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What is ‘obvious’ to you and me might not be clear to someone else. And vice versa! Common sense isn’t all that common. Not to mention that all of us, no matter our education, have gaps in our knowledge that we’re not aware of. It takes quite a bit of guts and tons of humility to admit that.
Members of the r/AskReddit online community recently opened up about the ‘really obvious’ things they only just realized. Scroll down for a good laugh, as well as a reminder that we’re not so different when it comes to our info blindspots, after all.
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#1
I learned where "Pulling out all the stops" came from a couple of years ago (watching a documentary on Interstellar's music).
It's from playing organs...air is blown thru the organ's pipes to play notes - and you have "stops" in there if you don't want a particular pipe to play. So when you pull out all the stops, you get all the pipes playing...
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#2
I was at least 50 when I learned that the little piggy who went to market wasn’t shopping.
#3
My mom was doing her best.
Gustav Gallifrey 10 months ago
Most of them are. Most of them deserve the Victoria Cross/Medal of Honour/whatever.
Most of us want to be accepted and respected by our family and friends, as well as coworkers and strangers alike. Like it or not, social connections and reputation matter to lots of people. Naturally, this means that some folks want to present themselves in the best possible light. That means showing off their best qualities while subtly hiding the worst ones.
For many people, losing their social standing and being publicly humiliated is one of the most horrible things that can happen to them. That’s why they obsess so much about projecting power and authority and avoid behaviors that can make them look weak… like admitting that they don’t know something about a subject many others do.
#4
My sister learned recently that when you're at the grocery store and opening the egg carton that you're checking for cracked eggs and not just making sure that they are in fact eggs in the carton.
#6
I am 19 and I have had ADHD and a sleeping disorder my whole life. I decided to go to the doctor and figure out wtf was wrong with me after I turned 18. Turned out I wasn’t stupid just undiagnosed going without meds. So now just about every adult looks at me like a lazy bum that fell asleep in every class and couldn’t pay attention or understand assignments. When I got on meds (senior year) I was #16 of my class in the top 20%.
The problem with wanting to be seen as ‘perfect’ at all times is that it’s utterly unsustainable. Nobody’s perfect. We all make mistakes. We all have a lot to learn about the world, even if we have a few fancy degrees under our belts.
However, how we react to our mistakes and ignorance says a lot about who we are, how we approach learning, and whether we have a growth-oriented mindset. Admitting that we’ve been wrong about something and owning up to our knowledge gaps can be embarrassing. If you deny that you’ve been wrong, you’ll only push people away from you. On the other hand, when you embrace your embarrassment and admit to having been wrong, you paradoxically draw people in. Your humility makes you seem more human.
#7
How the American bail system works.
I thought it was a sum of money you paid to avoid jail. I was surprised when I realized you get the money BACK if you show up for your trial.
#8
I was like 25 when I found out the jugs of washer fluid outside the gas station aren’t free. I was walking out of the gas station with a buddy one day, grabbed a jug of washer fluid, and he asked me “did you just steal that?” And I was like “No, dude, it’s free”. It’s not, I stole washer fluid for nearly ten years of driving and no one ever said anything to me about it.
#9
In high school science class we were watching a video and it was then that I realized Reindeer are, in fact, real creatures and not just mythical beings for the purpose of pulling Santa’s sled.
Even though there’s absolutely no way to learn everything there is to know about the world, we can do our best to fill in our knowledge gaps as we become aware of them.
For instance, if you suddenly realize that you thought that reindeer were mythical creatures, you could do some research about the animal. Read up on them online. Go to your local library for some more resources. Visit a wildlife sanctuary and see them with your own two eyes.
#10
When I was a kid I thought it was ultra violent light instead of ultraviolet light. As in, that sun can really f**k up your skin if you don’t wear sunscreen. Bahahaha! So violent.
Gustav Gallifrey 10 months ago
So, in a sense, it can actually be ultra-violent. Wear sunscreen, people.
#11
That the drummer for Nirvana really was Dave Grohl, and not just a guy that looks really similar.
#12
Water towers are for water pressure, not just a town putting its name on a tank and saying "Hey look how much dang water WE have."
