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As clever as we might think we are, we all have gaps in our knowledge. After all, it’s impossible to know everything about our world. You might live your whole life believing that dolphins are land mammals who swim just for fun. Or assuming that a "birthday suit" is a specific set of clothes people wear when they turn another year older. Then, when someone points out that it's completely not true, you can’t help but wonder whether others thought the same as you.
Well, negan2018's post on Ask Reddit revealed that there are plenty of people who have also experienced these embarrassing moments. The user asked fellow community members, "What really obvious thing have you only just realized?" and thousands started sharing their stories.
As they say, the more you read, the more you know. So get ready to take a deep dive into some of the best answers we have collected from this thread. Make sure to upvote the ones you enjoyed most and share your own little misunderstandings in the comments below!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I recently realized I was allergic to carrots. I just thought they made everyone's mouth numb, you know, just like almonds.... I also learned recently that I have an almond allergy.
Foxxy (The Original) 2 years ago
I have oral allergy syndrome that didn't start happening till I was in my 20s. I get itchy, tingly and/or sore gums, lips, throat, roof of mouth and tongue when eat most raw fruit and vegetables. Rockmelon is the worst for it and I love rockmelon. As the years have gone by it has been gradually getting worse and worse.
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#2
The first time I visited the USA I was on my own and in NY and going to all the museums. I kept seeing signs that said "No strollers" and thought, because we call strollers prams in the UK, that you guys are super strict about the proper amount of attention required to visit a museum. I actually pretended to show more interest than I had in order not to be thougth of as some deadbeat out for a casual stroll.
It wasn't until about day three that I saw a "No strollers" sign that included a graphic for idiots.
Catherine Binder 2 years ago
I hate to burst your bubble, but that is a "no funky monkey" sign.
#3
I must've been around 11-12 years old, when I realized that "in order of appearance" during the end credits of a movie doesn't list the actors/actresses by who is the most good looking.
To find out why many of us realize obvious things only later in life, we reached out to Joshua Klapow, Ph.D. He is a clinical psychologist and creator of MentalDrive, an initiative to help people improve their well-being by providing strategies they can use every day. According to him, we humans naturally adapt to things that happen frequently and regularly.
"We literally are hardwired to move the common occurrences into the background of our consciousness so that we can look out for novel things," he told Bored Panda. "This happens because things that are not obvious, that are not common, that stand out, could pose a threat to our well-being, or could be something really rewarding."
Klapow explained that we often take things we do and see every day for granted, "only to pay more attention to those actions and interactions that grab our attention. The obvious goes in the background, so we reserve brain bandwidth to notice the novel, standout occurrences in our life."
#4
The division symbol ÷ is just a fraction. The two dots represent numbers
#5
This girl I know has a dog named Deoji. Two years into knowing her and being around Deoji, I was having a conversation with her sister in law and I said "I love the name Deoji, how did she come up with that?" Her sister in law responds, "Deoji" and I said "yea, it's a neat name". She started laughing and said "No, D.O.G. ...the way you spell dog"
I'm still mindblown about this lol.
Andy Acceber 2 years ago
I knew a dog named D.O.G. Deoji is even funnier. I'd love to correct a vet's office in spelling that name.
#6
Saw a place labled as "Public house" when I moved nearby recently.
It was at that moment I realized "OH thats why they call them PUBS. Its short for public house"
However, throughout our lives, there are fewer things that are different and unknown to us. "We start seeing the same things over and over. We call that maturity and growth and development." When we become adults, we can look at the seemingly common in a more detailed way. "And when we do, we often discover that that obvious has so much more to it that we missed earlier on," the clinical psychologist said.
"Another reason we miss the obvious is that we sometimes are not ready psychologically to handle [it]," Klapow added. "A relationship that is toxic, a love interest that is too intense, a realization that we don’t have a skill or strength we believe we have." While these things may be crystal clear to the outside observer, "our own psychological defenses go up and protect us from seeing the obvious. Because to do so might overwhelm us emotionally and psychologically."
"This pattern can go on for years, until which time we either have the psychological maturity or our life circumstances change such that we can look at the obvious which once posed a psychological threat in a more mature, less defensive way."
