ADVERTISEMENT

Listen up, we’re going to let you in on a little secret: everybody has gaps in their knowledge! No matter how smart or experienced we are, there’s at least one thing that slips through the cracks. You know, that awakening moment or fact that is so painfully obvious, it catches us by surprise and makes us wonder how we managed to breezily move through life without acquiring such basic information.

But the good news is that it’s never too late to learn. Luckily for us, anonymous Redditors are setting out to teach us about these little things and life-changing bits of wisdom to save us from any future embarrassment. In several 'Ask Reddit' threads, thousands of people stepped forward to reveal the common things they realized at a hilariously late age, and they didn’t hold anything back.

We at Bored Panda have gone through the community to gather some of the best responses about obvious things that apparently were not evident enough. Enjoy reading through these illuminating stories and hit upvote on your favorite ones. Keep in mind that this is a shame-free and safe space, so if you have had any blind spots you recently discovered, be sure to let us know about them in the comments. We’d love to hear them!

Psst! If you’re in the mood for even more common things that people somehow missed, check out our previous pieces about them here, here, and here.

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) I had two uncles when I was growing up who did everything together, both had YMCA-style moustaches, never had any girlfriends, and lived together with three cats.

Didn't realise they weren't just close friends until I was sixteen. "Oblivious" doesn't even come close.

[deleted] , Ricardas Brogys Report

Final score:
312points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
You May Also Like:
#2

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) i couldn't swallow pills until a month ago and when i finally did it my mom applauded me with tears in her eyes and wrote it down in my baby book. i'm 23.

[deleted] , Christina Victoria Craft Report

Final score:
301points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#3

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) My dad once told me that the word "gullible" isn't in the dictionary. 18 years later, I got the joke.

demolitiondubz , Houcine Ncib Report

Final score:
296points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#4

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) So a little back story first. I was a really annoying and persistent child. My mother used to tell me that I couldn't accompany my parents out to dinner because "children aren't allowed in restaurants."

Fast forward 20 years and my girlfriend and I are out to eat. When a child runs by being a little shitball I say, "Remember when children weren't allowed in restaurants?"

No...nobody does.

pooveyfarms , Rod Long Report

Final score:
293points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#5

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) I thought orgasm was a nice word for fart when I was 10. Told my mom I had so many orgasms that my stomach hurt.

[deleted] , Keren Fedida Report

Final score:
281points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#6

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) I went to Catholic schools growing up. Other kids went to public schools. I thought there were two religions: Catholic and Public.

[deleted] , Constanza S. Mora Report

Final score:
265points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#7

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) As a kid my uncle would play this joke where he would put his hand on your head and make like a jellyfish squeezing your head a little, and say “this is a brainsucker, know what it’s doing? Starving!”

I would always laugh but did not get it until I was like 25

patinaYouUgly , Henry Söderlund Report

Final score:
264points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#8

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) I don't know why but whenever someone mentioned that a piece of furniture (or often the dashboard of a nice car) was walnut, I kind of thought they meant the nut and shells all crushed up and smoothened and I wondered how they did it. Then, in my thirties, I realised they probably make it from the tree. Felt like a right walnut that day.

livid54 , YUSUF ARSLAN Report

Final score:
262points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
#9

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) that I couldn't drink my problems away and that drinking was the problem.

4 years sober

Feels2old , thom masat Report

Final score:
256points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#10

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) That setting boundaries is a necessary part of life and whoever calls you "rude" because of it has a problem.

tropicalzhu , John Bussell Report

Final score:
243points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#11

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) I always thought that if a guy didn't hold his penis while he was peeing, that it would whip around like a fire hose.

[deleted] , Tim Wildsmith Report

Final score:
234points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#12

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) That the opposite sex does not owe me anything for my kindness.

The_e-Detective , Sung Jin Cho Report

Final score:
230points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#13

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) There is a difference between "dish soap" and "dishwasher soap.".

I was a rookie in the fire house and put the dishes into the dish washer after morning oats and lunch. I proceeded to the load the dish detergent tray with the same soap that I was using to scrub the dishes in the sink...poor choice.

