Tigers are not female lions. Pickles are just cucumbers in vinegar, living their best fermented life. Reindeers aren’t mythical creatures, or Santa’s pets – they do actually exist.

These are things we generally should know by the time we reach adulthood. But some people missed the memo and ended up having hilarious lightbulb moments way too late in life. It doesn’t make them dumb. The internet has proven that even some of the smartest souls have at least one glaring gap in their knowledge. And many don’t discover it until someone looks at them like they still believe in Santa.

Someone asked, “What fact did you learn at an embarrassingly late age?” and thousands of answers came flooding in faster than Santa could come down the chimney. Some were hilarious cases of “lost in translation,” like a person thinking the Sistine Chapel was the “16th Chapel.” Others were more dramatic. Pure, unfiltered human cluelessness.

Bored Panda has put together a list of the funniest times people were humbled by common knowledge too late in life. We also share some facts that many people don’t know – yet. You’ll find those between the images.

#1

I didn’t know pickles were just cucumbers in vinegar until I was 19.

greebshob:
I too didn’t learn this until I was around 25. Not only that, but I thought that pickles were used to pickle other things. I envisioned harvesting them from the pickle farm, juicing them, and then soaking other things in the juice to “pickle” them.

Image credits: anon

There’s a good chance you knew that reindeers are real animals, or that pickles are cucumbers in vinegar. But did you know that you’re taller in the morning than at night? No, me neither…

According to Reader’s Digest, we are about one centimeter taller when we wake up in the morning. “That’s because at night when you’re lying down, the spine stretches and decompresses. But throughout the day, the soft cartilage between your bones gets squashed and compressed,” explains the site.

You might also be surprised to learn that the Eiffel Tower is taller in summer than it is in winter. More on that further down…

#2

I thought until I was 18 that dishwashers cleaned dishes by filling all the way up like a bathtub. I was always so afraid of opening mine up in the middle of a cycle and having all the water flow out!

Edit: Oh my god, I’m so happy I’m not alone!!

2thousand15:
I’m just finding this out now and I’m 32 and own my own home!!

Image credits: orangehoody

#3

My housemate at 21 only recently came to the realization tigers were not female lions.

anon:
Someone on here once posted about the shock of finding out that rhinos are not male hippos.

Cassandj:
My aunt found out at 35 that mice aren’t just female rats.

Image credits: grayson-of-gotham

The Eiffel Tower apparently adapts to its environment and weather conditions. It’s made from something called puddled iron, which is sensitive to variations in temperature. So when temperatures rise, the Tower increases in size. When temperatures plummet during the cold winter months, the metal structure contracts and it loses a few millimeters.

“This is a natural physical phenomenon called thermal expansion. Heat causes an increase in volume that makes the Eiffel Tower a few millimeters taller,” explains the official La Tour Eiffel site.

Not only does the Eiffel Tower get taller, but it also shifts a bit. That’s because the expansion causes the Tower to tilt slightly away from the sun.

“The sun only hits one of the 4 sides of the Tower creating an imbalance with the other 3 sides that remain stable, thus causing the Eiffel Tower to lean,” the site adds. “In this way, the sun’s movement over the course of a clear day can cause the top of the Tower to move in a more or less circular curve measuring approximately 15 centimeters in diameter.”

#4

My 25 yr old roommate didn’t know how I knew that a tree was a maple tree. She’s born and raised Canadian. It’s on the flag!!!

Image credits: new_epi

#5

Till i was in my early twenties, i thought duct tape was duck tape, used to tape ducks after going duck hunting.

anon:
It’s only called “duct tape” by virtue of people thinking “wait, ‘duck tape’ can’t be right, that sounds dumb it must be ‘duct tape'” and that’s become the actual name for it now.

But it was originally called duck tape and it’s certainly not meant primarily for use on ducts (even though I’m sure it is used on them by misinformed janitors).

Image credits: dlashruz

#6

That lemons and limes are not the same fruit. I always thought a lemon was ripe and a lime was not a lemon yet. 28 when I realized that.

Damn_Dog_Inappropes:
I was in my 30s when I realized that green bell peppers are just unripe red bell peppers. I love red bell peppers, but I hate green ones, so I’d never really looked at them on display in a store before.

Image credits: somebrero

Talking of things expanding… That’s what Julia Roberts’ bank account has been doing over the past few decades. With a net worth of around $250 million, the American actress is no stranger to wealth. But did you know that when she was born, her parents couldn’t foot the hospital bill?

And guess who paid for most of it… None other than Martin Luther King Jr. The gesture was considered a heartfelt payback, according to Reader’s Digest.

“Julia’s parents, who ran a theater school in Atlanta, welcomed the King children as students when they had trouble finding a place that would accept them because they were black,” reports the site.

#7

The piggy going to market isn’t buying groceries

Edit: The first little piggy guess to market to be sold as meat.

The second piggy stays home as breeding stock.

