Hey Pandas, What Is A Thing That Took You An Embarrassing Amount Of Time To Figure Out?

Share your thoughts down below!

This post may include affiliate links.

That just because it was your parent’s opinion it does not have to be your opinion

Report

Final score:

34points

Purplescales

POST

Mary Rose Kent 3 years ago

My mother made no bones about her brainwashing us politically...and it stuck, except with my sister, who’s always been a contrarian.

1point

View more comments

Ponies' tails.

Because a ponytail is on the back of the head, I thought a horse's mane was called a ponytail. I never once thought that they were called ponytails because, you know... THEY LOOK LIKE A PONIES' TAIL.
I owned 2 ponies and 13 Miniature donkeys for 8 years before I realised.
I had my personal eureka moment in front of my wife and when I explained what I'd worked out...
Well, now every time she ties her hair up she make a point of saying she's 'tying-up my mane'. She also says there's no point in me doing a coin toss because I 'can't tell the difference between heads and tails'.

Report

Final score:

28points

Donkey boi

POST

Kate Wooding 3 years ago

to be honest, your wife sounds like my friends... never letting me forget the embarrassing stuff

3points

View more comments

Ted Bundy was NOT an actor who played Al Bundy on Married with Children. I used to think only until about a year or two ago that he was a renowned actor and after the show had ended, he became a serial killer. Thankfully, I never actually mentioned this to anybody until after I realized this on my own.

Report

Final score:

22points

glowworm2

POST

Thorfin Wolfsbane 3 years ago

Technically speaking, Ted Bundy WAS an actor performing his real life.

10points

View more comments

Those like, big weekend bags that you carry, that people call “Hold-all’s”.

100% serious, up until the age of 30 I was calling them “haul-dauls”. I had no idea what it meant, I just thought it was a random word like umbrella, which didn’t need to be descriptive.

My wider family lives a few hours away from us so growing up we had a lot of weekend trips to visit them; where we all had to pack our “haul-dauls”. I’m probably more concerned that it look my parents 30 years to notice I was saying it wrong if I’m honest!

Report

Final score:

20points

Hey Ho neighbours

POST

Thorfin Wolfsbane 3 years ago

Don't worry, as long as everyone knew what you meant, you were successfully communicating

4points

View more comments

That a slight turn in the eye is called an astigmatism. I thought for years people were saying they had a stigmatism in their eye. I'd obviously never seen it written down..... I have a degree in Biology 😂

Report

Final score:

17points

Ru Bee

POST

mOmmyOfthree 3 years ago

Oh man, me too :)

4points

View More Replies...

View more comments

I didn't understand how people were good at things. I would sit there and watch them be good at things and then just sulk about how im not good at things

Now I know you need to practice things to be good.
I never have the motivation to practice
Which is why I'm not good at anything

That should've clicked QUITE a while ago but it didn't until recently.

Report

Final score:

16points

-logansucrose- (he/him)

POST

anarkzie 3 years ago (edited)

I can sadly relate to this. It took me a really long time to realise that the feeling of not instantly knowing what the hell I'm doing when I'm trying something new does not mean I cannot do something. It actually even took me a long time to realise that this was my approach to trying new things.

2points

View More Replies...

View more comments

The "Why was six afraid of seven?" joke. I thought it was a maths joke and pretended to get it until I was 12.

Report

Final score:

16points

Hazmat

POST

AuntT 3 years ago

Now I got it... "ate"

3points

View more comments

The Far Side cartoon that had a man in bed with a note around his missing toe that read "Gone to Market". I never asked anyone what the joke was and one day it clicked and I lust Laughed out Loud at my office desk.

Report

Final score:

15points

Dawn Bodtke

POST

Thorfin Wolfsbane 3 years ago

It took me a really long time before I realized "this little piggy went to market" meant the pig was slaughtered and sold for meat...

7points

View More Replies...

View more comments

My family moved to a new state when I was in high school. The new neighborhood/development was very very large, with straight/grid pattern. Took us several months to realize the streets (which were named after trees) were in alphabetical order!

Report

Final score:

15points

howdylee

POST

Mary Rose Kent 3 years ago

They’re definitely not alphabetical in my town: I’m on Redwood, to the south of me is Alder and to the north is Laurel.

0points

View More Replies...

View more comments

#10

I thought fidelity meant Performance. As in a hi-fi stereo is hi performance. As a result I thought infidelity was being bad in bed.

