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.

That being pregnant and having babies leaches the calcium out of your teeth.

@pappajonessecretchild

That Aled Jones sings in the snowman film in 1982, it was Peter Auty. but somehow his name was left of the credits. Aled Jones sung it from 1985 after Peter Autys voice had broken, so now everyone thinks it was Aled Jones in the film.

I knew this, but I read that the reason Aled Jones got all the credit was Peter Auty's mum wouldn't let him go on Top of the Pops lol. Really bad that his name wasn't on the credits though!

[quote FirewomanSam]**@SuperSocks

Going wildly off topic, how do you kill the germs in reusable period pants? Mine say to wash cold, which makes sense as you don't want to be 'setting' the blood but then what's killing the bacteria? I would use dettol but you aren't supposed to use fabric softener and I'm afraid of ruining them.

You don’t need hot water or dettol to ‘kill’ the bacteria on your pants, washing it away with detergent and water will do fine. Same way we can wash germs from our hands with soap and water.[/quote]
@SuperSocks

Yes, this answer is right. We don't even rinse ours just chuck them in the 30 degree wash with everything else. There are no deadly germs in period blood! :-)

But I know that on mumsnet a lot of people are convinced unless you boil your bedding and towels something dreadful will happen. I wash everything at 30 degrees and we are never ever ill.

Corporate tax is a percentage of profit not turnover wheresmymojo.

[quote FirewomanSam]@DickMabutt73962 when I had my First Aid training to be an ‘appointed person’ for first aid in the office, the trainer repeatedly told us that you need to make sure the ambulance bring a defib for someone with no pulse. He kept saying that a defibrillator was the best way to ‘restart’ a heart.

We then got a defibrillator for the office so I was sent on another training course to learn how to use it, and that’s where I learned that defibrillators actually DON’T restart a flatlining heart (I believe you need CPR and some kind of shot for that but I’m not a doctor) and that they are actually used for people having heart attacks. I was really shocked (no pun intended!) that films and TV had been getting it so universally wrong for my whole life!

I think Scrubs is the only show I’ve seen where a patient ‘flatlined’ and the doctors did what you’re actually supposed to do instead of grabbing the pads and shouting ‘clear!’[/quote]
This makes sense. I guess because in first aid they don't teach you to look for a pulse (just check for breathing) they just want you to assume that a life can be saved

@wheresmymojo

*I don't get this one...corporate tax is a % of annual turnover (subject to some caveats that allow some online companies to tax dodge)

What am I missing?*

You're missing the fact that corporation tax is on profit NOT sales/turnover.

That fat makes you fat
That the law says that retailers MUST charge you the price on the ticket/shelf
That Boris Johnson brought in the hire bikes in London. It was Ken Livingstone's policy but they happened to be launched within weeks of Boris becoming Mayor hence why they were called Boris Bikes
That solicitors must give you 30 mins free advice
That the police are interested/are able to 'log' a man sitting outside your house in his car 'just in case'
That Scottish notes must be accepted in England or vice versa
That there is actually a shellfish called scampi
That there is such thing as a common law spouse in England

@Footgoose

That being pregnant and having babies leaches the calcium out of your teeth.

It does something to your teeth though (or maybe gums?) because you get free dental care while you are pregnant and for one year afterwards.

The coeliac one is very annoying. Yes some people have coeliac disease and some others have an intolerance; but it's absolutely fine for the rest of us to carry on eating it.

That the law says that retailers MUST charge you the price on the ticket/shelf

that one is slightly confusing though.

The civil law says that you don't have to contract with someone at that price.

But the criminal law says that making misleading price indications is a criminal offence.

@Thatsplentyjack

That when driving past a row of parked cars, the driver on the opposites side of road to the parked cars automatically has right of way. - They don't (do I need a diagram?)

Well it would be pretty stupid to drive into the opposite side of the road into oncoming traffic to overtake parked cars, and I think if there was an accident you would probably be to blame.

Yes I agree, if the obstruction is your side, you wait. Obviously if you got there first and are half way down you can't disappear, and the oncoming car will have to wait in that scenario.

@educatingrati

To be fair Brazil's capital was Rio de Janeiro until 1960.

Napoleon's family where Tuscan nobles who emigrated to Corsica, when Napoleon was born in Corsica which had been annexed by France. He was somewhere between 5'2 and 5'6 so not particularly tall, but average male height at the time if 5'6 (his elite soldiers where known for their height, so by comparison he would have seemed short!).

