Sometimes we get a long way into life before realizing something we should have known ages ago. It can happen no matter who you are, and it often takes coming face to face with a bit of information before we realize the errors in our ways. 

For example, one person here recounts learning the true meaning of "don't let the bed bugs bite." "It always sounded like a quaint, old-timey saying to me," they wrote. "It wasn't until a recent infestation scare in my apartment complex that I learned bedbugs are real critters, and not just a part of a nursery rhyme meant to tuck kids in at night." Yes bed bugs are definitely real, and you don't have much ability to stop them biting you if they want to.

Misconceptions like that often start in childhood, like for one man who's family enjoyed playing Monopoly growing up. "I was in my mid-20s and in law school when I figured out why the game’s name was Monopoly." As children we accept facts without question, and until you're forced to stop and question them you'll keep believing what you were, or weren't taught. 

Check out those, and 23 other examples of obvious things people only just realized.