things the masses of people seem to believe that aren't true.

[shortroundd]

I am not talking about conspiracies here that can't be proven with a bit of digging but more false stuff that seems to stick in the minds of the general population as truths.

1. All/majority of lotto winners go broke after 5 years. I have seen this touted out a lot yet there is no known source of it as no such research exists. There is the handful of bad stories that are circulated but this is only a minority out of 1000s of big winners worldwide. Infact, I recall the tabloids doing a feature with winners to celebrate Camelot's 20th anniversary or so and many winners had said their lives were better.

1. Marriage means all assets are split 50/50. Another huge misconception.

1. Prenups will protect 1 in divorce- again I think 2 and 3 come from people watching tv shows and movies that use this as factual when it's not.

1. Elvis sings 'Lonely this Christmas.'

1. The capital of Brazil is Rio.

@shortroundd

*Um, I've looked at a lot of medieval skulls?

I could do proper digging around if you want, but at a quick google, there's a paper here examining teeth as an indicator of general health; since the sample includes people with no issues, plainly, not all medieval people had bad teeth. So that'll do you for a start.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3094918/

Or did you mean the other bit about life expectancy*

see the problem is that is 1 paper and yes not 'all' but likely the majority. I am no expert but we are told fluoride was 1 of the best things in 20th century science as tooth decay globally declined, we are also told that teeth not washed will decay even on a very healthy diet.

Then you come in and say it was only when sugar came the teeth declined which goes against what we are taught. You use 1 paper to go against dozens of text book/internet sources. I am not saying you are all wrong by any means but I am saying there is such a drive to rewrite history the lines become very blurry.

Yes, it's one paper. Do your own research, ok? It's a mumsnet thread at 11.30 at night. I never said sugar is the only thing that damages teeth, either: I just pointed out that when you say people had bad teeth in the twentieth century and therefore you believe they must have done in medieval times, you're missing out a pretty significant dietary change that happened in the middle. HTH.

I really don't understand your point

Clearly. Yes you are allowed, no it is not common policy in multiples, yes it is common policy in independents. If a multiple is making you split your transactions then that's weird. And you say that we have no idea if a card is stolen but we (the minimum wage cashiers, or business owners) can often take a pretty good punt that the clearly homeless person in front of you with a platinum card, just nicked it. In this instance I'd be refusing service anyway regardless of what they're buying.
Experience: sold the lottery for 20+ years from an owner operated independent. My original point was that I think quite a few people do give thought to why some shops may do this. Our policy btw is you can buy them on a card as part of a transaction, you can't buy them on card as a standalone sale, if you'd just bought some stuff and forgot and came back for the ticket then no problem you can use a card

Small shop minimum card spend have to do with it? That's shop policy

That was an addendum to the things that people commonly believe. It's not allowed (in your merchant T&C's) as a shop policy. Most people just accept this however

@FacebookPhotos

Thanks CharacterForming and SarahAndQuack. Ian Mortimer is far from my fave history writer but I’ll give him another go on your recommendations 😁

Ooh! I just thought, this is a bit different, but you might like Seb Falk's The Light Ages, which is about medieval scientific discovery. It's obviously not a standard guide to medieval history but could be fun.

@ScreamingMeMe

That you lose most body heat from your head. Nope.

www.bbc.com/future/article/20130708-is-most-heat-lost-from-your-head

And it gets done to death every Christmas: but no, the name Santa Claus is not of American origin, and the Coca Cola company did not invent his red costume.

Actually, it is true for babies - they do lose a huge amount of heat from their heads.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12094978/

Like the 8 glasses of water a day, the 10k steps is also a random figure, no real foundation to that specific number.

Oh and now I've really misread your post 😂🤦

@OneTC

I really don't understand your point

Clearly. Yes you are allowed, no it is not common policy in multiples, yes it is common policy in independents. If a multiple is making you split your transactions then that's weird. And you say that we have no idea if a card is stolen but we (the minimum wage cashiers, or business owners) can often take a pretty good punt that the clearly homeless person in front of you with a platinum card, just nicked it. In this instance I'd be refusing service anyway regardless of what they're buying.
Experience: sold the lottery for 20+ years from an owner operated independent. My original point was that I think quite a few people do give thought to why some shops may do this. Our policy btw is you can buy them on a card as part of a transaction, you can't buy them on card as a standalone sale, if you'd just bought some stuff and forgot and came back for the ticket then no problem you can use a card

Small shop minimum card spend have to do with it? That's shop policy

That was an addendum to the things that people commonly believe. It's not allowed (in your merchant T&C's) as a shop policy. Most people just accept this however

I'm saying that many people (especially the older generation) think you need to pay separate and/or with cash for lottery but you don't.

If a shop makes you use cash or a separate transaction that's down to the shop, it isn't lottery rules.

My experience tells me that many people wrongly think that it is lottery rules that you have to use cash and/or a standalone transaction.

I can't work out if you are trying to tell me I'm wrong, or agreeing in a really argumentative way.