It led to an embarrassing mixup when a friend told me she was leaving her husband over his infidelity. My first thought was he can't be that bad in bed given how many women he is sleeping with

Report

Final score:

15points

Les Izmore

POST

R Carson 3 years ago

This is sorta in the same vein-When I was a kid one of my friends ask what constipated meant. I told him it meant you were really smart. He ran around screaming "I'm constipated!" I'm constipated!" Makes mw laugh every time I think of it.

4points

#11

I thought exercise was pronounced extra-size till about 11 years old

Report

Final score:

14points

GaeFrog

POST

Aroace tiger (any pronouns) 3 years ago

Your muscles would become bigger

4points

#12

Untill a year ago when I was walking randomly on my neighborhood streets, I never though that the Winnie the Pooh 🦘 characters Kanga and baby Roo are the combination of word 'kangaroo'

Report

Final score:

14points

Luiza Maxim

POST

Vonny 3 years ago

me either !

0points

#13

I used to call butterflies , which we call titli in hindi , chitli . Soo , My maternal aunt , now calls me chitli all the time. Its so embarrassing

Report

Final score:

11points

Official_Blink️

POST

Thorfin Wolfsbane 3 years ago

That's actually pretty sweet, though

7points

View More Replies...

View more comments

#14

Efficiently removing the pit from an avocado with a swift strike from a knife.

Report

Final score:

10points

Martin Kaine

POST

Clover 3 years ago

Be very careful!

1point

View more comments

#15

First time I went to a coffee shop I was probably nine. I wanted to seem sophisticated so I walked up to the counter and ordered the most exotic sounding thing I saw on the menu. “Can I have a “cha-mom-i-lee” tea? Took the girl a few tries to realize I was asking for “chamomile”.

Report

Final score:

10points

Elizabeth Klomp

POST

Pascale Pierloot 3 years ago

When I was first learning english I thought a cupboard was the rim of the cup. Also I pronounced the word neighbour as ney-j (like in jeans)-boor and that it was some sort of profession people had.

1point

View more comments

#16

That the song from Annie was saying "It's a hard KNOCK life" instead of "It's a hard NOT life".

Report

Final score:

7points

Black Pearl

POST

Jashton Gieser 3 years ago

In the song Tomorrow from Annie I somehow lost the "dollar" in "Bet your bottom dollar that tomorrow there'll be sun" and thought the song was saying to bet your rear end

3points

View More Replies...

View more comments

#17

how a tv works

Report

Final score:

6points

mr. cheeto chester

POST

Thorfin Wolfsbane 3 years ago

I still don't know how tv's work :O

5points

View more comments

#18

When I was twelve I realized orange juice was juice from an orange and we were not just calling it the color it was.

Report

Final score:

6points

why not?

POST

Samantha Melnychuk 3 years ago

Technically you were right because the colour was named after the fruit, not the other way around

1point

#19

the differrence between a zucchini and a cucumber. i couldnt figure it out untill i was 14...

Report

Final score:

5points

best turtle

POST

HooowlAtTheMoon 3 years ago

I know the difference. Once we decided to grow zucchini and cucumbers in our garden and forgot about the garden....... there were SO. MANY. VEGETABLES. I got a lot of experience tasting the difference between them :)

2points

#20

For a long time I thought Petra was in Turkey. Even now, this would be my first answer if I had to answer quickly. And I still have to look it up, I just can't remember that it's in Jordan. (Yes, I had to check before I wrote this.😁)

Report

Final score:

5points

Pepé Llara

POST

$copper-fractions avatar$

Tiny Dynamine 3 years ago

She was there for a holiday in 2006. :P

0points

#21

The lyrics from Free From Desire. I always wondered why she sang "Mine incense is purified" until this year when I found out it is "mind and senses purified."

Report

Final score:

5points

Tiny Dynamine

POST

R Carson 3 years ago

For a long time I thought it was dirty deeds and the thunder chiefs-instead of dirty deeds done dirt cheap.

2points

View More Replies...

View more comments

#22

That final lyrics to the song Mr. Blue Sky by ELO are “please turn me over”, and that this is referring to turning over the record on the record player to continue the album.

Report

Final score:

5points

Artemis

POST

Dorothy Parker 2 years ago

Very funny. Some younger people haven't any idea.

0points

View more comments

#23

My 4yr old thinks that when you sneeze/burp etc you say “garden me” - I hope he never figures out that he’s wrong and I will be very unhappy if anyone corrects him. It’s so cute.

Report

Final score:

5points

Yer maw 󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

POST

Pascale Pierloot 3 years ago

My 4yr old niece once farted when she sat on someone's knee. So my sister asked her: 'Now Lily, what did you forget to say?'. And Lily looked up and said: 'Thank you!.

