How many times have we been so certain of something, only to find out we were entirely wrong? It might be a small thing, like getting a popular saying incorrectly, or something much bigger, like finding out we’ve been using our car the wrong way the whole time! This happens to many people, yet no one talks about it because it can be awkward. However, some people have confessed the most embarrassing—and funny—things they wrongly believed for years before finding out the truth!
A Very Hands-On Approach
My dad taught me how to drive, and he mentioned a rule of thumb to help me keep a distance deemed safe between me and the vehicle in front of me. I’d never read that expression in any books and didn’t know its meaning. Instead, what I would do was hold my thumb up while I was driving. If the thumb covered the other vehicle entirely, the distance was a safe one.
I continued to do this until one day when my dad was with me. When he saw me raising my thumb, he wondered what I was doing. Of course, my explanation had him almost in tears that he laughed so hard. However, he actually thought it wasn’t a bad idea at all!
Did I Ear That Right?
Do you know that saying play it by ear? Yeah, I’ve been getting it wrong my entire life. It took a long discussion and a shameful Google search for me to find out that the actual saying is not playing it by year. Thank you, technology!
In-Bathroom Entertainment
This is the most embarrassing thing ever. I was going to the bathroom the wrong way for years! I thought the tank of the toilet was made that way so that I could read my comic books or drink something. Therefore, I sat facing the tank! I couldn’t believe no one else did this.
Is This Even My Car?
I didn’t realize my vehicle had a remote start until it was time for me to sell it! More embarrassingly, it was one of the prospective buyers who pointed this out to me. They pushed the button on the key, and the next thing I knew, my car was ready to go! Too late for me!
And… It’s A Wrap!
I loved my blue microwave. It had been a gift from a beloved family member, and it made me feel very special and unique. I still have it, but it's not blue anymore. How did this happen?
Well, one of my friends came to visit, and he couldn’t help but stare at my microwave. I imagined it was because it was so unique and cool.
However, he then asked me why I hadn’t taken off the wrapping! As it happens, just like Christmas gifts, my silver microwave came with protective blue wrapping. I kind of miss the uniqueness, though, but I’m happy that I now I know its true colors.
Pretty Sure It Was Pack Pack...
Since I was little, I strongly believed you said pack pack instead of backpack. Probably, because I said the words quickly, my parents didn’t notice. However, when I was in 5th grade, my classmates heard it, and they told me I had gotten it wrong the entire time!
Magic Times At Pizza Hut
I was very young when a worker at Pizza Hut told me that the breadsticks had something on top that was called fairy dust. As I grew up, I started to order my pizza by myself, and I would always see the same guy and order some extra fairy dust.
It wasn’t until I was 14 that I found out the truth. Pizza might not be good for my nutrition, but I still wanted those breadsticks with extra fairy dust. However, a new employee looked disconcerted when I asked them for it. That’s when I learned that it had been garlic salt all along. The magic was gone. My childhood is now ruined.
Adding Some Extra Fiber
Fiber is supposed to be good for my diet, right? I might have overdone it, though. How? By eating mangoes with the skin. It wasn’t until many years later that I found out I had to peel them before eating them.
I Lived in the Upside Down
I was a very ambitious kid. Therefore, I decided that I would teach myself how to use the clarinet. Without the aid of any textbook or professor, I made significant headway for six months. That’s when someone saw me and made me realize I had the mouthpiece upside down. Yep, that happened.
Learning How To Learn Things
My first years of school were quite frustrating for me. I would read my assigned textbooks over and over again because I thought that was the right way to study. However, my grades continued to be terrible, which was giving me a bit of anxiety. What was I doing wrong? I found out much later than I should have.
I saw one of my friends making flowcharts in the library. Trying to be helpful, I told him that wasn’t one of our assignments, and he simply answered that he was studying. It was as if blinders had been taken from my eyes! So this is how you did it! My grades significantly improved after that.
Who is Adam?
I always thought the colloquial phrase was Up and Adam instead of Up and at ‘em! It wasn’t until I was 18 years old that I found out the truth. No wonder I had always thought that was a dumb phrase. Who could be Adam, anyway? Glad I found out before college!
The Path To Enlightenment
I bought what looked like a very cool lantern about a decade ago because it was on sale. Furthermore, it looked like a lightsaber! Also, it had an item on the top that I could twist to make the lens focus. Neat, right? WRONG. When I got home, I realized that the twist didn’t change anything.