We wind up running a few calls in the afternoon on the engine. When we finally get back to the station and I'm restocking/wiping the rig down, my captain walks out and asked if I started the dishwasher. I said yes. Then we proceeded to go into the kitchen where there was literally a three feet deep sea of bubbles in the kitchen. The engineer and firefighter on duty thought it was hilarious, as did my captain, but being the rookie, I was embarrassed as hell. I opened a door to the outside and used our ventilation fan to blow as much of the suds as I could out the door. After restarting the dishwasher, more of these bubbles started coming out of the dishwasher. I had to rinse that dishwasher out so many times to get rid of all of the residue from the dish soap. The crazy part is, I didn't put that much soap into the machine.

And that, kids, is how I earned the nickname, "Bubbles."

TLDR: Don't put dish soap into a dishwasher...dishwasher soap only.

Edit: I was 21 when this happened.

fireslayer17 , Mohammad Esmaili Report

Final score:
225points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#14

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) As a young child, I would tell my father, "Dad, I'm hungry." He would stop whatever he was doing, extend his hand, and say, "I'm Bill." It infuriated me. For years this went on.

One day, I say, "I'm tired." He responds his usual response and I begin to say, "Daaaaa.....Oh! Oh my god! I GET IT!"

There are very few times I've seen my dad laugh that hard. I was 18.

dianasaurusmex , Marcela Rogante Report

Final score:
218points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#15

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) Until i was 19 and away at college i did not know that milk curdles or bread molded. I grew up in a family of 8 and we went through that stuff so fast.

Trugem6 , Helena Jacoba Report

Final score:
212points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#16

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) Tasmanian devils are not made up by Looney Tunes

[deleted] , Lottie Corin Report

Final score:
212points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#17

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) Fruit Loops are all the same flavor. I was 27, and I still remember the shock of finding out Toucan Sam had been lying to me my whole life.

sfw8580 , Etienne Girardet Report

Final score:
205points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
#18

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) Octopuses have BEAKS

Edit: OK NERDS "OCTOPI" ISN'T THE ONLY TECHNICALLY CORRECT TERM AND I'M NOT CHANGING IT.

T33n_T1t4n5 , Serena Repice Lentini Report

Final score:
202points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#19

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) when i was about 9 my mother told me that a slut is a woman who likes to have fun. i started describing myself as a slut and i did for about a year or 2

adhdgf , Timothy Meinberg Report

Final score:
201points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#20

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) That driving with the light on in the car was not illegal. I remember my mom saying that as a child.

knight_ofdoriath , Erik Odiin Report

Final score:
200points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#21

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) Oh this question was meant for me.

I was 16 years old when I learned “flooriting” was not a word.

I grew up watching a LOT of SpongeBob and it was my favorite show. In the show, SpongeBob always fails his driving test because he will always “floor it” instead of driving slowly. When I was little I thought that “floorit” was a single word that meant to go fast and always assumed that someone could be “flooriting” or going very fast.

Fast forward to driving school. I’m in the car with the instructor and another student. I’m driving slowly on the highway and someone aggressively passes me. I made some nervous comment like “man, he’s really flooriting!” And the car just gets really quiet for a second. Then the other student in the car goes, “flooriting? What?”

And that’s when I realized. It all crashed down on me at once. FLOOR IT. It was two different words. It meant putting the gas pedal on the floor. I was shook. I kinda gasped and couldn’t even respond because I was overwhelmed.

It’s been 8 years and I still have never had such a strong, sudden realization of anything. And secretly I still kinda use “flooriting” in my head sometimes.

greenoctopusink , JESHOOTS.com Report

Final score:
191points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#22

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) An old co worker was 21 or 22 when he discovered that Ponies aren't just juvenile horses, but like another thing entirely. He spent an entire day walking up to anyone he could find going "Hey did you know" it was hilarious.

CGY-SS , Tim Green Report

Final score:
178points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#23

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) I was like 10 when I found out I'm Indian. From India. Little kid me always thought it meant I was Native American and I told people as much until around third grade when I found out that India is a country.

DimensionalNet , Prashanth Pinha Report

Final score:
170points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#24

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) It took me 10 years and $20,000 to figure out how credit cards were supposed to be used.

bangersnmash13 , Anna Shvets Report

Final score:
169points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#25

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) That narwhals were real. I genuinely thought they were myth until I saw them on a David Attenborough documentary.

Mind. blown.

ArtemisArt , NOAA Photolib Library Report

Final score:
167points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#26

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) I just recently learned that when you buy a stick deodorant, you can remove the little plastic protective cover by just rotating the feed wheel at the bottom. You DON'T need to use your teeth like a fucking animal.

