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30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier

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Some people like to think that they're wiser than others. But even Socrates, one of history's greatest philosophers, doubted his omniscience and famously said, "All I know is that I know nothing."

So let's remind ourselves that learning is a never-ending endeavor in this world, shall we? There's a Reddit post that's perfect for this task. Created by user u/TikiTC, it asked everyone on the platform "What's a little-known but obvious fact that will immediately make all of us feel stupid?"

Folks came through with plenty of insightful replies from a variety of topics, ranging from basic physics to human anatomy. Here are some of the most interesting ones.

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Cats, dogs, and other similar animals can't see directly below their faces.

Because their snout gets in the way.

(That's why you have to point out the treat a million times, they're not stupid, the damn thing is just in their blind spot)

tinyhatonapumpkin , Ioan-Dan Plesa Report

Final score:

271points

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#2

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier If you touch a baby bird, the mother will not reject it. I don’t even know who came up with it.

anon , Pixabay Report

Final score:

257points

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#3

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Baby porcupines are called porcupettes.

rampantfreak , California Department of Fish and Wildlife Report

Final score:

237points

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#4

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Percentages are reversible. 8% of 25 is the same as 25% of 8 and one of them is much easier to do in your head.

wlwlvr , Mikhail Nilov Report

Final score:

233points

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#5

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier 911 operators have no f*****g clue where you are instantly unless you're on a landline.

You HAVE to say where you are. It's not our fault movies made you think we have a spy level video of you in your car.

Know your location.

BeardsuptheWazoo , Kindel Media Report

Final score:

229points

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#6

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Most cats are like super lactose intolerant, and drinking milk is really really bad for them.

jordanstevenson1134 , steve p2008 Report

Final score:

227points

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#7

you don't give a person free REIGN, you give them free REIN.

a queen REIGNS over her queendom, but you REIN in a horse, which is where this comes from.

i see this mistake constantly, even in professional journalism, and it drives me nuts.

hjartatjuv Report

Final score:

217points

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#8

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Words that are spelled the same but pronounced with emphasis on different syllables is actually indicative of the part of speech it is.
Stress on the first syllable is a noun. Stress on the last syllable is a verb.
Examples: CON-tract and con-TRACT. The former is a noun ( sign this contract) whereas the latter is a verb (the muscles contract).
Same with record, address, impact, object, and a few others.

Verlonica , Christina Morillo Report

Final score:

208points

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#9

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Just like humans, British cows moo in regional accents.

anon , Klaus Hollederer Report

Final score:

204points

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#10

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier It was never mentioned that Humpty-Dumpty was an egg.

YummyMango124 , Library of Congress Report

Final score:

198points

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#11

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Pufferfish are filled with water, not air. It wouldn’t even make sense, yet a lot of people are like *what??*

__adrenaline__ , Phil Maher Report

Final score:

190points

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#12

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Covered bridges are designed with roofs to protect and preserve the wooden structure from the elements. Without the cover they'd last about 20 years, with the cover they can last up to 100. They're not built that way just to look charming.

ghostofhenryvii , Bonnie Moreland Report

Final score:

190points

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#13

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Antisocial means that you are hostile or harmful to organized society. As in being or marked by behavior deviating sharply from the social norm.

Asocial is rejecting or lacking the capacity for social interaction.

OttoManSatire , ArtHouse Studio Report

Final score:

185points

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#14

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier There's a 'd' in fridge but not in refrigerator. It really bothers me...

keigo199013 , Richard Kelland Report

Final score:

168points

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#15

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier When a nurse gives you an IV - they aren't leaving the metal needle inside your arm - they actually remove that and only a soft plastic tube remains - so you don't need to keep your arm that straight, relax.

Snakes_for_Bones , Stephen Andrews Report

Final score:

164points

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#16

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier You don't actually bite down. You bite up because of your lower jaw.

Random_Weirdo_Girl , Wilson Vitorino Report

Final score:

162points

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#17

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier The little piggy didn't go to the market for shopping

bradr711 , Alexas Fotos Report

Final score:

148points

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#18

to 'fast' means to abstain from eating. you do this every night when you go to bed.

