Things you used to think and now can't quite believe you did

Treacle is not mined as far as I know!

I'm another one who thought To Let signs meant toilets, usually driving down the motorway needing to pee and wondering why my mum didn't pull over at one of the numerous toilets that seemed to be available!

Thanks Miss!

I used to think treacle was mined when I was a child back in the 70's, and looking it up it seems the Discworld books weren't written then, so I can't have got it from them.

Perhaps Terry Pratchett got the same information as I did as a child.

(Btw, treacle isn't mined, is it? )

I was also not convinced that spaghetti didn't come from trees if the truth be known....

Aged 24 my then bf driving friend and I to heathrow, the sign said 1M. I couldn't understand how it could only be 1 minute away and I couldn't see the airport yet... In my defense I'm from a country where we use km. But still OMG how was I so thick? [ blush ]

I can remember thinking that cheese was mined because of the cheddar gorge. I thought it was a vast cheesey basin. I used to worry that we'd run out of cheddar. I have two evil brothers who encouraged my innocent belief.

ThatBloodyWoman - just in case nobody answered, the Discworld is the world Terry Pratchett writes about!

As a horse obsessed child I sat waiting for hours to watch The Ryder Cup on Telly.

Are prunes really plums?

I'm 32, how did I not know this? Thanks for enlightening me weatherall

When I was in infant school I thought there were two types of sky, the blue one and the white one.I remember looking out of the classroom window one morning and thinking 'oh, it's the white sky today'. I didn't realise it was overcast. .with clouds.

I thought the only way a death could be shown in a film was if someone really died. Then when I was about nine and was beginning to doubt it I was watching a film with my dad and someone died. I said to him, "Is he really dead?" My dad thought I was talking about the character, not the actor, and said, "Yes, he couldn't survive that." So I carried on believing it for another ten few years.

And for a while I thought Tymoshenko was a man called Tim O'Shenko.

And I used to think that gorillas fought in wars.

How are you getting on with the positive affirmations, Aspiringhuman?

For my part, I thought that the Isle Of Dogs was where quarantined pets were held before they were allowed into the country.

Tapir did she actually insert the contraceptive pull up her wazoo then? How come noone had told her different when prescribing it to her? !

I had to confess one to my DD a while ago. My DS's both have strong Scottish names that have a meaning. She asked me what her name meant, and not having a clue, told her it was French for "beautiful flower". She has been going on and on and on about it since and after a school friend laughed at her, I have had to admit it actually means industrious/hardworking . Incidentally she is industrious and hardworking, but it doesn't suit her airy, fairy, flaky 6 yo frivolous tendencies.

I will wait a few years before I let slip that it's also, according to urban dictionary, slang for a highly attractive and sexually intriguing being. Or maybe I won't share that nugget of information at all

I used to think prostitute meant protestant.

Couldn't understand why kids at school got so offended when others said 'your mum's a prostitute'

Similar to the rumble strip one, I thought the beeping at pedestrian crossings were for blind drivers.

I also got confused about split ends and why you should regularly have a trim, at age 6ish I told all my friends that hair goes curly if it gets too long.

I assumed for years that kerb crawling was a minor driving offence. I thought that it was outrageous that the then (I think) Director for Public Prosecutions had to resign for kerb crawling....

I thought that 'Cleveland' was actually 'Cleverland' and used to think it would be a great place for the Mister Men to live. Thought that for years - had relatives who lived there, and everytime we saw the sign as we drove into the county I would say 'Now we're in Cleverland'. Parents laughed but didn't correct me

I remember my great great aunt telling us that when she was in labour she still had no idea how the baby was going to get out, that must have been a bloody shock!

God yes Stealth, when I was 18 and started getting junk mail, I entered the Reader's Digest Prize draw and I was absolutely certain that I was actually going to win something. I had a fucking pile of unread books thanks to that little delusion. My mum and dad just smiled ruefully at me every time another one arrived at the house.

That Yorkshire means "Home of the Blessed" and that my DH's family are descended from River gypsies. Thanks, DH, for letting me make an arse of myself over those two

My dad told me he had a toupee that he glued on, which obviously I believed because he could wiggle his hairline. I had told loads of people (pretty much everyone I met between the ages of 6 and 10) about my dads toupee. I was obsessed with it

I needed to get my PhD thesis bound and so I rang a bookmaker. I had a most confusing conversation.

When l was little I used to think that 'To Let' sign boards on houses should actually say 'Toilet' but the 'I' was missing.

Makes you wonder what was going through my brain.

Also only realised recently that Phoenix are fictitious birds. Called DH down to see one in the garden. It was a buzzard, he pissed himself at my stupidity.

Oh yes I used to assume my parents were millionaires. They're comfortable but not in that league. I had no idea how they kept buying stuff (house, cars, food etc) if they weren't. I had no idea that these jobs they did meant that they got money every month! I also didnt understa d what a mortgage was thougb thats less silly

Oh and I also thought Arkansas and Arkansaw were different States until someone else mentioned it on a MN thread