What stupid thing did you believe?

[Soubriquet]

For a long time, I honestly believed money laundering was literally washing money in a washing machine and I wondered why it was so bad

Oh, lots of things:

I used to think that everyone gets taller as they get older, even adults. My friend thought the same, and that anyone who lives to be 100 must end up as practically a giant!

I was very puzzled by the 'No Waiting' signs that were common in parts of London (meaning 'No stopping, even for a short time to wait for someone'). I had been told that it was good to be patient and wait for things, so I thought the signs were telling people to be naughty!

I had heard some adult conversation about marriages being annulled, and I thought that meant that the government could just send people randomly to other people's houses, and tell them, 'Your marriage is null - get out of this house!' I was scared that they might do that to my parents.

Like many children of the 60s and 70s, I was really scared of nuclear war; and I remember wondering why someone didn't just go around and dismantle every atom bomb in the whole world so that it couldn't go off (I think this was inspired by hearing about bomb demolition people in the context of Northern Ireland).

I thought Free House meant just that, a free house

That reminds me that I thought that the Free Church was one that you could go to without paying. I was a bit puzzled, because I knew that you don't in general have to pay to go to church (well, there is the collection, I suppose),

I’m glad I’m not the only one that got stumped by the puffer fish

And yes to free house!

When I was at infant school early 70s we were tiding up and teacher told me to use to some elbow grease. Sadly I took her literally....

@flowerlass

Extremely embarrassed to say I thought Sydney was the capital of Australia until my mid twenties.

To be fair I think getting the capital of Australia and Canada wrong is quite common as it's not the obvious place in both cases

I remember my parents discussing getting rid of our twin tub washer and getting a automatic and how much easier it would be for my DM to get all the washing done .

I thought a automatic washer would know what clothes were dirty in each room and somehow would collect them all and wash them and put them back in the right rooms ( washed , dried and folded )

TBF I was only about 6 at the time .

However when they do invent this kind of machine I will be 1st in the queue !

( 🖐 @Sweetpea1532 )

I could never understand WHSmith I used to call it wissmiths! I also thought the W in WC stood for wee

I thought a automatic washer would know what clothes were dirty in each room and somehow would collect them all and wash them and put them back in the right rooms ( washed , dried and folded )

Were out with some friends and my friend said that washing machines would only be fully automatic when you put the dirty clothes in the laundry bin and they reappeared back in the wardrobe/drawers. Her husband said he thought they already had one of those as that's what he did. He got a clip round the ear

@ConcernedAuntie he would of got a bit more than a clip round the ear from me

I saw an interview with Ronnie Corbett once where he revealed that his mother had been told by a medical professional that the reason he was so small was because she only had one fallopian tube .

Just had my own moment this Thursday.
You know when you're driving down a busy A road with trees either side? Quite often the tree branches near the road look like they're cut into an inverted L shape, so the lorries can go underneath. I asked how the people cutting the vertical parts of the tree branches knew where to stop to make the L shape at the top for lorries to go underneath. I didn't know that it's the actual lorries going past the trees that breaks the branches off and makes them that shape.
In fairness I'd seen hedge cutters cutting back hedges and thought they did the same for big trees. I'm 60!

@Curlygirl06

Ha!You were right, just about the wrong part of the world...If you lived in the southern US you would be correct as the Power Company DOES cut the tree branches from around the electrical wires and also cuts the limbs over the roadway so they don't fall on the lines which could knock out power for the area if the limbs were hit by lorries....makes for some unusual looking trees though!

(Hey @AlCalavicci! I saw some chalking on the pavement the other day and thought of you! )

@Sweetpea1532, twasn't me this time

[quote Sweetpea1532]@Curlygirl06

Ha!You were right, just about the wrong part of the world...If you lived in the southern US you would be correct as the Power Company DOES cut the tree branches from around the electrical wires and also cuts the limbs over the roadway so they don't fall on the lines which could knock out power for the area if the limbs were hit by lorries....makes for some unusual looking trees though!

(Hey @AlCalavicci! I saw some chalking on the pavement the other day and thought of you! )[/quote]
See, I knew I was right! The fact that this was in Dorset, not USA is entirely besides the point!

Yes, @Curlygirl06 sometimes we just have to believe in ourselves! Next time I visit there I will send you a photo

Children were the only ones who chalked on the road back in the day....but now we know differently ...right, ALC?

We had lots of scary posters/booklets at school about the myriad ways children could injure themselves (playing on railway lines, playing with fireworks, etc) and I believed I had seen a picture of a tiny thread behind the ear. I believed that if you broke this thread you would go deaf.
I was about 5 at the time and terrified to wash behind my ears because of this.
I also believed that the milk chocolate buttons with sprinkles on (now marketed as jazzies, I think) were made from spiders because that's what a year 6 teacher told me when I was in year 1 and she offered me one.
I was a terribly ignorant and gullible child.

I used to think that the words in a book only appeared when you opened the book. I spent ages trying to catch my books out by opening them fast.

My mum told me when I was little that my dad worked on the buses. (He was a ticket inspector and driver). I used to tell everyone he worked on the programme on TV and to look out for him.

Just remembered another one, my mum told me she was getting my dad a PlayStation for Christmas, I was thinking it was going to be a soft play type thing, I vividly remember picturing yellow columns with smiley balls on top. I was very disappointed at this black electric box

@Bloodylovecheese

I used to think that the words in a book only appeared when you opened the book. I spent ages trying to catch my books out by opening them fast.

My mum told me when I was little that my dad worked on the buses. (He was a ticket inspector and driver). I used to tell everyone he worked on the programme on TV and to look out for him.

That's so sweet. I used to try and catch my polly pockets in the act of being alive before they froze upon noticing me. I once wished on the wishing star that they would come to life when I could see them. They never did.

When there were adverts on television (K-Tel, Ronco and the like), for music compilations, the voiceover would list some of the tracks and then say, "...and many more".

For years I thought, 'And Many More', was a song title; I even thought I knew it and had a little tune going through my head!

When I was small, I thought that 'record breakers' were people who actually broke vinyl records (which we still had then!) and I wondered why it was such a great and astonishing thing to do.

I also assumed that 'Russian roulette' was the name of some sort of fancy pudding.

@Sweetpea1532 It s a myth , only kids chalk on the pavements , I have never done this as a adult , oooh no not me, nope , never

I thought maybe it was just a very compressed towel so sort of tore it apart expecting it to spring open as an actual towel. I just ended up with bits of cotton wool all over my bedroom floor.
Like these?www.<a class="break-all" href="https://amazon.co.uk/Disposable-Compressed-Expandable-Flannel-Washcloth/dp/B08562RG23/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=expandable%20flannel&qid=1632057150&sr=8-4&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum--chat-4348186-What-stupid-thing-did-you-believe" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">amazon.co.uk/Disposable-Compressed-Expandable-Flannel-Washcloth/dp/B08562RG23/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=expandable+flannel&qid=1632057150&sr=8-4

@FelicityBeedle

Just remembered another one, my mum told me she was getting my dad a PlayStation for Christmas, I was thinking it was going to be a soft play type thing, I vividly remember picturing yellow columns with smiley balls on top. I was very disappointed at this black electric box

For many years I thought Play Station was something to do with train sets. My friend's dh was up all night playing with his Play Station, as she told me, and I said he didn't look the type to play with train sets! What an idiot.