# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/21 "2010-02-20T02:21:42Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I assume this is a serious question. Ponies are not baby horses. Ponies are certain breeds of small horses such as the Shetland Pony. They never grow up into full sized horses. They are bred to be small although there are even smaller breeds like miniature horses. Kids usually like them because they are scaled down even so that they can ride and pet them. > > Young horses of all types are referred to by completely different terms. A colt is a young male horse and a filly is a young female horse. Both sexes can be referred to as a foal when it is really young and the sex isn’t obvious through casual observation. Huh. I knew that a Shetland Pony was a small breed of horse, but somehow I also had internalized that ponies in general were young horses, despite the fact that Shetlands are fully grown. O\_o ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/22 "2010-02-20T02:27:09Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Well this proves you learn something new everyday and I am no stranger to the biological sciences myself. I was in a PhD program in the sexual differentiation of behavioral neuroscience once. I had the same exact idea you did until I read this but I have an excuse. I am only 36 years old rather than your 38. Thank god I didn’t end up as ignorant as you for so long. You saved me and I think I have to go off and read some more now. Asian placenta soup seems a little different culinary wise now. OK, now that I see someone else thought this, it makes me seriously suspect if it was actually a defect in high school sex ed. I seriously think I remember learning that the placenta was the wrapper around the fetus. I also remember in college putting my brain on cruise control when it encountered things I thought I learned in high school or junior high. Wonder if that was really what happened here. Edited to add: Okay, I survived a semester of med school before dropping out to pursue other things. Simply frightening. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/23 "2010-02-20T02:29:59Z")
> [@Doody\_Pants](#): > > At 37 I realized that the sandwich shop Subway had nothing to do with the NYC subway system but was so named because some people called those long sandwiches ‘subs’… heh. Growing up in NY, the only Subways I every saw were close to the actual subway… I didn’t realize the Subway/subway sandwich connection until leaving the city and finding out that hardly anyone around here knew what a hero was. Every Subway shop I’ve ever been had its walls decorated with maps of the NY subway system and old news clippings about the opening of the first subway (mass transit not sandwich) service in New York in the early 1900’s. You are excused. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/24 "2010-02-20T02:38:55Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > I was 27 before I figured out that chrysanthemums and mums are the same flower. See, I knew what mums were, but I’d never seen chrysanthemums…so I thought. When I tell people I have two mini schnauzers, I’m surprised and how often people say “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a _mini_ schnauzer”…No, you’ve probably never seen a standard or giant schnauzer…those are pretty big dogs. As for the tying your shoes thing, I seem to have some sort of mental issue. I’m 29 and I’ve never been able to tie my shoes that way. I’ve always used the bunny ears method. Tie the base knot, then make two loops and tie a knot with them, double knot if you have round laces, it rarely unties on it’s own. ---
**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/25 "2010-02-20T02:43:03Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > Wait, what are they then? Really big dogs? Ponies are different breeds of horses that are small even when they’re grown up. You don’t think Chihuahuas are baby dogs, do you? ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/26 "2010-02-20T03:40:33Z")
> [@PatriotGrrrl](#): > > Ponies are different breeds of horses that are small even when they’re grown up. > > You don’t think Chihuahuas are baby dogs, do you? Of course not, they’re rats bred to be frighteningly huge 😃 Scottish Terriers, OTOH, are pigmy wolves. Mean little beasts.😉 ---
**Author:** ![maisoui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@maisoui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maisoui)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/27 "2010-02-20T04:00:42Z")
I was 27 before I learned that you could open the tab on a take-out cup lid and fold it back on itself and it would snap in and stick open. Not me, but I was in the car when it dawned upon a woman in her early 30’s that the “deer crossing” sign we went past was _not for the deer_! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/28 "2010-02-20T04:02:01Z")
[quote=“Shagnasty, post:14, topic:529711”] I assume this is a serious question. Ponies are not baby horses. Ponies are certain breeds of small horses such as the Shetland Pony. They never grow up into full sized horses. They are bred to be small although there are even smaller breeds like miniature horses. Kids usually like them because they are scaled down even so that they can ride and pet them. /QUOTE] And of course, historians and the peoples of the Asian steppe have long known how utterly terrifying pony-mounted cavalry can be. Ponies don’t need as much food as larger horses, are more nimble, and (when bred properly) can travel faster over longer distances. Plus, they’re easier to remain seated on in battle. Attilla’s Huns were pony-mounted troops, and they were seen as the scourge of God Himself. Never, ever fuck with a man who has a pony, and friends with same. This is the lesson of history. ---
