# Adorable misconceptions I had as a kid. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 13, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491 "2009-11-13T21:50:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/181 "2010-09-18T23:46:27Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > > [@Always Brings Pie](#): > > > > Also in elementary school we read the book Secret of Nimh. > > It’s _Mrs. Frisbee and the Rats of NIMH_. Note capitalization. I only mention this because I was about 25 years of age the day I realized that [NIMH = National Institute of Mental Health](http://www.nimh.nih.gov/index.shtml), not some murky underground animal experimentation lair the author invented. It’s not pronounced “nim,” either. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/182 "2010-09-19T01:02:56Z")
> [@Chicken\_Fingers](#): > > It came as a surprise to me that people actually had to move during sex. I’d thought you put everything in the right slots and stayed perfectly still. Same here! Also, due to a misunderstanding, I along with several others at my preschool when I was 4, thought that if we stood in the playground, staring up at the sky, and shouted “STAR TRUCK!” that the Star Truck would come pick us up and take us for an adventure. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/183 "2010-09-19T01:22:36Z")
> [@oldeb](#): > > i thought the tomb of the unknown soldier (the arlington one) was literal. I didn’t know there were others or why you would need a monument like that. I _did_ know all about the lone ranger and comic book superheroes. I thought he was some masked fighter who swooped into several battles in ww2 and lead amazing rallies of allied troops and beat up nazis. > > I thought he must have been killed in his last battle (taking hundreds with him of course!) and afterwards when they removed the mask it turned out that nobody knew who he was so they buried him as the unknown soldier. … … … _ **Iwanttoreadthatcomicbookomg!** _ ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/184 "2010-09-19T03:51:35Z")
> [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](#): > > I happened upon my granddads false teeth soaking in a glass and was horrified. Granddad was falling apart piece by piece and nobody cared. I had no idea my grandpa had dentures, so when he randomly took them out at the dinner table one night, I was stunned! It was was the same impact as if he can suddenly unscrewed his arm… ---
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/185 "2010-09-19T16:50:53Z")
I used to think that the Japanese attacked Pearl River (Louisiana, I’m from New Orleans). I used to think that rain was caused by the sun going behind a cloud and heating it up. I also thought (and I don’t know where this came from) that when parents gave birth to a child, someone told them everything that was going to happen to them for their entire lives. I didn’t completely get rid of that notion until I finally had my own kids and did not magically gain that knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/186 "2010-09-19T22:17:29Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Many of mine had to do with hearing words, trying to parse their spelling, and coming up with reasonably apt (yet way off) etymologies. > > When I first heard the term “Essay”, I thought they were saying “S. A.”, and kept trying to figure out what the letters stood for-I knew it meant something along the lines of a paper you wrote for school or something. “School Assignment?” “Scribbled Argument?” > > Likewise “behavior,” which I broke down into “Behave Year,” as in this is the year I finally promise to behave well in class, yes ma’am Sister Scrubboard… I also believed that “essay” was “S. A.”, for me it was around fifth grade, when I started to hear about what I heard were “S. A. questions” on tests, though I can’t remember thinking of what it supposedly stood for. I believed that Marlboro Lights cigarettes were called that because one lit them (set them on fire) to use them. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/187 "2010-09-19T22:21:22Z")
> [@robert\_andrews](#): > > > [@John\_DiFool](#): > > > > Many of mine had to do with hearing words, trying to parse their spelling, and coming up with reasonably apt (yet way off) etymologies. > > > > When I first heard the term “Essay”, I thought they were saying “S. A.”, and kept trying to figure out what the letters stood for-I knew it meant something along the lines of a paper you wrote for school or something. “School Assignment?” “Scribbled Argument?” > > > > Likewise “behavior,” which I broke down into “Behave Year,” as in this is the year I finally promise to behave well in class, yes ma’am Sister Scrubboard… > > I also believed that “essay” was “S. A.”, for me it was around fifth grade, when I started to hear about what I heard were “S. A. questions” on tests, though I can’t remember thinking of what it supposedly stood for. > > I believed that Marlboro Lights cigarettes were called that because one lit them (set them on fire) to use them. I figured they had fewer calories or something. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/188 "2010-09-19T22:44:12Z")
I thought that everyone in any TV show or book was a multimillionaire and set for life no matter what else happened. I didn’t make any distinction between the popularity of the TV show or the type of character either. An appearance on The Love Boat was instant, infinite wealth that could never be reversed. Aunt Esther from Sanford & Son was every bit as wealthy and prestigious as Steven Spielberg and would be driven around by chauffeurs forever and welcome anywhere, anytime. That idea started to fall apart when I learned that some previous famous people like the child actors from Different Strokes were down and out. How could that possibly be? I don’t think I am the only one to think that way though I think that some adults still do and it does become a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy but not in the way that I thought. The Onion picked up on this thinking process as usual: [10-Year-Old Shocked Woman From ‘Guinness Book’ Who Can Pop Her Eyes Out Not A Millionaire](http://www.theonion.com/articles/10yearold-shocked-woman-from-guinness-book-who-can,7101/) ---
