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Nutcrackers have become a staple part of Christmas decor — but their actual purpose has been a shock to some.

Turns out, the true function of nutcrackers lies within its name.

People have taken to social media to express their surprise after discovering nutcrackers are actually used to crack nuts.

It may seem obvious given the name of the figurine, but it seems to have gone right over so many people’s heads.

“‘You’re telling me that nutcrackers can actually crack nuts?’ -Me, Thanksgiving 2022,” one person tweeted.

“Oomf genuinely didn’t know that nutcrackers crack nuts I’m sobbing rn,” another said.

“Nutcrackers are actually used to crack nuts… I was today years old,” someone admitted.

“I was today years old when I realized that nutcrackers are actually used to crack nuts,” another added.

“NUTCRACKERS ACTUALLY CRACK NUTS?! WTF SINCE WHEN,” one person exclaimed.

One person on TikTok also claimed he was “today years old” when he discovered the actual use for a nutcracker.

He captioned his video, “the nut buster” — suggesting that he cracked the case.

“Clue is in the name really,” one person quipped in the comments.

“Very surprised by the amount of people who didn’t already know this,” another added.

Another TikTok user also posted about the discovery, writing “I prob sound so stupid but my mind was blown when I found out yesterday.”

According to The Nutcracker Museum, wood carvers in France and England were creating delicately carved intricate nutcrackers resembling humans and animals by the 15th century.

But the nutcracker figurine as we know it today, which resembles toy soldiers with buttoned blazers and top hats, didn’t come into fruition until the 19th century.

German woodworker Wilhelm Füchtner, known as the father of the nutcracker, was the first to commercially produce the nutcracker in 1872 — using the nutcracker from Heinrich Hoffmann’s story “King Nutcracker and Poor Reinhold” as his inspiration.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” ballet debuted in 1892 — which has kept renewed interest in the figurine each year.

The ballet is thought to be the reason the nutcracker has become associated with Christmas due to its Christmas Eve setting.

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