Randomly odd things you believed as a child and possibly beyond...

[Elmo230885]

I live this type of thread...

(I'm not talking about believing in Santa or the tooth fairy)

I'll start. I had a cousin named Stephen and he had the middle name Dean. For some reason he used to switch and go by either name. So as a child I believed that Dean was short for Stephen in the same way Bill is used for William.

That the word bum was spelt bumb, and was short for bumbalarie.

I was also sure that “rooves” was the plural of roof. I could swear blind I was taught that at school.

Swans can break your arm if they do go for you. I know of someone it happened to when they were rowing down the river and got between a swan and their cygnets.

For some reason I believed you had two stomachs. One for drinks and one for food. I can't work out where that came from.

They don't tie knots to make your belly button. They clip it. I've had two children. I've seen it done.

I've only just realised that they don't tie knots. I've never, ever questioned that before.

Did they ever tie knots? I remember someone in my family telling me it was the way the knot was tied that determined whether you got an innie or an outie.

I'm a bit gobsmacked and embarrassed.

@meringue33 I too thought it was spelt bumb. I couldn't think of anywhere it would be written for me to check! My "children's dictionary" didn't help.

@Witchend As the food and water waste comes out of your body in two separate ways, it's plausible to a child that there are two stomachs. After all, we have two lungs, two eyes, two ears, two nostrils, two kidneys, and those are not the only ones.

@wheresmymojo im guessing you are a TA? 🤣

I used to think sex was something that happened to two people while they were asleep!

I also had this weird belief that when you broke a bone it didn’t actually hurt. Not sure what my logic was there?!

I've been out all day but I'm so glad this thread is still going.

I too only recently was informed that the piggy that went to market wasn't going to there to buy herself a new outfit!

I am in my fifties...my dad used to love watching horse racing

when I was about 4 my mam was listening to the commentator and said ''he's got a hoarse voice'' and from then on I was CONVINCED that a horse was doing the commentary

White dogs produced white dog poo
When a football game is played 'on aggregate' it's played on a stony pitch ( I was in my 30s when I found out I was wrong....)

@MsMiaWallace

To not go near a swan as they'll 'break your arm'.

this is true. An aggressive swan, eg protecting their young, will beat you with their wings and are strong enough to break an arm of an adult and seriously injure a child.

For that reason we were always taught to be very wary of swans.

Rooves for roofs is perfectly acceptable I think, just old fashioned. Or maybe it's just me and Jacob Rees Mogg that use it.

Suppose it's like 'hello' taking over from 'hallo' and 'hullo'.

@nowaitaminute

I believed that parents HAD to be married in order to have a baby! Probably until I was 10!

I also believed that everyone owned their house. Until we sold ours and rented while we built a house...the renting concept really baffled me! I always wondered where the owners were staying as I couldn't possibly imagine that they had ANOTHER house 🤣🤣

I thought similar - that if you got married you would automatically have a baby whether you wanted one or not!

I also thought the whole of Center Parcs was inside that big dome until I was about 20. My mum still takes the piss about that!

I thought that about Center Parcs, until I was in my thirties! Also like PP that white dog poo was poodle poo. And that sex involved penetration but not moving (also because of a picture in a book) and what’s more was done standing up.
I have kept my maiden name and have only boys, who have their Dad’s surname, my sisters also both have kept their maiden names which are obviously the same as mine - my kids deduced first that all boys are called DHSurname and all girls are called MySurname, then when it became clear there were more than two surnames in the world, that boys always took the Dad’s name and girls the mum’s.

That if you ate an apple pip, a tree would grow in your stomach.

I thought that when you thought “dear god” in your head, it was like ringing god in your head and he could then hear everything you thought after that, until you said “amen” to hang up. So sometimes I would start praying and forget to say “amen” at the end and go about my day, then realise later and worry that poor god had had to listen to all of my random thoughts all day! Like a butt dial!

That if you swallowed chewing gum it would wrap around your heart.

I believed my dad when he told me that the moon followed our car as it was so impressed by the car and it's occupants.
Also the amount of children a couple had, was the amount of times they had sex. I was quite wary of people with a lot of kids.

I used to think you're going uphill you're heading north.

My sister as a teenager used to have real issues with compass directions. She was convinced that North was the way you were facing, South was behind you etc.

She’s actually a very intelligent and educated person, believe it or not.

@thatonesmine Ha - similar!

I also used to think north was whichever direction I was facing.... I still can only navigate on a map by turning it to the direction I’m facing

Oh is centre parcs NOT in a big dome...?

So glad it wasn't just me with the cloud machines!!

@SciFiScream I swear my mum told me she was very pleased with what a neat job the midwife did with her umbilical cord which is why I have an innie. I'm glad it's not just me 😂 actually going to google it now....did they ever do this?!?

I used to also think that "fish n chips" was fish in chips and that the chips from the chippie were a special variety with fish in them

That the Concorde model (back in the day) at the end of the tunnel at Heathrow was the real one.