Some people like to think that they’re wiser than others. But even Socrates, one of history’s greatest philosophers, doubted his omniscience and famously said, “All I know is that I know nothing.”
So let’s remind ourselves that learning is a never-ending endeavor in this world, shall we? There’s a Reddit post that’s perfect for this task. Created by user u/TikiTC, it asked everyone on the platform “What’s a little-known but obvious fact that will immediately make all of us feel stupid?”
Folks came through with plenty of insightful replies from a variety of topics, ranging from basic physics to human anatomy. Here are some of the most interesting ones.
#1
Pufferfish are filled with water, not air. It wouldn’t even make sense, yet a lot of people are like *what??*
Image credits: __adrenaline__
#2
Cats, dogs, and other similar animals can’t see directly below their faces.
Because their snout gets in the way.
(That’s why you have to point out the treat a million times, they’re not stupid, the damn thing is just in their blind spot)
Image credits: tinyhatonapumpkin
#3
If you touch a baby bird, the mother will not reject it. I don’t even know who came up with it.
Image credits: anon
#4
When a nurse gives you an IV – they aren’t leaving the metal needle inside your arm – they actually remove that and only a soft plastic tube remains – so you don’t need to keep your arm that straight, relax.
Image credits: Snakes_for_Bones
#5
You don’t actually bite down. You bite up because of your lower jaw.
Image credits: Random_Weirdo_Girl
#6
Percentages are reversible. 8% of 25 is the same as 25% of 8 and one of them is much easier to do in your head.
Image credits: wlwlvr
#7
911 operators have no f*****g clue where you are instantly unless you’re on a landline.
You HAVE to say where you are. It’s not our fault movies made you think we have a spy level video of you in your car.
Know your location.
Image credits: BeardsuptheWazoo
#8
World Wide Web contains fewer syllables than its intended short form – WWW, thus making the shorter version longer to say.
Image credits: anon
#9
Covered bridges are designed with roofs to protect and preserve the wooden structure from the elements. Without the cover they’d last about 20 years, with the cover they can last up to 100. They’re not built that way just to look charming.
Image credits: ghostofhenryvii
#10
There’s a ‘d’ in fridge but not in refrigerator. It really bothers me…
Image credits: keigo199013
#11
Tear ducts drain tears, they don’t produce them.
Image credits: Katiesullivan01
#12
It was never mentioned that Humpty-Dumpty was an egg.
Image credits: YummyMango124
#13
Just like humans, British cows moo in regional accents.
Image credits: anon
#14
Vikings did not wear helmets with decorative horns.
#15
Most cats are like super lactose intolerant, and drinking milk is really really bad for them.
Image credits: jordanstevenson1134
#16
The modern keyboard layout is designed to make you type slower. When typewriters were a new thing, they had did the obvious thing and put the most-used letters on the home row. Result? People typed too fast and got the hammers tangled.
You’re not an idiot, learning to type fast IS hard. It’s supposed to be!
Image credits: dustyrags
#17
you don’t give a person free REIGN, you give them free REIN.
a queen REIGNS over her queendom, but you REIN in a horse, which is where this comes from.
i see this mistake constantly, even in professional journalism, and it drives me nuts.
#18
My favorite thing to tell people: Penguins swim faster than Michael Phelps. Remember that discovery special that pitted a shark against him to see who was faster? Completely stupid, because even shark FOOD swims faster than he does! (Sharks eat penguins, to clarify)
Image credits: mushupenguin
#19
ATM stands for automated teller machine. So saying ATM Machine is like saying “automated teller machine machine”
Same with your PIN number. PIN stands for personal identification number
#20
Oil paint doesn’t dry, it hardens. There’s virtually no water in it, there’s … well, oil.
Image credits: BleuDePrusse
#21
Baby porcupines are called porcupettes.
Image credits: rampantfreak
#22
Antisocial means that you are hostile or harmful to organized society. As in being or marked by behavior deviating sharply from the social norm.