Having no MOT invalidates your car insurance.
Act of God is a thing in insurance policies
Barristers in a Court In England would ever shout “objection!”

That the tories are capable of running a country

My 2 current bugbears on this

That the tories are good for the economy - long ago debunked

That the country has no money and that planned increases in NI etc. are the only solution

Exactly

That the tories are not on the TWAW bandwagon - they started it! They're just a lot quieter about it now.

That GRA reform is a Labour policy/initiative. It's a Conservative policy.

Thank you! You're the only other person I've come across on here at least that knows this!

Nobody really believes this one. If they did, they could make am argument for it that didn't involve name calling and death threats, and there would be some degree of error in which sex was subjected to them.

They know full well it's not true.

Totally agree

NewarkShark the fact that it happens at all is abhorrent.

This!

It shouldn't happen at all it's not Fucking evidence! Ever!

That carbs make you fat.

Omg yes!

The demonising of carbs isn't even new! I'm old enough to remember the 70's version when potatoes were supposedly fattening! Then it was fat was demonised - all fat - until as hcps we started seeing people suffering with ailments due to not consuming enough healthy fats

All things in moderation. Some nutrients NEED To be eaten with other foods to attain best absorption.

Too much of ANYTHING is bad for you! I took a notion for eating loads of grapes at one point as a youngster and got a vitamin rash!

I work in fitness, believe me it's true. truly it's not!

Defibrillators are one thing, it's when bloody x rays are upside down/back to front or iv lines in weird places I go "oh ffs!"

Defibs only "reboot" the heart under certain circumstances, if it's completely gone nothings bringing it back

As for all the spag ones - we'd be here all bloody day but the one that is quite recent and bugs me the most is "his" when the writer clearly means "he's" I generally try to give benefit of the doubt for learning disabilities or English not the first language but usually everything else these people write indicates that's not the case so WHY?!

That all surnames beginning Fitz were originally given to someone’s illegitimate son.

Erm I don't think that's a widely held belief! It just means "son of" similar to mc/Mac in Scot's and Irish naming

Common-law spouses ARE a legal thing in a lot of places actually. They just aren't in England I think? Not sure about Scotland.

I think that's true in Scotland.

Nope not in Scotland or wales either, don't think in Northern Ireland but not terribly familiar with their laws on such matters. Generally it's espoused on here as fact relating to uk laws and this is a uk site.

OP, marital assets are split 50/50 in many places such as Scotland

Nope. There's no legally defined starting point. It's simply that many judges use that as a starting point from which to assess financial negotiations

But lots of people seem to believe that pigs are a great way to dispose of a body. They really aren’t

I didn't believe that but I love this one! Anyone that IS into serial killers would know though. I don't think there is a perfect way is there? But I think using a combo of the best ways may work - although most of the time simply choosing "less than worthy victims the police don't give a shit about" mostly seems to do the trick! Homeless, prostitutes, runaways, addicts... Robert Pickton is exactly who I was thinking of reading your post!

Well Pickton was murdering from 1982-2002, he got away with it for a long time... yea but not because of his method of disposal! Look at who the victims were and even some who escaped and witnessed stuff and REPORTED what happened were dismissed by authorities

but once the police actually got wind of it. The police plain ignored several reports before they even started seriously investigating. IIRC it wasn't until certain relatives of victims and I think a neighbour started to be more insistent with the police that they shifted their arses!

This is very detailed and precise! So what did you do with the body in the end

Are you looking for tips?!

So to clarify for mumsnetters with dead bodies….

Pigs are out
Patios are back in

Certainly seems at least one poster needs clarification

Food is unsafe after the use by date

Worse - an awful lot of people treat "best before" as "use by" dates! My own dd drives me demented on this one. When she still lived at home she'd throw out perfectly good food because of this no matter how many times I explained it to her. I ended up telling her NOT to throw anything out, if it was something in fridge or freezer LEAVE IT THERE and tell me about it or if it was a cupboard thing leave it on the side and I'd check. She would not believe that tinned stuff was fine for decades!

That a woman has to change her surname to her husband's when they get married.

I think I know the post that prompted that!

That babies need sleep training. Nah, theyre just being babies. Its you who needs training to accept it.

Not only that but that you are somehow superior parents if your baby sleeps "well" - total bullocks! I've cared for MANY babies over the years and there's little difference. Lots of parents lie/are in denial/have weird perceptions on how "well" their baby sleeps too. One set of parents with a baby that sleeps 4-6 hours of a night will say baby sleeps well, another set of parents with same sleep level will say baby sleeps poorly!

Western societies have a really weird concept that normal infant behaviour is a problem to be fixed

Omg yes! See also the obsession with "milestones" and being anti co-sleeping and poor breast feeding rates...

When you look at an atlas of the countries of the world, it is not to scale.

A lot of people know this now but still fun to point out at times. The map that blows my mind (literally) and makes me feel genuine awe is when north and south are upended so Australia is at the top! It's very disorienting!

I do remember dd asking why the greenwich meridian was set - had to get her to think about power dynamics in the world at that time!

