What were your misconceptions as a child?

[Geekster1963]

I always used to think when a pub said 'free house' it meant you got free drinks. I also thought a '99' was so called because it cost 99p. (Was a lot less when I was a child).

Misread pubic hair as 'public' hair for an embarrassingly long time. Thought it was called that in an ironic sense, seeing as it is anything but public

In common with PPs, I had no sense of time. I’d been told that birds descended from dinosaurs and was awed (and a bit worried) to think that our budgie’s great-grandparents were T-Rexes.

For most of primary school, I believed that the Queen was a supernatural being, like a ghost, who enjoyed jumping out and frightening people. It took me years to realise that she walked instead of gliding along the floor.

I believed that DM was sending her breast milk to starving kids in Africa via Oxfam. (In reality, she was donating it to the local hospital, but it was while Live Aid was going on and I was a very confused 3 year old!)

I only realised this wasn't true as I stated telling my antenatal group about it! 🤦

@Cattenberg I thought Mrs Thatcher was the Queen; she appeared on TV often enough, and had a similar hairstyle.

I always thought an England cap was a cap you got given. I actually still don't know what it means.

I used to think that any shop that sold baby items like prams cots etc was called a ‘baby shop’ because they also sold babies, somewhere in the back on a shelf that nobody could see. So if you wanted a baby, you had to ask for one.....

It was when somebody came out of a ‘baby shop’ with a pram with a baby in it. I thought the person bought the pram and baby as a complete set, not realising she went in with her baby in the pram and might have been having a mooch around.....

So, I used to say somebody bought a baby from the baby shop 😮.

I used to think if you moved house you got the new house complete with all its contents. We moved house when I was about 6, my parents had said that when we had a bigger house we'd be able to have a dog. At one house we viewed they had a really horrible yappy little dog and as soon as we left I burst into tears because I didn't want that dog. I also tried to persuade Mum and Dad to buy another house because I really liked the bedspreads.

In my defence, I was very little.
I used to pass the ‘baby shop’ on the way into town, a double fronted shop with prams and cots in the window. It was there as I grew older and I’d joke ‘oooh, there’s the baby shop’ .
It’s gone now.

I always thought an England cap was a cap you got given

It is!

I used to think that roads with place names led to that place.

So if the street was called Chester Road at one end was Chester. It was so people knew how to get places. You wanted to go to London? Easy! Just follow London Road!

It took a long while for me to realise this wasn't true.

Except London Road often does lead towards London!

That creams and medicines labelled for external use only couldn’t be used in a hospital but it was fine to use in your own home.
I remember thinking it was a really odd rule and assumed that in hospital they had their own special, different versions. When I was actually in hospital I was disappointed not to find anything labelled for internal use only.

I thought cats were females and dogs were males and they made babies together and had both cats and dogs.

I was told I had "hollow legs" if I ate a lot. I thought that my whole body was hollow and just filled up with food.

I also thought that if you got married you automatically got a baby whether you wanted one or not and I was worried about getting married for that reason.

Ince when we walked past Ladbrookes I asked what sort of shop it was and my mum told me people went in there to put money on a horse. I took this very literally and imagined a room full of plastic horses with piles of money on their backs!

@Charley50 sometimes but, for example, London Road in Blackburn most definitely doesn't

I thought the roads literally had the place at one end, so you'd travel down one road for a while and at one end would be the place.

The Wombles of Wimbledon, common are we

Christ, it's not that is it?! It's Wimbledon Common . That penny has just dropped and I'm 46. In my defence, I grew up in Scotland, with no knowledge of London - and I'd only heard of Wimbledon because of the tennis. I did wonder why the Wombles seemed so pleased to be common!

The Wombles of Wimbledon, common are we

The cadence of that line as it is sung definitely makes it sound like that is how they mean it. Not a well written line!

I thought Cliff Richard was a little man who lived inside my mothers radiogram and sang songs. I used to look for him, and the radio announcers. I was two or three. I forgive myself.

I thought it took decades to become overweight as the only people I knew who were, were old.

I also thought Wombles were common.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one

@SnugglySnerd - I was also concerned that I would automatically have a baby if I got married.

I also thought, influenced by Dallas and Dynasty, that once married I'd have to get up an hour before my husband to do my hair and a full face of make up, then sneak back into bed and pretend to be asleep. As a full-on tomboy this kept me awake at night worrying.

I was very upset when told that Listen with Mother was recorded, rather than 15 minutes real time where they sang songs and told the story.

I used to wonder how people in America managed with herds of buffalo clogging up the streets.

I had a very hazy idea of how borders, countries and different climates worked as a young child. I remember my older brother explaining to me that borders between countries were a bit like fences. Then I extrapolated that to a completely different country being next door and you could chat over the "garden fence"/border. But I got really confused, thinking how can one country be really hot and another cold & wet if they are next to each other. I obviously didn't have much of a grasp of distances across our planet at a young age.

^ and that neighbouring countries, particularly at the border, would have similar climates.