Considering how little money I’d paid, I didn’t think anything of it—probably a broken feature. However, ten years later, a storm was quickly picking up. I wanted to make sure the things in my yard were sufficiently secure, so I picked my flashlight and headed outside. However, the lantern started to fall from my hand.
As I grabbed it by what I thought was the useless twisty end, a hidden compartment appeared! As it happens, this allowed the flashlight to turn into a bright lantern! I’d had a very amazing flashlight the entire time. Oh, the number of times I could’ve used that feature!
We Were On Fire
Apparently, everyone knows you’re supposed to light incense and then blow on it. My boyfriend and I were the exceptions. We would light them as if they were candles instead of incense because we had been using scented candles before. We were disconcerted because every time we lit one, the mini fire could be a danger to our house!
We thought we just needed to make a bigger investment and buy an expensive brand. Thankfully, my roommate saw us one day, attempting one more time to light incense the wrong way. That’s when we finally learned what we’d been doing wrong all along!
Something I Was Itchy To Learn
For me, eggplants had always had an itchy taste. Not salty, not sour, just itchy. As I was in the process of transitioning my baby into other foods, I gave him eggplant. I was surprised to see his beautiful face turning immediately red on the areas that had been in contact with it! As it turns out, we’re both allergic to eggplant! No wonder it was so itchy.
Literally Thinking Outside the Box
Everyone loves Chinese takeout. It might not be the best for a healthy lifestyle, but it’s delicious! One day, a girl I was dating and I ordered some Chinese food. After it arrived, I was surprised to see that she unfolded the box in which the food came, using it as a plate! I couldn’t help but ask about it, and she explained that’s what the box is designed for.
Furthermore, she went on to say that she just couldn’t fathom why people went to grab plates instead of just doing this. She was right, it’s much more practical! I’m now an advocate of unfolding the box to eat. Fewer dishes to clean! Funnily, people get weirded out when they see me doing this. They should learn!
Peanut Butter is What Color?!
I strongly believed peanut butter was green for most of my childhood and teenage years. Maybe I should start by saying I’m colorblind. However, I was flabbergasted when I found out peanut butter is brown! Of course, people are not usually talking about the color of peanut butter. They just break their diet with this glorious snack, and that’s it!
The Incarnation of Sesame Street
Instead of saying hybrid, I always pronounced this word as if I was saying Hi Bird. I was 33 years old when my husband heard me and imitated me using the voice of Snuffaluffagus from Sesame Street. I felt so silly! I couldn’t help but reminisce on all the times I’d said it wrong. I’m big on animal care, but this is definitely not the way!
Beaten By Modern Technology
My boyfriend and I would use our PlayStation for everything. Since we didn’t have a smart TV, we used it to watch shows on the streaming TV platform, Netflix, which was only starting to be a thing. However, our controls had very small cords. Therefore, whenever we needed to push a button, we had to get up and get near the console to do it.
One day, my brother visited us, and we wanted to watch something on Netflix. He was surprised to see us stand up to get things set. He then went next to the console, unplugged the control, and gave it to us… It worked! Why? Well, as it turns out, the controls were wireless—something we didn’t know until that moment!
Now things made much more sense. Of course, that’s why there was also a cord coming out of it, which was meant to be used to charge the controller. Shame on us!
A Little Something Extra
I was very little when a friend told me that you’re supposed to eat everything that comes with a muffin or a cupcake, including the paper wrapping. For years, I did this, until another friend told me the truth, looking quite disconcerted. Thankfully, it didn’t have a negative effect on my health! I wonder if my first friend continues to eat it like this to this day.
Ready For Take-Off!
My fiancé is very good with anything that has to do with handcrafting. Therefore, she has taken an interest in doing things in the most practical way. Throughout the years, she has pointed out numerous things I’ve been doing wrong my entire life. However, I think there’s one that undoubtedly tops the list.
I was opening a new deodorant, and as always, I was struggling to take off the plastic cover. This went on for over a minute when she finally made a suggestion. Simply, I just had to twist the stick up. That way I could surely lift the lift without further issue. I’m so glad there’s still a wedding on.