Both of these processes are something that everyone has in common. "People have these in varying degrees and, more importantly, they learn to overcome these hardwired tendencies in order to see life more clearly and experience life more fully."
#7
VERY LATE BUT it's called the alphabet because the Greek "Alphabet" starts with the letter alpha, beta....
#8
The piggy in 'This Little Piggy' didn’t go to the market to go shopping. ... I’m still horrified
#9
The Grammys are called that because the awards are gramophones.
#10
I only just today realized that the “walk the plank” plank on a boat is not a special addition pirates added to their ships as a means of public execution that looked like a little wooden diving board.
It is, in fact, the very same plank as the gangplank you’d normally use to get on and off of the ship. It is not the presence of the plank that is threatening, but the absence of dock.
DDmaybeandor 2 years ago
Oh wow! I never knew that! I did know it was sometimes called the gangplank, but I didn’t know that’s what’s used to board the ship.
Klapow stated that we experience life from our perspective. So what can be 100% clear to others may be totally missed by us. "Our defense mechanisms, our rationalizations, our attention to other aspects of our life can carry us through time without any insight into what others see so clearly," he said. And when we realize we lived our whole lives believing untrue things, we might feel uncomfortable.
"We are embarrassed because the obvious is often simple and clear to everyone else." He mentioned that we feel this way for several reasons. The first would be that we simply missed what others saw. Then, "we may have made mistakes, hurt others, missed out on opportunities because we didn't see the obvious. Lastly, we have to acknowledge to others and ourselves that despite how we think of ourselves or how we are seen by others, we have missed something."
#11
Not me but my sister asked me about 2 and a half months ago when we were watching John Wick 3 during the desert scene she asked me if they were real and I asked if what were real and she said “Sand Lands” and I busted out laughing so god damn hard and said “you mean deserts? Yes they’re real”. Thinking about it right now Got me laughing.
#12
Super embarrassing but in college I would order Roman Cokes because I heard everyone else ordering the same...turns out I misheard everyone and found out it was just rum and coke
#13
I regret to inform you all that it just occurred to me the other day that the game is called Sims because they’re in a simulation. I’m 26.
When we uncover evident things, it can feel like discovering something brand new. It all depends on how we interpret the experience: "It’s easy to feel embarrassed, frustrated, guilty that we missed something that was there the whole time."
We should try to "turn the internal dialog around and tell ourselves: 'I now see things differently, more clearly, and that is going to help me from this day moving forward'. Then, the initial embarrassment and frustration can transition into gratitude and excitement for arriving at the discovery of the obvious," he continued.
#14
That parents have children write letters to Santa so they can figure out what to buy them for Christmas. I can’t believe how I never put that together after 32 years on this earth I just thought it was fun little tradition..
Quiltin Mammar 2 years ago
What? You don't believe in Santa? A lump of coal for you next Christmas;0)
#15
I realized that to be in one's birthday suit it means to be without clothes. I thought for the longest time it was a specific set of clothes you would wear on your birthday each year. I found out when I asked, "what happens when you don't fit in your birthday suit anymore?" Lol
#16
My grandpa used to ask me when I was a kid if I could talk without moving my lips. Being a dumb ass kid I would always give it my best effort, and thought I was pretty good at it. 20 years later I realised the old bugger was just telling me to shut the f*ck up haha. Too bad I can't let him know I finally figured it out.
"We are growing, learning, adapting organisms. What is foreign at one point in time can become obvious later as we learn and develop. At any point in our life, we have a chance to look at what we see every day and look at it differently. We never know what we may discover if we are courageous enough to consider the obvious when the world around us is telling us it is sitting right in front of us," Klapow concluded.
#17
I was playing Monopoly, and someone owned a load of properties all clustered together. I said, 'You’ve got a bit of a monopoly on that part of the board. Hey that’s funny, because we’re playing Monopoly, and you got a...oh, I see now.
#18
That they put measurement stickers next to gas station doors so if a robber is running out of the store you can get a better estimate of their height. I always thought they were just there for something fun to do on road trip stops....
