eventually, lol.
read041 5 years ago (edited)
I thought the old 8 tracks were called "A tracks". I was corrected a few weeks ago. I'm in my 30s :/
Leo Domitrix 5 years ago
The Police song "Spirits in a material world" was heard by me as a kid (at 430 AM, farm life, eh?) as "I stare itno my cereal bowl". My mother thought the same. Enlightenment didn't change how we sing it, btw. We still stare into our cereal bowls!
SepBass Five15 5 years ago
I thought there were "good guy teams" & "bad guy teams" in all pro sports when I was a kid like in WWF pro wrestling.
oz 5 years ago
I used to believe people with blue or green eyes, could see everything in that color! :o jeje
Up All Night 5 years ago
And all those poor people with almost black irises! How can they see? :)
Load More Replies...
Cecilia Cheung 5 years ago
I honestly thought that the verse "dark sacred night" in What a Wonderful World said dogs say goodnight well until my early teens
Rose the Cook 5 years ago
Radio and TV often mentioned "the criminal underground" when I was a child. My parents could not understand my fear of the subway.
Lyra Rey 5 years ago
I thought that "subtle" meant the opposite of what it really means because it sounded like it was related to the word "sudden." I first heard the word subtle when I was 12 and my dad read me The Subtle Knife. I loved it, but my misunderstanding of the title made it a bit confusing. I learned the real meaning a few years later but I didn't tell my dad about this until I was 32. Now we refer to The Subtle Knife as "The Knife that Jumps Out at You."
Kateryna 5 years ago
Another one - I used to wear rubber bands on my wrists and tied them really tightly until my grandma told me it will stop my blood from flowing into my hand and it will fall off. 10 years later, I have a phobia of touching my wrists, and until I was 8 I believed my hand could actually fall off if I touched my veins.
Nia Loves Art 5 years ago (edited)
I thought subpoenaed was pronounced sub-po-nayd, and ennui was pronounced en-you-i. I still instinctively read them that way.
Chelsea Shimell 5 years ago
I thought Ethiopian was the illness for starving children when they were so bad their bellies were bloated but their arms and legs were tiny. Because of the save a child infomercials on tv. Wasn’t until I watched a sporting event and there was an Ethiopian team I found out it’s a country 😳 I thought it was so cruel they were making them compete 😬
Annabeth Chase 5 years ago (edited)
Me: *looking at you comment* No one: Me: Oh, so all the houses there are out houses! No one: Me: ...I'll show myself to the door.
Load More Replies... zims 5 years ago
For the longest time I thought the USPS logo was a hatchet head in a slingshot. I still have trouble seeing the eagle.
Steve Barnett 5 years ago
Until only a few years ago I thought that milk was a liquid in its own right. Didn't realise it was 88% water.
Lola 5 years ago
When I was little I used to think you get pregnant by kissing. One day we had people over and I saw a couple kissing on tv and I yelled, “you’re going to get her pregnant.” I must’ve been about 7 or 8. The whole room fell silent and then everyone burst out laughing. To this day, every chance my family gets, they mention it to me.
Zaykayemi Gma 5 years ago
Up until a couple years ago I thought rice was baby pasta. I'm 43.....
Nuno José Almeida 5 years ago
At the age of 12, I finally understood the meaning of Except. Before, I thought it meant Mainly. I still remember when it hit me.
Jon S. 5 years ago (edited)
I always thought people described disappointments as "damp squids." I didn't even click when I watched an episode of IT crowd in which Jen was corrected for having the same misconception, I thought the joke was she was right and everyone else was wrong. Years later I discovered there were these explosive things called squibs and "Damp Squib" suddenly made a whole lot more sense than damp squid.
Seabeast 5 years ago
The main newspaper in my home city was called The Herald. So of course I wondered why there were angels from the paper singing "Glory to the newborn king" at Christmas. I also thought the moon followed me when i walked at night while the earth stood still.
Meghann Davies 5 years ago
I was 16 when I realised (quietly) that Neil Armstrong said "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" and not "one small step for a man, one giant leap for magpies" which to me made sense since it would have been a giant leap for a magpie...
Dianna Siever 5 years ago
I've never heard of half of the things people here are referring to. Are they obscure, or am I not worldly enough?
Cho Chang 5 years ago
I used to think that the judges on cooking shows exchanged some kind of secret look to decide who won/lost. I also pronounced Zeus Ze-zus as a child.
U r lovely and beautiful 🫶️ 3 years ago
I thought cartoon characters were people dressed in costumes. I associate that memory with Charlie and Lola bc they were obviously drawn but I thought they were people in costumes 😭
Tina Ábrahám 5 years ago
I love Winnie The Pooh, especially Kanga and Roo, but in my native language Roo called "Pocket Baby" (rough mirror translation), so I didn't realised anything and thought that he called this way 'cause kangaroos have pockets. Now I'm 24 and speak english for almost 14 years, but I needed this long time to realise that their name is the word kangaroo, just separated in the middle. I feel so dumb.