Not The Brightest
In our bedroom, my wife and I have a fan installed on the ceiling. It also has the lights, and we control all of it with a remote. This way we could turn on and set the fan and the lights comfortably. However, we recently spent almost a year and a half without lights since they suddenly stopped working. We’ve been mostly using the bedside lamps.
Of course, this was very troublesome. Our room was almost in perennial obscurity. However, I found myself on my phone one day, just going through Reddit. Coincidentally, someone was talking about having a problem similar to ours. However, they had realized that they had set the lights to dim!
I decided to give it a try half-hoping I was wrong. As it turns out, we hadn’t been the brightest people in the world as our lights were also set at dim! At least it was an easy fix.
Doin’ It Grandma Style!
I had never noticed that you could use the address bar on a browser as a search engine! Therefore, I would first type Google.com, and once on the homepage, I would search for what I wanted. Defeated by technology.
Motor Skills Gone Wrong
I had always been taught that you hold chopsticks just like you hold your pencils or pens. Since my family is from Taiwan, I headed there with my parents when I was 7 years old. My family there started to make fun of me for how I held the chopsticks. I didn’t understand! I was holding them like I held the pencils while at school. What was wrong with that?
As it turns out, not only was I holding the chopsticks incorrectly, I didn’t even know how to properly hold a pencil. That was embarrassing!
Bitter, Cold Suffering
Unlike many people, I hated taking a shower. The thought of taking off my clothes, getting in, and being attacked by freezing water was my daily torture. Why do things have to be so hard? Therefore, I had to wait, trying to be as far from the water as physically possible while it heated up. It was so uncomfortable!
My mind was blown when, as I browsed Reddit, I saw a comment made by someone about their shower routine. They would run the water for a while before getting in. That way, everything was nice and toasty by the time they touched the water! Of course, I took note of this. Now, showers are an entirely different thing for me.
Macaroni and Clumps
Mac and cheese is probably one of the most basic recipes there is. It’s part of any college student’s weekly meals! And yet, I managed to mess that up. What I would do was drain the noodles, put them again into the pot where I had boiled them, and then add the rest of the delicious ingredients. However, it was a nightmare trying to dissolve the clumps formed. Finally, I had a eureka moment. I decided to make the cheese sauce first and then add the drained noodles. Much better!
Not A Geography Nerd
For 23 years of my life, I believed the White House was located in Washington State. To be honest, I can’t explain why this happened. I must have managed to avoid any textbook that said differently while at school. After I found out it was in D.C., I was very, very surprised.
The Time We Failed Ikea
When it was time to improve our home décor, my wife and I decided to purchase a liquor cabinet. However, when it was delivered, we noticed it looked shorter than when we saw it at the physical store. Despite this, we just left it as it was. It wasn’t until three years later when we were switching places, that we realized the truth! There had been legs taped to the bottom of the cabinet the whole time! Now that we installed it correctly, it looks very nice.
Hacking The Six-Pack
Almost everyone in the world has the same problem. Let’s say they want to drink a little alcohol, maybe some beers, or even soda. They get the six-pack or eight-pack, and then they have a hard time pulling the bottle because of those annoying plastic rings. I’ve known since about 20 years ago what the secret to this is thanks to my lovely aunt.
All we have to do is pull a small tab. The plastic connects it to a serrated line. Therefore, once you pull, the plastic simply breaks! Grabbing a bottle has never been easier… And most people don’t even have a clue!
A Holey Solution
When I grew up, I was lucky enough to have a swing set right there in our yard. However, every time it rained, the kid’s swing would be leftover with a bunch of water. Therefore, my dad would often find himself trying to turn the swing to shake the water off, and balancing on its crossbar. The first time I saw him doing it I wondered why he didn’t just make a hole on the seat. It surely seemed simpler.
However, he was the dad, and I was the kid. I figured that he probably knew better, and there must be a reason why mine was not a good idea at all. So, a year went by, and I didn’t say anything. Yet, I would always see my dad struggling. One day, I heard him complaining about it while he was draining the swing once more.
I couldn’t hold off my curiosity and asked him what was going on. He said that he was starting to hate the swing set and this whole system of drainage. I asked him what I had been thinking all this time. Why didn’t he make a hole so that it could drain? He stood there in silence.
When I saw his face, I realized I must have said something quite dumb. I saw him leave with a little bit of anxiety while trying to think of what I had done wrong. Surprisingly, I saw him coming back, and in his hand, there was a drill. His face had been directed towards himself!
