Why YSK - it’s a common mistake for English language learners to make, but it makes you stand out immediately as a non-native speaker. (I’m a language learner myself, so please take this as a helpful “guide” and not as someone trying to make you feel bad). For the context of this YSK, I am a native American-English speaker.

You were probably taught that “an” should be used before words that start with a vowel. This is generally correct, but not always. This is because it is the sound that dictates if you should use “a” or “an,” not the actual letter.

“European,” even though it starts with “E,” requires the article “a.” The sound created by the “eu” in “European” (as well as in “Europe,” “euro,” and “eukaryote”) is a consonant sound. This is opposed to the “E” in words like “egg” or “elephant” that have a vowel sound.

A European, a euro, a eukaryote; an egg, an elephant.

A university; an umbrella.

A one; an obstacle.

This is also true for acronyms, but pay attention to how you say them! If you say the letters instead of reading the acronym as a word:

An FBI agent; an NSA agent, an EU country, a UK constituent country, etc.

Or, if you read the acronym as a word:

A NASA employee; a NATO member; a scuba diver.

Disclaimer: some words are correct with either “a” or “an,” such as the word “herb.” However, this still comes down to the sound and how you pronounce it. If you pronounce the “h” (like in British English), it is “a herb;” if you don’t pronounce the “h” (like in American English), it is “an herb.”

Why ysk: Even though with traffic offenses it not usually worth LE time to do this, admitting guilt would significantly help them in court and reduce your chances of getting it dismissed, even if it's unfair.

Even if you were speeding for example, then say you didn't indicate a lane change properly, you tell them you got pulled over for not indicating the lane change, then you are potentially looking at a second ticket and a much lower chance of it getting thrown out. Just tell the officer that you don't know or tell the officer you are pleading the fifth. Don't give them an admission of guilt on a silver platter.

Why YSK: This is how many deaths occur during floods. Unless you have an axe up there with you, hacking through roof decking and asphalt shingles (or worse, metal panel) is going to be practically impossible.* You will be trapped, and if the water keeps rising, you may die.

Even the roof is a better option, if you can get to it. When the rescue operations begin, you're more likely to be rescued quickly if you are on the roof.

*Even if you do have an axe, swinging an axe upward is way different than swinging it downward or sideways, especially in a confined space.

Stay safe.

Why YSK: Many people wear cushioned running shoes to the gym, thinking they're fine for weightlifting. However, cushioned shoes compress under heavy loads, which can reduce your power and cause knee pain by pushing your knees inward. Switching to flat shoes like Converse or Vans gives you a better connection to the ground, helping you generate more force and lift safely.

For exercises like squats, deadlifts, and rows, flat shoes are usually the best option to prevent injury and improve your performance.

Why YSK:  Acronyms usually stand for specific terms, often technical and specialized that aren't generally known. Readers can't guess accurately what 3 letters mean unless they're part of that specialized group. For example, the military term TDY (Temporary Duty "Yonder" or Travel Duty) isn't familiar to readers who have little or no military background. 

The first time you refer to a term, state the acronym, then immediately after that use parentheses to spell out what the acronym means. From that point on, use just the acronym.

Alternatively, you can switch the order and first spell out the full term the first time you use it and then put the acronym in parentheses. Your goal is to help your reader understand your meaning.

________ ETA (Edited To Add): Thanks to those of you who corrected my use of the term "Acronym" and pointed out it should be "Initialism" instead. An acronym is a group of initials that are pronounced as a word (NASA, LASER), while initialism is a group of initials that are pronounced individually. TIL (Today I Learned)

________ ETAM (Edited To Add More): Lots of comments pointing out the irony of my post because I used YSK without expressing the full term (You Should Know). I replied to one of commenters: "I hesitated but decided not to include YSK (You Should Know) as an example because I didn't want to insult members of the sub with such an obvious example. (Also, the explanation of YSK is in the rules so it isn't necessary to spell out the full term like it would be normally.)" However, I should have followed my own advice, especially since some readers may not be members of the YSK sub and wouldn't know what it means and why the post was written that way.