Edwin Quantrall 5 years ago
When I was young, I thought that Bachman Turner Overdrive was a Rock band that consisted of Mr. Bachman, Mr. Turner, and Mr. Overdrive. (It probably didn't help that my mom worked for a law firm.)
Michele Clarke 5 years ago
When I was little I thought when songs had my name in them that the radio was singing to me!! and I also thought Fantasy Island was a real place! HAHAHA!
Anna Wentz 5 years ago
My uncle told me when I was a wee girl that babies come in a kit from sears and are assembled. He then went on to say I was a discount from Walmart. Nice guy.
Annabeth Chase 5 years ago
And I was a free giveaway from the flea market.
Load More Replies...
Nuno José Almeida 5 years ago
Until 12, I thought except meant mainly. :D I still remember where I was I how I figure it out.
TheHerplover 5 years ago
Used to think the red part of the Superman logo was the S, that bee sting was beasting, that nostalgia was when your nose was clogged (same with nauseous) and much more
Crissy Brandt 5 years ago
When I was little I thought the lyrics to Little Red Corvette was Baby Come Back. I’m still awful at hearing/understanding lyrics. 😐
elia 84631 5 years ago
I thought that mushroom kingdom was in England, princess peach was the queen and the Hyrule in Germany
Rex the Rat 5 years ago
I used to think that the Wizard of Oz was on word before I actually watched it.
Yelena Yardeen 5 years ago
I was, like, 20 until I figured out that it was "keyless entry" and not "key luh sentry"
Binxyminxem 5 years ago
When I was younger me and my family went to Miami for a holiday. I remember walking into my parents' bedroom and asking my mum something like "do I have an Ami? Who is your ami?" Lol, it was a great holiday! I kissed Mickey Mouse's nose at Disneyland! 😄
Pickles 5 years ago
When I was 5-6yrs old, I thought that the laugh tracks heard in sitcoms was the laughter of all the other people also watching the show around the world. I went so far as to talk into the tv speaker, introducing myself in hopes of communicating!! Eek!!!
RaroaRaroa 5 years ago (edited)
I remember thinking that the people shot in cowboys programmes on TV (Zorro I think) were people who wanted to die. I knew they were actors, but thought they really died. I was very young.
Load More Replies... Meghann Davies 5 years ago
I was 16 when I realised (quietly) that Neil Armstrong said "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" and not "one small step for a man, one giant leap for magpies" which to me made sense because it would in fact be a giant leap for a magpie...
Daria Z 5 years ago
Suppositories in Russian are called "candles" and I believed they were thin medical candles that you have to stick up your bum and then LIGHT them. Ohh, learning the truth was so embarrassing, especially since I was well into my 20s 😳
Binxyminxem 5 years ago
Lol right as I was reading this one of my dogs farted, he couldn't have timed it better! 🤣🤣🤣
Load More Replies... Becca Gizmo the Squirrel 5 years ago
I laughed so hard at the KFC sign with legs. I still have years in my eyes.
togcrewsc 5 years ago
I cracked up when I read this, bc I imagined calendars stuck in your eyes.
Load More Replies... Tardis42 5 years ago
When I was little, I was terrified of thunder, so my mother tried to help by telling me it was just the sound of clouds banging into each other. Unfortunately, I believed that into high school when I was corrected after asking what was in clouds that could make that much noise.
Liam Walsh 5 years ago
My mother told me God was rearranging the furniture!
Load More Replies... glowworm2 5 years ago (edited)
Until (embarrassingly) recently, I thought that Ted Bundy, the serial killer was also an Actor on Married with Children--and that he played the father character--Al Bundy. I thought he became a serial killer later.
Katie Allen 5 years ago
that was a joke on Beavis and Butthead! they were all "that dude on Married With Children killed people, cool, huh huh huh"
Load More Replies... Foxxy (The Original) 5 years ago
I have a few. I thought the M and F on toilets stood for Mother and Father. imagine my embarrassment walking into the male toilets. I thought Sarsparilla was made from dogs. I thought my head would fall off after having a small lump cut out of head. That’s just those ones I can remember right now.
Jon S. 5 years ago
"I thought Sarsparilla was made from dog" that's really funny! Any idea where you got that idea from?
Load More Replies... cassiushumanmother 5 years ago
When i was a kid i thought that the "slippery road sign" was the head of Zephyr from Babar. panneau-ze...7e5a77.jpg
CbusResident 5 years ago
Also, 1. I thought for the longest time that the US National Anthem (The Star Spangled Banner) went: 'Jose can you see'. 2. On TV when a cop arrests someone in the US and reads them their Miranda Rights, I thought this was a command that the person must be silent - or else anything they say would be used against them in a court of law. As a lawyer I now know that technically they're actually giving you an OPTION to not talk - because what you say could be used against you in court. I think a lot of people misunderstand that though.