#19
A screensaver has a purpose and it literally saves your screen from an image being burned into it. I'm 37
#20
That Michelangelo's David is David from David and Goliath. How did I not know this?? I thought it was just dude called Dave.
#21
Raincoats typically have bright colours so you're easier to spot during heavy rain, not because raincoat designers have bad taste
#23
Thought that raw hazelnuts don't taste good, because they give this weird tingle in your mouth. Found out I had a nut allergy when it suddenly turned from "tingle" to "anaphylaxis" and I ended up in hospital for eating nut chocolate
#24
My mom used to make my sisters and I “belly-buttons” for dinner. I was 27 when I realized that they were actually tortellini, but she knew we were dumb kids and would refuse something named so strange even though they were delicious.
#25
For the longest time, I always thought Prima Donna was Pre-Madonna
#26
I always thought “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too” was a weird saying because why wouldn’t I be able to eat my freaking slice of cake? It’s my cake.
Nobody was telling me that I can’t have my cake. Turns out they mean you can’t eat the cake while also still retaining it. Once it is eaten, it is gone. An idiom I did not understand until this year. I am 27.
#27
Oh you want a freaking doozy? For YEARS, I did not realize it was Mike Myers playing both Austin Powers AND Dr Evil. I don't know how I missed it, but it never twigged that it was the same actor. Felt like a right royal twat when that was pointed out to me!
#28
I live in a part of Chicago called Greektown for 8 years and never realized the blue and white Christmas lights were meant to represent the colors on their flag. It just dawned on me today.
#29
I'm in my fifties. I grew up in a rural area north of New York City, I'm a veteran, I'm reasonably intelligent, reasonably well-traveled.
I've been hearing (and repeating this expression on and off for all of my life:
Friend/acquaintance 1: "Hey, man see you soon!" Friend/acquaintance 2: "Not if I see you first." smirk
It's just within the last few years that I realized that's a -almost always joking, kind- jab at Friend/acquaintance 1.
It was so ritualized as a way to say goodnight to a buddy, that it never occurred to me that it meant that the friend would choose to avoid the other person.
#30
In the movie "Cats vs Dogs" when the dog goes "Son of my mom!" He's actually saying Son of a b*tch
Roxy Eastland 2 years ago
Evidence that once again we insult men by insulting the women in their lives
#31
The mommy in that Christmas song wasn't cheating with Santa but instead, it's the dad dressed in a Santa Claus costume. That's why 'I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus
#32
Cruella de Vil was a cruel devil.
#33
This is going to make me seem dumb as hell but I recently realized why pickles don’t ever.. come fresh...
Emily M 2 years ago
I work in an elementary school. Completely blew 4 third graders' minds to discover that their beloved pickles were made from 'gross' cucumbers xD
Higgleton 2 years ago
Surprises me they'd love the strong taste of pickle but not a cucumber. I used to love cucumber as a kid. Mum knew I'd been hungry in the night as she'd find bite marks in the cucumbers the next day.
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MellonCollie 2 years ago
My local friendly greengrocer sometimes has them fresh ... tiny tiny cucumbers for you to pickle yourself!
Foxxy (The Original) 2 years ago (edited)
Just curious for anyone who has tried pickles (like the ones on burgers) and gherkins, do they taste different?
Rai Grant 2 years ago
They're the same thing? Gherkins are pickled gherkins in Britain. Pickles are all pickled veg, so beetroots, onions etc, if they're pickled, they're pickles, we get jars of mixed pickles with cauliflower n onions n carrots in. I love pickles mmmm
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Natalie Kelsey 2 years ago
My children always called cucumbers "fresh pickles" lol. Blew them away to find out you can pickle pretty much anything, not just cucumber
Tonya Wallace 2 years ago
Claussen pickles are the best mass produced pickles. They don't cook their cucumbers to make pickles. Lots of...I guess you'd call it "artisan" cold packed pickles are available too, but they're unfortunately expensive to me.