Similarly, if you suddenly realize that you’ve been oblivious about saving and investing, there’s no time like the present to brush up on your knowledge and start your journey toward financial independence. Of course, you’re bound to have some regrets about not knowing something earlier. However, the best time to correct your mistakes is the present. And if you’re cringing about the person you were in the past, it only means that you’ve grown!
For some more ‘obvious’ knowledge gaps that folks only realized they had later in life, take a peek at Bored Panda’s earlier post.
#13
I feel so dumb for this but I just learned that ‘Rainbow Baby’ is a mother’s next baby after having a miscarriage. I just assumed it was a term of endearment for a queer baby. I know. I know. 🤦🏽♀️
#14
Not me, but my 21yo cousin just realized he is mildly allergic to peanut butter, and has been his whole life.
Up until now, he had assumed EVERYONE'S throat closed up a little while eating a pb&j sandwich, but they just fought through it.
cerinamroth 10 months ago
Oh my word, that's scary. I have a mild peanut allergy (never had anaphylaxis so I wouldn't call it severe) but just the sensation of itching, closing throat and nausea is enough to put me off even *smelling* them. If someone eats peanuts anywhere near me, I have to leave. Highly inconvenient on planes (!) and really pisses me off in the cinema!
#15
That the best time to start saving for my future really was all those years ago.
#16
Learned I was allergic to latex from talking to my friend. She told me that since I’m allergic to some citrus I may be allergic to latex and asked me if condoms bothered me. I responded and said yes but they bother everyone who uses them.
That’s how I learned that burning and itching and a road rash are not normal after coitus with a condom. 🙃 (I’m 26).
#17
I recently realized that “Howdy” is short for “How do you do?”
I actually just googled it, and it’s technically short for “How do ye?” However, my realization still makes sense.
Anyone-for-tea? 10 months ago
In the UK we say “alright?” Which is short for “good day to you, upstanding fellow citizen, how do you fare on this fine day?”
#18
I was 39 when I realised the pointy bit on a the lid of a tube of something, for example tomato puree.. Was for braking the foil seal. For years I used a fork to break the seal until I watched someone remove the lid , turn it around and place it over the seal. Mind blown.
#19
I just found out yesterday that I have aphantasia, meaning I can't visualize images in my mind. When I think about an object I just know that I'm thinking about it, but I don't see anything when I close my eyes.
Gustav Gallifrey 10 months ago
Don't fret. Sometimes, i see WAY too much when i close my eyes.
#20
My car key remote isn’t broken, the battery died after nearly 10 years.
#21
This past weekend, that the girl that invited me to an after party at her place and then asked for me to crash in her bed was not simply just being nice, I am f*****g stupid.
Gustav Gallifrey 10 months ago
(*sigh*) been there, done that, got the regrets to prove it. (And, i wouldn't put it past me to be that dumb again.)
#22
I can't eat any type of nut. It messes with my stomach lining. I genuinely thought nuts just made everyone sick after eating them. Like salsa. Edit: I've discovered something about salsa today.
#23
That sign you see near schools with the two people crossing holding books? I was stuck in traffic a few weeks ago and suddenly realized it wasn't two women with purses.
#24
That cows have to get pregnant before they can make milk.
cerinamroth 10 months ago
The fact so many people are so out of touch with nature and food is what makes me think we are all going to hell in a handcart. We are part of the ecosystem. We are mammals. When do we make milk? For feeding our babies! So it's the same with all mammals. If we poison the ecosystem, we poison ourselves.
#25
I'm Norwegian, and was at least thirty before I realized that the tomatoes crossing the road schoolyard joke (two tomatoes cross the road, one gets run over, the other says "Come on, catch up") has, in what I assume is the original English, a punchline. Well, for a schoolyard joke, anyway.
Norwegian kids tell the same joke, but there's no catch up/ketchup pun in Norwegian, so they just tell a joke where the squashed tomato is now ketchup. At some point a kid who knew enough English to have heard the joke but not enough for the pun told it to younger kids, who assumed it was funny because an older kid was telling it, and it has been repeated between children for generations.
#26
A pickle is a cucumber that's been pickled.
#27
The word "bed" actually looks like a bed.
MrPractical 10 months ago
Handy for remembering which way b and d face. Whose idea was it to have two letters that are identical mirror images of each other? And why does small d face the opposite way as capital D?