The first meal of the day is called 'breakfast' because you're breaking your fast.

bloodectomy Report

Final score:

143points

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#19

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier World Wide Web contains fewer syllables than its intended short form - WWW, thus making the shorter version longer to say.

anon , Pixabay Report

Final score:

142points

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#20

Cocunut milk is not the liquid inside the coconut, that's coconut water, coconut milk comes from the white flesh inside. The white flesh is pulped or diced and left to soak in warm water, this pulp is then squeezed through a cloth giving you the milk.

Final score:

140points

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#21

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier The words Laser and Scuba are actually acronyms and they stand for:

Laser- Light Amplification (by) Stimulated Emission (of) Radiation.
Scuba- Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus

Gerd-Neek , Pixabay Report

Final score:

121points

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#22

ATM stands for automated teller machine. So saying ATM Machine is like saying "automated teller machine machine"

Same with your PIN number. PIN stands for personal identification number

nowhereman136 Report

Final score:

121points

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#23

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier a chipotle pepper isnt its own type of pepper. its just a smoked jalapeno pepper.

hardnormaldaddy , woodleywonderworks Report

Final score:

116points

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#24

the plural version of cul-de-sac is culs-de-sac

Spiritual-Walrus Report

Final score:

112points

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#25

Vikings did not wear helmets with decorative horns.

s0nder369thOughts Report

Final score:

109points

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#26

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Thee and Thou were actually the *informal* forms. The King James Bible used them so that the relationship with God would seem more personal.

kkngs , Church of England Report

Final score:

107points

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#27

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Just like a dormitory is a place where you sleep, a laboratory is a place where you labor.

vellyr , Pixabay Report

Final score:

106points

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#28

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Tear ducts drain tears, they don't produce them.

Katiesullivan01 Report

Final score:

103points

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#29

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier My favorite thing to tell people: Penguins swim faster than Michael Phelps. Remember that discovery special that pitted a shark against him to see who was faster? Completely stupid, because even shark FOOD swims faster than he does! (Sharks eat penguins, to clarify)

mushupenguin , Bryan Allison Report

Final score:

102points

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#30

Cold water cleans just as well as warm water does.

When using modern detergent, clothes will be equally clean whether warm or cold water is used. There is one major difference: warm water uses much more energy (about 75 percent of the energy used for a load of laundry comes from warming the water).

whereegosdare84 Report

Final score:

82points

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#31

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Do you get mad that dictionaries add new words like "crunk" or "bling"?

They add them because people use those words and people need to understand what they mean.

That's why they are in a dictionary.

typesett , Pixabay Report

Final score:

37points

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#32

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Oil paint doesn't dry, it hardens. There's virtually no water in it, there's ... well, oil.

BleuDePrusse , Alin Luna Report

Final score:

36points

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#33

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier The word "helicopter" has two components. They aren't "heli" and "copter". They are "helico" and "pter".

"Helico" (helix) and "pter" (wing, like with "pterodactyl")

kabukistar , Pixabay Report

Final score:

34points

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#34

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier When water boils it is the same temperature no matter how big the bubbles are.

Mcreeper51 , Alabama Extension Report

Final score:

34points

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#35

The word "alphabet" comes from the first two Greek letters Alpha & Beta.

SwissFudgeSoldier Report

Final score:

33points

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#36

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier The Los Angeles Angels is basically saying "The The Angels Angels" when all in English.

AnxietyDepressedFun , Giovanni Calia Report

Final score:

32points

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#37

St John's, Canada is closer to Rome than it is to Victoria, Canada

INFIDELicious45 Report

Final score:

31points

#38

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier Potatoes didn't arrive in Europe until the 16th century.

It's so ubiquitous, you'd think it would've been a part of English culture since 10,000 BC.

chalkyWubnub , Pixabay Report

Final score:

28points

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#39

Life is short cosmically but its the longest thing you'll experience

Final score:

28points

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#40

if you paint your entire room with one can of paint your room is one can of paint smaller

Final score:

28points

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#41

30 On-The-Nose Facts That Many Of Us May Feel Stupid For Not Realizing Earlier The modern keyboard layout is designed to make you type slower. When typewriters were a new thing, they had did the obvious thing and put the most-used letters on the home row. Result? People typed too fast and got the hammers tangled.

