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!
#1
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.
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312points
#2
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.
301points
#3
My dad once told me that the word "gullible" isn't in the dictionary. 18 years later, I got the joke.
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296points
#4
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.
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293points
#5
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.
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281points
#6
I went to Catholic schools growing up. Other kids went to public schools. I thought there were two religions: Catholic and Public.
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265points
#7
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
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264points
#8
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.
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262points
#9
that I couldn't drink my problems away and that drinking was the problem.
4 years sober
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256points
#10
That setting boundaries is a necessary part of life and whoever calls you "rude" because of it has a problem.
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243points
#11
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.
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234points
#12
That the opposite sex does not owe me anything for my kindness.
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230points
#13
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.
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225points
#14
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.
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218points
#15
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.
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212points
#17
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.
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205points
#18
Octopuses have BEAKS
Edit: OK NERDS "OCTOPI" ISN'T THE ONLY TECHNICALLY CORRECT TERM AND I'M NOT CHANGING IT.
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202points
#19
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
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201points
#20
That driving with the light on in the car was not illegal. I remember my mom saying that as a child.
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200points