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.

JudgeJ

There's Manchester and Greater Manchester, that's where any confusion occurs. GM was created in the early 70s when a lot of Lancashire was dumped into GM, my father would never drop Lancashire from his address and the residents of some very desirable areas were very unhappy!

See, it's referred to as Greater Glasgow but it's not that far outside the city really, so is pretty accurate.

@ShowOfHands

www.clinicaladvisor.com/home/web-exclusives/most-flu-cases-asymptomatic/#:~:text=HealthDay%20News%20%E2%80%94%20For%20individuals%20infected,has%20implications%20for%20disease%20prevention.

Flu is asymptomatic in the majority. People like to say "I've never had flu" or "it can't be flu, you're too well" and both statements are likely untrue. If three quarters of flu cases are asymptomatic, you wouldn't know you had it and often, it's v mild. Not to deny it can be v serious but that's not the majority experience.

I think what people mean by the "if it was flu" thing is the folk who say "oh I had flu and i still went to work" I would also suggest that there is a difference between a situation where flu virus is found in the nasal mucosa and the situation where the person actually has the illness. MRSA can be found in the nasal mucosa of many people (also in their groins and armpits) who are otherwise perfectly healthy and never show symptoms... In the linked document, the 17% figure refers to medically attended illness ie the person was seen by a doctor. the first time in my life that I had flu, i was seen by a doctor as i was hallucinating and having night terrors but the second time I didn't see a doctor and was able to self cert myself for three weeks through my occupational health department (NHS). This was some 20 years ago and the rules may have changed since.

@Justilou1

Sugar gives you diabetes…. um… no. People with diabetes have an inability to metabolise the spike in their blood sugar after eating or drinking virtually anything because their pancreas is either producing insufficient insulin or none at all.

The world is not flat and Australia really DOES exist. (I’m standing on it right now. *poke poke poke)

Just because you have the right to HAVE an opinion, even if it IS the right one, doesn’t mean that everyone HAS to listen to it.

yup..opinions are like arseholes, everbody has one

That choosing NOT to ventilate every classroom and every public buildings is acceptable. Whilst we live with or die from Covid.

There are still telephones, though. Nothing to stop someone having a quick chat!

Except the fact that, unless you’re in a very small/niche industry where everybody knows everybody, you’ll probably have no idea who to contact, or how to contact them if you do. Our reception team doesn’t even put through unsolicited calls.

the conservatives are the best party to govern the country

@Emms2022 it isn’t really good advice given there is no scientific evidence that dieting and exercise actually works as a controlled intervention for people who are seriously overweight. What most studies show is that people lose weight initially and then put it all back on, often they end up larger than they started. This is because once we get fat our bodies are hormonally programmed to keep the weight on, and some of these triggers are set while we’re still in the womb.

Arguably better advice is to tell people to eat more fruit and vegetables, which will improve their health even if they don’t lose weight.

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

It's because people aren't very good at finding pulses. But someone who needs a defib doesn't have a pulse because their heart isn't beating effectively enough to pump blood around the body.
A life can still be saved even if there is no pulse. You need a defib though

[quote IceandIndigo]@Emms2022 it isn’t really good advice given there is no scientific evidence that dieting and exercise actually works as a controlled intervention for people who are seriously overweight. What most studies show is that people lose weight initially and then put it all back on, often they end up larger than they started. This is because once we get fat our bodies are hormonally programmed to keep the weight on, and some of these triggers are set while we’re still in the womb.

Arguably better advice is to tell people to eat more fruit and vegetables, which will improve their health even if they don’t lose weight.[/quote]
Agree to disagree then 😊 x

@Puffalicious

*Puffalicious

That Hitler was a librarian- so many people have told me this- he was, in fact, a newspaper cartoonist.

Wasn't he painter?*

He did paint but his job, to make money, was a newspaper cartoonist.

