We’ve all had one of those moments: you learn a new fact, a lightbulb pops up over your head like a cartoon, and you feel extremely dumb for not knowing sooner. Hey, just because something is “obvious” doesn’t mean that it’s common knowledge.
On AskReddit, users shared super obvious things that they didn’t realize until embarrassingly late in life, i.e. like yesterday.
1. Guinness World Records is owned by the beer company.
“That the Guinness beer company is responsible for the Guinness book of world records.”
“Guinness wanted a book to settle bar discussions / disputes so they made the authoritative book on who did what.”
2. Michelin Guide is owned by the tire company.
“Michelin wanted people to drive and see places, so a restaurant guide was their solution to that.”
3. “Birthday suit” means naked.
“I thought a birthday suit was just your favorite outfit.
Like, you save this special outfit for a celebratory occasion.
Always got weird looks when I told people I was going shopping for my birthday suit. I wish I was joking.”
4. “Eeyore” is more than just a name.
“‘Eeyore’ is the noise donkeys make.”
5. The measuring stick on gas stations has a purpose.
“The measuring stick/pole on the inside of gas stations is for identifying the height of potential robbers.”
“And the reason the stick seems to be off the proper marks is because it’s angled so the camera can see their height.”
6. “Chef” comes from French.
“A chef is called a chef in a restaurant because restaurants originated in France and ‘chef’ just means boss in French.”
7. “Pay-per-view” not “paper view.”
“Took me a long time to realize pay-per-view was actually words that described it (I’d never seen it written).”
“Has nothing to do with paper!”
8. How to use a hand dryer.
“That in order to properly use a hand dryer, you have to rub your hands.
I used to just put my hands under it and question why it was taking so long, but then I saw one of my friends rubbing their hands, and I felt stupid.”
9. Why raincoats are so bright.
“That raincoats typically have bright colors so you’re easier to spot during heavy rain, not because raincoat designers have bad taste.”
10. Screensavers actually save the screen.
“That a screensaver has a purpose and it literally saves your screen from an image being burned into it. I’m 37.”
“My grandmother watches QVC ALL THE TIME. She once had a television that literally had a product for sale burned on the screen.”
11. The meaning of the board game Monopoly.
“I was playing Monopoly, and someone owned a load of properties all clustered together.
I said “you’ve got a bit of a monopoly on that part of the board.
Hey that’s funny, because we’re playing Monopoly, and you got a… oh I see now.””
12. How musicals work.
“I always found it funny how Abba songs fit the movie Mamma mia so well … it took me years to figure out the movie was made around the songs.”
13. What “ground beef” means.
“As a non native English speaker. I just recently found out why ground beef is called ground beef.
I was always like “yeah maybe it’s the foundation of beef, so it’s the ground”, like the basis.
But only recently I realized it’s the past tense of “to grind” something. Now that makes sense!”
14. What the division symbol means.
“The division symbol ÷ is just a fraction. The two dots represent numbers.”
15. Why exactly the little piggy went to the market.
“That the piggy in “This little piggy” didn’t go to the market to go shopping… I’m still horrified.”
So… how was that read? Did anything just occur to you that you wouldn’t have otherwise realized?
Let us know in the comments!