**Author:** ![oddity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@oddity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/oddity)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/189 "2010-09-19T22:46:00Z")
I thought babies came out like feces. I mistook an almost dead, poisoned rat for a baby Australian possum. My sister and I had wrapped it in a blanket and patted it extensively before our parents discovered our mistake. A lot of hand washing ensued. I though mud tasted like chocolate (according to my sister). I tested. It didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![FrigidLizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@FrigidLizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrigidLizard)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2010, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/190 "2010-09-19T23:50:21Z")
I hadn’t thought about this in years. 🙂 When I was five I experienced my first tremor. When my mother said we had been “in” an earthquake and that an earthquake was in the ground, I was a little confused, as I had actually been in the kitchen at the time. When my father came home I tried to explain to him how we had been in an earthquake, which was a machine in the ground, something like a bus, with doppelgangers of my mother and myself and some people from the neighborhood riding in it. I also thought that new shiny pennies and old brown pennies were made of copper and gold, respectively. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/191 "2010-09-20T00:13:37Z")
_Very, very briefly_ when I was _very, very young_ I though people who were killed on TV shows and in movies were killed for real. Never thought through how this could be legal or what (fabulous) incentives it would take to induce them to go for that. ---
**Author:** ![odinsrighthandcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@odinsrighthandcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/odinsrighthandcrow)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/192 "2010-09-20T02:01:45Z")
When I was small, I heard about Steven King and somehow confused him with Martin Luther King jr. leading me to believe MLK was still alive. ---
**Author:** ![FrancisCastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b4bc9f/32.png) [@FrancisCastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrancisCastle)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/193 "2010-09-20T02:18:07Z")
I thought then when my mom made fries, she put them in a special pot and boiled them (using water). In fourth grade when my teacher was discussing fried food, she brought up french fries that you make at home, and how you could make them in the oven instead. I raised my hand and explained to the class how my mom cooked them, and that they tasted just fine. The teacher pointed out that I was absolutely wrong, and that I should go home and ask my mother how she really did it. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/194 "2010-09-20T02:40:15Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > I thought that germs came from Germany and that by avoiding Germans and Germany you could keep from getting sick. It made sense to a four year old. I have some uncles (WWII Vets) and a great uncle (WWI Vet) who still believe this. But they say it’s wars, not germs that come from Germany. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/195 "2010-09-20T03:53:14Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I thought that everyone in any TV show or book was a multimillionaire and set for life no matter what else happened. Me too, up until an embarrassingly large age (10?). I remember saying to my mother that it was okay when the contestants on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire didn’t win the million dollars, because they were still going to get paid lots of money because they were on TV, and lots of people would want to put them on their TV shows. They were famous now! I remember at age 4 or so being confused about why you had to put a shirt upside down on the bed so that you would put it on right side up. I thought that all music was recorded live, and always wondered what the audience heard when the version on a record had a fade out. My bizarre misconceptions about sex and pregnancy could fill an entire book. My favorite: it was totally normal for a fetus to randomly disappear from one woman’s uterus and appear in another’s, without any warning or reason. I think I was confused about the concept of surrogacy. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/196 "2010-09-20T03:58:57Z")
Electric Warrior-Your shirt confusion at age 4 makes perfect sense. 4 year olds are just starting to dress themselves. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/197 "2010-09-20T04:30:08Z")
All I can remember off the top of my head is that I somehow got how a blinker works backwards–I thought up was left and down was right. I’ve always assumed that someone must’ve lied to me at one point. I also had no idea where babies came from, and, when read a mythological story about some 15-year-old mother of a demigod, I said to a friend that it would be really cool if we could get pregnant, and wound up in a lot of trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Terra1041](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Terra1041](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terra1041)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/198 "2010-09-20T05:21:10Z")
I didn’t know that debris was pronounced duh-bree. I thought there were 2 words (debris, “deb-riss” and debree, “duh-bree”) with the same meaning. Also, once the Kindergarten teacher said that we were going to the planetarium. I thought we’d take a trip in a spaceship to a planet called Tarium, although I thought I knew all the then-9 planets and Tarium wasn’t 1 of them, so then I got confused. I thought that gym (as in gymnasium) was spelled jim, too, as I had heard of people named Jim. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/199 "2010-09-20T06:08:05Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Also, due to a misunderstanding, I along with several others at my preschool when I was 4, thought that if we stood in the playground, staring up at the sky, and shouted “STAR TRUCK!” that the Star Truck would come pick us up and take us for an adventure. Silly girl. It was STAR TRACK. Everybody knows that. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491/200 "2010-09-20T07:19:39Z")
> [@Terra1041](#): > > Also, once the Kindergarten teacher said that we were going to the planetarium. I thought we’d take a trip in a spaceship to a planet called Tarium, although I thought I knew all the then-9 planets and Tarium wasn’t 1 of them, so then I got confused. Hah, I see you still have one of those misconceptions _I_ had as a kid! There’s only **eight** planets. Apparently Pluto is a dog. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/adorable-misconceptions-i-had-as-a-kid/517491.md?page=11)