I've told this tale on here before but my poor brother still gets ribbed in our family about his shocked reaction to learning how close Cuba and the USSR are to USA. He was a teen and it was the 80's but he'd somehow not clicked that there may be an obvious reason geographically as to why the Americans were so wary of USSR power and nuclear capabilities etc his face upon learning it was possible to WALK from USSR TO USA was quite a picture!

If we're getting into arbitrary health recommendations - 5 a day! Totally arbitrary and if anything way under! Some studies reckon 7 a day some as much as 9! I'm a veggie I rarely manage even the 5!

@Redannie118

I think i worded my last post badly. What I meant was if you ask most people the sex of a worker bee many would say male. They are in fact female. Drones are male and a tiny percent of the hive. They are stingless and only exist to fertilise the Queen. They do no work and do not leave the hive on a day to day basis. I hope that makes more sense :)

Oh I seeeee - in your first post you said what was ACTUALLY right, instead of what people wrongly believed to be correct.

I was very confused because that was what I had been taught in biology - all worker bees are female, drones are stingless and male (and kicked out of the hive after mating with the queen because they're now useless) and the queen is the only egg-layer.

@shortroundd

Solicitors have to give you 30 minutes of free advice

never heard that 1

I'm surprised you haven't, OP - it pops up regularly on MN

That there is a verb "to of" though you only use it after auxiliary verbs as opposed to on its own.

And, indeed, that that phrase is "as a pose to"

Carbohydrates, when eaten to excess, CAN and DO make you fat.

When all the glucose (final breakdown product of most digestible carbohydrates) has been used, stored as glycogen in the liver, or shoved into various cells by insulin until they are full, any excess glucose will be turned into fatty acids in the body and stored as adipose (fat) tissue.

www.livestrong.com/article/231986-when-does-glucose-convert-to-fat/

This is NOT a myth, it is a biochemical process that our bodies perform.

This also does NOT mean that you should remove all carbs from your diet - of course not! - but eating excess carbs can and will contribute to increased adipose (fat) tissue.

That a defibrillator will restart a heart thats stopped beating. Every single movie and TV show shows someone flat lining and the defibrillator miraculously restarts the heart for them.

It absolutely does (multiple first aid trained); a defibrillator won't work if a heartbeat is detected.

Are you confusing this with CPR? Performing CPR alone will not restart a heart, despite many movies and TV shows depicting it. Only a defibrillator gives you a decent chance!

That the spots on a ladybird count how old they are.

@autienotnaughty

That eggs are dairy 😂😂

Please tell this to the supermarkets

@thebear1

That there is such a thing as common law wife or husband and this gives you rights.

Well, not since 1753, at any rate. Or, not in GB. Here in the USA, 16 states allow for common law marriages (although some have restrictions), and a legally formed common law marriage from one of those states must be recognized by all 50 states.

Getting a cold by being cold is one for me... MIL has been saying it since my kids were born. I don’t know how many times I’ve rolled my eyes. Yet when she gets a cold she always caught it off someone who should have stayed at home with their germs!

As a PP said, ‘ she was asking for it’
No, she might have been drunk but she wasn’t certainly asking for someone to rape her.

And mostly the common-law marriage thing. I’ve fallen out with 2 friends who split with their SO/ life partner and then cried ‘It’s 50/50, we weren’t married, we both have jobs. I don’t owe the mother of my children anything, I can live a life fantastic with the kids 3 days a fortnight, but we weren’t married so she carries that can herself.’

That cyclists hold up the traffic

@MrsLargeEmbodied

whatdo you mean social workers can take your children?

Only the police can remove children

That it's illegal for boys and girls to share a room after a certain age. It's not. There may be guidelines around it for social housing but it's not in any way illegal and plenty of kids have to share in private housing

@DickMabutt73962

That a defibrillator will restart a heart thats stopped beating. Every single movie and TV show shows someone flat lining and the defibrillator miraculously restarts the heart for them.

It absolutely does (multiple first aid trained); a defibrillator won't work if a heartbeat is detected.

Are you confusing this with CPR? Performing CPR alone will not restart a heart, despite many movies and TV shows depicting it. Only a defibrillator gives you a decent chance!

Oh nvm I stand corrected on the heartbeat...I blame the first aid tutors!

If you get arrested you get one free phone call.

That if you ask an undercover police officer if they are a police officer and they say "no", anything that happens afterwards can be dismissed by the court as "entrapment"

The extra benefits for a dog absolutely was a mainstream belief 30 years ago.

@TrashyPanda

I think that's true in Scotland

No, it isn’t.

Out of interest, why do you think this?

Scotland has two pieces of case law, One from cicra 1907 they lived together for 9mths PRETENDED to be husband & wife, she took his name. He died after 9mths, court ruled they were common law. Second from around 1969 they lived together for years but made no pretence, never referred to the other as husband/ wife, she never used his name. They split court ruled they were co-habitees due to no pretence.

I believe in the last 10 years changes have been put into statue.