LoPandas 5 years ago
Geoffrey Holland then I must be really f*****g stupid
Load More Replies... Mary Padgett 5 years ago
I thought the steeple or cross on top of churches worked like a tv antenna to channel God.
Gipsy Kings fan 5 years ago
When I was a little kid in the '60s, I read dozens of my brother's classic Marvel comics (pre-superhero era, many featuring monsters or beings from other planets). I thought that "alien" only referred to a person / creature from another planet. I can't remember how many years went by or how old I was when I found out it also means a person from a foreign country! :-D
Cyndi Hafele 5 years ago
I used to think pubic hair was called public hair, and I couldn't understand why, because it's the most private of all your hair.
Binxyminxem 5 years ago
Lol reminds me of when I used to call pawns in chess "prawns"!
Load More Replies... Bunzilla 5 years ago
When I was really little, like... 4...?? or younger, I remember being in my kitchen with my mother and my older brother, and suddenly having this grand revelation. "Ohh, I get it now! Milk comes from cows, eggs comes from chickens, and quackers (crackers) comes from ducks!" I couldn't understand why they were both laughing at me and felt very offended, haha.
CbusResident 5 years ago (edited)
1. As a 4-5 year old, my family's neighbors had a crew of guys fixing their garage roof for a week or so, & since a few of them wore bandanas I kept nervously telling my mom they were pirates. 2. Around those ages I thought at movie theaters that the screens could only show people b/c those people were in back of the screen doing it all, that we were just seeing live action mediated through the screen. (Though I didn't know how to explain that to anyone then, good thing I never did, laughing face palm). 3. The Arby's logo: I had no clue it was a cowboy hat for the longest tine. 4. The 1990-era Blockbuster ad w/ the cheezy jingle 'Wow, what a difference! Blockbuster Video!' - I thought was saying 'Ghostbuster Video!' 5. This is worse: for the movie Tropic Thunder, a pal of mine was so thrown off by the fake previews they show at the beginning of fake comically bad movies for the fictional Hollywood stars in Tropic Thunder. I had to explain this to him like three times, like: 'See, that's one of the dumb action movies that Ben Stiller's CHARACTER would have done...Do you understand?!' He did eventually, lol.
read041 5 years ago (edited)
I thought the old 8 tracks were called "A tracks". I was corrected a few weeks ago. I'm in my 30s :/
Leo Domitrix 5 years ago
The Police song "Spirits in a material world" was heard by me as a kid (at 430 AM, farm life, eh?) as "I stare itno my cereal bowl". My mother thought the same. Enlightenment didn't change how we sing it, btw. We still stare into our cereal bowls!
SepBass Five15 5 years ago
I thought there were "good guy teams" & "bad guy teams" in all pro sports when I was a kid like in WWF pro wrestling.
oz 5 years ago
I used to believe people with blue or green eyes, could see everything in that color! :o jeje
Up All Night 5 years ago
And all those poor people with almost black irises! How can they see? :)
Load More Replies... Cecilia Cheung 5 years ago
I honestly thought that the verse "dark sacred night" in What a Wonderful World said dogs say goodnight well until my early teens
Rose the Cook 5 years ago
Radio and TV often mentioned "the criminal underground" when I was a child. My parents could not understand my fear of the subway.
Lyra Rey 5 years ago
I thought that "subtle" meant the opposite of what it really means because it sounded like it was related to the word "sudden." I first heard the word subtle when I was 12 and my dad read me The Subtle Knife. I loved it, but my misunderstanding of the title made it a bit confusing. I learned the real meaning a few years later but I didn't tell my dad about this until I was 32. Now we refer to The Subtle Knife as "The Knife that Jumps Out at You."
Kateryna 5 years ago
Another one - I used to wear rubber bands on my wrists and tied them really tightly until my grandma told me it will stop my blood from flowing into my hand and it will fall off. 10 years later, I have a phobia of touching my wrists, and until I was 8 I believed my hand could actually fall off if I touched my veins.
Nia Loves Art 5 years ago (edited)
I thought subpoenaed was pronounced sub-po-nayd, and ennui was pronounced en-you-i. I still instinctively read them that way.
Chelsea Shimell 5 years ago
I thought Ethiopian was the illness for starving children when they were so bad their bellies were bloated but their arms and legs were tiny. Because of the save a child infomercials on tv. Wasn’t until I watched a sporting event and there was an Ethiopian team I found out it’s a country 😳 I thought it was so cruel they were making them compete 😬
Annabeth Chase 5 years ago (edited)
Me: *looking at you comment* No one: Me: Oh, so all the houses there are out houses! No one: Me: ...I'll show myself to the door.