The third piggy eats roast beef and other leftovers from the table to fatten him up.

The fourth piggy has none, as you usually don’t feed shortly before slaughter.

The fifth one didn’t sell, so it makes pig sounds (or cheers “Oui!”) All the way home.

BartlebyX:
I learned this a few days ago. I’m 44.

ChocolateSporks:
Omg.. Well I’m 22, I had to learn sometime. Now I’m sad. Why are nursery rhymes always so [messed] up when you actually get into the meaning of them..

Image credits: mutedsilver

#8

This may seem too ridiculous to be true, but I assure you, it is…

Until she was in her mid-twenties, my sister believed Mount Rushmore was a naturally occurring rock formation. Until somewhere in her teen years, she thought earlier Americans had used Mount Rushmore to select presidents, and was very concerned we had “used up all the good ones.”

Lyeta:
During a finals week in college, one of my hall mates was reading something about philosophy and conspiracies or something and they for whatever reason it was talking about mt Rushmore. She comes out to where some of us are working at like 1am and goes ‘I think I’m just really tired, but this book just said mt Rushmore is a natural creation. That’s not right, right? It’s man made, right?’
Sleep deprivation+intellectual stimulation= brain rot.

Image credits: whimbrel

#9

I used to spell ‘put’ as ‘poot’ for the longest time…

I am not proud of this.

I’m not sure how I made it past elementary school let alone being a Computer Engineer.

Image credits: mranonymousone

While your brain is digesting some of these facts, it’s also eating itself. Yes, you read right.

Don’t be alarmed. It’s nothing sinister but rather a process known as phagocytosis, whereby cells will envelop and consume smaller cells or molecules in order to remove them from the system.

“It’s basically cells eating other cells, or substances,” explains Science Focus. “Our immune system is based on this; dedicated white blood cells consume pathogens, thus getting rid of them and their disruptive influence on our bodies.”

#10

I didn’t know narwhals were real until sophomore year of college. I knew what they were, but I thought that they were like a mermaid or a sphinx.

ramengirl10:
To be fair, sailors thought narwhals were mermaids.

Image credits: 1pptouch

#11

Okay. This is really embarrassing. I thought Spongebob was a cheese.

Edit: Just wanted to let you guys know english is my second language and I didn’t know what sponge was. :l.

lawyerlady:
You are not alone. I used to be a suit character at a theme park and while in sponge bob i had a large greek family approach. I heard the mother in a thick accent start shouting, “OH MY GOD ITS A GIANT BLOCK OF CHEESE! TAKE A PHOTO! TAKAFOTO!!!!”

When ever i see something worth photographing i put on my best greek accent and shout that. My husband ia often embarassded in public.

anon:
I had a 30 minute argument with my four year old about this. He kept insisting he was a cheese. It took a trip to the kitchen, where I showed him an actual sponge, and a complete description of what sponges are and why one might be at the bottom of the ocean to convince him otherwise. Kids can be persistent.

Image credits: strangepath

#12

In 3rd grade we had a spelling test, one of the phrases was ‘human being’.. I soon found out when we graded the quizzes that we were, in fact, not ‘human beans’.

boss_a**:
In the movie the Borrowers they refer to human beings and “beans” because they don’t understand it.

HoodedStranger90:
This is really similar to something that happened to me in third grade too! A question on a test was something like “Which of the following species typically produces only one baby at a time?” and two of the choices were rabbit and human. I had never seen the word human written down before so I while I was reading it I wasn’t sure how to pronounce it, so I didn’t know what a “Hoo-man” was. I had no idea how much offspring rabbits produced, so I went with that answer. Not my brightest moment.

Image credits: reabae5

The site adds that the brain is an incredibly busy and demanding organ. It’s believed to use about a third of the body’s ready energy supply, just by staying alive and functioning.

“This means that the brain is something of a cellular powerhouse; there are countless complex processes happening between and within our brain cells, all the time,” notes Science Focus.

Each of these processes will have unusable by-products. Debris, if you will. This debris has to go somewhere or it’ll build up and disrupt our functioning. So, the brain eats itself, or spring cleans, on a constant basis.

#13

Thought the Sistine Chapel was called the “16th Chapel” until I was in my early twenties. I just figured there were at least 15 other chapels that predated the famous 16th one.

unicorn-jones:
Similarly, I thought the Taj Mahal was called the “Tajmah Hall” until I was in my early teens.

Image credits: anon

#14

Growing up I knew there was word spelled *rendezvous* that meant ‘to meet up with’ but I had no idea how it was pronounced. I also knew there was another word pronounced ‘ron-day-voo’ that meant ‘to meet up with’ but I had no idea how it was spelled.

I think I was in my twenties before I figured it out..

Image credits: WeirdAlCapone

#15

That people are supposed to primarily breathe thru their nose? Finally went to doc today, nose is jacked up and there’s hardly an airway. I always just thought you were supposed to breathe thru your mouth and your nose is just a smeller. :(.

