There are some times in your life when the lightbulb goes on, and you think – “Oh! That’s where that came from!”
Like the time as a fully-fledged journalist (and I probably shouldn’t admit this) that I realised “byline” (the author’s name on a story), was in fact “who it was by“. Crazy, right!
When I was young, my mum would always say, “it’s out in Mongolia” — which meant somewhere far away. Hand on heart, I can honestly say, I was already 30 by the time I realised it was an actual country.
Then today, I saw a meme on Instagram, where someone wrote: “I just googled why chainsaws were invented. I shouldn’t have done that…”
And they’re right. They shouldn’t have done that, because apparently, two doctors invented the chainsaw in 1780 to make the removal of pelvic bone easier and less time-consuming during childbirth. Ugh.
The “I was today years old when I learned” phenomenon’s first known usage came from Twitter user @stacilyncharles in 2015 when she wrote: “I was today years old when I learned I had been wearing the wrong size bra my entire life”.
Now, the term is commonly used on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and even during social conversations and refers to when people learn something they have never known before.
And because I seem to have these moments almost weekly, I decided to go hunting for some more incredible (and seriously life-changing) facts, that I never knew.
Be warned, you’re jaw might drop to the floor.
“I Was Today Years Old When I Learned…”
☆ Puppies lose their teeth like humans do.
☆ The first episode of a TV show is called a “Pilot” because it’s the first time it goes “to air”.
☆ When someone says “break a leg” for an audition, it’s because they hope you end up in the cast.
☆ The division symbol (÷) is just a blank fraction with dots replacing the numerator and denominator.
☆ When you buy half a BBQ chicken, you’re secretly sharing a meal with a stranger.
☆ Flames do not have shadows.
☆ Stressed is just “desserts” spelled backwards.
☆ “Be there or be square” comes from the fact that you’re not “a-round”.
☆ The ‘st’ in first, the ‘nd’ in second and the ‘rd’ in third are called “1st”, “2nd” and “3rd” because they use the last two letters of the word!
☆ You may have heard actors in the old movies call someone a “dime”. It means they are a “10”.
☆Famed artist Salvador Dali designed the original Chupa Chups logo as a favour to a friend.
☆The term “genuine leather” does not, in fact, mean that the leather is the real deal. It’s actually referring to the name of the lowest grade of leather.
☆Kangaroos don’t have actual pouches. It’s just a hole in the body.
☆ Sorry to ruin your childhood, but “this little piggy went to market” does not mean he went to buy groceries…
☆ It’s “daylight saving time” not “daylight savings time”.
☆An eggplant gets its name because when the “plant” grows, it’s shaped like an “egg”.
☆”Buttload” is an actual measurement. It’s the name of an English wine cask unit.
☆Footage refers to the fact that a motion picture “film” was measured in feet.
☆ Sorry to ruin your childhood again but “it’s raining, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring. He went to bed and bumped his head and couldn’t get up in the morning” warns you not to go to sleep after a concussion…
☆ SpongeBob Squarepants’ Dad is brown because he’s an old sponge.
☆ Most millennials are the last generation whose baby photos weren’t taken on iPhones.
☆ And… If you replace the “W” in Where, What and When with “T”, you’ve just answered the question. There, That and Then.
Mind-blown yet?