Where does your info about him being a newspaper cartoonist come from? I thought he had been a struggling artist, I can't find anything about him being a cartoonist himself though he was depicted in lots of political cartoons! Do you have a link?

@SnackSizeRaisin

It's better for the environment to replace an old car with a more efficient newer one

It depends. A modern fully electric vehicle can have up to half the carbon footprint of a petrol or diesel vehicle.

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.polestar.com/dato-assets/11286/1600176185-20200915polestarlcafinala.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiIvISPzuP1AhXpQkEAHShVB7AQFnoECAQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2-EgsmMV5ofjtCUT7zSpRn" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=www.polestar.com/dato-assets/11286/1600176185-20200915polestarlcafinala.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiIvISPzuP1AhXpQkEAHShVB7AQFnoECAQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2-EgsmMV5ofjtCUT7zSpRn

@Justilou1

Sugar gives you diabetes…. um… no. People with diabetes have an inability to metabolise the spike in their blood sugar after eating or drinking virtually anything because their pancreas is either producing insufficient insulin or none at all.

The world is not flat and Australia really DOES exist. (I’m standing on it right now. *poke poke poke)

Just because you have the right to HAVE an opinion, even if it IS the right one, doesn’t mean that everyone HAS to listen to it.

Actually it’s true that excessive sugar intake is associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

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

You give way because the person coming from.the right has priority. They don't have right of way though. If you fail to give way they must stop if they can - they don't have the right to keep going and cause an accident . Priority is just a way to decide whose turn it is to keep things moving. Unfortunately lots of people think they have right of way and an accident would therefore not be their fault. It's a bit nuanced but there is a different.
Right of way refers to a legal right to travel along a road, path, track etc.

Socialism and communism are the same thing.

Omg yes! I was having this very discussion with someone recently who was all "you want us to be like Cuba?!"

@ThumbWitchesAbroad and others on the dress sizing thing -

If we used actual measurements we wouldn't HAVE vanity sizing! We'd know exactly how fat/thin we were! I speak as someone who was a size 4-6 in the 80's (sighs wistfully) but am now an 18 which I think then would have been a 22-24? Which horrifies me!

@ShippingNews again - if separation/death occurs around the 2 year mark who decides if it counts in a dispute and what do they base their decision on?

@WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll
Totally agree with your post at 0400 approx (why can't I see the time on the app?)

Where our govt is hypocritical though is treating cohabiting couples "as if married" when it suits them! Mainly for calculation of state benefits, where doing so means they need to pay out less - when it means they have to pay out more mainly in the event of a bereavement? Nope! Also I think when it comes to tax laws?

the reason I thought Scotland might be an exception and actually recognise common-law relationships is because...I've seen that said multiple times on MN.

Usually by non Scot's always by people with no legal expertise/education

Everyone knows the rules, so if they don't want to abide by them they don't have to live in a de facto relationship - simple as that.

I'm willing to bet based on SO many mistakenly thinking it is a thing in uk when it isn't that the reverse is also true in countries where it is!

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

The roots of marriage are NOTHING to do with romance, that's a very recent development in human history relatively speaking. It's a legal contract that was intended to control where money went! Also to control women!

Lots of people may have one or two autistic traits but you have to have a whole load of them to be diagnosed as autistic.

Absolutely!

Can I add ocd onto that?! You can't be a "bit" ocd. Many healthy people have traits that can be ocd like but actually having the condition is a WHOLE other ball game! I'm also regularly pissed off at the way ocd is portrayed in the media/film/tv drama. Yes hand washing can be an element but it's not the main issue in most cases! Also see characters portrayed as having "severe" ocd yet holding down prestigious careers and running a home etc perfectly capable!

As if! I wish!!!

The same applies to getting an ocd diagnosis you don't get it just by going the gp and saying "I think I have ocd" and gp asking if you wash your hands a lot! I saw at least 3 Mh hcps before diagnosis was confirmed

Also there are different types of ocd but there can be overlaps too. Mine is mainly contamination but there is also checking and "just" obsessive thinking patterns.