#28
I grew up in Poland. When a person was arrested on a crime that was publicized, the media will only list their first name and the first initial of last name, to protect their identity before conviction, e.g. Peter G. My friend thought that all criminals had one letter last names and he was surprised the police wouldn’t just go all Minority Report on them and arrest all people with one letter last names.
#29
Heard this on a podcast yesterday, Fes from that 70s show, FES= foreign exchange student.
#30
It’s called a “funny bone” bc it’s a humerus.
Pedantic Panda 10 months ago
Name is related but it's actually a nerve you're hitting, not bone.
#31
That the phrase mint condition means like new because it's the condition coins leave the mint in.
#32
I am not responsible for other people's lives. Feels a little better accepting that I don't have to stress too much over supporting my family. I shouldn't feel too overwhelmed to the point of having suicidal ideations just from the stress alone. Edit : No, I don't have kids. I'm single, been supporting my family (parents, siblings) for 10 years.
hauntpetals 10 months ago (edited)
I hope I can learn how to not feel responsible for other people's lives, it's cost me so much emotionally and really damaged my mental state. for the past two years I've had so many thoughts of ending things because someone I tried to support all the time (family member) started berating me constantly but out of fear of them doing something I stuck by them. it hurts more than people think
#33
I only realized recently, at 40 years old, that a "fortnight" is called that because it's like "fourteen nights"...
I think because I always remembered it as two weeks, and not 14 days.
seana lammers 10 months ago
Thank you for the explanation… I never knew that until now - age 53
#34
That sometimes things are just the way they are, you can't change the situation you're in, only your actions and your emotions and how you react to them.
I guess I realized that certain situations sometimes feel unfair or are not favourable to your needs and you have to find happiness in the best way you can and live your life. Sometimes you gotta make sacrificies because that's the only option.
#35
I know "felix" is the Latin word for "happy," but only recently did I discover the name Felix is also known to mean "lucky."
Now I'm getting the irony of naming a *black cat* "Felix the Cat."
(For those who don't know, Felix is an old cartoon, and there's a superstition that a black cat crossing your path is very *un*lucky.)
Charl Marx 10 months ago
Black cats are actually considered good luck in the UK and many other cultures too.
#36
Colonoscopies aren’t just for looking for cancer and other issues. It’s preventative for cancer because they remove the polyps where it starts. I’m pretty up on medical stuff, didn’t know that.
Gvendolina Kacirova 10 months ago
*might* start. It might not. Anyway, always better to remove those.
#37
I'm 50 ish. For the last couple years I kept feeling that I'm getting close to retirement and I'm only going to have a few years to do what I want... Then I realized I could only be halfway there! What if I live till I'm 90? That's 40 more years! I have time to do absolutely anything I want to! It was just this crazy sort of epiphany that went you're looking at this all wrong! Life isn't over at 60 or 65, you still have a lot of time!
cerinamroth 10 months ago
Except I'm not sure I will ever be able to retire, and I think the same will go for many my age. At the same time, AI will take over lots of jobs and, where the industrial revolution replaced hard manual work with machines, this revolution will put people out of work who enjoy using their brains, leaving us all poorer and stupider.
#38
I didn't know there are two little bumps on the F and J keys so your hands know where to center while typing. I only learned this when my kids wanted to try typing and it's the first lesson!
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 10 months ago
And years of gaming make me ignore proper placement when I'm typing so my left hand can cover WASD.
#39
My wife and I are both in our 50's. She told me recently that she just realized the song Black Velvet, by Allanah Myles, is about Elvis.
#40
I used to think that clapper thing in movies was to get the actors' attention. Not for editing.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 10 months ago
They're for sound synchronization. The loud clap with the visual effect makes editing easier back in the day when sound and video were captured through separate machines and had to be recombined later.
#41
The "Mad" in "Mad Men" meant "Madison Avenue."
cerinamroth 10 months ago
I think that is explained in the first 5 minutes of the first episode.
#42
Last year I realized that when you sign your "initials" they are called that because they are the first letters, i.e. the initial letters, of your name.
#43
That Loch - as in Loch Ness - is the Gaelic word for lake.
#44
I should have been twisting the bottom of my deodorant to push the plastic cover out instead of using my teeth.
Miliukov Oleksandr 10 months ago
Just so you know, you can also open canned food, not chew through
#45
When I was 15 I realized rice isn’t pasta chopped in small pieces.
