Silly stuped things your younger self thought was true 🤪😳

[Justjackie]

I will go first...first job after leaving school..thought you paid tax then at end of year got it all back! I thought it was some kind of loan to the government 😳 heard mam and dad mention getting '-tax-back' over the years and thought that was what happened!

I used to think that nuclear power plants were somehow able to extract electricity straight from the nuclear reaction. I was very disappointed when I learned that they simply use the resulting energy to heat up water and turn a steam turbine.

There is a film that they filmed over the years of the children growing up - it was mentioned on some Mark Kermode film programme about coming of age films on BBC4 I caught part of recently (though probably a repeat.) But I have no memory of the film title or director. And it was remarkable because that's not usually how it's done.

My husband thought that coffee grounds lost their colour when there was no more coffee in them. He very rarely drinks coffee so I had to teach him how to use my espresso machine and was often served coffee that looked and tasted like dirty washing up water until I worked out that he was re-using the grounds "because they're still brown".

@EBearhug

There is a film that they filmed over the years of the children growing up - it was mentioned on some Mark Kermode film programme about coming of age films on BBC4 I caught part of recently (though probably a repeat.) But I have no memory of the film title or director. And it was remarkable because that's not usually how it's done.

That's the one with Ethan Hawke, isn't it? 'Boyhood'. Filmed over 12 years.

@BigPaperBag

Adding to the sex misconceptions, I have another. Regarding gay sex between men, I didn’t realise until I was about 25 (yes really) that the men do more than just rub their willies together. I honestly couldn’t think what was so exciting about that. When I found out about anal then penny dropped and I was like ahh, gotch. That makes a lot more sense

This!!!! Me too

Although I was about 15 when the penny dropped

That's it! Thanks, DadOnIce! Saves me googled.

That one day poverty and starvation in Africa would be cured with a sponsored walk yet here we are today with the same old adverts.

Trust me the IP isn’t far off point

I have to deal with some pretty stupid people on a daily basis, we offer services that can include optional insurance

The amount of people that e mail us after the service has taken place if they can now get their premium back as nothing went wrong is amazing.

I’m afraid we live in a f**led up world where more and more youngsters believe everything they are told especially if it’s posed by Karen on Facebook

I used to think that people who got satellite tv were just watching space and the night sky.

That is, the satellites that you get in space (Sputnik, Mir etc) had cameras on, and if you signed up for a Sky package, you'd literally just turn to that channel and watch space (and if you were lucky you might see a planet/shooting star/alien whizz by!).

Thought ladies had two holes down there, came as a shock when I realized I had three. 😱

Thought porn was make believe and he pretended to put it in.

That you should never take your pulse using your thumb, because it "has its own pulse". They tell you this in St John's Ambulance etc. I surely wasn't the only person to interpret this quite literally, imagining a whole little self-contained circulatory system, complete with miniature heart?

What on earth else could "it has its own pulse" possibly mean?

Several meant seven.

@Iwantacookie

One of my teddys said a few random phrases and my dad convinced me there was a little man sitting in there speaking. I used to place him upright so he wouldn't spill his coffee.

On a similar theme. My Dad told me that there were men in the car park barrier machines who took your ticket when you put it in the slot, and then raised the barrier for you. I used to call “thank you” out of the window to them!

@LadyFidgetAndHerHandbag

My husband thought that coffee grounds lost their colour when there was no more coffee in them. He very rarely drinks coffee so I had to teach him how to use my espresso machine and was often served coffee that looked and tasted like dirty washing up water until I worked out that he was re-using the grounds "because they're still brown".

I feel your pain. A decent cup of coffee is a delight. Re-using the grounds should be a criminal offence!

I think I’ve said this before but my dad had me utterly convinced Pingu was speaking Welsh
He also had me believing uri gellar bent a lamppost in our local park - it was obviously vandals
I genuinely thought on university challenge they had to climb a little ladder to get to the top desk luckily I’ve never applied to the show

I only realised 2 days ago that “the rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain” and not “plane”!! We would go to Spain for holidays when I was little and mum would always say it, so I thought it was a saying for holidaymakers, that the rain would only fall on the plane, ready for it being hot and sunny when we arrived! Jeez!

I thought Narwals were fictional like Unicorns.

I used to think that the speakers in my dads car housed tiny people like borrowers that sang/played music 😂

@Roma76

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Of what and why?

Why do people assumes that having the same genitals means I should agree with them?

My next door neighbour told me our privates were called our Reginas which I believed for several years. My (male) cousin told me tampax were to stop the baby from falling out.

I've only recently discovered that cashew nuts hang singly beneath a massive fruit that looks like a pepper. One tiny nut from a big fruit (or vegetable, maybe I should check that..). How is that efficient?

Not when I was young but a few years ago when the Thai junior footballers were stranded in a cave with their coach - big news story- I spent the whole time wondering how the hell they got a coach (bus) in there.

@TheMarzipanDildo

Until very recently (University Challenge yesterday) I thought Strasbourg was in Germany.

It should be in Germany.

It is sometimes. Depends on who won the last war