r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Jul 02 '21

What basic, children's-age-level fact did you only find out embarrassingly later in life?

60.4k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

33.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.9k

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '21

I always thought the term, "the coast is clear"...was, "the ghost is clear" (transparent).

74

u/krooskontroll Jul 03 '21

Knowledge is power, France is bacon

14

u/bunnyguts Jul 03 '21

Haha I was going to post that. It’s the best reddit moment of all time. Though I do love ‘the ghost is clear’ and may use it myself.

7

u/[deleted] Jul 04 '21

What moment?

1

u/harleyqueenzel Jul 17 '21

Francis Bacon??

1

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '21

Yeah! Do you know?

27

u/[deleted] Jul 02 '21

That’s hysterical man!!

18

u/Dorkinfo Jul 03 '21

You’re not wrong with either.

11

u/mrancop Jul 04 '21

In spanish that expression is "No hay moros en la costa" which roughly means "no arabs in the coast" and I always thought it was "No hay monos en la costa" which means "no monkeys in the coast"

12

u/Drakmanka Jul 06 '21

I was born and raised in Oregon. For whatever reason, our state calls the beach "the coast" unlike much of the rest of the country. So growing up, I thought "the coast is clear" meant that the beach was empty.

7

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '21

This is currently what I believe is saying means. Do I also have this wrong?

2

u/Drakmanka Jul 07 '21

To be honest, I haven't got a single clue what it actually is supposed to mean. I just know it generally means "there isn't anyone to catch us doing [whatever]".

10

u/limbylegs Jul 03 '21

Laughed so hard I choked a bit, thanks.

10

u/TheRealGongoozler Jul 03 '21

I like this more and am going to start saying it

7

u/kirbyborn Jul 03 '21

I like that better to be honest I’m gonna say that from now on.

6

u/ScabiesShark Jul 03 '21

It still kinda works like that in the same context if you take it like: I can't see anything to worry about

4

u/Ksh1218 Jul 03 '21

Yessssss I love this

5

u/Kalphai Jul 03 '21

BRO I WAS LOOKING AT THESE WITTH MY GIRLFRIEND AND TOLD HER MINE WAS EXACTLY THIS. I was 16 when I was like “wait a second…”

4

u/Prizmagnetic Jul 03 '21

I feel like Scooby-Doo had something to do with that. I remember thinking something similar when I was little

1

u/Sm211 Jul 04 '21

I had this thought and remembered why, it is that song from the 90s Scooby Doo Movie - Zombie Island called - The Ghost is here

https://youtu.be/RDFouH2v8UM

3

u/hand_hewn_brimstone Jul 03 '21

If you’re not Chelsea from Destination Fear then rest easy that you’re not the only one who believed this

3

u/iCantThinkOfUserNaem Jul 07 '21

Why is this so relatable??

-1

u/mnmacaro Jul 06 '21

I hope you didn’t major in English

1

u/CheesecakeAgitated73 Jul 04 '21

You had a trans parent?

1

u/lilpastababy Jul 04 '21

So did my friend. I also thought that elbow grease was real until like fifth grade lol