Mumsnet Talk

I used to think "Anon" was a very prolific poet, as a lot of the poems in my childhood anthology were written by him

We used to call the little ulcers that you get on your tongue "Elsie's" because I'd once pronounced it wrong when I was little. My younger sister missed out on the genesis of this little family quirk and it wasn't until she was about 22 and in the pub with a load of mates and said 'I've got an Elsie' that she was put right...

Also had a long discussion with my DH re-educating him about basic anatomy. He thought that the small intestine made your wee and your large intestine made your poo.

I on the other hand have never ever ever done anything worth posting on this thread.... [blushes]

On my first trip to Scotland with my then boyfriend (now DH) to his hometown we drove through a small village and I made a dumb comment that I thought 'twenty's plenty' was a stupid name for a village oh well, he still married me

I used to think that the tide went out because someone had pulled the plug out, like in a bath or sink! Thought this until I was 7 or 8! Also said "amimals" and "in a mimit"

I thought that Budapest and Bucharest were the same city, just with different translations. Turns out they're the capitals of two different countries.

I also never made the connection that when a scientist wanted (for example) to use a cancer-curing drug on a rat, they would be the ones to give the rat cancer in the first place. I guess I thought that there was an advert for rat owners to bring their ill pets in.

Apparently rats with genetic defects are much more expensive than their "normal" counterparts.

This thread is truly deserving of its classic status! It's got me through a bout of insomnia tonight.

My DH believed until he was about 15 that women do not poo.

My mum thought the main line from the Lady Gaga song is "cherry pie, cherry pie, no he can't read my poker face".

A friend of DH's sister thought that after you give birth they put the placenta back in, in case the woman had another baby that needed to use it. She was pregnant at the time.

I'm sure I have loads of my own but can't think of any new ones because I probably don't even realise they are wrong

Though I will admit to the strombolise/strong beliefs lyric. Didn't realise that until I read this thread. Although goodness knows what I though a strombolise was.

What a brilliant read during a night time feed!
I thought that Paddington station was named after the bear.

I've loved reading this!

Ok - I was 22 when I found out that Dinosaurs definitely existed - until then I thought it was "one of many possibilities."

Was reading on Facebook a few weeks back that someone's friends daughter was doing summer salts on the trampoline.

I only recently found out that cherry blossom trees produced cherries and apple blossoms produced apples. I thought it was a reference to the colour of the petals when they are flowering.

When I went to the US in 1966 I saw the word "pizza" for the first time, and pronounced it "pizz-uh". I mean, why not?

I was taken to a Chinese restaurant, much against my will, and ordered an egg roll, under the impression it was something like an egg sandwich.

I thought a hamburger was made with ham - why else would it be called a hamburger? (To be fair, there was a restaurant in my home town that sold beefburgers.) I was also astonished to discover a cheeseburger had meat in it... I thought it was like a beefburger, but with cheese instead of beef.

For some time I found it odd that so many cricketers were called ODI Career.

My lightbulb moment was when it suddenly occurred to me that Public Weighbridge was not a town. I was 40 at the time! Also when I was in my thirties I asked my DH where the gas tower near our house had gone? I didn't realise they went up and down, even though I'd driven past it on my way to work for four years.

And I'm still not sure if its true that The Wizard of Oz changes from black and white to colour because that's when colour film was invented. I was telling a colleague this last year, when it occurred to me how ridiculous it sounded, but it's what my dad told me when I was little, and now I just don't know if its true!

I used to see a van parked up in the same road every week when we went to visit my grandparents, the van had shop fitters on the side, I used to think it read shop lifters and wondered why the police let them drive around in a van with shop lifters written on it.

My OH thought that "albeit' was pronounced "i'll-bite".

I still remember a friend at school being asked by a teacher how much her body would be worth if it was broken down into minerals / metals. Her reply was, "well it all depends if I sell my orgasms or not". Yup, she meant organs (I hope!)

My sister also used to sing " I am the Lord of the dance SET-TEE ". Our family preferred it so much to the right lyrics that we both had it as a hymn at our wedding, cue much gigging from the front pews when it came to the chorus.

Oh - and it took me until well in my teens to realise that that solicitors were not the same people who got into trouble for soliciting and that protestants and prostitutes weren't the same thing. I spent a very long time very confused about this

Oh yes poncypony I used to think the same thing about Bruges & Brussels

When DD1 was born, I expressed my surprise to DH about how big the placenta was. He told me that of course it was big, as the baby had been inside it. I tried to correct him, but he was so adamant I started to doubt myself and let it go.

This one isn't me, but I've just spotted it on a radio station's fb page:
"Can I request 'totally clips of the heart' for my boyfriend Mikey as he's just so nice..."

Unfortunately, I'm related to the person who came out with these little nuggets:

"When you contraceive a baby..."

"I have a speech imparchment!" (they don't)

"Oh your cat got hit by a car? How sad. Good job it's got another 8 lives though, isn't it?"

"If we're going to get pacific about things..." instead of specific

I do love this person immeasurably though!!

When I was very little I thought London was a different country.

I made a bit of a twat of myself at school when I was about 15, I didn't realise that "Auf Weidersehen" was German, I thought it was just something people said in Newcastle.

This thread is so funny!

Up until the age of 18 ish I used to think Euthanasia was youth in Asia. I kept wondering what the kids in Asia were up to this time...

I used to drive passed a sign every day going to work that read Clay Pigeon Shooting. I thought clay pigeons were a breed of pigeons and very much feathered birds.

I was play fighting with my OH and we always start with threats, i said I was going to STAVE his head in! He asked 'what did you say?' With a smile on his face! I knew then i got the saying wrong I was so embarrassed i had to play fight twice as rough to get over it
(I know now that the saying is 'stove your head in' but don't think I'll try that threat again)

My dds English teacher calls the main character in noughts and crosses stephy writes sephy but says stephy this is also apparently short for persephone ( purse eh phone)

Has anyone clarified the knee cap thing?

YES babies have kneecaps. They're not visible on x rays at birth because they're cartilaginous, which gradually ossify (become bone) as children age.

Until the Olympics I thought horses were involved in water polo too

When I was in school and studying geography, my dad told me Niagara Falls was switched off at night to save energy. I believed him until I went to the falls in my twenties, and learnt otherwise!!

At 28 it randomly dawned on me...cows don't actually give each other piggy backs!
(Grandparents had a farm when I was a child ... I must have been told that to avoid awkward questions when I was really young...and never questioned it)