Things you used to think and now can't quite believe you did

[treaclesoda]

I saw a seagull flying and it suddenly occurred to me that when I was little, I thought there were two different types of seagulls. Ones with legs, and ones without. Naturally the ones with legs had no choice but to fly all the time

I was a pretty bright child, I can't imagine why I thought that.

Please tell me someone else out there thought the same?

When I was about 15 I believed there was a dog that lived near us that used to go 'yap'. Just one 'yap', and usually about the point I was walking into our front garden.

Then we went on holiday to the other side of the UK. "Oh that's funny" I said "I just heard a dog exactly like the one near our house"

My dad thought this was hillarious. He had just locked the car.......

Til I was about 15 I also believed anon was a very prolific writer!

I too thought treacle was mined (way before Terry)
and the gorillas
and the TO LET signs, I just didn't get why you would have a sign saying TOILET outside a building.

When I was little we went camping in France every year. We always saw lots of brown jersey cows, whereas in UK we only saw black and white cows. When on holiday we also bought ready made chocolate milk, ot available in the UK at the time.
Well, you've guessed it, my family (I am the youngest) convinced me that the brown cows gave brown milk. I believed it for years.

That ponies grow up to be horses.

This ones not me (honest!) but since we've had chickens, we've had to explain to lots of adults that we don't need a cockerel to get eggs from the hens. I'm pretty sure that some of them still don't believe us!

Goldface - I only found out ponies don't grow up to be horses a few months ago, I am 39!

Ha! Glad it wasn't just me. I was 30 when i found out, i was so certain my friends were taking the piss. Ponies and horses eh? Who knew....am still unsettled by it ten years later...

In case anyone really didn't know, treacle is a by-product of the sugar refining process :) It's a good source of micro-nutrients, especially black treacle (molasses) which is high in minerals, including iron.

Cheese, of course, is extracted from the rocks at Cheddar Gorge. White cheese also occurs in the cliffs of Dover but, since reserves were depleted from too much mining, the cliffs lost their white colour and are now re-painted every Spring

Glad you've cleared that up Garlic

riskit On a related note I also thought 'ibid' was extremely prolific.

I thought Oxbridge was some red brick uni for people who didn't get into Oxford or Cambridge. I was 16 and a straight A student

As a kid I thought terrorist cells had actual cells - sort of like medieval monasteries, but with more balaclavas.

I didn't think guerrilla warfare featured gorillas but did think it had to take place in the jungle so was perplexed the first time I heard reference to it in a country bereft of such landscape

Happy to help.

Excuse me, I have to run and stop my pet phoenix diving into the fire again. She's always so hungry after regenerating!

I'm still not actually sure what a pony is if not a little horse

I dont really know...maybe they were taking the piss and we were right all along?

That would make more sense!

Well I used to think, up until last week when I got a speeding ticket, that the speed signs at roadworks were a guide. Like go roughly about 40 at these roadworks .. you know?? Or maybe you dont, my husband certainly wasn't with me on this one has was like why dont they just put up a sign that says 'go whatever speed YOU think is right" In my defence nobody else does the bloody posted limit!

nancy - just like you get large breeds of dogs and small dogs, you get large horses and small horses. All small breed below a certain height are called ponies. All above that height are called horses.

I thought Moby Dick was a famous TV detective, kind of like Inspector Gadget or something. Up until the age of about 24.

Yes to the pee dye in the pool

Yes to the wombles thing, and in fact only got it when I saw it written down on this thread

I used to think that if you had a heart attack, you died. No other option. And nothing else seemed as bad as a heart attack.

I also believed that having a million pounds was enough money to live like royalty for a lifetime and then some.

OMG scots Did you actually pass your driving test?!

And that babies came out of the belly button.

And that women only had two holes - that the wee came out of the same hole that a baby does still don't know what they are all called I was in uni before I grasped the three hole concept. Had it explained to me when I was whinging about changing my tampon every time I peed.

I thought Stephen was pronounced steffan, and also the hermione one too!

My dh thought that when parents spoke of their kids being overtired they were saying oh they're tired quickly. He didn't know being overtired was a thing

My dad is called John. I have 3 uncles called John (different sides of the family) and my best friend in reception at primary school had a dad called John too.

Until I was about 7, I was quite sure that John was another word for dad! Then another girl told me her dad was called Roy and the penny dropped.

My dad pointed out a "drunk" to me once (as he termed them). I remember thinking why on earth would anyone want to drink as I thought you then remained drunk forever.

I thought the same about To Let signs, especially when I asked my dad what the sign meant and he said ' it's where people do their business'.

As a child I thought that once I'd gone to bed my parents turned into were wolves and then turned back into people in the morning!

I also thought that once you reached a certain age you could choose whether to be male or female .