**Author:** ![Meyer6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@Meyer6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meyer6)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/29 "2010-02-20T04:03:54Z")
I did not realize until a couple years ago that George Washington and George Washington Carver were two different people. In my defense, I grew up in Canada, so I never took American history, and I did know that George Washington was the first president. So when I heard about all these peanut experiments and whatnot that he also did, I thought, wow, that was one seriously busy dude. And I had even seen Clone High - I just thought George Washington was black as some kind of complicated joke. ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/30 "2010-02-20T04:13:38Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > I only learned last year that Abbie Hoffman is a dude. Who names their son Abbie? > > No wonder he was such a weirdo. :eek: I just found this out right now! (38 soon) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/31 "2010-02-20T04:22:58Z")
I grew up thinking “condone” means you disapprove of something. I mean, “con” means against, right? ---
**Author:** ![kapri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4491bb/32.png) [@kapri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kapri)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/32 "2010-02-20T04:23:02Z")
> [@maisoui](#): > > I was 27 before I learned that you could open the tab on a take-out cup lid and fold it back on itself and it would snap in and stick open. > > Not me, but I was in the car when it dawned upon a woman in her early 30’s that the “deer crossing” sign we went past was _not for the deer_! When I was a kid I always wondered how the deer and cattle knew to cross just. there. Also, how they could read. Okay, I knew they couldn’t read–I figured the sign marked a path they usually took to cross the road on their journey to wherever deer and cattle wander to. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/33 "2010-02-20T06:31:34Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > At the age of 38, I just now learned for the first time that I’ve been completely and totally wrong about what the placenta is. I thought it was the membrane that surrounds a fetus, but apparently it’s like a temporary adapter organ that helps it stick to the uterus. At this point I would be embarrassed to divulge the level of higher education I have had in the biological sciences, but suffice it to say I shoulda known better. > > Anybody else have any stories like that… completely wrong stuff that you believed long after you ought to have corrected yourself? Actually, the placenta does more than that: It contains blood vessels belonging to both the mother and the fetus. The vessels pass very close to each other, so that the circulation of the mother and fetus never actually connect, but oxygen and nutrients can pass from the mother to the fetus, and wastes can pass the other way. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/34 "2010-02-20T07:43:14Z")
> [@kapri](#): > > When I was a kid I always wondered how the deer and cattle knew to cross just. there. Also, how they could read. Okay, I knew they couldn’t read–I figured the sign marked a path they usually took to cross the road on their journey to wherever deer and cattle wander to. Oh boy, here goes… When I was a kid I grew up way outside the city and always wondered about signs that said “DO NOT PASS” I thought that I was not allowed to cross the road parallel even tho ( Grammar Nazis fuck off) I was walking and there were no cars for miles. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/35 "2010-02-20T09:29:39Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/36 "2010-02-20T09:50:04Z")
> [@Cosmic Relief](#): > > Every Subway shop I’ve ever been had its walls decorated with maps of the NY subway system and old news clippings about the opening of the first subway (mass transit not sandwich) service in New York in the early 1900’s. You are excused. Huh. I’ve been in a lot of Subways and never seen that. Just a lot of stock photography of fresh ingredients. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/37 "2010-02-20T10:35:33Z")
> [@pbbth](#): > > Up until last year I thought the goats were the boys and the sheep were the girls. Then last year I heard someone use the phrase “nanny goat” and slowly it dawned on me that no, they were not the same species at all. :smack: Dear Lord, tell me you made this up. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/38 "2010-02-20T10:36:36Z")
I learned the truth at 17. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/39 "2010-02-20T11:57:30Z")
> [@maisoui](#): > > I was 27 before I learned that you could open the tab on a take-out cup lid and fold it back on itself and it would snap in and stick open. > > Not me, but I was in the car when it dawned upon a woman in her early 30’s that the “deer crossing” sign we went past was _not for the deer_! HA! Deer crossing signs are for target practice. Everyone knows _that_ ! I thought condone meant to ‘disapprove’ as well. Hmmmmm. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/40 "2010-02-20T12:24:03Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Huh. I’ve been in a lot of Subways and never seen that. Just a lot of stock photography of fresh ingredients. I haven’t been in one for 10 years probably, but that’s what they used to have in the southeast. It was like decoupaged right onto the walls, like wallpaper. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711.md?page=3)