Petros Vrasivanopoulos 2 years ago
its just pickle trees grow only far away from where you live. in my country we do get fresh pickles. from pickle tree just ask if you ever visit greece
#34
For a long time I thought "to bust a nut" meant that you were going to kick a guy in the balls or beat him up. So anytime I was getting worked up or angry talking about some guy I would say " I'm going to bust his f*cking nut" not knowing the real meaning. Nobody ever said anything but it was always followed by my friends laughing so I assumed it was because I was being dramatic.
Years go by and my coworker is telling me about some rude person he met and I said "you should definitely bust that guy's nut", to which he paused and said "do you even know what that means?" Suffice it to say I was extremely embarrassed and horrified when he explained it to me.
#35
When I was little for some reason I hated toast. Just hated it. My parents always tried to make me eat it but I always refused. My grandma decided to try something different. She took toast, cut it up into tiny squares, put some butter on them and called them “Little Pillows.” I ate them all the time. Only now, at 22 years old, did I realize it was just freakin toast.
plain bOrEd not panda 2 years ago
I am pretty sure she put the butter before cutting them all into small pieces :D Just a random obsessive thought I got :D
#36
When I was little we had an Australian shepherd named Sydney. I didn’t understand why her name was Sydney until 18 years later.
#37
I live in Denmark so english is not my native language and I just realised that weekend means the end of the week.
Crease Almighty 2 years ago
Yeah I didn’t realise Breakfast was literally means Breaking fast the from the previous day… 🤔🤔
#38
I thought astigmatism was A stigmatism. So I thought you could have two stigmatisms
Roxy Eastland 2 years ago
I thought an attaché case was 'a taché case' for far too long. I never needed to talk about them, just heard them mentioned in dramas or documentaries. I still half think that's what's being said.
#39
That big ship's wheel I got to turn as a kid was not actually controlling the cruise ship.
#40
The song "it's getting hot in here" isn't actually talking about here temperature
I felt very, very stupid
#41
I’m 30 and I realized a few months ago that “howdy” is Cowboy for “how do you do”
s. vitkovitsky 2 years ago
It's from Eluzabethan/Sbakespearean times, a contraction of how do ye.
#42
My friend (22 y.o) only realized last year that dolphins have to swim and live in the water to survive. He thought they're land mammals but they just really like to swim for fun.
#43
That to take off the plastic piece on top of deodorant you just simply twist the bottom a few times lmao
#44
That the phrase mint condition means like new because it's the condition coins leave the mint in
#45
I kept seeing the same Chinese characters on restaurant's signs and I always wanted to know what it meant. A week ago I found out: they mean restaurant.
#46
My boyfriend did not know that his electric toothbrush has a timer on it that goes off at 1 minute and 2 minutes. He actually returned it and got a new one thinking it was broken, since the “timer” is just a brief sort of pause/reduction in the vibration. He would be like “wtf I literally just charged this f*cking thing” thinking that the battery was already dying. One day, and I can’t remember exactly what the conversation was, I brought up how I liked that my toothbrush let me know when I had brushed long enough, and it was like a lightbulb went off in his head and suddenly he put it together that that was what his toothbrush was doing all along.
Alison Dalleywater 2 years ago
No way! That's what I did. Threw mine away and went back to normal ones!
#48
My whole life I thought "Pay-per-view" was actually "paper view" because I had only ever heard people say it, and only recently saw it written out.
#49
I was 28 before I realized the meaning to the why is 6 afraid of 7 joke. I always just thought it was dumb, 7,8,9, like you’re just counting.......the electric bill wasn’t paid until later in my life.
#50
The houses in Bikini Bottom are car mufflers...
What do you think ?
Agfox 2 years ago
I'm disappointed that no-one mentioned the well-know hymn lyric, "The cross eyed bear for Jesus"
Kristin Corlett 2 years ago
It's Gladly, the cross eyed bear. The bears name is Gladly!
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HarriMissesScotland 2 years ago
I had just moved to Nova Scotia and went to the MicMac Mall in Halifax. I assumed it was recognition of the Scots (Mac) and Irish (mic) who settled there. I mean Nova Scotia means New Scotland .Boy, was I wrong. It is named for the First Nation's tribe the Mi'kmaq, pronounced Meeg Maw. Learn something everyday.
Kate Jones 2 years ago
That when you tell someone to break a leg, it's because you hope they get cast.
