It’s no big secret that knowledge is essential to humanity. I mean, just consider all the things we wouldn’t be aware of if people didn’t believe in lifelong learning!
Folks would still think that the Earth was flat and sat on the back of a giant turtle that was flying through space, half of us would’ve perished from hunger and deadly diseases, language wouldn’t have been a thing, and yadda yadda yadda. The point is, we’d have an empty planet.
Most will probably agree that the enthusiasm one has for learning new things fades away straight after schooling, which is somewhat understandable. You know, we get busy with work and whatnot. However, as the saying goes, “It’s never too late to learn,” so even if you’ve just discovered that ponies are not, in fact, little horses – just be glad that you did.
“What’s something you learned ‘embarrassingly late’ in life?” – this internet user turned to one of Reddit’s most enlightening and thought-provoking communities, inviting its members to unveil a couple of things that they happened to learn way too late in life. The now-viral thread managed to garner nearly 36K upvotes as well as 31.8K comments containing some pretty surprising answers.
More info: Reddit
#1
This is something my little sister did through high school. We’re about 8 years apart so we never overlapped in school.
She’s always been a straight-A student, and I found out she worked extra hard because she “wanted to catch up to me” in school. So we could be in school at the same time.
I almost cried.
rebel_croissant , Pixabay Report
Final score: 369points 
Bi Frog Bi Frog Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
Now THAT is adorable and wholesome! 🙂
133 133points reply #2
While watching Game of Thrones, I asked my husband when dragons went extinct. He had to pause the show for that one.
ashforgold , John Lester Report
Final score: 295points 
Donkey boi Donkey boi Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
They haven’t gone extinct. I saw them a few years ago on Komodo Island!
107 107points reply View More Replies… #3
That Bonsai are not a species of tree, but a way to grow them. Any tree can be a bonsai.
Final score: 256points Bi Frog Bi Frog Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
WAIT WHAT I thought Bonsai was a species of tree! You can do that with any tree? Why do they all look the same?
126 126points reply View More Replies… #4
I was like, 22? working at a restaurant making myself a salad, and I asked the chef for bumps and he stared at me for like, 60 solid seconds trying to figure out what I wanted. I explained to him I wanted bumps for my salad. I have all the rest of the toppings but now needed bumps.
Guys … my family told me croutons were called bumps my entire life. I called my dad that night and confirmed that bumps are indeed, actually called croutons.
YesAccident5991 , jeffreyw Report
Final score: 251points 
Unknown Unknown Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
Depending on the restaurant I’m surprised the cook didn’t just pull some coke out no questions asked
137 137points reply View More Replies… #5
I live near the Hospital for Joint Diseases….when I was a kid I thought it was a special hospital for people who had two different diseases at the same time.
Baffhy_Duck , Wendy Wei Report
Final score: 229points ᶜʰᵃᵒᵗⁱᶜ ˡᵉᵍᵃˡ ᶜʰᵃᵒᵗⁱᶜ ˡᵉᵍᵃˡ Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
AAHHHHAHAHAAAA*whhEEEEEEEZE*AAAHAHAAH
50 50points reply View More Replies… #6
I thought that horses had toes until I was 22. I thought the hoof was a “horseshoe” and the toes were tucked inside.
How did I learn how wrong I was, you ask?
I was walking past a cavalry museum and saw a horse statue and loudly remarked “it must hurt so bad when they fold a horse’s toes to put them into the shoe!” Dozens of horse enthusiasts turned and looked at me with wild bewilderment in their eyes.
BronNatsPulisic , Ken Bosma Report
Final score: 226points 
glowworm2 glowworm2 Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
Early prehistoric horses had toes. When they evolved, the toes slowly started to disappear.
74 74points reply View More Replies… #7
I learned that pork and beans are not called “cowboy beans”. I was 18 and asked a grocery store clerk to help me find the “cowboy beans”. We were looking everywhere and I was getting frustrated because I know that every store carries these beans. After a while I pick up a pork and beans can with a picture and say “see, it looks just like this!” He says “you mean pork and beans?” Then I realize that my mom called them that so that I would eat them. The look of disappointment from that grocery store clerk haunts me to this day.
whyunoletmepost , Artem Savchenko Report
Final score: 206points DorisSan DorisSan Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
Or Mom was a fan of “Blazing Saddles”.
73 73points reply View More Replies… #8
When I was ten years old, I considered orgasm to be a nice word for a fart. I told my mother that my stomach hurt from having so many orgasms.
Asruhk , Scott Wilcoxson Report
Final score: 201points Nathaniel Nathaniel Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago (edited) Report
I just had a silent orgasm in the middle of a busy office then.
125 125points reply View More Replies… #9
When you’re an adult…you shouldn’t buy shoes that are “a little loose, incase you get taller”.
willor777 , woodleywonderworks Report
Final score: 196points 
Boii Boii Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
You can always get heavier, something none of us was thinking about back when our parents got us new shoes.