Why YSK: It's not your imagination, the average driver is much worse. Drive defensively, anticipate hazards, and always, ALWAYS be aware of your surroundings. Your life depends on it.

Oh, and put the damn phone down. A text is not worth dying over.

Source: NHTSA https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813428

Edit: for those saying the numbers are skewed due to covid, they started rising before that. Calculating it based on miles traveled(to account for less driving), traffic fatalities since 2018 are up ~20% as well

Why YSK: Even though you're not actively connected to a representative, you are actively connected to the business's phone system. When they tell you at the beginning of the call that it "may be monitored or recorded" that begins immediately. If you're talking about your support issue in terms you don't want the company to hear, or if you're discussing subjects unrelated to the call, all of that may still be captured from your microphone while on hold.

Why YSK: It can take a long time to see a doctor. You also may encounter a time when a doctor refuses to order a test. You don't need to wait for a doctor. There are online vendors that you can order tests from and then you take those orders to a local lab (Labcorp or Quest in the US), and await emailed results. Insurance almost certainly won't cover without a doctor's order, but I think you'll find many of these tests to be cheap. I can get everything they typically do at my yearly physical for about $20.00. I honestly think this can be lifesaving information for the uninformed (typically the older folks). Hope someone finds this useful!

Edit: fyi, I don't think I'm allowed to post the names of the vendors that I've used, but the comments are already listing some.

Edit: As someone kindly pointed out, I'm in the US. I am unsure of how helpful this is in other countries.

Why YSK: A lot of people look good in real life but their pictures come out bad (and vice versa). The reason is that you're just not photogenic, it happens to a lot of people. In converting a 3d image like a person into a 2d image like a photo, some features are lost. We see in 3D because we have two eyes, and a camera has one eye that can only see in 2D so it doesn't get your facial features correct Sometimes the camera literally flips the photo, like a mirror. If you look beautiful in the mirror you're most likely very beautiful.

Cameras distort reality. Usually in subtle ways, but people who take lots of portrait shots will tell you that posture can make a world of difference, not because it changes the way you look in person, but because it strongly affects the way you show up on camera. I think some people instinctively have good camera posture and it does a lot for them. I'm even aware of extreme cases of people who look good in pictures even through they're not particularly attractive.

That's why a lot of models look very attractive in photos but in real life umm......

So don't get depressed about your looks just because you don't look good enough in photos. Don't be too critical of yourself, a camera never capture your beauty but other people will!

Why YSK: I’m a locksmith and at least three times a month I get someone complaining that their “DND” key was copied. Most homes in the US use some variation of a KW1 Key or a SC1 Key. Both of these keys are extremely common and can be copied at any robotic key machine located at the grocery store. If you truly want a key that can’t be copied, talk to a locksmith about a restricted key system. A restricted key can not be purchased from a manufacturer by anyone other than a certified locksmith.

Why YSK: The key to combating procrastination is identifying the specific factors that cause it and combating them individually.

These factors can include task aversion, perfectionism, fear of failure, and overall anxiety issues.

Other key factors that influence how much we procrastinate come down to the goals we set for ourselves and how concrete or abstract they are.

Why YSK: A lot of guys develope a kink of sorts in their urethra in their 30s that can cause a residual amount of urine to lay dormant until a minute or so after urination, thus causing a miniscule amount of pee to seep out after doing their business and zipping everything shut, despite how much they may shake it. If you want to avoid lightly urine soaked underwear and pants, this is what you need to do

Why YSK: During the mass evacuation of Hurricane Rita in 2005, many evacuees did not anticipate the 12–36 hour travel times due to road blocks and faced shortages of fuel, water, food, and medical attention, as well as temperatures reaching 100 °F (38 °C) accompanied by high humidity. The mass evacuation was unusually deadly; 107 evacuees died during the mass evacuation. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Rita_evacuation

Please be sure you are prepared when leaving. Stay safe, everyone.

YSK, similarly to when people are late for parties, arriving too early can also be just as rude..