I read somewhere that our modern unit measure of "feet"changed at some point. So 5 foot 6" of today is not the same as 5ft 6" of Napoleon's time. I've never researched that though so might be another myth 🙂

[quote BigPantsLittlePants]@sweetbellyhigh - which documentary was that? I'd be really interested to see it.
Just to counter the point, one of the first thing the clinical psychologist leading the team who diagnosed my ds told him was that 'everyone is on the spectrum' is completely wrong.[/quote]
Where are you in the world? I watched in NX, was made 6months ago. Called I Am

[quote EarringsandLipstick]@BewareTheBeardedDragon

Read the thread. The difference was explained (it's due to density) by several posters. So not 'quite' at all. [/quote]
I realised as I read on that there had been more discussion on it, but still the poster that I quoted was saying the same thing. When we talk about heavier we mean heavier by unit of volume, ie. Density. Anyhoo

@Balaboostah

Well that depends on which dictionary you subscribe to.

I agree that spitting image is accepted now. But it is just a cock up of spit and image

@FatOaf

A pound of anything is the same as a pound of anything else!

No. A kilogram of something weighs the same as a kilogram of something else.

There are different systems of imperial weights depending on the substance. A pound of flour weighs more than a pound of gold because everyday things like flour are weighed using the Avoirdupois system 1lb = 16 oz = 7,000 grains = 0.454 kg) but precious metals are weighed using the Troy system (1 lb = 12 oz = 5,760 grains = 0.373 kg). Imperial measures are ludicrously complicated.

Is that right? Wow 🤩

@SnackSizeRaisin

That there's such a thing of right of way when driving.

Right so at a roundabout, it’s just a free for all right? Not that you give way to traffic coming from your right?

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll

It's the same in NZ also.

That's astonishing, really. If you asked people to name some countries where they thought forced marriage might be legal, I bet they'd all name developing countries known for poor human rights records - and none of them would ever dream of saying Aus or NZ.

I really don't see how they can possibly confer only the rights of marriage without also the obligations. Anyway, asserting some rights of marriage will ultimately be directly to the advantage of one spouse and to the disadvantage of the other - like with any contract.

I think you have greatly misunderstood.

No one is forced into marriage within MZ law.

But common law partners have rights just as married partners do.

When I worked part time in England (not long ago) I got a pro rata amount of leave to cover all public holidays. I had been asked not to work Mondays. If I had chosen not to work Mondays, I would only have got the bank holidays as they fell on my days, so I don’t think there can be very strict laws on the matter.

@JuergenSchwarzwald

That the law says that retailers MUST charge you the price on the ticket/shelf

that one is slightly confusing though.

The civil law says that you don't have to contract with someone at that price.

But the criminal law says that making misleading price indications is a criminal offence.

Exactly. The retailer can say 'no sorry it's not £2 it's actually £2000' and tell the customer they have no choice. Not a problem under contract law but if they make a habit of it it's a problem under CPA. A one off mistake is unlikely to attract prosecution but so many people froth about "Nooooo! They have to sell it to you at that price!"

That is appropriate to say ‘hence why’.

They mean the same thing just say hence or why, you don’t need both.

@pussycatunpickingcrossesagain

That boris is a decent, honest human being.

Does anyone actually believe that? Surely they know it isn't true but for some inexplicable reason voted for him anyway?

sweetbellyhigh, Jean Charles de Menezes was wrongly killed by Met police who thought he was one of the 7/7 suspects.
Google him. It's worth knowing.

@thebear1

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

It does in some countries like New Zealand

I think you have greatly misunderstood.

No one is forced into marriage within MZ law.

But common law partners have rights just as married partners do.

I think a PP is surprised that partners who want to live together will be treated as though they are legally married whether they want to or not. There are many reasons to actively choose not to get married, and many believe (myself included) that those who want the legal framework of marriage should be able to opt-in to it rather than having it conferred upon them whether they want it or not. Having to opt-out of a serious contractual commitment like marriage seems unusual.

I find the UK attitude to marriage decidedly unromantic and cold.

Marriage is a legal contract - it's not really supposed to be romantic, but I'm not sure that denying people the right to live together without being treated as married is particularly romantic either.

@Rogue1001MNer

Re your no 4, *@shortroundd*, I've just popped over to youtube to check and watched elvis singing it

It is Mud!