‘What really obvious thing have you only just realised?’ 23 facepalm moments

One of the most popular r/AskReddit threads of all time was posted four years ago by u/negan2018.

Their question was –

What really obvious thing have you only just realised?

We can all be a little slow on the uptake at times, speaking from experience, so there were a lot of great answers. We picked our favourites.

1.

The first time I visited the USA I was on my own and in NY and going to all the museums. I kept seeing signs that said “No strollers” and thought, because we call strollers prams in the UK, that you guys are super strict about the proper amount of attention required to visit a museum.
Flibble21

2.

sjoy1147
Via

3.

I kept seeing the same Chinese characters on restaurant’s signs and I always wanted to know what it meant. A week ago I found out: they mean restaurant.
TiredOstrich

4.

My whole life I thought “Pay-per-view” was actually “paper view” because I had only ever heard people say it, and only recently saw it written out.
BuffyFischer

5.

I learned a couple years ago that it’s not “The mayor of bad news” it’s actually “the bearer of bad news”. I’m 25.
SentientKayak

6.

I always thought “You can’t have your cake and eat it, too” was a weird saying because why wouldn’t I be able to eat my freaking slice of cake? It’s my cake.
crossradical

7.

BeastOfWhimsy
Via

8.

That parents have children write letters to Santa so they can figure out what to buy them for Christmas. I can’t believe how I never put that together after 32 years on this earth I just thought it was fun little tradition.
currentlydownvoted

9.

That “in order of appearance” during the end credits of a movie doesn’t list the actors/actresses by who is the most good looking.
Tetrapawd

10.

That the phrase mint condition means like new because it’s the condition coins leave the mint in.
BiracialMonster

11.

This little piggy didn’t go to the market to do any shopping.
LurkyLurker420_69

12.

When teenagers said “we’re going to TP a house” I always thought it was “teepee” and it never made sense to me since they just covered a house with toilet paper. I recently realized that TP was the initials for toilet paper.. I’m 27.
Jordybee