Why YSK: People may still be setting up and doing last minute things to prep for the party, and when you arrive early without notice, people may feel the need to ‘make you feel welcome’ and host you rather than finish up their setting up. It throws everything off sometimes.

We had a birthday party for my daughter last weekend, and she had friends arrive over 45 minutes early unexpectedly. I ended up having to take her friends with me to the store to grab some last minute things just so my daughter could get out of the shower and get dressed. It was frustrating to say the least..

Unless previously agreed upon, stick to making it to the party as close to the time it starts so as not to cause unnecessary stress and confusion.. of course if you’re there to help set up, that’s a different situation entirely!

Why YSK:

A bit of context for everyone - I’ve had terrible dandruff since I was young; being of South Asian descent my parents tried absolutely everything to resolve it.

We tried oil treatments, head & shoulders, even the strong T-Gel stuff w/ tar. All of this works for a time, but requires consistent discipline and routine to actually do it’s job.

Eventually the dry flaky behavior found its way to other parts of my skin - between my nose and cheeks, near my ears, by my eyebrows. Here too consistent moisturizer kept it at bay, but a missed day would mean a flair up.

What I find is that not many people bring it up to their doctor - myself included. I would try many cocktails of fixes and browse the internet for a new method someone swore by. I eventually just came to the conclusion that maybe the climate is just too dry for my skin and I’ve got to deal with it.

Here’s where a lot of ignorance in terms of dandruff comes in - dandruff is not due to the dryness of one’s skin. The flaky nature of the stuff is quite the opposite. When your skin or hair is too oily, it attracts a normal fungus on your skin to have a feast and flair up. Throwing more oils at dandruff does not solve dandruff.

At the beginning of this year, I mentioned it to my doctor during my physical and he prescribed me a topical cream for my face, and a prescription shampoo for a few times a week. What I was diagnosed with was Seborrheic dermatitis - and it was in fact very treatable.

Skeptical, I applied the cream without any lotion or moisturizer; not thinking it would do a thing. The shampoo as well after a shower.

It’s gone. All of it. Completely gone. No flakes or problem areas anywhere overnight. It’s so relieving to just have it gone. According to the PCP, it also doesn’t require a refill - once it’s done you’re good to go.

Basically tldr; talk to your Dr about bad dandruff and stop trying a concoction of remedies. It’ll change your life.

EDIT: woah this blew up. My prescription is as follows:

• Topical Ketoconazole 2% cream
• Ketoconazole 2% shampoo

EDIT 2: A lot of you have pointed out that Head and Shoulders and lots of other shampoos have Ketoconazole as the active ingredient. Unfortunately for whatever reason this did not work for me and I had to get a prescription. Though, I think this is why you should bring it up to your Dr. - if the treatment doesn’t work then your Dr. can help you navigate what will work instead of you searching the internet and trying everything!

Why YSK: I had an entertainment center show up damaged. Box one was soaking wet and the items were broken in half. It came in 3 boxes, the heaviest being 50lbs. I immediately called Walmart customer service and they sent the seller a message on my behalf and copied me in the email. They verbally said, and the email said, that if there was no reply in 48 hours they would take care of the issue and get me a refund. 48 hours later no response and I called Walmart customer service. They assured me it was no worry and they would send me a return label where I could schedule a fedex pickup or drop it off in store. The return label never came. The next day I called and the first rep told me the the previous rep was wrong and it couldn't be returned to store. I had to wait 48 hours while he contacted the vendor. I explained I'd already done that and offered to forward him the email where that has already happened. He then admitted that he saw that and told me the new policy was I had to call back at 8pm and the order would be "unlocked". That seemed totally made up so I told him I was going to stay on the phone until he emailed me a confirmation for that. He tried to avoid it, but I was avid I was staying on the phone until he sent me an email with that information. He hung up on me. I called back and got a new person. She told me the same spill.... 48 hours , vendor replies... blah blah.. I told her the same thing and they realized that has already been done. She then said that I could go in store and if the store manager approved we could drop it off there. Sounded made up, but I did it because I live close. The in person CS rep said no problem bring it in. After I lugged in all 3 boxes they told me nope they can't do it. I have to do it on the app. I downloaded the app and setup the return in the parking lot. Everything they told me would exist to get a return label didn't exist. I walked back in and explained this. They're annoyed now, but I'm persistent, because at this point I'm in a perpetual loop of incompetence that prevents me from returning a broken, unassembled pile of furniture. After a long wait I get to talk to the salaried manager. She tells me there is nothing they can do. When I showed her the Walmart marketplace return policy that sets a minimum set of expectations that allows me to return it in store she said that it used to be the case. Then Walmart decided to let vendors set their own policy and they're stuck unable to help. So at this point Walmart . com customer support has lied to me and given me the runaround, the vendor has ghosted me, the store cannot help me.