Captain_Hampockets , Charisse Kenion Report

Final score:
167points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#27

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) Black people don't have an extra muscle in their leg that makes them better at sports. (I grew up in a very racist small Kansas town.) Was actually taught that by a fifth grade teacher. Found out in college when my ignorance made me look like a bigot.

Broncos_Fan , Philippa Rose-Tite Report

Final score:
166points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#28

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) At seven years old, I realized that the moon is not the back of the sun.

A few years later, it turns out that no matter how good you are to your cat, it doesn't grow up to be a dog.

Sparky62075 , Ganapathy Kumar Report

Final score:
162points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#29

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) I didn’t know how to write in print until my first year of college. Up to that point, I only learned cursive, and my teachers were so happy that someone willingly used cursive that they just went along with it.

Hugh_manateerian , RODNAE Productions Report

Final score:
156points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#30

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) I asked my senior year drama teacher if I could go to the nurse because I just queefed in the bathroom. Learned the hard way that's not same as throwing up.

datboyEVZ , Adhy Savala Report

Final score:
152points
Add photo comments
POST
avantikacholleti avatar
Pumpkin Spice
Pumpkin Spice
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A 'queef' is a vaginal fart...

Vote comment up
87
87points
Vote comment down
reply
savannahyoung avatar
S
S
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm picturing your teacher going home and telling their partner about the strangest thing that happened to them that day lmao

Vote comment up
27
27points
Vote comment down
reply
deborahharris avatar
Deborah Harris
Deborah Harris
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I died when my mother asked me in front of my 21 year old daughter 'what exactly is a queef?'

Vote comment up
8
8points
Vote comment down
reply
zackpodany avatar
Zack Podany
Zack Podany
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Read this while drinking pop was a BAD idea *cough*

Vote comment up
7
7points
Vote comment down
reply
marco-weller avatar
FreshGanesh
FreshGanesh
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I chuckle when I hear or see “pop” because I’ve never heard it used in person. I know it’s common in Ohio/Pennsylvania and maybe other northern states. I love the word over “soda” or “cola”

Vote comment up
3
3points
Vote comment down
reply
Load More Replies...
carosinclair avatar
Caroline Sinclair
Caroline Sinclair
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am 61, British female, have lived all over the world (including the USA) and just learned this today!

Vote comment up
3
3points
Vote comment down
reply
a-poppy avatar
Sleeping Solipsist
Sleeping Solipsist
Community Member
2 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Guys, just so you know: a queef doesn't release intestinal gas. It releases gases caught or generated in the vagina. As an area with natural yeasts, it can generate gases.. particularly before a period where it's a warmer metabolically active environment. So if she told you it was a queef and it smells, she needs a gynaecologist or STD check.. Edit: Or she's lying. 😄

Vote comment up
0
0points
Vote comment down
reply
erinweinmeister avatar
Erin Weinmeister
Erin Weinmeister
Community Member
2 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

And I don't see how this is true if you're 18 years old that you don't know queef is different from throwing up.

shuger avatar
Debora Shuger
Debora Shuger
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm five decades over 18 and never encountered the word until 2 minutes ago.

Vote comment up
6
6points
Vote comment down
reply
Load More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#31

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) Prima Donna is not Pre Madonna.

iremovebrains , chrisweger Report

Final score:
150points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#32

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) The meaning of birthday suit. I was 26 at the time.

the_meat_n_potatoes , Christian Bowen Report

Final score:
144points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#33

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) the end pieces of a loaf of bread keep the bread fresher, longer, so you should not eat them until the very end of the loaf.

This I learned at 52.

The_Patriot , Fredrik Rubensson Report

Final score:
142points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
ADVERTISEMENT
See Also on Bored Panda
#34

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) I was deep into my teens when I realized it’s “make ends meet” instead of “make end’s meat”. I always visualized it as procuring the last bit of food you could in tough times. Wrong!

um8medoit , Chris-McKee Report

Final score:
131points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu
#35

35 Of The Most Obvious Things People Have Only Just Realized And Shared In This Online Group (New Answers) That the delete key on the keyboard deletes to the right of the cursor. Backspace deletes to the left and I would always move the cursor to hit backspace instead of just hitting delete.

BetsyPeachBucket , Ujesh Krishnan Report

Final score:
129points
Add photo comments
POST
View more commentsArrow down menu

Note: this post originally had 106 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.

Anyone can write on Bored Panda. Start writing!

Follow Bored Panda on Google News!