Image credits: wild_muses

And speaking of brains, we feel it’s our duty to let you know that wearing a tie can reduce blood flow to the brain by 7.5%. That’s according to a 2018 study carried out at University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

The researchers scanned the brains of 15 healthy men before and after they wore a tie. They then did the exact same thing with 15 other men who didn’t wear a tie. 

“When the results came in, the team could see that the tie-wearers experienced an average dip in blood flow to the brain of 7.5 percent. In contrast, absolutely no decline in blood flow was observed in the control group,” reports IFL Science.

#16

After watching a video of astronauts sleeping in space, I asked my husband why they didn’t just turn the artificial gravity on. He explained it’s not real, then pat my head. This was a few months ago, I’m 27.

Image credits: smellthatrabbit

#17

My dad had me convinced that Alice Cooper and Anderson Cooper were the same person and that “Alice” was his stage name before he became a reporter. Figured it out at 16…

Image credits: capsbackpack

#18

I didn’t know how many months were in a year until I was about 10. My parents flipped out when they found out, and trained me 80’s montage style with a calendar.

Image credits: saltnotsugar

If you’re healthy, a 7.5% drop in oxygen isn’t too big a deal. But it could be more problematic for those who already have a below-average blood flow rate, those who are older, who smoke, and/or have high blood pressure.

A separate, earlier study found a link between tie-wearing and intraocular pressure. Basically, if your tie is too tight, it can put pressure on your eyes.

#19

First time I saw chihuahua in print I had to look it up because I had no clue what it was. I was well into my 20s.

Image credits: TheReal_JimmyK

#20

I was around 21 when I realized it wasn’t “old tomatoes” but actually ultimatum.

2OQuestions:
Well, bad performers were pelted with rotten tomatoes, and people put in the stocks in old times were pelted with rotten tomatoes, so if someone is given ‘old tomatoes’ it means they did something wrong.

‘It’s me or the dog! I’m giving you old tomatoes!’

That makes sense in a way.

Image credits: lilangeles

#21

That the song I saw mommy kissing Santa clause, is about the mom kissing the Dad who is in a Santa costume. Thought the mom was cheating

Image credits: TheDirtyPowerRanger

#22

I thought ponies were baby horses.

Image credits: cal-gal

#23

I’ve lived in the same neighborhoods since I was born (20+ years). It took a person that just moved here a week ago to point out the streets are alphabetically organized from north to south.

Hump_the_yeti:
I’ve lived in Las Vegas NV for the last 10 years… There is a street named Valle Verde here, and the next street, literally one block over is named Green Valley. I didn’t know they were the same names just in two languages until a Mexican buddy of mine came to visit and he just said it off-handedly while we were driving down the street one day.

Image credits: spabagel

#24

Catholicism is a living religion.

I grew up in an extremely Lutheran area — the question wasn’t what religion you were, it was whether you were LCMS, WELS, ELCA, ELS, or some other random smash-up of lettering.

So I’d read about Catholics in history class, but I’ve never actually met one nor heard anyone talk about them in modern times. I was convinced that Catholics were like Pilgrims or Huguenots; a religious sect that d**d out sometime in the 18th or 19th century.

I was in high school before I found out that not only are there still Catholics alive in the world today, but one-fifth of Americans identify as Catholic. And there’s a pope, too! A real, live pope!

cormacredfield:
I was your mirror. Grew up in Louisiana (heavily Catholic). It wasn’t until high school that I realized Catholic wasn’t a synonym for “Christian”.

Image credits: Eridanusi

#25

I am 51 years old and just yesterday I learned that a felony and a federal crime are two different things.

Image credits: weedful_things

#26

That Cherries were actually a real fruit, I thought it was a candy. I am 29.

Yoyo_ElDar:
Kind of similar story- my sister thought spaghetti are plants, just like rice until she was 14.

Image credits: princetonkane

#27

Alzheimer’s disease is not called Old Timer’s disease.

Image credits: anon

#28

I used to think that pretzels were made of wood.

Image credits: happyflappypancakes

#29

That the chipmunks (the cartoon series) didn’t sing original songs. Couldn’t fathom how the chipmunks kept putting out hit after hit.

Image credits: Seasonof_Reason

#30

I taught a friend in her 20s that reindeer are not mythical creatures. I told someone this story and I hear another 20 year old behind me whisper to a friend “are they actually real”.

Image credits: sbkerr29

#31

Pay-per view, not Paper view.

Image credits: Jfm509

#32

I didn’t learn that fireflies were real until I was 20. The only time I had ever come in contact with anything like a firefly was at DisneyLand. So, I really didn’t think they were real. When visiting friends in Illinois, they were quite keen to tease me

Image credits: alleykitten79

#33

That steak comes from cows, not lions.

Image credits: BrokenLetters

#34

That whole milk wasn’t 100% fat… 2% vs 1% always confused me because it seemed like such a minor difference in the scheme of things.

Image credits: yoyodude64

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