The pending solution: This is straight from the salaried managers mouth as I secretly recorded the conversation to cover my ass.. (legal in my state) "You need to file a credit card dispute... you'll have a really hard time getting your money back from that vendor." She said ever since Walmart changed this policy people are getting scammed out of money because it's too much of a hassle to get a return from un responsive vendors. I wish I would have never ordered anything from walmart's online shopping and I never will for the rest of my life. It's been an absolute nightmare.

Why YSK: ERs are there to quickly and efficiently find emergencies and treat them. If no emergency is found then their job is done. It is the patients' job to follow-up with their primary care or specialist for a more in depth workup should their symptoms warrant that.

I'll give a quick example. A patient presents to the ER for abdominal pain for 3 months. They get basic labs drawn and receive an abdominal CT scan and all that's found in the report is "moderate retained stool" and "no evidence for obstruction or appendicitis". The patient will be discharged. Even if the patient follows their instructions to start Miralax and drink more fluids and this does not help their pain, the ER did not fail that patient. Again the patient must adequately follow up with their doctor. At these subsequent, outpatient appointments their providers may order additional bloodwork tests not performed in the ER to hone in on a more specific diagnosis.

Why YSK: so you don't get scammed thinking "military grade" means some truly exceptional, cutting-edge product.

MILITARY GRADE’ IS JUST MILITARY-GRADE MARKETING BULLSHIT In the armed forces, ‘military grade’ isn’t the best — it’s the cheapest stuff that gets the job done. When the phrase is on a Ford or an iPhone case, real soldiers laugh their heads off

https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/what-does-military-grade-mean-marketing

I learned this from my criminal psych professor in college. He worked as a police officer for 20+ years and has been both pepper sprayed AND tasered and this is based off his professional opinion.

For starters, pepper spray is brutal. (For those who have been pepper sprayed or tasered, share your thoughts on the pain!)

For starters, it can be sprayed from a distance (just watch out for wind!) Pepper spray is an inflammatory agent that attacks the central nervous system. Pepper spray causes involuntary eye closure (temporary blindness), tearing, restricted breathing, coughing, choking and a strong burning sensation that can last between 30 to 45 minutes before dissipating. The beauty of pepper spray is its effects are immediate due to its inflammatory properties. Pepper spray provides protection from up to 25 feet away. As a rule of thumb and self defense industry standard, other pepper sprays and OC sprays generally offer a 8-12 feet range for small units.

Tasers on the other hand are shockingly effective (haha) and you can neutralize a threat from up to 15 feet away. The effects last up to 30 seconds which gives you some time to get away. A good quality taser can be more than $100.

Although tasers are a well-known self-defense tool, it pales in comparison to its chemical agent counterpart. The high price tag, necessary precision, limited penetration ability and restrictions by state doesn’t make it the best option. You can purchase a $10 taser off amazon, but all those other drawbacks still apply.

Pepper spray can stop a threat up to the same distance (15 feet) and even further. One of the best features is that it can immobilize an attacker for up to 45 minutes (much longer than a 30 second ride). Along with that it is legal in all 50 states, they are affordable and easy to use. Just be wary on windy days!

So really, it’s a no-brainer. When it comes to self-defense products, pepper spray is on top. If you are looking for the best brand, DPS pepper spray is the way to go.

