Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Explain Which Things Everybody Knows That They Just Now Learned

People Explain Which Things Everybody Knows That They Just Now Learned
File:Dying candle.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

You were "today years old" when you learned....what?

You learn something new every day, even if you don't think you do--but when you're aware that you learned something that you really should have known, boy, you are really aware.

At the same time, you're like...how did nobody ever tell me this? Was I supposed to divine this from thin air on my own?


u/Lawvamat asked:

What did you just recently learn that "everybody knows"?

Here were some of those answers.

Hoodwinked

I went to Venice with my school and a group of girls told me that they eat their tampons after they are done with them. It was for some stupid reason like to regain their iron or something. I believed it and even the teachers played alone. I went back home to the UK and for about 6 months after the trip I still believed this lie. It wasn't until I asked my mum whether she ate her tampon.

She was HORRIFIED. Then she burst out laughing. I can't believe my whole class tricked me for so long.

BruverJack

 A Nest Is Not At Home

Birds don't live in their nests.

My wife is never going to let me forget that this was a mind-blowing revelation for me.

Basstracer

Earth To Stars

The North Star isn't unique because of its brightness, it's unique because it doesn't move, always stays north, while the others rotate around it.

mjt9119

For extra trippage: the north star changes over time. The ancients had a different one from us. The point in the sky that north points to moves over time, making a complete circle every 26,000 years.

ETA: the relevant Wikipedia article.

pterrorgrine

To Extend Where No Pencil Extended Before

I don't think everybody knows but I just discovered pencil extenders are a thing. I was just complaining on social media that I had a bunch of unusable pencils worn down to 2 inches, and just as I pressed send, I thought "there's probably something for that." I'm 41 and I've drawn all my life, never knew they existed.

portsherry

Just Dandy

Dandelions (the yellow flowered weed) and Dandelions (the fluffy white weed) are the same plant.

I'm 29 and my dumb @$$ didn't connect that they have the same name.

ali_whi

Not A Bent Arrow

Oh man, for the longest time I thought the phrase "straight and narrow" was "straightened arrow" e.g. a person goes through a rough patch but now is on the 'straightened arrow' because you know, a straightened arrow flies straight and true while a warped one is all wild an erratic. Oof.

Don't get me started on my misunderstanding for an alternative word for crossing.

Bashful_Tuba

Bones In Your Face

That babies are born with a full set of baby and adult teeth already in their heads. Their teeth don't form when it's time for them to get them, they just push down out of their gums because they were always there.

RayDeaver

It Was Really A Farm

When I was a kid, we had a huge dog that attacked a girl (because she was throwing rocks at him), so we had to get rid of him. My parents told me that they took him to a farm, where he would be happy and free, thinking he was dead.

Six months later, a farmer showed up at our house asking to give the dog back because he ate the cab of the farmer's truck.

AdeptLength

Be S-Pacific

Not me but a friend of mine graduated high school and that same summer we discovered he didn't know which ocean was the Atlantic or Pacific

MangoBrando

How Is Candle Work?

I learned this a few months ago and shared it on Reddit, which was apparently the first time many people learned this.

The wax in a candle actually fuels the flame. The heat from the flame melts the wax around it. The wick then draws the liquid wax up towards the flame. As the wax gets closer to the guy and therefore is warmed up even more, it goes from liquid to gas, and then the vapors burn to sustain the flame. Everyone seemed to think that the wax was just there to keep the wick vertical, but no, the wax actually feeds the flame.

MasteringTheFlames

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Matt Gaetz; alien making heart symbol
Brandon Bell/Getty Images; MediaProduction/Getty Images

Matt Gaetz Dragged After Claiming U.S. Government Has Secret Alien-Human 'Breeding Programs'

MAGA Republican President Donald Trump's first choice for Attorney General is back in the news, but not because his replacement, Pam Bondi, just got fired.

Former Florida MAGA Republican Representative Matt Gaetz made a wild claim while speaking with far-right podcaster Benny Johnson. Gaetz said he was briefed about a top secret breeding program between extraterrestrials and humans being conducted by the United States government.

Keep Reading Show less
Karoline Leavitt; Donald Trump
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Alex Brandon/Pool/Getty Images

Karoline Leavitt Is Getting Dragged Hard After Claiming That Trump Is The 'Most Well-Read Person In The Room'

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt had people rolling their eyes after she showered praise on President Donald Trump for being the "most well-read person in the room."

Leavitt was speaking at George Washington University as part of Turning Point USA's latest tour of college campuses when she made the claim while in conversation with Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk. Kirk, the widow of the late far-right activist Charlie Kirk, after Kirk asked her about lessons she'd learned while on the job.

Keep Reading Show less
Pam Bondi; Screenshot of Donald Trump "South Park" character
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images; Comedy Central

'South Park' Epically Trolls Pam Bondi With Hilariously Gross Send-Off After Her Firing

After President Donald Trump announced that Pam Bondi would be leaving her post as attorney general and "transitioning" to a role in the private sector, South Park shared a fitting send-off from a 2025 episode that featured Bondi.

Although South Park is currently between seasons, the show’s X account posted for the first time in more than two months shortly after Bondi lost her job.

Keep Reading Show less
Charlie Day smiles on the red carpet during a Paley Center event appearance.
Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty Images

'Super Mario Bros' Star Charlie Day Just Made A Seriously Dark Joke About Luigi—And Fans Are Stunned

On paper, it’s a softball setup: You voice Luigi. You’re asked about Luigi. You say Luigi.

But Charlie Day… did not do that.

Keep Reading Show less
A young attendee wearing a NASA cap with a mounted GoPro is interviewed by CNN at Kennedy Space Center ahead of the Artemis II launch.
Courtesy of CNN

CNN Asked A Kid Why He Was At The Artemis II Launch—And His Hilarious Response Is Everything

As crowds gathered for the Artemis II launch on Wednesday, one young attendee managed to steal the spotlight from the rocket itself with a response no one saw coming. The boy was at Kennedy Space Center in Florida with a GoPro strapped to his black NASA cap, having traveled to witness the first human-crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years.

As he waited, a CNN reporter approached him with a question whose answer usually involves some variation of “inspiration,” “history,” or “science.”

Keep Reading Show less