# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![Hakuna\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hakuna\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hakuna_Matata)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/41 "2010-02-20T17:30:30Z")
> [@groo](#): > > For about 44 years, I tied my shoes in a sub-optimal way, using what I now know was a granny knot. [Then I read this](http://lifehacker.com/5451765/ditch-the-granny-knot-to-tie-your-shoes-more-efficiently) and, for the past three weeks, have been living the high life, with shoes that stay tightly tied all day long, even my running shoes, which I no longer need to double-knot. Looking back, I can’t believe I let myself live that way. I feel your pain. I was about 44 when I finally learned to tie my shoe laces correctly too. I was with my current wife and everytime we went for a walk my shoelaces would come undone. So one day she watched me tie them and she mentioned I was tying them incorrectly. I was shocked when she showed me and it was a simple fix----and now I never worry about it. It is completely second nature now–but I, like you, walked around all the time like that. Doh! btw–liked that video and wish it had been around when I was like 4 years old! ---
**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, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/42 "2010-02-20T17:46:40Z")
> [@Hakuna\_Matata](#): > > I feel your pain. I was about 44 when I finally learned to tie my shoe laces correctly too. I was with my current wife and everytime we went for a walk my shoelaces would come undone. So one day she watched me tie them and she mentioned I was tying them incorrectly. I was shocked when she showed me and it was a simple fix----and now I never worry about it. It is completely second nature now–but I, like you, walked around all the time like that. Doh! btw–liked that video and wish it had been around when I was like 4 years old! I just wish these videos would just show you how the knots work from the POV of the guy tying his shoes. What am I going to learn from seeing it from the mom-tying-her-kids-shoes POV? ---
**Author:** ![Pray\_for\_peace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pray\_for\_peace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pray_for_peace)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/43 "2010-02-20T18:05:54Z")
Until I was about 25 I thought Lindsey Buckingham was female. I learned the truth after seeing Fleetwood Mac’s mid-90s reunion show on TV. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![FalseMirage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/96bed5/32.png) [@FalseMirage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FalseMirage)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/44 "2010-02-20T18:21:08Z")
Do you really consider 38 to be late in life or did you mean later in life? signed, Age 52 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/45 "2010-02-20T18:21:49Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > 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. Um, I didn’t know that till just now. Even though I’ve heard of “birdshot” and though I’ve seen Kill Bill (scene with a shotgun). I’m officially dumb. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/46 "2010-02-20T18:24:50Z")
Until a thread about it a couple of years ago I thought pineapples grew on trees. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/47 "2010-02-20T18:47:23Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > I just wish these videos would just show you how the knots work from the POV of the guy tying his shoes. What am I going to learn from seeing it from the mom-tying-her-kids-shoes POV? 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. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/48 "2010-02-20T18:47:51Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Hey, I didn’t realize that wearing wedding rings (and using them to check marital status) was that normal. Neither of my parents wear theirs–they hate rings. Too much work taking them on and off. That’s the point - generally you don’t bother taking them off. You leave them on. My mom can’t even get hers off in the summer - in the winter she gets them cleaned. ---
**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, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/49 "2010-02-20T18:55:26Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Um, I didn’t know that till just now. Even though I’ve heard of “birdshot” and though I’ve seen Kill Bill (scene with a shotgun). I’m officially dumb. Sad thing is, my dad was an avid hunter and fisherman when he was alive. But my parents never married and I never really went hunting with him, so we rarely talked about guns. And as for everybody talking about shoe laces. I learned to tie them…I think I’ve heard it described using the words bunny ears. Loop each lace, twist them together and pull (or something like that). I was in my late 20’s or early 30’s before learning the other, some say more sophisticated, method. But I don’t care and sometimes will do it one way, and sometimes another. I’ve heard that boys learn one way and girls learn the other. I wonder how true that is. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/50 "2010-02-20T18:59:41Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > That’s the point - generally you don’t bother taking them off. You leave them on. My mom can’t even get hers off in the summer - in the winter she gets them cleaned. What about to wash your hands/wash dishes, stuff like that? ETA: I used to do bunny ears for my shoes then I started just doing one bunny loop and tied the other end around it…it looks sort of the same in the end, but there’s no bunny. For what it’s worth. ---
**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, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/51 "2010-02-20T19:02:17Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > What about to wash your hands/wash dishes, stuff like that? I just leave mine on. > [@](#): > > ETA: I used to do bunny ears for my shoes then I started just doing one bunny loop and tied the other end around it…it looks sort of the same in the end, but there’s no bunny. For what it’s worth. Yeah, I learned the first way, and now do it mostly the way you describe. But some people act like the bunny ears method is inferior. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/52 "2010-02-20T19:05:33Z")
> [@Raguleader](#): > > 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 By definition a ‘pony’ is any domestic horse shorter than 14 hands (roughly 58 inches) at the withers (shoulder). That means there are breeds of ‘ponies’ only 2-4" shorter on average than many ‘horses’. A baby horse or pony is a foal, a young female is a filly and male a colt. Males are stallions and females mares. I think part of the confusion may come from the fact that people often refer to the horses (or ponies) that human children ride as ponies. ---
**Author:** ![CWN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@CWN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CWN)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/53 "2010-02-20T19:16:03Z")
> [@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. hmmmm looked at video and DANG I have been doing it wrong and I am 55:smack: ---
**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, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/54 "2010-02-20T19:23:53Z")
> [@FalseMirage](#): > > Do you really consider 38 to be late in life or did you mean later in life? Good point. Obviously I meant ‘embarassingly late in life’. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/55 "2010-02-20T19:41:42Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > Until a thread about it a couple of years ago I thought pineapples grew on trees. I was properly educated when I read that same thread. I was _crushed_ when I realized the truth. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/56 "2010-02-20T19:53:50Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I grew up thinking “condone” means you disapprove of something. I mean, “con” means against, right? “Con” means “with”. Con is the same as Com, which comes from Latin “cum”, meaning exactly “with”. What were you thinking it meant to consecrate a marriage? Condone - cum donar “with blessing/gift/permission” combine - “bind with” compare - “equal with” concave - “with a hollow part” > [@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. Wait…isn’t that precisely what it means? “Caution: Deer have been known to regularly cross the road around this spot. Be on the lookout for them.”? > [@Nobody](#): > > I just leave mine on. > > Yeah, I learned the first way, and now do it mostly the way you describe. But some people act like the bunny ears method is inferior. It’s not an inferior knot- it’s an identical square knot, actually. But the method is. It requires you to perform the same action while holding on to a loop the whole time. You have to fit the top of this fat loop through a tiny hole instead of just any part of just the string. How could that possibly be an improvement? ---
**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, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/57 "2010-02-20T19:57:53Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > I just leave mine on. Yeah, what he said. I put my wedding ring on the day I got married three years ago, and it hasn’t come off since. I suppose I would take it off if I worked someplace where it would be dangerous to have a ring, but I don’t, so the ring stays on. Normal washing doesn’t affect it. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/58 "2010-02-20T20:13:08Z")
Not me, but Doper **lno** , in a couple of the funniest posts ever on the SDMB: [Posts 1 (last item in the list) and 15](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=62082&perpage=30&pagenumber=1) Hint for the uninitiated: “Goodness gracious, great balls of HEEEYY LAAADDDYYYYY!” ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2010, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/59 "2010-02-20T20:34:37Z")
Add me to the roster of those who assumed ponies were baby horses. \ ---
**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, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711/60 "2010-02-20T21:07:43Z")
Huh. I always thought of ponies just as ‘small horses’ without really pondering whether it was attributable to maturity or to the breed. Regardless, I never misspoke because I never saw a horse that seemed small enough to qualify as a “pony”. I reckon now I know why 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/basic-facts-you-learned-late-in-life-that-you-didnt-really-know/529711.md?page=4)