Load More Replies... zims 5 years ago
For the longest time I thought the USPS logo was a hatchet head in a slingshot. I still have trouble seeing the eagle.
Steve Barnett 5 years ago
Until only a few years ago I thought that milk was a liquid in its own right. Didn't realise it was 88% water.
Lola 5 years ago
When I was little I used to think you get pregnant by kissing. One day we had people over and I saw a couple kissing on tv and I yelled, “you’re going to get her pregnant.” I must’ve been about 7 or 8. The whole room fell silent and then everyone burst out laughing. To this day, every chance my family gets, they mention it to me.
Zaykayemi Gma 5 years ago
Up until a couple years ago I thought rice was baby pasta. I'm 43.....
Nuno José Almeida 5 years ago
At the age of 12, I finally understood the meaning of Except. Before, I thought it meant Mainly. I still remember when it hit me.
Jon S. 5 years ago (edited)
I always thought people described disappointments as "damp squids." I didn't even click when I watched an episode of IT crowd in which Jen was corrected for having the same misconception, I thought the joke was she was right and everyone else was wrong. Years later I discovered there were these explosive things called squibs and "Damp Squib" suddenly made a whole lot more sense than damp squid.
Seabeast 5 years ago
The main newspaper in my home city was called The Herald. So of course I wondered why there were angels from the paper singing "Glory to the newborn king" at Christmas. I also thought the moon followed me when i walked at night while the earth stood still.
Meghann Davies 5 years ago
I was 16 when I realised (quietly) that Neil Armstrong said "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" and not "one small step for a man, one giant leap for magpies" which to me made sense since it would have been a giant leap for a magpie...
Dianna Siever 5 years ago
I've never heard of half of the things people here are referring to. Are they obscure, or am I not worldly enough?
Cho Chang 5 years ago
I used to think that the judges on cooking shows exchanged some kind of secret look to decide who won/lost. I also pronounced Zeus Ze-zus as a child.
U r lovely and beautiful 🫶️ 3 years ago
I thought cartoon characters were people dressed in costumes. I associate that memory with Charlie and Lola bc they were obviously drawn but I thought they were people in costumes 😭
Tina Ábrahám 5 years ago
I love Winnie The Pooh, especially Kanga and Roo, but in my native language Roo called "Pocket Baby" (rough mirror translation), so I didn't realised anything and thought that he called this way 'cause kangaroos have pockets. Now I'm 24 and speak english for almost 14 years, but I needed this long time to realise that their name is the word kangaroo, just separated in the middle. I feel so dumb.
Edwin Quantrall 5 years ago
When I was young, I thought that Bachman Turner Overdrive was a Rock band that consisted of Mr. Bachman, Mr. Turner, and Mr. Overdrive. (It probably didn't help that my mom worked for a law firm.)
Michele Clarke 5 years ago
When I was little I thought when songs had my name in them that the radio was singing to me!! and I also thought Fantasy Island was a real place! HAHAHA!
Anna Wentz 5 years ago
My uncle told me when I was a wee girl that babies come in a kit from sears and are assembled. He then went on to say I was a discount from Walmart. Nice guy.
Annabeth Chase 5 years ago
And I was a free giveaway from the flea market.
Load More Replies... Nuno José Almeida 5 years ago
Until 12, I thought except meant mainly. :D I still remember where I was I how I figure it out.
TheHerplover 5 years ago
Used to think the red part of the Superman logo was the S, that bee sting was beasting, that nostalgia was when your nose was clogged (same with nauseous) and much more
Crissy Brandt 5 years ago
When I was little I thought the lyrics to Little Red Corvette was Baby Come Back. I’m still awful at hearing/understanding lyrics. 😐
elia 84631 5 years ago
I thought that mushroom kingdom was in England, princess peach was the queen and the Hyrule in Germany
Rex the Rat 5 years ago
I used to think that the Wizard of Oz was on word before I actually watched it.
Yelena Yardeen 5 years ago
I was, like, 20 until I figured out that it was "keyless entry" and not "key luh sentry"
Binxyminxem 5 years ago
When I was younger me and my family went to Miami for a holiday. I remember walking into my parents' bedroom and asking my mum something like "do I have an Ami? Who is your ami?" Lol, it was a great holiday! I kissed Mickey Mouse's nose at Disneyland! 😄
You May Like 50 Hilarious Posts From This Account Dedicated To Sharing “Men’s Humor” (New Pics) 50 Funny Posts That Show Humanity Shares One Collective Brain Cell 30 Funny Memes That Perfectly Capture The Chaos Of Being A Dad And A Dedicated Gamer
Greta Jaruševičiūtė
Greta Jaruševičiūtė
Dominyka Proškėnaitė
Related on Bored Panda
