We all might have more in common than we think, especially when it comes to getting embarrassed over something we thought we knew (but really didn’t). Reddit user LightningCole asked the members of the online community to share some of the things that they learned embarrassingly late. With over 18.6k comments in the thread, we can say for sure that it’s one of those universal secrets that nearly everyone can relate to. What’s obvious to you might not be obvious to us!

Remember to upvote your fave answers as you chuckle your way down this list. After you’re done, let us know in the comments what things you learned embarrassingly late in life, dear Pandas! Did you think that chocolate milk comes from brown cows until you were 30? Maybe you thought that the European Council and the Council of the European Union were one and the same at some point in your life? We can’t wait to read what you have to share.

Bored Panda spoke about embarrassing knowledge blind spots and why they’re, well, embarrassing with Vanessa Bohns, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Cornell University. Bohns also explained what the healthiest way to react to embarrassment is. Scroll down and have a read.

Read More: 30 Casual Things That People Learned Embarrassingly Late

#1

That not every woman who’s nice to me is interested in me, they’re just being friendly. Wished someone made that clearer when I was younger, would’ve saved me a lot of embarrassment and stupid moments in high school and early college.

Image credits: Err0rbot

#2

When I was 20, I was presented with a really wonderful promotion. It required me to fly to a nearby state for a week of training. I was super ecstatic about the whole thing… until I remembered a friend of mine complaining about her struggles with getting a passport. So, I promptly declined the promotion. My superiors were really stumped as to why I turned down the promotion.

Me: Unfortunately, I don’t have a passport.

Manager: Boringberry… you’ve never flown before, have you?

Me: No. I have not.

Manager: You don’t need a passport to fly within the country.

And then it hit me- my friend was going to Mexico. I was just going to a neighboring state. Once the realization hit, my superiors all erupted in laughter.

The story itself followed me when I went to training. My trainer personally greeted me and asked me if I had any difficulties getting a passport before laughing.

Image credits: boringberry

#3

When I was little my Dad told me the big cooling towers that are often found beside electricity generating plants were in fact cloud machines and the prime minister of the day had a switch on his desk to turn the big machine on when it got too hot.

This made complete sense to me as they did produce big clouds of white cumulus-like exhaust when operating.

Fast forward to when I was around 11 years ago and the teacher asks if anyone knows why some days are dry and some days it rains, some days have blue sky and some days have clouds.

Of course at the mention of clouds I knew immediately where clouds come from and stuck my hand up to tell everyone about the prime minister and the cloud machines.

Luckily the teacher picked someone else for the answer and I was most confused to hear someone go on about evaporation and rainfall and so on.

Image credits: Martin_Birch

#4

That Hawaii was a country before the U.S. annexed it. Unsurprisingly they do not teach us that in high school history class…

Image credits: seegruyere

#5

That the world owes you nothing.

You can be a good person and that’s fine but it won’t lead to you being blessed with nice things; people can use you if you’re too nice to them

I grew up thinking that my life was special and that I was destined for greatness but I’m now just another fish in the sea

Image credits: Norfolkwegian_8991

#6

I have a cousin who quotes Yogi Berra on a fairly regular basis, and it wasn’t until last Thanksgiving that I realized he’s a real person, and that my cousin hasn’t been admiring the words of Yogi Bear all this time.

Image credits: hellothereitsanna

#7

Rottweilers are not just fat Dobermans.

Image credits: JamesandtheGiantAss

#8

That truffles are a mushroom as well as a chocolate. When people talked about sending pigs in the forest to hunt for truffles I thought they’d buried chocolates in there to teach pigs how to dig food up

I was 21

Image credits: hitmewithurbethshot

#9

Riding a bicycle. I learnt it at 18, my parents believed in an astrologer who told them that I would have a terrible accident when I drive or ride. So I had to learn bicycle secretly from a friend.

Image credits: hoodibaba007

#10

It’s hard to explain this one and I can’t google it to find pictures. Everyone has bought a tube of “cream” at some point (antiseptic / steroid / eczema) for example. On some of these “creams”, have you noticed that the lid is circular but in the centre of the lid it has a sharp pointy end? Typically, these tubes of “cream” have a seal and I used to remove the lid and break the seal by finding anything sharp and pointy nearby (pen maybe). It took my 23 years to realise that the pointy end in the centre of the lid has a purpose…

Image credits: Bored-To-Reddit

#11

I only recently found out that ponies are not baby horses, but full-sized ponies.

Image credits: Booknerd13

#12

I thought the phrase ‘mix by hand’ meant to literally shove your hands in the batter and mix, not use a spoon or a mixer. I didn’t learn the truth until my mother found me wrist-deep in brownie batter.

Image credits: jvisc930

#13

That Washington D.C wasn’t in the state of Washington…

Image credits: 3311gojw

#14

You know when the doctor hits your knee to check your reflexes? I honestly thought you were supposed to kick your leg up high. Like you felt it and you kick. It wasn’t until I was 23 and moved to another country and had to do a physical that the doctor was like what are you doing?!

Image credits: rainiejain2

#15

Not me but my husband.

He didn’t know that meat is the animals muscles. He thought every animal had a bodypart named “meat”.

He had a bit of an emotional crisis when I told him. He is actually a very intelligent man, but this fact had eluded him as his mother had not wanted to upset him as a child.

Image credits: Ellatomica

#16

That Houston is not the name of the guy astronauts talk to.

Image credits: walden12

#17

Pickles are pickled cucumbers. Took me over 30 years to figure that one out.

Image credits: drewkawa

#18

When I was in 4th grade i was in love with Chris brown. He was 16. I told my mom when i was 16 we would start dating…. she proceeded to inform me that when I was 16 he would no longer be 16. That’s when I realized everyone was also getting older, not just me

Image credits: Bigdaddydria1

#19

Martha’s Vineyard isn’t just some land that rich people went to that was owned by Martha Stewart.

Image credits: ughdrunkatvogue

#20

That K9 stands for “canine”… Like K9 unit in police is dog unit.

Image credits: Okhy

#21

I thought buffalos were birds, and buffalo wings were from said birds.

Image credits: AussiePickle27

#22

That limes weren’t un-ripe lemons.

Image credits: JagerKitteh

#23

Glass objects should not be put on the stove. Guess how I learned that.

Image credits: yarrowsparrow

#24

Thought guerilla warfare was humans in a war against gorilla’s

Image credits: Tonymush

#25

I thought the ‘do not pass’ road sign literally meant ‘do not die here.’ I had to ask my grandpa what would happen if someone got into a car accident and died there.

Image credits: ashb4cb0c8483

#26

Ambulances don’t patrol around like police cars.

Image credits: 21st_centuryfox

#27

That I do better on my own. Took three divorces before I got a clue.

Image credits: madtrippinfool

#28

Pilot and co-pilot actually has the same hierarchy. I thought that co-pilot is some kind of assistant to the pilot

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Image credits: onikoko