Ask HN: What simple facts have you learned surprisingly late in life?

41 points

3 years ago

I'm 33. I just learned, today, that there is no such thing as a paprika plant and that paprika spice is simply dried, ground bell/mild peppers. It seems relatively obvious in hindsight given that I'd never seen or heard of a paprika plant, but the fact I'm learning this so late in life is a bit staggering.

It got me wondering - what other simple facts slip by us sometimes until the obvious is made apparent?

For fun, a few others I've had occur over the years:

- I thought "having allergies" and "being allergic to something" were entirely distinct concepts. The former is a non-lethal, relatively mild inconvenience experienced seasonally by many. The latter is "I die if I eat that crab." The extreme differences in effects and differences in how people spoke about these words caused me to assume they were entirely distinct concepts until my early 20s.

- I did not realize that the musical artist "Flo Rida" (pronounced Flow Rye-Duh) was, you know, referencing the state, until someone pointed it out to me. It's much more apparent when written :)

relevant xkcd: https://xkcd.com/1053/

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