There’s a famous quote from Parks and Rec where lovable goofball Andy Dwyer says, “I don’t know who Al Gore is and, at this point, I’m too afraid to ask.”

The quote has become legendary and the subject of endless memes because it’s so relatable. If we’re being honest, we deal with a lot of things in our daily lives that we don’t really understand, but we roll with it and pretend. Because, in the immortal words of Andy Dwyer, we assume everyone else knows, and asking would just make us look dumb.

Here are a few of those everyday mysteries, clarified without shame.

1. Those two buttons on your calculator

Almost every basic calculator has a C button adjacent to a CE button. Everyone knows that those buttons clear the screen, but few want to admit that almost nobody knows their real function. Or what the difference is between them.

In a recent discussion on Threads, most people admitted they just mash both buttons randomly to clear the screen and start over.

The truth is pretty simple: C means Clear, as in Clear the entire calculation. CE stands for Clear Entry and removes only the last value you typed. CE is like the Undo or Back button, letting you continue from where you left off. C, or Clear, just starts everything over from the beginning.

2. The numbers on your toaster

Unlike most other cooking devices, toasters offer only numbered cooking settings, usually 1 to 5 or 6.

Intuitively, we all understand that a 6 means longer cooking and/or higher heat, resulting in darker toast, whereas 1 offers a lighter touch. But few of us actually understand what the numbers themselves are referencing.

Temperature? Time? Number of slices? We’re too afraid to ask.

The answer? The numbers on........

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