My poor dad couldn’t believe the thought hadn’t even crossed his mind. Luckily, this whole experience made me feel more comfortable about simply asking questions.
Showing The Goods
This is quite embarrassing. I would always pull my pants entirely down when I was using the urinal. I didn’t stop, showing more than I should until someone that was also using the bathroom corrected me. Just imagine the horror I felt…
Grandma’s Tea
At my house, we always had a cup next to the bathroom sink. The idea was that if someone needed a quick drink of water at night, they could have it right away. We would also use it for rinsing while we were brushing our teeth. Just like us, my grandma also had a cup next to her sink, which I used for the same purpose.
Therefore, whenever I was at my grandma’s house, I would use it to drink water, just like at my place. One day, while we were in her property, I made a nasty discovery. I felt a bit thirsty, and I went to drink from her cup. But this time, my mom saw me before I could go through with it.
She shouted that I shouldn’t use that one! After all, that’s where my grandma would put her fake teeth to soak while she slept. I still shudder just to think of it!
Getting Wrapped Up
I had been using any type of wrapping material—plastic wrap, wax paper, even aluminum foil—the wrong way for my entire life. I had no idea the whole design of it was so that the roll would stay in the box while one pulls. Instead, I would often find myself just pulling at it and ending with a crumpled thing. This should be part of what they teach us in high school!
Ready To Shoot
I use caulk guns every day as part of my job. I had been using it just like how everybody said I should, pulling it towards me. However, a random comment on Reddit showed me that the designer intended for us to push away instead of pulling. I decided to try it this way and see what the results were.
As it happens, everything is turning out much better now. My work is looking great! However, my boss sends weird looks my way when he sees me doing it. Well, the results speak for themselves!
Just A Bit Nutty
During a conversation with my friends, we somehow ended up talking about almonds. However, everyone looked at me weirdly when I said the word. Apparently, a missing part of my education was the fact that it’s not pronounced like the name Al. Everyone but me thought this was very funny.
Bulls Will Be Bulls
My mom would always call me a bull in a china shop as I was growing up. I always took it as a compliment, as I thought she was saying bowl in a china shop instead. However, it wasn’t until I was 22 years old that I heard someone else using the phrase… they were referring to someone with mental health issues. Now I know my mom didn’t mean it as a compliment!
A Real Icebreaker
So apparently, I didn’t know how to clean myself properly when I would go to the bathroom. I thought the right way was to reach from the front, between my legs. However, one day, someone was making a wiping joke, and when they faked the motion, they did it the right way. This led me to start asking people how they did it.
It might not be the best conversation starter, but I learned that I was the only one using that special technique.
The Better To Hear You With
There was a time in which money was a little tight, and I preferred not to get cable. Therefore, I used a set of antennas for my TV—the rabbit ones. My reception was not good at all, but I thought it was the antenna’s fault. When I was moving to a different place, my dad helped me in the process of setting my TV. Little did I know that with one simple thing, my days of watching bad television were over.
He simply pulled the ears of the antenna so that they reached their maximum extension. To say that I was shocked would be an understatement. I had no idea I could adjust them and improve reception this way!
It’s Getting Hot In Here
I was very excited when I managed to make a huge investment and buy my own home. However, after I moved in, I saw that the thermostat was set to 70°F. This was very hot, so I would get very expensive electric bills every month. Plus, there seemed to be no way for me to adjust the temperature! Furthermore, I’m short, so the thermostat was above my eye level.
I often had to open the windows to make the climate in the house more bearable. One day, I simply asked my niece to take a look at it. After probably less than five minutes, she discovered a tab. After pulling it, we saw all the buttons I had been needing this entire time. Yikes!
Becoming Undone
One thing we learn very early on is how to tie our shoes, right? Well, I’d been doing it wrong my entire life. No wonder they would come undone all the time! And yes, I’m a grown-up.
My Name Is… Wait
At 51 years old, my dad found out he didn’t know how to spell his name! He’s called Geoffrey, and that’s how he has been spelling it for his whole life. However, while going through some old things, my mom found his birth certificate. As it turns out, they registered him as Jeffery when he was a baby—an entirely different name!
I don’t think, after all this time, he’s going to change how he spells it. However, he was profoundly disconcerted when he found out.