# Things you didn't know were real until you were an adult **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 2, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906 "2013-11-02T03:51:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Passengernumber4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Passengernumber4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Passengernumber4)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/141 "2013-11-17T03:28:22Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > That Led Zeppelin was singing about an actual historical event in “When the Levee Breaks.” I had to buy a couple books on the 1927 Mississippi flood to explain the situation. Going off of this. I recently learned that Led Zeppelin is so named because apparently a Zeppelin is a flying aircraft that would not fly if it was lead. I learned this after a friend suggested a the name Cardboard Battleship for a Led Zeppelin cover band. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/142 "2013-11-17T03:39:13Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > I didn’t know until embarrassingly late that green and red bell peppers were the same thing, only harvested at different times. Yeah, I learned that here about a year ago and I still can’t believe it. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/143 "2013-11-17T03:49:54Z")
> [@LC\_Strawhouse](#): > > I didn’t know until embarrassingly late that green and red bell peppers were the same thing, only harvested at different times. > [@Leaffan](#): > > Yeah, I learned that here about a year ago and I still can’t believe it. Hell, I’m a professional cook, and I only learned this recently myself. Well, technically, I heard it years ago, but when I mentioned it to another, older and more-experienced cook, he called bullshit and insisted that they were different. So I pretty much took his word for it. But more recently, it was confirmed by an honest-to-goodness chef (that is, he actually graduated from a respectable culinary school). ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/144 "2013-11-17T04:23:40Z")
Not really an adult, but teenager: In high school gym class, they’d have us play baseball, football, basketball, etc. without actually teaching us the rules and techniques. They just assumed everyone knew. I was totally uninterested in sports, so never played them unless I had to in gym class. Consequently, I just sort of played at looking like I knew (or cared) what I was doing until it was time to head for the showers. Because of this, when playing baseball, I was never told that you don’t have to swing at every single pitch. I’d just pick up the bat, swing at three pitches, then go back and sit down. Occasionally I’d actually hit the ball, but was always out at first. But I had one great moment of glory: I hit the ball, and I hit it hard . . . and it was a GRAND SLAM HOMER!!! I wasn’t any more informed as an outfielder. A few of us would just hang out near the fence, praying that the ball would never come our way. But when it did, our main objective was to avoid getting hit. On the rare occasions that I actually had a ball in my hand, I had no idea who to throw it at . . . not that I could throw a ball that far anyway. The rules of baseball are not that complicated; you’d think the so-called teachers would actually teach us. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/145 "2013-11-17T10:42:56Z")
Panache45, I had a similar experience. The idiot PE “teachers” didn’t teach. When it was basketball day, for example, I never learned that the fouled person must take the foul shots. (Luckily I spent the next several years -'88 to '92 - in Chicago, where the time and place combined to quickly make me a lifelong and knowledgable fan of the sport.) ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/146 "2013-11-17T19:33:54Z")
HOLY SHIT GUYS. Flamingos can **fly**? I seriously thought they were flightless birds until 15 seconds ago. My life is a lie. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/147 "2013-11-17T19:37:31Z")
I just had to explain to a 24 year old friend about his parents paying property taxes on their house after he was complaining after having to contribute to the family income. Apparently he didn’t know they had to be paid or how much they can run (over $8000 a year on that particularly property). ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/148 "2013-11-17T20:19:37Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > HOLY SHIT GUYS. Flamingos can **fly**? I seriously thought they were flightless birds until 15 seconds ago. My life is a lie. Don’t be silly. Flamingos can’t fly. Who told you that load of horse hockey? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/149 "2013-11-17T20:24:21Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > HOLY SHIT GUYS. Flamingos can **fly**? I seriously thought they were flightless birds until 15 seconds ago. My life is a lie. I learned about 10 years a go that turkeys CAN fly. That one shook my faith in everything I learned from syndicated TV. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/150 "2013-11-17T20:27:37Z")