36 36points reply View More Replies… #10
That you don’t have to stand *in* the shower while the water warms up.
MagicPieBush , Christa Grover Report
Final score: 184points ᶜʰᵃᵒᵗⁱᶜ ˡᵉᵍᵃˡ ᶜʰᵃᵒᵗⁱᶜ ˡᵉᵍᵃˡ Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
I’m feeling personally attacked by this list. I just stood at the other end so I didn’t get splashed
87 87points reply View More Replies… #11
I though Mick Jagger’s name was McJagger, and people just never said his first name for some reason.
AcuteHazard , Bert Verhoeff Report
Final score: 181points Nathaniel Nathaniel Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
He is from the famous Scottish clan of McJaggers. You should see the tartan they wear!
65 65points reply View More Replies… #12
Jackalopes are mythical creatures. I was… 18 I think? To be fair, I’ve seen a platypus, rhino, and a giraffe. Those are some bs animals.
AtlasAngel02 , Mark Freeman Report
Final score: 180points Donkey boi Donkey boi Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
How can you say they are mythical, then provide clear photographic evidence of their existence?
134 134points reply View More Replies… #13
That pineapples grow on the ground, and not in a tree
MR-LIBERIA , Dave Lonsdale Report
Final score: 175points LH25 LH25 Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
And the baby ones are really cute
57 57points reply View More Replies… #14
You don’t have to rip the plastic top off of your new deodorant with your teeth or pliers or anything. You can just turn the base until it comes up enough to just take it off.
SanibelMan , cottonbro studio Report
Final score: 166points ᶜʰᵃᵒᵗⁱᶜ ˡᵉᵍᵃˡ ᶜʰᵃᵒᵗⁱᶜ ˡᵉᵍᵃˡ Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago (edited) Report
I will become a statute for the next several seconds while I contemplate my stupidness
123 123points reply View More Replies… #15
Houston is not the name of the guy astronauts talk to
vienna_versailles , Lauren Report
Final score: 159points Nathaniel Nathaniel Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
Houston Texas who works at NASA is now feeling upset.
106 106points reply View More Replies… #16
I suspected it was the same with lots of people but I found out it wasn’t gorilla warfare but guerrilla warfare maybe in my twenties.
The disappoints of growing up… they just keep coming.
Final score: 154points ᶜʰᵃᵒᵗⁱᶜ ˡᵉᵍᵃˡ ᶜʰᵃᵒᵗⁱᶜ ˡᵉᵍᵃˡ Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
King Kong has left the chat
94 94points reply View More Replies… #17
I was probably 21 or 22 when I learned that whole milk is only 3% fat. I always thought it was 100, and when I saw reduced as being 2% I thought “why wouldn’t they do 50% or somewhere in the middle?”
Final score: 153points 
Fantastic Mr Fox Fantastic Mr Fox Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
Don’t know if I’m being the Boring Panda here or not, but I wanted to know: “The reason it’s called “whole milk” has less to do with its fat content, than the fact that it’s comparatively unadulterated. As the Dairy Council of California puts it, whole milk is “the way it comes from the cow before processing.” — Washington Post
81 81points reply View More Replies… #18
Learned this yesterday, actually… apparently you need to RSVP to events even if you will not be attending.
corteser , Kelly Sue DeConnick Report
Final score: 152points 
Head_on_a_Stick Head_on_a_Stick Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
Répondez S’il Vous Plaît — “please reply” in French.
97 97points reply View More Replies… #19
My sister was in her 50’s when she found out the meaning of: “you have an addictive personality”. She thought after all these years of therapy that it meant that people were addicted to her personality. We laugh hysterically when we talk about this (in a very sad way).
Final score: 151points Boii Boii Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
That would be very sweet if it wasn’t so dark. Hope she is doing well <3
51 51points reply #20
Just this week I found out about the little button on the back of the socket driver that pushes the socket off. I have owned the same socket set for about 30 years, and I have a dedicated screwdriver that I keep with my sockets and use to pry them off when I’m done using them.
I will be 55 years old soon.
ScaryNation , Bill Abbott Report
Final score: 148points 
zak zak Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago (edited) Report
Hopefully you at least knew about the button/switch that changes the direction the socket spins, or did you have one socket wrench for tightening things and another one for loosening things? 😆
71 71points reply View More Replies… #21
I was 19 when I learned that women have to give birth (or at least be pregnant) to have breast milk. I’d always thought that it’s available at all times.
I was a very sheltered kid. Don’t judge me.
Final score: 148points Boii Boii Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
That’s not too embarrassing, I see why one would think that. Especially without proper Sex Ed.
51 51points reply View More Replies… #22
Until I was in school for environmental studies, I thought “mourning dove” was “morning dove.” I usually heard them calling in the mornings, so “morning” made sense to me.
boldolive , Carolyn Savell Report
Final score: 144points 
Lil Miss Hobbit Lil Miss Hobbit Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
I was today days old when I discovered this.🤣
129 129points reply View More Replies… #23
Coca and cocoa are two different plants, not one magical organism lol
ConsiderationWest587 , Tom Coady Report
Final score: 141points Paulo Freitas Paulo Freitas Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
Yea mate, cocoa makes you feel warm ínside and happy, Coca makes you f*****g fly and search for ninjas in the backyard….