Anthony Roberts 2 years ago
No it's not. It's because of a superstition about wishing an actor good luck.
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JB 2 years ago
Slightly more chilling version; not me, a great aunt. She and her parents only realized she was blind in one eye when they tried to play a game of “I spy” covering up the right eye and she said “don’t be stupid, we have to cover the left eye…”
whodunnitfan2013 2 years ago
I was shocked to discover as a teenager that sand dollars were actually alive at some point.
Mindghost 2 years ago (edited)
Last year i realized that "cinderella" has the word cinder in it, because the original was called "Aschenbrödel". Asche is ash.... cinder... ok >_>
Signe Manat Hansen 2 years ago
In Danish we call her Askepot. Pot of ashes.
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Ozacoter 2 years ago
I was about 11 when I discovered that my aunt was not called as i always called her. Her brother gave her a nickname that struck so everyone in the family calls her by the nickname.
Magoomba 2 years ago
I had an aunt named Geraldine. She was the youngest & was called ‘Babe’. She lived into her ‘80s & during her funeral the pastor asked for a show of hands of people who knew her real name. There was about 50 people there. I was one of three to raise my hand.
Load More Replies...
Jo Choto 2 years ago
I grew up with an Auntie Henry and people used to laugh at me and tell me that couldn't be her name, but I insisted it was. Turned out she was Rosamund and Henry was a nickname. Also as a child, didn't realize that my dad and his four sisters had four different fathers. Looking back, it's obvious, but you just don't question stuff as a child!
BlackPearltheSeaWing/NightWing 2 years ago
I learned this year that that one song in Annie doesn't I fact go "It's a hard NOT life" it goes "it's a hard KNOCK life" and honestly I feel like my whole life has been a lie because of it.
Jessica N 2 years ago
My childhood best friend thought deer cross the road at "deer crossing 5 miles signs", thought they lined up in 5 miles. Learned she thought that because she noted it was inconvenient that the deer cross the highway :D
BusLady 2 years ago
I've been waiting my entire life to actually see a deer crossing the road at one of those signs, so I can take a photo. Wish me luck.
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similarly 2 years ago
Okay, here's a historical one for you. In Canada, in colonial times, there was a French area called Acadia. There were problems and a bunch of them decided to WALK to the nearest French settlements ... in Louisiana. In those times, "di" sounds often got changed to "j" sounds, hence "Indian" became "Injun". In the same way, Acadian was pronounced "Acajun", and when one of the Acadians was identified as being "Acajun", others misunderstood it as "He is A CAJUN" rather than "He is Acadian". The Cajuns are the descendants of the French Canadian Acadians who left Canada to resettle in Louisiana.
Meg Curry 2 years ago
I worked at a restaurant and people constantly called asking for the "bilgerone" but it was different every time. I assumed it was a special sandwich that used something called "bilgerone". About a month later did I finally realize they meant "build your own" sandwich and that's why every order was different. Oof.
Bettie-Jean Neal 2 years ago
Two things... My dad always told me as a kid, "you can catch a bird by putting salt on it's tail." It wasn't until I was around 40 and realized that of course, if you're close enough to put salt on it's tail, you're close enough to grab the d*mn thing. Duh! The second... we were down the shore on vacay on year and I was about 7 or 8. Its was raining, so we were stuck inside. My dad was reading the Philadelphia Inquirer and I picked up a page and started read. A few minutes in I said, "what does DETTER mined mean?" Dad asks me to spell it, so I do. He starts cracking up and says, "DETERMINED! You know what that means!" Duh. I had never seen it in print before and at that age had never written it either.
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
How do you catch a wild bird? Put salt on it's tail. How do you catch a tame bird? Tame way.
Load More Replies...
Heather Talma 2 years ago
I thought that since people said "A cold" and "THE flu" that there was only one flu and it took turns going to everyone.
DigitalCoke 2 years ago
I thought all ice cream was vanilla ice cream until I realized vanilla ice cream was its own flavor.
Darragh Lucey 1 year ago
That when you see fathers in old movies eating dinner in their underclothes it was because they couldn’t afford to change their work clothes every day or couldn’t wash them. I thought it was just a weird character thing.