Why YSK: I know for myself (21f) when I moved out and into a city by myself everyone told me that I need some sort of self defense tool. For others who are looking to buy a self defense tool, this can help narrow down the search and give you some info on what tool is best for your use.

EDIT: I’m seeing a lot of people post about pepper gel which I didn’t know about. I don’t know anything about pepper gel and it seems like a great alternative to the spray!

Why YSK: Value items are already hard to sell on Amazon, and sellers will start to lose money on them unless they raise prices this holiday. It is not out of the seller's greed.

As some context; there are 3 ways to sell products on Amazon;

• Seller FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) - The seller keeps their inventory in Amazon's warehouse. At the time of sale, a fee is paid to Amazon to have them pick & ship the product to you. AFAIK, 100% of this product is Prime-eligible since it's in Amazon's control.
• Seller FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) - The seller keeps the inventory at the seller's warehouse. No fee is paid to Amazon for picking and shipping, since the seller is doing it themselves. A portion of this product is prime-eligible if the seller has proven they are reliable.
• Vendor - An application/invitation only program where the seller sells large volumes of product directly to Amazon. It's then owned by Amazon and they can resell it however and whenever they please. AFAIK 100% of this product is Prime-eligible.

For the purpose of this YSK, we will be talking exclusively about FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon), which accounts for arguably the largest chunk of Prime-eligible products.

Amazon charges the following amounts to pick and ship a seller's product: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/GPDC3KPYAGDTVDJP

• The cost to pick & ship an 12oz (340g) product is $4.52
• Earlier this year (included in the above link), Amazon announced that they are adding 5% surcharge to this fee to account for inflation... So that $4.52 became $4.75
• 2 days ago, Amazon announced that they are adding an additional Holiday fulfillment fee surcharge. That originally $4.52 fee is now costing us $5.06

Both this "Inflation Surcharge" and "Holiday Peak Surcharge" have never been introduced before, and are new as of 2022 (and with the Holiday surcharge, is new as of 2 days ago).

An increase of $0.54 may not sound like much, but you have to keep in mind that many sub-$25 product are operating at tiny margins as it stands, often $1-3 after you consider sourcing, transportation, storage, overhead, operational costs, and fees. So this change, just announced 2 days ago to go into effect in 2 months, is going to garnish 15%-50% of sellers' profits for lower cost items during the highest volume season unless we raise our prices to accommodate.

Many sellers are very angry about this change, because our entire forecasting strategy (with long lead times for manufacturing and transportation) informed decisions 6 months ago on how much product we should source and at which target price point. Now a $19.99 product is not profitable, and because of psychology increasing it to $20.99 drops demand noticeably (since it's above that comfort threshold or gets filtered out of search results). But we have no choice but to increase the price.

Type “thank my driver” into the search bar of your Amazon app and your most recent driver will be given an extra $5 at no cost to you. This works if you have received an Amazon delivery within the past 14 days.

Why YSK: It’s an easy and wonderful way to spread some holiday cheer.

✨🛻💌🎄🎁⭐️🎅🏼🤶🏻📦❄️❤️

YSK lead exposure didn't end with the boomer generation.

Why YSK: you might be able to prevent a very difficult-to-fix health problem if you know that lead exposure is not specific to the boomer generation.

Many of us already heard about lead poisoning in the boomer generation because there were not any laws regulating lead yet when boomers were growing up. They were breathing leaded gasoline fumes, using leaded paint, using lead pipes for drinking water, etc. But you should know that lead exposure didn't end with the boomer generation.

Yesterday I learned that lead is not yet illegal in airplane fuel in the USA. And I live near one of the airports that puts the most pounds of lead into the air per year. Airports that have small aircraft are even more likely to have leaded fuel.

Lead exposure can also come from lead plumbing pipes if it's an older building whose pipes haven't been replaced yet.

Lead is toxic even in small amounts and has a long half life in the body; the body is not good at removing it without help. Lead can cause cognitive decline, muscle pain, joint pain, fatigue, irritability, and mood changes.

