# Basic facts you learned late in life that you didn't really know. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 19, 2010, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711 "2010-02-19T23:37:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/241 "2010-03-10T13:45:38Z")
In my life, they have been as good as facts. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/242 "2010-03-10T21:44:40Z")
> [@Washoe](#): > > You’re that cheap? Well, we’re not talking fucking McDonald’s, here. > [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > and all the charisma in the world won’t help you if you can’t swing some dick. I tried once or twice, but guys tend to get embarassed when you bat at their silly external genitalia. ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/243 "2010-03-10T22:27:59Z")
I was an adult when I learned that **veal** did not come from lamb. It was the 70s…nobody knew anything then. That’s why we wore an onion on our belts. ---
**Author:** ![Illuminatiprimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/illuminatiprimus/32/11520_2.png) [@Illuminatiprimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Illuminatiprimus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/244 "2010-03-11T21:10:16Z")
> [@Raza](#): > > It was the 70s..nobody knew anything then. That’s why we wore an onion on our belts. To be fair it was the fashion at the time. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/245 "2010-03-12T02:35:41Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > I didn’t realize until I was 22 that Chris Rock and Chris Tucker were two different guys. :smack: I was watching an episode of David Letterman where Chris Rock was the guest and someone yelled out “Woo! Shanghai Noon!” Rock pointed and said “THAT’S Chris TUCKER.” So you’re not the only one. As for mine I was late 20s when I was describing someone to a friend as being “Her-sweet” to which she replied “Uh, do you mean _hirsute_?” For some reason I thought there was an extra “I” in there someplace. What’s worse, I’m sure I’d said it multiple times before and no one had bothered to correct me. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/246 "2010-03-12T05:22:57Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > I was watching an episode of David Letterman where Chris Rock was the guest and someone yelled out “Woo! Shanghai Noon!” Rock pointed and said “THAT’S Chris TUCKER.” So you’re not the only one. > > As for mine I was late 20s when I was describing someone to a friend as being “Her-sweet” to which she replied “Uh, do you mean _hirsute_?” For some reason I thought there was an extra “I” in there someplace. What’s worse, I’m sure I’d said it multiple times before and no one had bothered to correct me. Don’t feel bad. I pronounced ‘‘epitome’’ as ‘‘ **Eh** -pit-ohm’’ until I was 20. ---
**Author:** ![phouka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c5a1d2/32.png) [@phouka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phouka)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/247 "2010-03-12T05:33:50Z")
I didn’t know until I was a senior in high school that “disciples” is pronounced “dis-EYE-puhls” and not “DISS-uh-puhls”. That’s mostly because I was raised unchurched and hadn’t connected the word I’d read so many times in so many contexts with those guys who followed Jesus around and listened to his stories. On my own behalf, I thought it would pronounced similarly to “discipline”, which clearly has the same root. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/248 "2010-03-12T15:59:37Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > As for mine I was late 20s when I was describing someone to a friend as being “Her-sweet” to which she replied “Uh, do you mean _hirsute_?” For some reason I thought there was an extra “I” in there someplace. I only figured out that “lavicious” and “lascivious” were the same word a couple of months ago, and I’m 26. > [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Don’t feel bad. I pronounced ‘‘epitome’’ as ‘‘ **Eh** -pit-ohm’’ until I was 20. It’s a running gag in my family to refer to something as the “epitome of hyperbole”–EP-ih-tome of HIE-pur-bowl. ---
**Author:** ![may\_be\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@may\_be\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/may_be_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/249 "2010-03-14T15:39:52Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I started my previous job about 15 years ago when I was in my early 20’s. One of my duties was operating a print machine which held film using a vacuum. The machines were made in Germany so I looked at the vacuum button thinking “That’s a strange way to spell vacume. Maybe it’s a German thing.”:smack: > > Also, even though I owned a BB gun as a kid and had heard about shot\* I somehow still thought that all guns fired bullets, even shot guns:smack::smack:. So a year or so ago being in my mid 30’s I hear about Dick Cheney shooting his friend and after hearing about the details realizing that the shot gun didn’t have bullets in it and finally realizing what shot really is. > > \*For a long time I thought shot guns fired bullets that broke apart into little pieces. yeah shotguns also fire bullets, so you were partially right. They’re know as slugs. ---
**Author:** ![Barking\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Barking\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barking_Dog)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/250 "2010-03-14T16:35:44Z")
> [@phouka](#): > > I didn’t know until I was a senior in high school that “disciples” is pronounced “dis-EYE-puhls” and not “DISS-uh-puhls”. That’s mostly because I was raised unchurched and hadn’t connected the word I’d read so many times in so many contexts with those guys who followed Jesus around and listened to his stories. On my own behalf, I thought it would pronounced similarly to “discipline”, which clearly has the same root. I don’t know how old I was, but for a very long time I thought ‘disciples’ was another word for ‘apostles’, and vice versa. And that it’s ‘vice versa’, not ‘vise-Ah vers-Ah’. ---