Similar to the “Washington” Redskins location, I thought that the Washinton Wizards were a basketball team from Seattle, but the Washington Bullets were an old team from D.C. I know that they rebranded the team in order to get away from the violent imagary, but they did it too well because it made me thinking of wizard-loving hippies instead. ETA althought I guess this doesn’t belong in the thread since the renaming took place when I was an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/151 "2013-11-17T20:51:50Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > I just had to explain to a 24 year old friend about his parents paying property taxes on their house after he was complaining after having to contribute to the family income. Apparently he didn’t know they had to be paid or how much they can run (over $8000 a year on that particularly property). Heh. About two years ago a guy I knew was complaining about the prices at our local grocery store. I pulled up the county property tax map and showed they were paying roughly $250,000 a year in property taxes alone on the building. Then I asked him how much he thought their electric bill was with all those open coolers, let alone the wages of everyone who worked there, insurance, etc. Him: :eek: \ ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/152 "2013-11-17T22:16:40Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I learned about 10 years a go that turkeys CAN fly. That one shook my faith in everything I learned from syndicated TV. I just learned that now. Damn you WKRP! ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/153 "2013-11-17T23:24:56Z")
Wild turkeys can fly, but I doubt the fattened up domesticated ones of the sort you’d throw out of a helicopter can. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/154 "2013-11-18T00:12:04Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > HOLY SHIT GUYS. Flamingos can **fly**? I seriously thought they were flightless birds until 15 seconds ago. My life is a lie. They put on a great show in Bonaire. Tons of them flying together. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/155 "2013-11-18T00:14:42Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Wild turkeys can fly, but I doubt the fattened up domesticated ones of the sort you’d throw out of a helicopter can. Yes, but Les didn’t make that distinction, now did he? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/156 "2013-11-18T03:05:13Z")
I looked it up. There are some pretty good [CGI videos](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xSloj9tex4) of flamingos flying but that is still about the dumbest idea I have ever heard of. There are also some fake witnesses saying that they can fly but I put them on the same level as 9/11 truthers. You aren’t going to fool me with weak evidence like that. There is no way a giant, pink bird is going to take to the sky under my watch and I have a shotgun waiting if that ever does happen. I would react the same way if a unicorn ever came flying up to my window. I am inherently skeptical of psychedelic wildlife (aside from parrots). On the other hand, I have wild turkeys in my back yard and they most certainly can fly if they want to. They are pompous asses but as soon as I try to insult one, they end up 60 feet in a tree and taunt me from there. They are not nice birds but the ones I know would survive a skydive quite well and then go on to terrorize everyone near their landing zone. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/157 "2013-11-18T03:15:20Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I > On the other hand, I have wild turkeys in my back yard and they most certainly can fly if they want to. They are pompous asses but as soon as I try to insult one, they end up 60 feet in a tree and taunt me from there. They are not nice birds but the ones I know would survive a skydive quite well and then go on to terrorize everyone near their landing zone. Yup- we were watching a flock of wild turkeys wander into our fenced backyard and get confused by the corner of the fence (they followed the fence single-file until it met the corner and they all piled up like the marching band in _Animal House_). Suddenly the turkey “leader” flew up into the trees in our yard and everyone followed. I stood there yelling “Turkeys can fly, turkeys can fly!!!”. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/158 "2013-11-18T03:56:39Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Yup- we were watching a flock of wild turkeys wander into our fenced backyard and get confused by the corner of the fence (they followed the fence single-file until it met the corner and they all piled up like the marching band in _Animal House_). Suddenly the turkey “leader” flew up into the trees in our yard and everyone followed. > > I stood there yelling “Turkeys can fly, turkeys can fly!!!”. I did have a similar reaction to seeing a peacock fly once. It was odd enough seeing them in the wild, just roaming the streets. I was at a friend of a friend’s house, and stepped outside to take a picture of one of the peacocks. I watched one fly straight up so it could hang out on the roof of a house. I had never thought about it before. All I knew about peacocks was they liked to hang out in the corner of my TV when I turned on NBC. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/159 "2013-11-18T05:51:48Z")
There’s always **lno** ’s famous mix-up of [Jerry Lewis and Jerry Lee Lewis](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=1170534#post1170534). I didn’t know about the pineapples, either. And I was surprised to learn that a lot of the foods I thought were nuts were botanically fruits. Walnuts, pecans, and almonds, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906/160 "2013-11-18T12:12:45Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > There is no way a giant, pink bird is going to take to the sky under my watch and I have a shotgun waiting if that ever does happen. I would react the same way if a unicorn ever came flying up to my window. I am inherently skeptical of psychedelic wildlife (aside from parrots). . Best you stay away from Cardel, Veracruz, Mexico any given September. Mixed in with the millions of migrating hawks which fly overhead in a “River of Raptors” are several thousand roseate spoonbills, flying along just like the hawks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-didnt-know-were-real-until-you-were-an-adult/672906.md?page=9)