# Favorite False Trivia **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 7, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297 "2010-06-07T16:57:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/1 "2010-06-07T16:57:23Z")
Whats the best trivia you’ve heard that isn’t true but it should be. Some of my favorites: -Mr. Rogers was a sniper in Vietnam and his arms were covered in tattoos which is why he always wore long sleeves. -Saved By The Bell star Dustin Diamond (who played Screach) is the younger brother of Michael Diamond, or Mike D from the Beastie Boys. -Josh Saviano, the actor who played Paul Pfeiffer on The Wonder Years later became Maryiln Manson. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/2 "2010-06-07T17:32:22Z")
Not that they should be true, but –The Great Wall is the only man-made structure visible from space/the moon –The Quack of a Duck doesn’t Echo –Ronald Reagan almost starred in _Casablanca_. ---
**Author:** ![Joanie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@Joanie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joanie)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/3 "2010-06-07T17:42:08Z")
The name of this board (The Straight Dope) originated from some Heterosexual male who was fed up with being called a “dope” by all his online friends and decided to start his own board in order to find new online friends who were also Heterosexual. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/4 "2010-06-07T18:17:40Z")
Frank Zappa was the son of Mr. Green Jeans and he ate a turd onstage. Also “Ring Around the Rosies” is about the black death. ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/5 "2010-06-07T18:26:44Z")
Red cars receive more speeding tickets than cars of any other color. The seal of the POTUS changes direction in times of war. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/6 "2010-06-07T18:32:23Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > Frank Zappa was the son of Mr. Green Jeans and he ate a turd onstage. Ahem. That was Alice Cooper who didn’t eat a turd onstage. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/7 "2010-06-07T18:52:27Z")
The universe, earth, and life were all created in six days. ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/8 "2010-06-07T19:09:42Z")
Did you know the word “gullible” is not in the dictionary? Go ahead. Look it up. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/9 "2010-06-07T19:39:23Z")
> [@74westy](#): > > Did you know the word “gullible” is not in the dictionary? Go ahead. Look it up. Oh I love this one. Many people think it’s an actual word until they check it out for themselves, but this thread is about favorite _false_ trivia. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/10 "2010-06-07T19:57:23Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > Oh I love this one. Many people think it’s an actual word until they check it out for themselves, but this thread is about favorite _false_ trivia. Oh, come on. Yes it is too in there. I’ll look it up right now just to prove it. _looks_ Wow. I did not know that. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/11 "2010-06-07T20:01:55Z")
C.W. McCall, the singer of the 1970s novelty hit “Convoy”, was actually Chip Davis, founder of the group Mannheim Steamroller. (Note: there is some basis for this one; Davis apparently wrote “Convoy”, and other music for “McCall”, which was a pseudonym for an advertising writer named William Fries.) ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/12 "2010-06-07T20:02:27Z")
> [@lorene](#): > > Red cars receive more speeding tickets than cars of any other color. This isn`t really a trivia, just a falsehood, but I love the extension of this that therefore your insurance premiums will be higher if you drive a red car. I’ve insured… seven different cars and at no point has anyone ever asked what color the car is, so how could the insurer know to increase the premium? Whenever someone tells me red cars pay higher insurance premiums I have to wonder if they’ve ever insured a car. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/13 "2010-06-07T20:18:58Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Ahem. That was Alice Cooper who didn’t eat a turd onstage. No it wasn’t. People distinctly told me that Captain Kangaroo was Ozzy Ozbourne’s father and he ate a bat and a bunch of other stuff on stage. God damn, you would think that a place like the Straight Dope would be able to keep its word of mouth urban legends consistent but I guess not. It looks like people in my high school were the ones tuned into stuff that should have happened but didn’t. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/14 "2010-06-07T21:19:47Z")
Actually, Frank Zappa got his picture taken on the crapper, so maybe that’s where you got confused… ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/15 "2010-06-07T21:44:25Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Oh, come on. Yes it is too in there. I’ll look it up right now just to prove it. > > _looks_ > > Wow. I did not know that. The weird thing about that one, is that it has become so widely believed that there have been \*campaigns \*to actuallty get the word included in Merriam Webster. M-W has refused on the grounds that it would be letting the under-educated win out against the intellectuals. In an interview with William Safire, a Merriam Webster representative said, and I quote: “Once you allow the masses to dictate the rules of English language and grammar, you buckle to the lowest denominator. We don’t intend to buckle, Mr. Saffire”. [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/lost/mobile.asp) has declared the idea that ‘gullible’ is a legitimate word in the English language to be the “most difficult urban legend to debunk that we have ever come across”. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/16 "2010-06-07T22:24:52Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > Also “Ring Around the Rosies” is about the black death. …it’s not? Then what is the song about? I like the duck quack one the most. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/17 "2010-06-07T22:26:53Z")
A couple from my childhood: … McDonalds puts worms in their burgers. … KFC fries up rats and serves them as legs. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/18 "2010-06-07T22:52:28Z")
[Chuck Barris](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Barris) was a CIA assassin! ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2010, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/19 "2010-06-07T23:06:18Z")
> [@In\_Winnipeg](#): > > Actually, Frank Zappa got his picture taken on the crapper, so maybe that’s where you got confused… Nope. From _The Real Frank Zappa Book_: > [@](#): > > …let me begin by explaining WHO I AM NOT. Here are two popular ‘Frank Zappa Legends’… > > (stuff about Mr. Green Genes) > > …The other fantasy is that I once ‘took a shit on stage.’ This has been propounded with many variations, including (but not limited to): > > 1. I _ate_ shit on stage. > > 2. I had a ‘gross-out contest’ (what the fuck is a ‘gross-out contest’?) with Captain Beefheart and we **both** ate shit on stage. > > 3. I had a ‘gross-out contest’ with Alice Cooper and he **stepped on baby chickens** and _then_ I ate shit on stage, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297/20 "2010-06-08T00:20:08Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > Oh I love this one. Many people think it’s an actual word until they check it out for themselves, but this thread is about favorite _false_ trivia. Ah Rupert, hoisted by my own petard…I am so alone. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-false-trivia/542297.md?page=2)