Shadow 1 year ago
When I was little my parents had a car that talked. When the door was open and the key was on it was say "The door is ajar." This really confused me as a 6 year old because while I knew the car ment "the door is open" I didn't understand why it was saying the door was a (glass) jar. My dad really struggled with trying to explain the difference.
Kaylyn van der Merwe 2 years ago
I used to think that Pluto was our moon for an embarrassingly long time...
Faith Hurst-Bilinski 2 years ago
People should be more inquisitive and possibly give a few extra seconds of thought to stuff.
Koi Dragon 2 years ago
In my early 20's I kept wondering what the meaning was behind the name of the Victoria's Secret store. Then one day It dawned on me that her secret was her lingerie. Yikes!
LynzCatastrophe 2 years ago
A dumb one I had as a kid that I held on to for a very long time: my eyesight is crap, I've worn glasses since I was 5. And for so many years I couldn't understand why I had to and hardly anyone else did. I used to think everyone had the same eyesight and I was being picked on.
ChickyChicky 2 years ago
This post made me feel very smart. I only didn't know the one about nut-busting.
Jaguarundi 2 years ago
I'm not sure if I'm well-educated, intelligent or just plain heavily experienced (old). None of these held any type of surprise for me. I was surprised by how many people did not know these "common sense" words, phrases, traditions & etc. though!
Kenny Kulbiski 2 years ago
There's quite a few things here that I didn't know either. Of course I'd never admit it in public. Oops.
DragonsCrushesCatsMe 2 years ago
When I was little, I always thought that Mabel from Gravity Falls was a robot. Now I think that she got replaced by a robot.
Agfox 2 years ago
I'm disappointed that no-one mentioned the well-know hymn lyric, "The cross eyed bear for Jesus"
Kristin Corlett 2 years ago
It's Gladly, the cross eyed bear. The bears name is Gladly!
Load More Replies... HarriMissesScotland 2 years ago
I had just moved to Nova Scotia and went to the MicMac Mall in Halifax. I assumed it was recognition of the Scots (Mac) and Irish (mic) who settled there. I mean Nova Scotia means New Scotland .Boy, was I wrong. It is named for the First Nation's tribe the Mi'kmaq, pronounced Meeg Maw. Learn something everyday.
Kate Jones 2 years ago
That when you tell someone to break a leg, it's because you hope they get cast.
Anthony Roberts 2 years ago
No it's not. It's because of a superstition about wishing an actor good luck.
Load More Replies... JB 2 years ago
Slightly more chilling version; not me, a great aunt. She and her parents only realized she was blind in one eye when they tried to play a game of “I spy” covering up the right eye and she said “don’t be stupid, we have to cover the left eye…”
whodunnitfan2013 2 years ago
I was shocked to discover as a teenager that sand dollars were actually alive at some point.
Mindghost 2 years ago (edited)
Last year i realized that "cinderella" has the word cinder in it, because the original was called "Aschenbrödel". Asche is ash.... cinder... ok >_>
Signe Manat Hansen 2 years ago
In Danish we call her Askepot. Pot of ashes.
Load More Replies... Ozacoter 2 years ago
I was about 11 when I discovered that my aunt was not called as i always called her. Her brother gave her a nickname that struck so everyone in the family calls her by the nickname.
Magoomba 2 years ago
I had an aunt named Geraldine. She was the youngest & was called ‘Babe’. She lived into her ‘80s & during her funeral the pastor asked for a show of hands of people who knew her real name. There was about 50 people there. I was one of three to raise my hand.
Load More Replies... Jo Choto 2 years ago
I grew up with an Auntie Henry and people used to laugh at me and tell me that couldn't be her name, but I insisted it was. Turned out she was Rosamund and Henry was a nickname. Also as a child, didn't realize that my dad and his four sisters had four different fathers. Looking back, it's obvious, but you just don't question stuff as a child!
BlackPearltheSeaWing/NightWing 2 years ago
I learned this year that that one song in Annie doesn't I fact go "It's a hard NOT life" it goes "it's a hard KNOCK life" and honestly I feel like my whole life has been a lie because of it.
