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35 Facts That Don’t Need A Lot Of Knowledge To Grasp, But Folks Online Only Recently Realized
Have you ever let your mind wander and started thinking about something that’s so common, so everyday, that you hadn’t even considered it before? In a minute’s time you come to some mind-blowing realization, feeling like the king of the world and wanting to share your discovery with the world.
In another minute’s time you understand that everyone else probably already knows this fact and you feel like a bit of a goof. But fret no more, we’ve got you covered with 45 more of these common facts that people only realized later in life!
More info: Reddit
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#1
Not really obvious but x% of y is equal to y% of x
So for example 4% of 75 isn't really easy to figure out at first but if you switch the numbers to 75% of 4, the answer is 3 and that's also your answer to 4% of 75.
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#2
That raincoats typically have bright colours so you're easier to spot during heavy rain, not because raincoat designers have bad taste
#3
There was this really pretty girl in high school who bugged the s**t out of me. Would do obnoxious stuff like go out of her way to talk to me about nothing and one time she laid on me when I had my head down on my desk. She would take my erasers and draw on them and I hated that.
Then I realized she probably liked me.
I realized that, out of the blue, when I was in my 30's.
So watch out ladies. if you show any affection toward me in 15 or 20 years I'll be knockin' on your door still unsure of your intentions!
Ryan Edwards 1 year ago
Ahhh, there's nothing like that sudden adult onset of embarrassment for childhood stupidity. It's weird how it kinda hits hard with "OMG, they thought I was a complete idiot. They probably think I'm still stupid too".
#4
VERY LATE BUT it's called the alphabet because the Greek "Alphabet" starts with the letter alpha, beta....
#5
About six months ago, I had an epiphany while opening up a new deodorant. I realized that I could click it up from the bottom and just remove the plastic top once the deodorant had raised up a bit. I've always pulled the plastic piece off before raising the deodorant. Like, tugging on it, using my teeth, etc. I'm 36 years old! I have an engineering degree!! I came out of the bathroom and told my husband about it. I think it made him re-evaluate what he was doing with me lol. Then I called my mom to let her know she failed that step of parenting me.
#6
The division symbol ÷ is just a fraction. The two dots represent numbers.
#7
I just finished reading Dracula by Bram Stoker.
At the end of the book, there was a little blurb about the author; Abraham Stoker.
Bram is short for Abraham. I didn't know that.
#8
When the evil villain in cheesy movies shouts "Curses!" It's because he can't shout curses.
#9
A chef is called a chef in a restaurant because restaurants originated in France and ‘chef’ just means boss in French.
Kathryn Baylis 1 year ago (edited)
Seriously. “Chef” literally translates as “Chief”, aka Boss.
#10
The houses in Bikini Bottom are car mufflers
Pedantic Panda 1 year ago
And bikini bottom is below bikini atoll, nuclear radiation fall out have rise to sponge Bob.
#12
That the Guinness beer company is responsible for the Guinness book of world records
#13
Ecuador is spanish for equator and the country is named so because yep....
Mary Kelly 1 year ago
don't feel bad...it took me years to realize that the state of vermont was named for the green mountain range...verde montagne...or that the state of arizona is essentially the arid zone in spanish...zona arida...felt so stupid...
#14
42 here. In the song “Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid and egg...” I never knew why Robin would lay and egg. It seemed so random and weird to me. Just this winter, walking down a hallway at work, it finally clicked into place: Robins are birds. Birds lay eggs.
Yep. Sharp tack over here.
Hippopotamuses 1 year ago
I’d understood it to mean Robin farted. When I was a kid, farting was sometimes called laying an egg.
#15
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.”
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
I used to play by myself, with six characters. Each one had a section of board to keep their money under, and a stack of properties next to their money. It doesn't work out so well, though, if cats live with you.
#16
'The Los Angeles Angels' is actually 'The the angels angels'.
#17
The reason that the lower notes are on the left side of the piano is because most people are right handed, and the bass parts are simpler to play, even with the non-dominant hand.
#18
Breakfast is named so because you're breaking the fast from when you were sleeping.
#19
Tinder app is so called because it helps spark a connection with a Match.
Ryan Edwards 1 year ago
UGH! I hate it when something seems SO OBVIOUS to me ONLY AFTER it is pointed out to me. That is actually quite brilliant.
#20
That 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."
#21
The fact that I have unusual struggles in life doesn’t mean that my problems are worse or more important than anyone else’s.
There are people out there with problems that are just as annoying and/or numerous, even if they aren’t the exact same as mine.
Kira Okah 1 year ago
On the same vein: just because other people struggle and have problems, and their struggles and problems may indeed be worse than yours, that doesn't mean that your struggles and problems are invalid or nothing. If something is difficult for you or you are in pain, you are allowed to stop and focus on that for a time.
#23
I always found it funny how Abba songs fit the movie Mamma mia so well ... it took me years to figure out the movie was made around the songs.
#24
Your bones are always wet. They've also probably never seen the light of day.
Edit: I forgot about teeth, stop roasting me
Edit 2: teeth aren't bones. Calm down y'all
Demosthenes 1 year ago
Weirder still is that your bones never touch each other. You will know this if they for any horrible reason end up touching each other.
#25
Eminem are his initials M & M.
#26
As a non native English speaker.
I just recently found out why ground beef is called ground beef.
I was always like "yeah maybe it's the foundation of beef, so it's the ground", like the basis.
But only recently I realized it's the past tense of "to grind" something. Now that makes sense!
#27
When people said, "it's a double-edged sword," I thought the sword's hilt was also a sword. Only until yesterday, it was explained to me by my brother that it was just sharp on both sides of the blade.