2points

#24

Just few years ago I figure out what is polo shirt - in my language polo košile. I'd never seen it written, just spoken, so for me it was polokošile and polo- is also our prefix for half-. So I thought it's a halfshirt because it doesn't have the buttons all the way down like a "real" shirt, like something halfway between a T-shirt and a shirt

Report

Final score:

5points

Lilith the Demon Panda

POST

ShadowLand 🇨🇦 3 years ago

What a perfect description. I like it. 😁

1point

View more comments

#25

Took me until I was 9 to figure out that the Aardwolf isn't a crossbreed of an aardvark and a wolf.

Report

Final score:

4points

PixxelDust

POST

PixxelDust (Submission author) 3 years ago (edited)

For anyone wondering, this is what they look like. They used to be my favourite animal https://cdn.britanni...12/aardwolf.jpg

3points

View More Replies...

View more comments

#26

Until I was like, nine, I thought that lightning was pronounced “lightming”. I also thought there were two different ways to say the name Gavin; “Gavin” and “Gabin”

Report

Final score:

4points

grace galán 🇺🇦

POST

$copper-fractions avatar$

Tiny Dynamine 3 years ago

At least you can spell it properly. Not like lightening which many people write.

3points

#27

Was over 40 before I found out that the term "old wise tale" is actually "old wives' tale"...

Report

Final score:

4points

Dawn Murphy

POST

Xan A. Du 3 years ago

Maybe they should have just called it a "wise wive's tale"!

1point

#28

That the stopwatch at the top of the program "60 Minutes" is counting down 60 minutes.

Report

Final score:

4points

Cheryl Singleton

POST

#29

That people who should know what they're doing because it is their job or responsibility ACTUALLY DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. Incompetence is real.

Report

Final score:

4points

Mark Burke

POST

R Carson 3 years ago

Real and rampant.

1point

View more comments

See Also on Bored Panda

Dutch Swimmer Goes Viral For Super Revealing Trunks During 2024 Olympics: “Is This Legal?”

Thrill-Seeking Diver Jumps Down Extreme Waterslide, Ignoring The Strict Ban For Women

#30

That the Property Brothers (Drew Scott and Jonathan Scott) are twins. I've been watching the show since I was young!

Report

Final score:

4points

thatawkwardhistorian

POST

Laurie Ostergaard-Overbey 3 years ago

at least you didnt think it was one guy playing both parts!

1point

View More Replies...

View more comments

#31

I was in my 20s or 30s before I realized that a steer was just a castrated bull.

Report

Final score:

4points

Princess Bride

POST

#32

For too many years, I thought the song "leaving on a jet plane" was about an astronaut going into space (this was pre Armageddon, btw.) I knew what a plane was, and 80's movies showed jets going into space, so the combination, plus the line "don't know when I'll be back again" confused me.

Report

Final score:

4points

Cynthia Wren

POST

#33

That I have 2 webbed toes on each foot. I only realised this about a year ago. All those many many baths over all that time and I only just realised. I am 46 years old.

Report

Final score:

4points

IlovemydogShilo

POST

See Also on Bored Panda

Woman Put A Water Fountain With A Camera In Her Yard, Here Are 24 Photos Of Regular Visitors (New Pics)

“Ma’am I Live Here”: Woman Refuses To Back Out Of Driveway, Learns A Lesson The Hard Way

#34

My sister thinks that “volleyball” is “Ballyball.” We have had many heated arguments about this.

Report

Final score:

3points

Mya Wilcox

POST

R Carson 3 years ago

Well....there is a ball involved.

2points

View more comments

#35

I swear it wasn't with bad intentions, but, when i was a kid, i thought that fur coats weren't actually made of fur, i thought they used those "furry fabrics" and printed the animals spots/stripes/etc on the fabric, and i used to think they were expensive because the process of printing was difficult, but when i grew up and learned how it was made, i felt so bad, ( if someone gave me one, i would feel sooo bad - because, even though i am not the one who hunted the animal, it's because of me tha they did so, because the gift was for me - so i would probably throw up over the coat and throw it away!

Report

Final score:

3points

Denise Alessandra

POST

#36

That great Britain isnt a country

Report

Final score:

3points

Just another bored hooman

POST

ShadowLand 🇨🇦 3 years ago

I think this trips up a lot of people.

1point

See Also on Bored Panda

50 Of The Most Incredible Shots That Were Submitted To The Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

French Diver’s “Jewels” In Tight Swimming Trunks Become Talk Of The Town At Olympics

#37

That a cockapoo/cockerpoo is a type of dog, not a type of bird.

Report

Final score:

3points

tHeBoRdEsTpAnDa

POST

SeaMonster 2 years ago

but a cockatoo sure is!

1point

View More Replies...