What do you think ?
Bec 10 months ago
There is a difference between a lack of knowledge and a lack of intelligence, were you born knowing everything?
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Violet Smith 10 months ago
I grew up in a city where there were beautiful and obvious mountains to the north, and my parents always taught me that if you want to know where north is, look for the mountains. I was in my 30s when it dawned on me that this wouldn't necessarily work in other places. Derp.
wowbagger 10 months ago
I grew up on the U.S. west coast, and I felt disoriented when I first moved to the east coast. I kept looking at the ocean and thinking, "there's the ocean -- that's west," and then I'd be all turned around.
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similarly 10 months ago
Here's one not a lot of people know: Goodbye was actually a shortening of "God Be With You". GodB(with)Ye.
mysterious(all pronouns) 10 months ago
Due to the number of people not realizing this: If something is itchy/uncomfortable/spicy/makes your throat or mouth feel weird, and this is unique to you/close relatives, you're probably allergic to it.
Tee Pussi 10 months ago
I can't fathom the idea of continuing eating something that makes your throat swell up every time. Even if it DID happen to everyone, you'd think it's so uncomfortable that people stopped eating it.
Load More Replies...
OpheliaPoe 10 months ago
I have chickens and a turkey. I was talking about how everyone wants chicken eggs from me (they're pets and I don't eat eggs) but people are weirded out by turkey eggs. My sister exlaimed, "Turkeys lay eggs?!" 😆 She was already over 30 when she learned, by way of this conversation, that turkeys lay eggs.
Giraffy Window 10 months ago (edited)
My dad always had us tap snow and dirt off our feet out the car door before getting all the way in. I internalized that as being nice/respectful to the car, and not as a way to avoid having to clean out excess dirt. This very morning as I was swinging my feet into my own car, the dots finally connected. I've been driving/owned a car for nearly 16 years now, and have done lots of spring car cleaning.
Corinne Wheeler 10 months ago
When I heard on the news about a crime, and that someone was "helping the police with their enquiries "I thought that person had walked into the station and was now making the tea and doing a bit of filing etc. Must have been in my 40s before I got that.
Bec 10 months ago
There is a difference between a lack of knowledge and a lack of intelligence, were you born knowing everything?
Load More Replies... Violet Smith 10 months ago
I grew up in a city where there were beautiful and obvious mountains to the north, and my parents always taught me that if you want to know where north is, look for the mountains. I was in my 30s when it dawned on me that this wouldn't necessarily work in other places. Derp.
wowbagger 10 months ago
I grew up on the U.S. west coast, and I felt disoriented when I first moved to the east coast. I kept looking at the ocean and thinking, "there's the ocean -- that's west," and then I'd be all turned around.
Load More Replies... similarly 10 months ago
Here's one not a lot of people know: Goodbye was actually a shortening of "God Be With You". GodB(with)Ye.
mysterious(all pronouns) 10 months ago
Due to the number of people not realizing this: If something is itchy/uncomfortable/spicy/makes your throat or mouth feel weird, and this is unique to you/close relatives, you're probably allergic to it.
Tee Pussi 10 months ago
I can't fathom the idea of continuing eating something that makes your throat swell up every time. Even if it DID happen to everyone, you'd think it's so uncomfortable that people stopped eating it.
Load More Replies... OpheliaPoe 10 months ago
I have chickens and a turkey. I was talking about how everyone wants chicken eggs from me (they're pets and I don't eat eggs) but people are weirded out by turkey eggs. My sister exlaimed, "Turkeys lay eggs?!" 😆 She was already over 30 when she learned, by way of this conversation, that turkeys lay eggs.
Giraffy Window 10 months ago (edited)
My dad always had us tap snow and dirt off our feet out the car door before getting all the way in. I internalized that as being nice/respectful to the car, and not as a way to avoid having to clean out excess dirt. This very morning as I was swinging my feet into my own car, the dots finally connected. I've been driving/owned a car for nearly 16 years now, and have done lots of spring car cleaning.
Corinne Wheeler 10 months ago
When I heard on the news about a crime, and that someone was "helping the police with their enquiries "I thought that person had walked into the station and was now making the tea and doing a bit of filing etc. Must have been in my 40s before I got that.
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