#28
That it would be easier to lift the cutlery basket out of the dishwasher to unload the cutlery while next to the cutlery drawer. Prior to seeing it on a reddit thread, I'd been leaving the basket in the dishwasher and grabbing as many of the cutlery out that I could manage in one go...
#29
Im 27 and always liked geography and got good grades for it in school. This holidays i learned that the seasons are reverted in northern and southern hemisphere. I was blown away I didnt know this earlier.
*yes I ment *inverted* not reverted, must've missed that too in english classes
Lil Miss Hobbit 1 year ago
All the Aussies singing American Christmas songs and being major confused.🤣
#30
If you wait for the waiter, you are the waiter.
#31
In the song Africa by Toto for the longest time I thought it was I guess it rains down in Africa not I bless the rains down in africa.
TheGoodBoi 1 year ago
WHY DID YOU BRING THIS UP?? 🎶 It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you! There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do! 🎶
#32
That in order to properly use a hand dryer, you have to rub your hands.
I used to just put my hands under it and question why it was taking so long, but then I saw one of my friends rubbing their hands, and I felt stupid.
Will Cable 1 year ago
I hate the dyson ones with the 'slot' you put your hands in and it is meant to dry them
#33
That the little arrow next to the fuel icon on your dashboard, shows which side the fuel tank is on your car.
#34
Mount Wannahockaloogie- I am Aussie so hearing it without subtitles as a kid, I just assumed it was another american attempt at an Aussie sounding name. Seeing it written down made me feel like the dumbest thing alive.
Kathryn Baylis 1 year ago (edited)
“If you're crackin’ up from having lack of shackin’ up. If you're crackin’ up from having lack of shackin’ up. If you're crackin’ up, why don't you pack it up? You got to find yourself a crazy kind of love. Two-Three-Four. Aaaahh-Way. Lackanookie’s got-me! Aaaaahh-Way. Omaniwannalaya! Aaaaahh-Way. Find yourself a crazy kind of love!” (Thank you, Bette Midler!)
#35
The word hyperbole is spelled hyperbole. I know the word but never connected the spelling to the pronunciation, and thus in written form thought it was an entirely different word. The funniest (saddest) thing here is I'm dead serious and this comment is not a hyperbole... Smh.
What do you think ?
Legoinsinööri 1 year ago
For a long time I didn't realize that teenager came from thirTeen - nineTeen.
DBear 1 year ago
Knew a guy who in his late 30's realized that Thanksgiving Day in the USA was always on Thursday,
Gianna B D 1 year ago
It was just last week that I realized that quesadillas have cheese in them and the Spanish word for cheese is queso. "Oh, the two must be related," I, a genius, said.
Stargazer66 1 year ago (edited)
#30. Ground beef is also called hamburger in the US and confuses a lot of non Americans. It's called hamburger because ground beef is used to make hamburgers and Americans like to give everything nicknames.
Lord Mysticlaw 1 year ago
This confused me for such a long time! Same with hot dogs. Where I live, you put a viena sausage in a bun and then you call it a hot dog.
Load More Replies...
Stardust she/her 1 year ago
There’s a brand in my country called “Kissan” which means farmer in Hindi. Despite knowing what farmer meant, it didn’t click in my head until June that the brand name means farmer
Far Cough Khan 1 year ago
there's a dairy company called Norco. recently i realized no~ko in japanese means organic.
Load More Replies...
Giles McArdell 1 year ago
Banoffee Pie, thought it was some Italian word, didn't click until I was well in to my 30s.
neocosmical 1 year ago
until around a month ago, my best friend didn't know that pancakes were called pancakes because they're cakes that you cook in a pan
Will Cable 1 year ago
Took me months to work out the weather map in the local newspaper we had years ago , I just couldn't make out the area shown, then I realised, they had reversed the print , it was still black and white in those days with shades of grey.
LonelyLittleLeafSheep 1 year ago (edited)
This entire article is a sad commentary on the decline of the education system, mostly in the US.
Legoinsinööri 1 year ago
For a long time I didn't realize that teenager came from thirTeen - nineTeen.
DBear 1 year ago
Knew a guy who in his late 30's realized that Thanksgiving Day in the USA was always on Thursday,
Gianna B D 1 year ago
It was just last week that I realized that quesadillas have cheese in them and the Spanish word for cheese is queso. "Oh, the two must be related," I, a genius, said.
Stargazer66 1 year ago (edited)
#30. Ground beef is also called hamburger in the US and confuses a lot of non Americans. It's called hamburger because ground beef is used to make hamburgers and Americans like to give everything nicknames.
Lord Mysticlaw 1 year ago
This confused me for such a long time! Same with hot dogs. Where I live, you put a viena sausage in a bun and then you call it a hot dog.
Load More Replies... Stardust she/her 1 year ago
There’s a brand in my country called “Kissan” which means farmer in Hindi. Despite knowing what farmer meant, it didn’t click in my head until June that the brand name means farmer
Far Cough Khan 1 year ago
there's a dairy company called Norco. recently i realized no~ko in japanese means organic.
Load More Replies... Giles McArdell 1 year ago
Banoffee Pie, thought it was some Italian word, didn't click until I was well in to my 30s.
neocosmical 1 year ago
until around a month ago, my best friend didn't know that pancakes were called pancakes because they're cakes that you cook in a pan
Will Cable 1 year ago
Took me months to work out the weather map in the local newspaper we had years ago , I just couldn't make out the area shown, then I realised, they had reversed the print , it was still black and white in those days with shades of grey.
LonelyLittleLeafSheep 1 year ago (edited)
This entire article is a sad commentary on the decline of the education system, mostly in the US.
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