Even on ocd chat forums there's a huge range of ways in how it affects people. There are thing I can cope with that other sufferers cannot and vice versa.

Prenups will protect 1 in divorce

Since no-one else has picked this up, I would like to point out that this is actually true. Whilst a pre-nuptial agreement is not directly legally enforceable, the courts will stick to it in the financial settlement provided it meets the conditions set by the Supreme Court in Radmacher (formerly Granatino) v Granatino [2010] UKSC 42. In this case the Supreme Court upheld a pre-nuptial agreement limiting the amount the husband received on divorce and set out the requirements for a pre-nuptial agreement to be upheld.

A sneeze is 1/8th of an orgasm

1. That Avon is a county. It briefly existed from 1974 until 1996.
2. That Edinburgh is east of Bristol. Its actually further west. The BBC perpetuate this with the weather maps.
3. That high street branches of banks hold large amounts of cash. No, they only keep enough to keep them ticking over. If a branch is cash rich (more gets paid in than out) then the surplus goes to the cash centre for redistribution.

@MrsMoastyToasty

1. That Avon is a county. It briefly existed from 1974 until 1996.

1. That Edinburgh is east of Bristol. Its actually further west. The BBC perpetuate this with the weather maps.
2. That high street branches of banks hold large amounts of cash. No, they only keep enough to keep them ticking over. If a branch is cash rich (more gets paid in than out) then the surplus goes to the cash centre for redistribution.

yup this about the banks. I needed to withdraw a largeish amount of cash from my village local branch a few years ago. I phoned the bank's central line (can't talk directly to branches now) to find out of there would be any problem and she said no except that she would tell the branch to ensure that they would have enough cash to hand and would "earmark it" for me. It was really sweet actually. I went in to get the money and the lady (who i knew well by sight) said very quietly "Is someone making you do this, just nod if they are" I said no but thanked her for her care....I think she was a bit disappointed that she wasn't involved in a ransom scenario. :)

"I was surprised to see someone handling a very old manuscript without gloves and she said the same, they washed their hands very frequently rather than wearing gloves which gathered the dust."

I'm still surprised at this - I thought the reason for the gloves was to keep the paper free of the slight acidity from our skin more than anything else! But now I've googled it and absolutely correct - although they can wear nitrile gloves, bare (frequently washed and dried) hands are preferable.
library.pdx.edu/news/the-proper-handling-of-rare-books-manuscripts/

Actually it’s true that excessive sugar intake is associated with an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

It's obesity that's the major risk factor for type 2 diabetes, rather than sugar consumption specifically. Lack of exercise is also a risk factor, independent of obesity.

@Anne8850

That you can't drive until 6 weeks after a c-section

You can but you're legally not insured to

@Agrudge

Not all men a perverts

?

@Lemonandadropofhoney

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.

Ok I have to ask - what does a defibrillator do then?

I mean you read articles about someone having a cardiac arrest and how they were saved by the fact there was a defibrillator nearby. If it doesn't cause the heart to start beating again - how does it help?

And I'm sorry for the stupid question.

That you can't drive until 6 weeks after a c-section

You can but you're legally not insured to

Not necessarily the case.

Your insurance is void if your doctor has advised you not to drive. But there isn't a set time for thus. You absolutely need to be able to lift your feet to do an emergency stop, and that might not be possible immediately after any form of abdominal surgery until everything has healed up a bit. The rule of thumb about 6 weeks came about because that's when the standard post-natal check was, so you'd have seen an HCP and been told you are OK. But if you are OK before that, you can drive. It might however be worth double checking with your insurer

You can but you're legally not insured to
I call bullshit - perhaps with a few particularly backward insurers but a quick google suggests most are fine provided you aren't acting against medical advice. In any case (in the UK) motor insurers can't deny a Third Party claim.