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.

"They are not legally recognised in any part of the U.K. and they are not a legal thing in ‘lots of places.’
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common-law_marriage"

Maybe not called common law marriages, but rights similar to marriage for cohabiting partners is definitely a thing in many continental European countries, either after a period of time or after registering and cohabitees.

@SuperSocks I don’t think it would be gross, no, although I personally don’t wash mine at 20. I wash them at 30, and have done for the past 6 years, and they come out sparking clean and most definitely not ‘still a bit period flavoured’.

People washed clothes in rivers for millennia before washing machines came along. The idea that everything need to be boil washed or doused in dettol to be ‘properly’ clean is something I have honestly only ever encountered on Mumsnet.

That 'gender' exists outside of listing sex based stereotypes

That someone whose heart has stopped, especially if they've drowned, just needs a few moments of mouth to mouth and chest compressions, wakes up, coughs politely and continues with their day. It's crap - my St John's Ambulance first aid at work trainer said the most you can do is keep the circulation going til the ambulance arrives and they take over to keep it going til they get to hospital.

@BigPantsLittlePants Thanks for the detailed reply re autism. I still don't really 'get' it. (Just to be clear, I'm not someone who trots out 'everyone is on the spectrum somewhere' but the concept does confuse me and I think about it a lot. If the diagnosis for ASD is based on how the individual's life, and the lives of those around them, are affected, what about people who can mask so thoroughly nobody would really suspect it? If you don't appear to be autistic, what makes you autistic? Surely if it's as cut and dried as 'You Are' or 'You Aren't' there has to be a definite criteria.

@SocialConnection at my first aid training they asked us what we thought the chances were of bringing someone ‘back’ through CPR. People were saying anything from 20 to 70%. The trainer then said it was more like 1%, if that.

@VenusClapTrap

That cats are happier homed in pairs. Actually, most cats prefer to be solitary, though there are exceptions.

Mine was ecstatic when her sister died and she became the sole feline.

Poor Sister Cat.

I can believe it though.

@Pembertonrd

That French parents give their underage dc wine at dinner. They give them water. French drink driving laws are also stricter than UK laws.

They did use to give them wine, sometimes with water on top. Common until the 80s I'd think. French drink driving laws may be stricter, but when I was in France in the late 90s drink driving was much more socially acceptable than it was here at the same time. More like the UK in the 70s.

F

That Sydney is the capital of Australia, also that it never snows in Australia.

@iwanttobeonleave

F

There's no need for that.

Also, following on from coeliac disease (gluten free) and gluten intolerance being mentioned: that these conditions only manifest in gastrointestinal symptoms. In reality at least 1% of everyone has coeliac disease and up to 12% have gluten sensitivity and the symptoms are much more varied and can occur for both. Only just over a third of sufferers have GI symptoms, and the rest can suffer neurological problems, unexplained joint pain, unexplained repeated miscarriages, impotence, fertility issues, skin problems, osteoporosis, poor dental health and psychological disorders (among others) without even having toilet trouble. However, they never get diagnosed because for all the listed problems above there are lots and lots of lovely drugs making people a lot of money, while no one benefits from anyone avoiding gluten.

[quote WhoppingBigBackside]@DrSbaitso, probably. I have some vintage sewing patterns and the sizes are tiny compared to current sizes.

see image[/quote]
That's really interesting to see. I would've been a 14 back then! I'm an 8 / S / XS now.

@Gwenhwyfar

"The theory is a lot of people think there are 50 because their minds go to a pack of cards- which has 52."

I thought it's because we think of 50 and then two in strange places, Hawaii and Alaska.

Did no-one ever learn about the 13 stripes and the 50 stars on the US flag? I knew this by the time I was about eight, and I'm certainly not American.

As a genealogist, it’s a common misconception that the average lifespan a few hundred years ago was 30-40 years old. This is partly due to high birth mortality rates skewing the figures. In fact, most people lived into their 60s and, surprisingly perhaps, I’ve seen death certificates of people who lived in the 1600s who lived well into their 80s.

[quote unstitching]@EarringsandLipstick

If calorie controlled diets and exercised actually worked… there would be NO diet industry.[/quote]
If controlling what you eat and/or exercising didn't work there would be no slim people.

@shortroundd

That medieval people must have been really smelly with bad teeth

the bad teeth part was true, tooth decay was even pretty bad worldwide for a good part of the 20th century before fluoride etc was discovered. If you look at actors/actresses on tv in the 70s/80s even many of them had bad teeth. Many people in their 70s and up today have false teeth.

The poster said mediaeval. They didn't have that much sugar then.

My child is gifted

If controlling what you eat and/or exercising didn't work there would be no slim people.

That makes no sense as a statement. You may be right that it works or you may not but that certainly doesn’t prove it.

@EdithWeston

That Marilyn Monroe was a size 16, or a size between 12-16

(Her measurements were recorded post mortem as bust 35, waist 22, hips 35, and her film costumes are usually displatpyed on a modern size 2 mannequin)

Why would they have measured her corpse??

"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. "

It's true. You are more vulnerable to the cold virus when you are cold.
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/4433496.stm

@Tavelo

Also, following on from coeliac disease (gluten free) and gluten intolerance being mentioned: that these conditions only manifest in gastrointestinal symptoms. In reality at least 1% of everyone has coeliac disease and up to 12% have gluten sensitivity and the symptoms are much more varied and can occur for both. Only just over a third of sufferers have GI symptoms, and the rest can suffer neurological problems, unexplained joint pain, unexplained repeated miscarriages, impotence, fertility issues, skin problems, osteoporosis, poor dental health and psychological disorders (among others) without even having toilet trouble. However, they never get diagnosed because for all the listed problems above there are lots and lots of lovely drugs making people a lot of money, while no one benefits from anyone avoiding gluten.

Yes!

@Drsbaitso As far as we know drones don't mate with queens from their own hive. If they mate successfully they drop out of the sky dead. If they make it through to the autumn without mating or being killed in some other way, they get pushed out of the hive by the worker bees as winter approaches so that they don't become cocklodgers use up valuable resources during a time when no mating flights will be happening. It's quite amazing to watch as they're noticeably bigger than the workers.

That the Royal Family being in more money through tourism than they cost. Anyone who believes that is an idiot.

@VenusClapTrap

That cats are happier homed in pairs. Actually, most cats prefer to be solitary, though there are exceptions.

Mine was ecstatic when her sister died and she became the sole feline.

Depends on the cat I think. They are as individual as people in my experience. My current boy almost starved himself to death when his brother died, he pined for him so badly (he was very skinny in the first place). When we got him a new friend he started thriving again and now 4 years later they are the best of friends - he couldn't be alone.