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Original poster

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

413 replies

treaclesoda · 07/05/2014 09:56

I saw a seagull flying and it suddenly occurred to me that when I was little, I thought there were two different types of seagulls. Ones with legs, and ones without. Naturally the ones with legs had no choice but to fly all the time Grin

I was a pretty bright child, I can't imagine why I thought that.

Please tell me someone else out there thought the same?

OP posts:
RiverRocks · 08/05/2014 12:45

I am 30 and have only just realised (last week) that Sinn Fein is an organisation and not the name of a person.

I also believed that you could get pregnant by kissing boys until I was about 13 and had proper sex education think my dad deserves a pat on the back for that one Grin

HeadfirstForTHiddy · 08/05/2014 12:30

I used to think pineapples grew on pineapple trees.

JugglingFromHereToThere · 08/05/2014 11:58

DH amusingly thought that his school staff room was where they kept a stash of "staffs" as in something that Robin Hood and Little John might use when battling baddies on a log over a stream Grin

wol1968 · 08/05/2014 11:57

I used to think limes were unripe lemons. Confused

meerschweinchen · 08/05/2014 11:48

I've only just got the wombles thing reading this thread Blush

Still not entirely sure I believe you all though....

YoureBeingASillyBilly · 08/05/2014 11:32

*When I was little my mother said never to tickle anyone or let anyone tickle you. Why? Because you'll get worms.

It was only when I started working in vets that I saw the light*

You'll have to explain this one to me please? Grin

SuffolkNWhat · 08/05/2014 11:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MissHobart · 08/05/2014 10:59

I didn't know the pony thing until I read this thread! I thought they were just baby horses! Confused

paragirl1981 · 08/05/2014 10:18

I remember seeing signs that said Bill Stickers is innocent!

riskit4abiskit · 08/05/2014 10:07

Signs that say trespassers will be prosecuted. I thought prosecuted meant being put in the electric chair and I worried about trespassing when out on family walks.

nancy75 · 08/05/2014 10:06

My daughter thinks that every time a song is played on the radio the artist is actually in the radio station singing in to a microphone. She knows about CD's, records and Ipods but just won't have it that the people aren't actually singing live when on the radio. In her defence she is 8 and as daft as a brush!

Atbeckandcall · 08/05/2014 09:46

When I was little my mother said never to tickle anyone or let anyone tickle you. Why? Because you'll get worms.

It was only when I started working in vets that I saw the light Blush

PunkHedgehog · 08/05/2014 09:44

Common wombles - yes.

Armed gorillas - yes.

I didn't think jeans caused cancer, but did have a similar sort of worry about catching AIDS from dirty needles: if you bought some how did you know they were clean. And what about pins? Nobody ever mentioned the risk from those, but surely they're the same sort of pointy metal thing. I accidentally stabbed myself with a safety pin and worried about it for ages. In my defence it was 1982 so I was only slightly less informed than most people at the time, and I was 8.

kiwimumof2boys · 08/05/2014 09:43

I thought -people lived in Big Ben (me and my sister used to pretend our bedroom was a flat in the big ben building.

  • that people only had sex for procreation purposes, and you automatically got pregnant when you did the deed.
  • that once you got your period you bleed constantly forever !
  • that when my dad played records (yes, records remember them ?) that the bands/singers lived in the record player ! in my defence I was only about 3 years old.
JockTamsonsBairns · 08/05/2014 09:40

I used to think that when the clocks went back an hour in October, that you actually got an extra hour in bed every night in the winter. Not something I gave a huge amount of thought to, until I had a conversation with Dh about it - I would have been about 33 Blush.

CabbagesAndKings · 08/05/2014 09:16

Finally, an answer to the treacle mine thing! Thank you!

ladypete · 08/05/2014 09:14

When supermarkets offered people cash back I couldn't understand why anyone would say no! I didn't realise they charged you for it. Grin

IkeaFurnitureAssemblyChampions · 08/05/2014 08:09

Similar to a few others, I used to think that cat's eyes in the road were for blind drivers, so they would know when they were steering out of their lane a bit. Blush

WhereDoAllTheCalculatorsGo · 08/05/2014 08:01

the origin of the treacle mining myth

Voodoobooboo · 08/05/2014 07:49

A beloved friend of mine grew up on Skye. She was well in to her 20s before she realised that, when birds fly south for the winter, they don't just go and hang around in Brighton.

Surprised to hear about narwhals, by the way!

SconeRhymesWithGone · 08/05/2014 06:35

Kansas and Arkansas are related words based on American Indian tribes, but for historical reasons, Arkansas was given a French pronunciation so the last s is silent. In the south central US accent, the "sa" sound became "saw."

WorryWarrier · 08/05/2014 06:30

I actually believed when I was a child that I would never die. As a I would put a Tune in my mouth and it would 'help me breathe more easily'.

chrome100 · 08/05/2014 05:43

I also used to think that compilation albums, Now 32 etc, were made by all the artists going to the studio in the same day. I wondered how in earth they managed to find a day they were all free with their busy schedules.

chrome100 · 08/05/2014 05:42

I used to think unicorns were extinct. Like the dodo.

EatsCakeForNoReasonWhatsoever · 08/05/2014 05:41

Bill stickers will be prosecuted.

I thought Bill was an actual person and that these notifications were some kind of warrant or something