View more comments

#38

The last verse of Randy Newman's "Burn On." It says that when a river catches on fire, the insurance companies consider it an "Act of God."

Report

Final score:

2points

Bob Stuart

POST

#39

This one is from when I was a child : there was only one asian girl in my school and she was named Nathalie. So I was convinced that it was an asian name. Years later, I was maybe 17, I met a white woman named Nathalie. And I was like "whaaat? Why are you called like that? Have you asian origins?" The woman was O.O ??

Report

Final score:

2points

Alice

POST

ThEboRedEsTpANdA 3 years ago

Nathalie in my class was Polish!

0points

#40

That hands have muscles in them and aren’t just skin sacks of bone and fats. I was twelve lol

Report

Final score:

2points

Venom

POST

ThEboRedEsTpANdA 3 years ago

same with me , but is was the fact that noses don't have bones

1point

See Also on Bored Panda

Woman Moves Out Of Parents' Home After They Asked Her To Give Her Space To Brother, They Freak Out

Mom Leaves $250k Inheritance To Son, Throws A Fit When Daughter Stops Looking After Her

#41

I thought that if at a movie theater it said playing on two screens, it meant that you had to watch the movie on a spit screen. I didn’t find out what it actually meant until I was about 14. Full on left movie theaters because I didn’t want to watch a movie on a split screen.

Report

Final score:

2points

Artist FKA Ramsey

POST

#42

Took me years to realise that electronics don't give you square eyes.

Report

Final score:

2points

ẽ̶̛͗͋̄̒̇̌͒̈͒͆͋̄̾̾́̊͗̓̃̒̓̓̚͝͝͝

POST

#43

5 things

1. How to make grilled cheese, (11)
2. Tooth fairy, Santa etc. weren’t real (10)
3. My sexuality (12)
4. The existence of the lgbtqip+ community (9)
5. Mall Santas are a thing (12)

Report

Final score:

1point

Happi doggi (all pronouns)

POST

#44

It was only about 5 years ago (I'm 57 now) that I realized the Domino's Pizza logo was a domino. I'd only ever seen the black w/white dots style and didn't make the connection. When I pointed out what a coincidence it was, he couldn't stop laughing.

Report

Final score:

1point

Laurie Turner

POST

See Also on Bored Panda

Woman Refuses To Chip In For Babysitting Because She Doesn’t Even Have Kids, Asks If She’s A Jerk

“This Breaks My Heart”: People Stunned—And Angry—After Woman Buys Lost Luggage From Airport

#45

If your brain were in a tin can; it would be like a BB in a boxcar.

Report

Final score:

1point

A menDez

POST

#46

How to correctly pronounce the name Siobhan.

Report

Final score:

1point

ThoughtsAreNotFacts

POST

Sue Grigg 3 years ago

Is it Sha- von?

2points

View More Replies...

View more comments

#47

I was about 12 when I found out that "laurels" are the fronds of a plant. I thought it was a polite term for your f***y. Thus the "resting on your laurels" saying did not mean "just sitting around."

Report

Final score:

1point

CindiLou Whoo

POST

#48

It took me about 20 years to realize the song 'Lola' by the Kinks wasn't a typical boy-meets-girl song. I was a sheltered child.

Report

Final score:

0points

Jack and Coke

POST

#49

My dad always said you can catch a bird by putting salt in its tail. I was about 40 years old before I realized that if you're close enough to put salt on a bird's tail, you're close enough to just grab it. Duh!

Report

Final score:

0points

Bettie-Jean Neal

POST

See Also on Bored Panda

"I Didn't Start The Dryer": Karen Gets Taught A Lesson After Throwing Out Neighbor's Wet Clothes

College Student Does Exactly As Told After Roommates Demand They Keep Their Stuff In Their Room

#50

This was more personal. I was about 21 and my car was totalled by a semi. Lawsuit, out of work because of back injury, filed for unemployment. Received a rejection letter from the unemployment office saying I had filed an invalid claim. I accepted that they wouldn't pay me because I was temporarily an invalid. Decades later I realized the letter was saying my claim was not valid. If only they had written my claim had incorrect information!

Report

Final score:

0points

Dorothy Parker

POST

#51

This happened in 1992, and I only grokked it this week as I recalled it in 2021 while remembering what it was like before everyone had cell phones. I was alone working the night desk at Kinkos, and the local news anchor came in to pick up her copies. She was taking business nonstop on her mobile, which was weird in 1992, but in the chatter she included “I’m here at Kinkos with sofacushionfort.” Almost 30 years later I realize she said this because we were alone together, and it was a security measure.

Report

Final score:

0points