**Author:** ![Bamboo\_Boy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@Bamboo\_Boy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bamboo_Boy)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/251 "2010-03-15T00:06:48Z")
> [@Raza](#): > > I was an adult when I learned that **veal** did not come from lamb. > > It was the 70s..nobody knew anything then. That’s why we wore an onion on our belts. > [@Illuminatiprimus](#): > > To be fair it was the fashion at the time. I bet it wasn’t one of those fancy WHITE ones, either! ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/252 "2010-03-15T15:11:24Z")
I had always thought that Don Cornelius did the train whistle sounding “SOOOOOOOOUL Train!” intro, but found out in the past month or so it was actually off-screen announcer Sid McCoy. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/253 "2010-03-15T16:19:27Z")
> [@YogSosoth](#): > > Made a topic a few weeks ago. Apparently, you’re not supposed to combine bleach and ammonia. The only thing it will clean is your clock 😃 I just came late to this thread, so pardon the comment on one of the first posts. I couldn’t resist, though. The reason people combine the things, is because it cleans things VERY well. Unfortunately, the reason it does that is by producing free chlorine gas, which will kill you. I knew that, when I had to clean something really nasty, so I got one of those military surplus gas masks and had at it. Worked wonders. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/254 "2010-03-15T17:11:42Z")
> [@Barking\_Dog](#): > > And that it’s ‘vice versa’, not ‘vise-Ah vers-Ah’. I had a friend argue once that it was pronounced “vis-ah vers-ah,” as you said. So you’re not alone! ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/255 "2010-03-15T17:22:23Z")
> [@olivesmarch4th](#): > > Don’t feel bad. I pronounced ‘‘epitome’’ as ‘‘ **Eh** -pit-ohm’’ until I was 20. I get epitome right, but I mess up a similar one. I always want to say hyper-bowl. I know what the real pronunciation is, I just think it sounds wrong. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/256 "2010-03-15T18:41:47Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > I just watched it and it worked for me. All you need to do is wrap the loop the other way around if you’re currently doing it wrong. > > Hurrah! I learned to tie my shoe laces today! And I’m only 35. I’ve watched that video 10 times and I can’t tell what the person in the video is doing. To start with, he’s doing everything with the wrong hands 🙂 As fas as I can tell, the way I tie my shoes doesn’t quite correspond to the video’s _right way_ or its _wrong way_. My laces look more like the end result of the “right way” for whatever that’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/257 "2010-03-15T21:27:41Z")
> [@Enright3](#): > > I just found out last Sunday that Wasabi peas are baked peas (to make them dry, and possibly crunchy) with wasabi on them. > > The ones I’d eaten were green… as was the wasabi paste I’d eaten at the sushi restaurant; so I thought it was a different form of the same thing, and that wasabi in its natural form was a pea looking food. Evidently it’s a root. I only figured out four or five years ago that the name “bean sprout” was literal, and they weren’t an exotic veggie. Never having eaten them, I didn’t get a close look at any until someone had them at lunch. I still don’t know why anyone would eat a baby plant, though. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/258 "2010-03-15T21:37:32Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I still don’t know why anyone would eat a baby plant, though. Because they’ve got a mild taste (mix well with other ingredients) and an interesting texture (crisp). Also, because we hate babies. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/259 "2010-03-15T22:27:55Z")
At 39 I found out that draught was pronounced “draft”. I always knew that it had the same meaning as draft, but I would pronounce it in my head “drawt”. I said it aloud to someone and was roundly mocked. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2010, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/260 "2010-03-15T22:33:24Z")
> [@L. G. Butts](#): > > At 39 I found out that draught was pronounced “draft”. I always knew that it had the same meaning as draft, but I would pronounce it in my head “drawt”. I said it aloud to someone and was roundly mocked. Until just now, when I saw this and looked it up, I thought draught, as in draught beer or draught horse, was spelled “draft.” In fact, Google Chrome is telling me right now that “draught” is spelled incorrectly. :3 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711.md?page=14)