Asocial is rejecting or lacking the capacity for social interaction.
Image credits: OttoManSatire
#23
The word “alphabet” comes from the first two Greek letters Alpha & Beta.
#24
to ‘fast’ means to abstain from eating. you do this every night when you go to bed.
The first meal of the day is called ‘breakfast’ because you’re breaking your fast.
#25
Cold water cleans just as well as warm water does.
When using modern detergent, clothes will be equally clean whether warm or cold water is used. There is one major difference: warm water uses much more energy (about 75 percent of the energy used for a load of laundry comes from warming the water).
#26
The words Laser and Scuba are actually acronyms and they stand for:
Laser- Light Amplification (by) Stimulated Emission (of) Radiation.
Scuba- Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus
Image credits: Gerd-Neek
#27
When water boils it is the same temperature no matter how big the bubbles are.
Image credits: Mcreeper51
#28
Words that are spelled the same but pronounced with emphasis on different syllables is actually indicative of the part of speech it is.
Stress on the first syllable is a noun. Stress on the last syllable is a verb.
Examples: CON-tract and con-TRACT. The former is a noun ( sign this contract) whereas the latter is a verb (the muscles contract).
Same with record, address, impact, object, and a few others.
Image credits: Verlonica
#29
Just like a dormitory is a place where you sleep, a laboratory is a place where you labor.
Image credits: vellyr
#30
The little piggy didn’t go to the market for shopping
Image credits: bradr711
#31
St John’s, Canada is closer to Rome than it is to Victoria, Canada
#32
The word “helicopter” has two components. They aren’t “heli” and “copter”. They are “helico” and “pter”.
“Helico” (helix) and “pter” (wing, like with “pterodactyl”)
Image credits: kabukistar
#33
a chipotle pepper isnt its own type of pepper. its just a smoked jalapeno pepper.
Image credits: hardnormaldaddy
#34
Do you get mad that dictionaries add new words like “crunk” or “bling”?
They add them because people use those words and people need to understand what they mean.
That’s why they are in a dictionary.
Image credits: typesett
#35
the plural version of cul-de-sac is culs-de-sac
#36
The Los Angeles Angels is basically saying “The The Angels Angels” when all in English.
Image credits: AnxietyDepressedFun
#37
You want to get ketchup out of a glass Heinz bottle? Gently chop the neck where the 57 sticker is. It’s designed to pour when it’s agitated right there. It sounds stupid, but it works. It’s like black magic.
#38
Life is short cosmically but its the longest thing you’ll experience
#39
Potatoes didn’t arrive in Europe until the 16th century.
It’s so ubiquitous, you’d think it would’ve been a part of English culture since 10,000 BC.
Image credits: chalkyWubnub
#40
Thee and Thou were actually the *informal* forms. The King James Bible used them so that the relationship with God would seem more personal.
Image credits: kkngs
#41
The saying “it is what it is” can be shortened to the equally correct, but much more confusing, “it’s what it’s”.
#42
Most cars have a little arrow on the fuel pump symbol to show which side of the car the filling cap is. (UK at least)
#43
It takes 500lbs to crush a human skull and your jaw(your molers) exert 200lbs of force
#44
Discover. It literally means to dis-cover something.
#45
As you go higher in the atmosphere, you don’t actually get hypoxic (oxygen deficiency) because of lack of oxygen; you get hypoxic due to the decrease in pressure the higher into the atmosphere you go. This pressure is needed to actually allow your body to process the oxygen, oxygen % is relatively constant throughout the lower levels of our atmosphere.
#46
if you paint your entire room with one can of paint your room is one can of paint smaller
#47
Cocunut milk is not the liquid inside the coconut, that’s coconut water, coconut milk comes from the white flesh inside. The white flesh is pulped or diced and left to soak in warm water, this pulp is then squeezed through a cloth giving you the milk.
#48
There is no “n” in the word restaurateur.
#49
El Paso TX is closer to San Diego CA than it is to Houston TX
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