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

Belly buttons being innies or outies isn't down to the doctor tying it? I'd better google the real reason

Until I was in my twenties, I though a haggis was a little Scottish bird, in fact the one you see on the front of Scottish whiskey bottles. The one called "Grouse" which I somehow hadn't related it to the bird on the label.

@BillyJoe111 the channel tunnel thing... it isn't?!

I have believed many of these.
We had a Ladybird history book when I was little. It had a section entitled "Post War." My reading wasn't brilliant at the time and I genuinely believed there was a period of history where the world had got so tired of fighting they'd resorted to just sending each other nasty letters in the post.

I only found out a couple of years ago that carpets don't actually grow. I thought that when beds and furniture left marks on carpets that the carpet had grown around it and I honestly only found out this actually isn't the case a couple of years ago. I'm 25 btw 🙃

When I was little I thought the signs for speed cameras referred to how fast the picture was taken, rather than the speed of the cars

I thought silicon valley in America was named that because so many people had plastic surgery...

I thought Morecambe and Wise lived together!

Earlier than that I thought Ernie the Milkman was real and died as per the sing. I would feel quite sad every time I heard it!

I thought a shed load was enough of whatever to fill a shed, not a lorry shedding it's load. Wondered why they always mentioned a shed load of tyres or straw on traffic announcements and tried to imagine how much would fit in a shed , and how big the shed could be.

@husbandcallsmepickle

I thought red wine was from purple grapes and white wine was from green grapes.

OMG I thought this too up until one minute ago!

@CigarsofthePharoahs

I have believed many of these. We had a Ladybird history book when I was little. It had a section entitled "Post War." My reading wasn't brilliant at the time and I genuinely believed there was a period of history where the world had got so tired of fighting they'd resorted to just sending each other nasty letters in the post.

I love this one!

By reading this thread I have now learned about grapes and the Channel Tunnel. Keep it up!

@katplva

Yep, I thought the train went over the Forth bridge up and down like a rollercoaster. I was very disappointed the first time I got to go on it.

This made me lol

I also pronounced WHSmiths WitSmiths.

I used to think seahorses were mythical!

@CigarsofthePharoahs

I have believed many of these. We had a Ladybird history book when I was little. It had a section entitled "Post War." My reading wasn't brilliant at the time and I genuinely believed there was a period of history where the world had got so tired of fighting they'd resorted to just sending each other nasty letters in the post.

If only you could get that idea adopted, you'd be in line for a Nobel peace prize.

@Derrymum123

I thought a shed load was enough of whatever to fill a shed, not a lorry shedding it's load. Wondered why they always mentioned a shed load of tyres or straw on traffic announcements and tried to imagine how much would fit in a shed , and how big the shed could be.

I was exactly the same until I saw a photo of a lorry carrying tomatoes that had shed its load. There were tomatoes EVERYWHERE, knee deep right across all the lanes of the motorway and my brain finally made the connection to the phrase.

That you could:

Buy elbow grease
Fairys were real
Midwives were nurses and were very kind
There was a correlation between the number of children people had and the number of times they had sex (due to sex education which was entirely bilogical)

@Whattheschitt

I thought reindeers were mythical.

Same

You can buy it

I thought ‘recycled’ toilet paper was all the used, dirty paper being washed dried and repackaged…😲

I was at least 7 or 8 when I realised that taller people weren't necessarily older. My mum had previously told me she was 22 (a lie) and my nan then said she was 21. Because my mum was taller it made sense.

Love this thread OP, in particular -

I used to think that when a baby was born the doctor tied a knot in the umbilical cord and whether you had an innie or outie was a result of how good they were at tying knots!

Fuck me, this thread has made me realise I'm thick as fuck!!! Out of interest can I please ask something I've always been scared to ask...

The big fuel tanks that deliver petrol to petrol stations. Who fills up THEIR tank? Do they even have a tank? Or do they just use the petrol they're carrying?

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

Please bare with me at this stupidity. My only defence is exhaustion from having a baby and toddler.

Palm oil from palms of hands of gorillas. Not palm trees.

But why gorillas? Orangutans are the ones at risk from plam oil production.