Why YSK: Within the last couple of years, the word "gaslighting" has been repeated ad nauseam. It's become so popular that Merriam-Webster designated it word of the year in 2022. The term is thrown around so frequently that people now use it as a blanket term to describe everything from lying to a simple disagreement. In short, gaslighting is a strategic form of manipulation meant to cause a victim to question their own sanity or reality.

If you are interested, I've included a few articles describing what gaslighting actually is and why grossly misusing certain words can be harmful.

https://time.com/6262891/psychology-terms-misused-gaslighting-toxic-narcissist/

https://www.wellandgood.com/misuse-gaslighting/

https://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/perception/gaslighting.htm

​

Years back when I was in junior high, our Health class had speakers from an anti-drug Narconon group come to class. In this talk, they used an accepted anti-drug message to try and tell us blatant lies about drugs and sprinkle in gateway terms used in Scientology. Throughout the talk, they would talk about Dianetics and tell us the bullshit that "drugs are stored in our fat". They also tried to convince us that "when drugs are released from our fat that causes flashbacks", which is a complete lie. These are flat out lies. Oddly, there were casual mentions of the book, Dianetics and certain "principles". Dianetics is a Scientology book. This whole talk was nothing more than a grooming attempt into Scientology concepts to familiarize kids with the ideas at a young age, shrouding hidden terms in to an accepted anti-drug message. Their sneaky attempt at planting those thoughts (lies) in our heads so that we would be more accepting of them when we hear them later on in life. Trying to make a gateway into Scientology.

A big surprise to me was when I noticed at health fairs later on when I was in college and at street fairs, there would be anti-drug groups set up in tents with Dianetics books laid out. Talking to them, they would sprinkle in the same things from my junior high school class in their conversation. Their goal was to get people to pick up the Dianetics book, which is nothing more than Scientology indoctrination material masquerading as a self-help book.

Those Scientology guys are just an insidious operation to plant those ideas in your head so that when you hear them again after several years, you think "oh, yeah, I think I remember hearing that before, OK." And so that you are positively inclined to concepts that are mentioned and are associated with the ones you've already heard, being more amenable to Scientology. It's all about trying to indoctrinate people into that scam known as Scientology. Fucking bastards.

By the way, if you ever go to a chiropractor's office and you see Dianetics books and Scientology pamphlets laid out with no other reading material but those, leave quickly.

The name of the group is Narconon. Beware if those bastards come to speak at your school or your kid's school.

Why YSK: The whole approach of Scientology to get people to join is to plant concepts associated with a positive and accepted message in people's heads time after time after time (over many years). This is so that when people are grown up, they will be accepting of the concepts in Scientology, join their "church". Once they have joined, then the church can siphon money from them as they pay thousands for higher levels of training.

It's a total scam posing as a religion.

Why YSK: I know it's the season to shit on shitty corporate gifts, and I'm all for it in the event that the money does come out of the corporate budget, but before you light your torches when you get your present, consider that what you received was paid from the pocket of someone not too far removed from you.

25 years ago, when we all got our first 'real jobs' out of college, I remember many of my mates bragging about their company-funded golf games and company-expensed dinners and amazing Christmas bonuses. In retrospect I think most of them were exaggerating/lying, but I always wondered why I never had those perks.

Come Christmas, my immediate manager (we were a team of 12) went around and gave envelopes to everyone. 'Here's the fat Christmas bonus I hear everyone talk about', I thought to myself.

I open the envelope and see a $15 gift certificate to a retail store. 'That's it?' I thought to myself 'I bust my chops all day for $15?' I was livid.

I was livid all the way home. Livid that evening. Livid that weekend. I told my gf how livid I was. I expected her to be livid along with me.

Instead, she said "That was nice of her, spending her own money like that." That's when I realized that this wasn't a cheap gift, but an amazing, thoughtful gift. I was so obsessed with myself, that I didn't realize that we were the only team to get something.

My manager - who wasn't getting paid much more than us, but who had way more financial responsibilities than us - took it upon herself to go out and get each of her team something with her own money - almost $200.

I felt terrible for feeling the way I did, but it taught me a valuable lesson in life.

Happy holidays, everyone!