147 147points reply View More Replies… #24
That Cheesecake Factory is a restaurant and not an assembly line of workers making cheesecake. I always envisioned you would go in there and watch them and eat a slice, sort of like a brewery.
Edit: I’d like to add that I’ve lived in close proximity to multiple locations my entire life, and my sister used to go all the time with her friends. I thought they all just really liked the cheesecake, and the factory vibe of it all. It’s not until my now fiancé asked me to meet her and her friend there for drinks that I figured it all out, at about age 22-23 lol
Final score: 140points 
SuperChicken SuperChicken Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
Their cheesecakes are so rich, but so worth it.
28 28points reply View More Replies… #25
Birds have sex. I thought that the mother bird laid the egg and the father fertilised it later. I was 18 and asked my mother what the birds were doing…
Final score: 138points Boii Boii Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
I can only imagine your mum’s amusement
57 57points reply View More Replies… #26
I was taught it’s fine to flush tampons down the toilet, and would even flush pads, and sponges when I’d clean the bathroom. I didn’t learn that it was a *huge* no no until sometime in my mid to late 20’s. I’m surprised the pipes at the house I grew up in weren’t constantly exploding.
Final score: 134points 
and_a_touch_of_the_’tism and_a_touch_of_the_’tism Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
I think a piece of my soul just died. Don’t flush *anything* other than TP and the product. Even ‘flushable’ wipes wreak havoc on your plumbing… as we discovered upon returning from sabbatical. The house sitter had flushed baby wipes down the toilet… cost about $300 to fix.
104 104points reply View More Replies… #27
the saying is: “Nip it in the bud” and not in fact *nip it in the butt*
too_sharp , Susanne Nilsson Report
Final score: 128points Nathaniel Nathaniel Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
I nipped it in the butt once. And then she slapped me.
108 108points reply View More Replies… #28
Narwhals are real animals
I thought they were mythical like unicorns.
Final score: 126points TheNightOwl TheNightOwl Community Member • points posts comments upvotes 8 months ago Report
Unicorns are real! I should know! I almost died getting this picture! Dz7kyKvXgAAF31A.jpg 
53 53points reply View More Replies… #29
That in Billy Joel’s hit song „We didn’t start the fire” the line of „homeless vets” meant homeless veterans and not homeless veterinarians. I was about twenty five before i put those pieces together, and always thought there was a big homeless veterinarian problem I had never heard about
Final score: 124points Boii Boii Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
That’s fine, the homeless veterinarians appreciated your concerns very much!
71 71points reply #30
Not me but my mom: waiting for the shower to be warm BEFORE stepping in.
She grew up with a bathtub most of her life, and didn’t get a shower until she moved out of my grandparents’ place in her 20s.
She was apparently talking to a coworker about the winter weather one morning. While lamenting, she goes, “And don’t you just HATE getting into a cold shower on these cold days?! It takes SO LONG for the water to get warm!”
Coworker: “Uh… Cheryl…. You know you can just WAIT until the water gets warm, THEN hop in….”
PoopsieDoodles , Karolina Grabowska Report
Final score: 120points 
ThatG ThatG Community Member • points posts comments upvotes 8 months ago Report
Surprised Pika-Cheryl-chu face…
51 51points reply View More Replies… #31
I thought that ‘prima donna’ was ‘pre-Madonna’ and that it meant everything before the singer Madonna and just assumed she was some kind of universal queen.
vienna_versailles , Madonna Report
Final score: 110points 
MotherofGuineaPigs MotherofGuineaPigs Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
She kind of does think she’s a Queen…
72 72points reply View More Replies… #32
I was maybe 17 or 18 before learning that it was Timbuktu, not Timbuk 2. I thought there was an original Timbuk out there somewhere
BoiIedFrogs , Emilio Labrador Report
Final score: 109points 
Sam Juan Sam Juan Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
To be fair, there’s a company called Timbuk2 that manufactures and sells really great messenger bags and knapsacks.
23 23points reply View More Replies… #33
The “D” in the Disney logo was a stylized capital letter and not a backwards G.
Final score: 98points 
Something Something Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
It’s Gisnep.
61 61points reply View More Replies… #34
That I was in fact NOT missing a testicle. Thought there was supposed to be 3 until I was like 14 years old.
Final score: 98points Nathaniel Nathaniel Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
Not sure what you are talking about? It is normal to have 4.
88 88points reply View More Replies… #35
When people say quote unquote I thought they were saying quote on quote
Final score: 94points 
Juliette the Fox Juliette the Fox Community Member • points posts comments upvotes FollowUnfollow 8 months ago Report
Wait… i actually thought thought it was quote on quote until this post
38 38points reply View More Replies…
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