You’re not an idiot, learning to type fast IS hard. It’s supposed to be!

dustyrags , cottonbro studio Report

Final score:

27points

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#42

You want to get ketchup out of a glass Heinz bottle? Gently chop the neck where the 57 sticker is. It's designed to pour when it's agitated right there. It sounds stupid, but it works. It's like black magic.

faceintheblue Report

Final score:

23points

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#43

Discover. It literally means to dis-cover something.

Final score:

22points

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#44

Most cars have a little arrow on the fuel pump symbol to show which side of the car the filling cap is. (UK at least)

Sunbreak_ Report

Final score:

21points

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#45

There is no "n" in the word restaurateur.

Final score:

20points

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#46

As you go higher in the atmosphere, you don’t actually get hypoxic (oxygen deficiency) because of lack of oxygen; you get hypoxic due to the decrease in pressure the higher into the atmosphere you go. This pressure is needed to actually allow your body to process the oxygen, oxygen % is relatively constant throughout the lower levels of our atmosphere.

S***GuysItsTheCops Report

Final score:

19points

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#47

The saying "it is what it is" can be shortened to the equally correct, but much more confusing, "it's what it's".

rocketparrotlet Report

Final score:

18points

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#48

It takes 500lbs to crush a human skull and your jaw(your molers) exert 200lbs of force

keptgettingbanned Report

Final score:

17points

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#49

El Paso TX is closer to San Diego CA than it is to Houston TX

bazzer66 Report

Final score:

14points

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Rokas Laurinavičius

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Viktorija Ošikaitė

I'm a visual editor here at Bored Panda and I enjoy a good laugh. My work ranges from serious topics related to toxic work environments and relationship difficulties to humorous articles about online shopping fails and introvert memes. When I'm not at my work desk, checking if every single pixel is in the right place, I usually spend my free time playing board games, taking pictures, and watching documentaries

I'm a visual editor here at Bored Panda and I enjoy a good laugh. My work ranges from serious topics related to toxic work environments and relationship difficulties to humorous articles about online shopping fails and introvert memes. When I'm not at my work desk, checking if every single pixel is in the right place, I usually spend my free time playing board games, taking pictures, and watching documentaries

What do you think ?

DaVo 1 year ago

Have I not read this exact thread like two weeks ago??

10points

Justin Smith 1 year ago

Most likely was the full thing before they shortened it to the top whatever.

3points

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Mimi M 1 year ago

'A' and 'An' depend on how the 'H' is sounded. If it's silent, it's 'An' ('an honest person'). If it's pronounced, it's 'A' ('a high mountain'). So it's 'a historic event'.

9points

Justin Smith 1 year ago

Depends on what the second letter is as well. It has to be a vowel.

3points

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Vera Cyning 1 year ago

#5 not always true. I called the cops on an abusive ex over 10 years ago. Grabbed and smashed the phone before I could say where I was. Cops showed up 3 minutes later 10 feet from me. Ex was shocked lol. Obviously still try to make your location the first thing you say. Not all systems may have that capability.

0points

DaVo 1 year ago

Have I not read this exact thread like two weeks ago??

10points

Justin Smith 1 year ago

Most likely was the full thing before they shortened it to the top whatever.

3points

Load More Replies...

Mimi M 1 year ago

'A' and 'An' depend on how the 'H' is sounded. If it's silent, it's 'An' ('an honest person'). If it's pronounced, it's 'A' ('a high mountain'). So it's 'a historic event'.

9points

Justin Smith 1 year ago

Depends on what the second letter is as well. It has to be a vowel.

3points

Load More Replies...

Vera Cyning 1 year ago

#5 not always true. I called the cops on an abusive ex over 10 years ago. Grabbed and smashed the phone before I could say where I was. Cops showed up 3 minutes later 10 feet from me. Ex was shocked lol. Obviously still try to make your location the first thing you say. Not all systems may have that capability.

0points

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