Jessica N 2 years ago
My childhood best friend thought deer cross the road at "deer crossing 5 miles signs", thought they lined up in 5 miles. Learned she thought that because she noted it was inconvenient that the deer cross the highway :D
BusLady 2 years ago
I've been waiting my entire life to actually see a deer crossing the road at one of those signs, so I can take a photo. Wish me luck.
Load More Replies... similarly 2 years ago
Okay, here's a historical one for you. In Canada, in colonial times, there was a French area called Acadia. There were problems and a bunch of them decided to WALK to the nearest French settlements ... in Louisiana. In those times, "di" sounds often got changed to "j" sounds, hence "Indian" became "Injun". In the same way, Acadian was pronounced "Acajun", and when one of the Acadians was identified as being "Acajun", others misunderstood it as "He is A CAJUN" rather than "He is Acadian". The Cajuns are the descendants of the French Canadian Acadians who left Canada to resettle in Louisiana.
Meg Curry 2 years ago
I worked at a restaurant and people constantly called asking for the "bilgerone" but it was different every time. I assumed it was a special sandwich that used something called "bilgerone". About a month later did I finally realize they meant "build your own" sandwich and that's why every order was different. Oof.
Bettie-Jean Neal 2 years ago
Two things... My dad always told me as a kid, "you can catch a bird by putting salt on it's tail." It wasn't until I was around 40 and realized that of course, if you're close enough to put salt on it's tail, you're close enough to grab the d*mn thing. Duh! The second... we were down the shore on vacay on year and I was about 7 or 8. Its was raining, so we were stuck inside. My dad was reading the Philadelphia Inquirer and I picked up a page and started read. A few minutes in I said, "what does DETTER mined mean?" Dad asks me to spell it, so I do. He starts cracking up and says, "DETERMINED! You know what that means!" Duh. I had never seen it in print before and at that age had never written it either.
GoddessOdd 2 years ago
How do you catch a wild bird? Put salt on it's tail. How do you catch a tame bird? Tame way.
Load More Replies... Heather Talma 2 years ago
I thought that since people said "A cold" and "THE flu" that there was only one flu and it took turns going to everyone.
DigitalCoke 2 years ago
I thought all ice cream was vanilla ice cream until I realized vanilla ice cream was its own flavor.
Darragh Lucey 1 year ago
That when you see fathers in old movies eating dinner in their underclothes it was because they couldn’t afford to change their work clothes every day or couldn’t wash them. I thought it was just a weird character thing.
Shadow 1 year ago
When I was little my parents had a car that talked. When the door was open and the key was on it was say "The door is ajar." This really confused me as a 6 year old because while I knew the car ment "the door is open" I didn't understand why it was saying the door was a (glass) jar. My dad really struggled with trying to explain the difference.
Kaylyn van der Merwe 2 years ago
I used to think that Pluto was our moon for an embarrassingly long time...
Faith Hurst-Bilinski 2 years ago
People should be more inquisitive and possibly give a few extra seconds of thought to stuff.
Koi Dragon 2 years ago
In my early 20's I kept wondering what the meaning was behind the name of the Victoria's Secret store. Then one day It dawned on me that her secret was her lingerie. Yikes!
LynzCatastrophe 2 years ago
A dumb one I had as a kid that I held on to for a very long time: my eyesight is crap, I've worn glasses since I was 5. And for so many years I couldn't understand why I had to and hardly anyone else did. I used to think everyone had the same eyesight and I was being picked on.
ChickyChicky 2 years ago
This post made me feel very smart. I only didn't know the one about nut-busting.
Jaguarundi 2 years ago
I'm not sure if I'm well-educated, intelligent or just plain heavily experienced (old). None of these held any type of surprise for me. I was surprised by how many people did not know these "common sense" words, phrases, traditions & etc. though!
Kenny Kulbiski 2 years ago
There's quite a few things here that I didn't know either. Of course I'd never admit it in public. Oops.
DragonsCrushesCatsMe 2 years ago
When I was little, I always thought that Mabel from Gravity Falls was a robot. Now I think that she got replaced by a robot.
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