# I once mistakenly believed ... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 14, 2005, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060 "2005-02-14T19:24:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Carol\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carol_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/101 "2005-02-16T17:35:31Z")
I used to get pains in my legs at night when I was little. My dad told me they were growing pains. So I assumed that I was growing an inch a night. It wasn’t until I was in fifth grade and could do more math that I realized that if that were true, I’d be 56 feet tall!!! ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/102 "2005-02-16T17:52:31Z")
I used to believe that when they killed someone on TV they’d gotton the actor from off Death Row. I used to believe that to make a woman pregnant you urinated inside of her. Glad we got that one straightened out. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/103 "2005-02-16T18:59:15Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Up until just a few years ago I thought the band name **The Beatles** simply referred to the bug of the same name. Then someone told me that the bug is spelled be **e** tle, and the band name is spelled Be **a** tles. He said, “Notice ‘be **a** t’ in place of ‘be **e** t’? Kinda clever, huh?” > > “Oh, wow, I never realized that…” :smack: I am sooooooo stupid. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/104 "2005-02-16T19:07:32Z")
I used to think tv ads saying “90 days - same as cash” were saying “90 days famous cash.” I thought it was a special deal for movie stars or something. This one is sort of surreal…I assumed couples had kids as a hobby or something, but when you were married to someone it was a sort of business arrangement or you were paired up by the government or something. (In other words being married to someone and having kids with someone were totally unrelated.) When I was around 5 I had the following bizarre discussion with my dad: “Dad, I’ve given it a lot of thought and decided when I grow up I’m going to marry you.” \* “Well, honey, I’m afraid I’m already married.” “Really? To who?” “Well, your mom!” “wow, what a coincidence!” \*Yes, yes. I know. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![neisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4bbf92/32.png) [@neisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neisha)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/105 "2005-02-16T19:45:17Z")
I used to think the mail man’s name was “mail came”, since everytime he’d deliver the mail, my mom would say, “mail came”. I was sooooo cute. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/106 "2005-02-16T20:14:57Z")
… that all it took to get pregnant was to spread your legs when a man was around. Nudity or actual contact were not necessary. I kept my knees together until I was 10. Then I slipped up one time and wasn’t careful with the proper placement of my legs… and I spent the next year thinking I was pregnant. I also thought eating raw potatoes would give you worms. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/107 "2005-02-16T20:27:50Z")
I used to believe that germs came from Germany. Also, I had that same “Dukes of Hazard in the classroom” experience with _The Wall._ ---
**Author:** ![RainGrowsBrite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@RainGrowsBrite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RainGrowsBrite)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/108 "2005-02-16T21:51:50Z")
> [@MercyStreet](#): > > … that a certain state of unconsciousness was “nacoma.” > > As in: “Your friend is very sick. She’s in nacoma.” Me too!!! I also thought that juvenile delinquents was another way of saying: missing children. ---
**Author:** ![RainGrowsBrite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@RainGrowsBrite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RainGrowsBrite)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/109 "2005-02-16T22:00:22Z")
> [@Caricci](#): > > You know that song “My Country Tis of Thee”? The part where they refer to " land of the Pilgrim’s Pride", well, I thought it was “land where the Pilgrims cried”. For some reason, my mother thought that was a fucking riot and told all her stupid grad school friends. No wonder I’m such a mess nowadays. HA!!! I sang it as “Land where the Pilgrims died”. To be honest with you, I think I still thought that. I mean, I havent sang it since I was a wee lass, but if you asked me to sing it today I would surely sing of the pilgrim’s demise. ---
**Author:** ![Cyros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a698b9/32.png) [@Cyros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyros)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/110 "2005-02-16T22:49:01Z")
I thought all babies were born via C-section while their mothers were unconscious. Of course, I didn’t call it a C-section. I think I may have gotten this notion from a soap opera. /Ms Cyros ---
**Author:** ![Telperien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/65b543/32.png) [@Telperien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperien)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/111 "2005-02-16T22:59:13Z")
When I was a child, I believed that kissing caused pregnancy, and that if you squeezed a tomato, ketchup came out of it. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/112 "2005-02-16T23:24:53Z")
I used to think that the Easter Bunny was the Trix Rabbit. Also, I used to think the word “school” was just another word for grapes. (This was when I was really really young). ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/113 "2005-02-17T03:39:56Z")
This just goes to show how warped the area I grew up in is: I believed that there were four religions in the world: Jewish, Buddhist, Catholic, and Christian. I was about ten before I put together that Catholocism was a sect of Christianity, and there are a hell of a lot more Christians in the world than Jews. When I was really little, I somehow thought that if everyone turned off their radio or TV at the same time, no one would be able to watch TV/listen to the radio again, because if they were _all_ turned off, all the programs would disappear. I slept with my radio on for years because of this. ---
**Author:** ![Jaade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/dfb087/32.png) [@Jaade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaade)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/114 "2005-02-17T04:00:45Z")
Ok, I’ll play… When I was a kid I believed that skyscrapers were the jets that left clouds of smoke behind them. They were so named because they “scraped the sky”. Yes, I grew up in a small town, why do you ask? ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/115 "2005-02-17T04:45:05Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > “Dad, I’ve given it a lot of thought and decided when I grow up I’m going to marry you.” \* Each of my daughters declared they were going to marry me when they grew up when they were each right around age 4. I just remembered one. When I was 3 or 4 I thought Kindergarten was an actual garden, and I imagined I would be out pulling weeds, hoeing rows and picking carrots with the other “kindergardeners” when I was old enough to go. I decided I didn’t want to go. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/116 "2005-02-17T05:13:23Z")
As a child, I thought coffee was alcoholic. (adults drank both; except for my Baptist family where noone did) I also thought that the word Embarrassed was etymologically connected to “bare-assed.” ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/117 "2005-02-17T18:48:04Z")
I thought California’s second-biggest city was called “Sandy Ego” (note, this was decades before the appearance of Eggo frozen waffles). Similarly, a former coworker of mine grew up in La Canada, CA, and told me that when she was little she thought it was “Lock A Nyada”. ---
**Author:** ![Millit\_the\_Frail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Millit\_the\_Frail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Millit_the_Frail)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/118 "2005-02-17T19:26:49Z")
I used to think that you got taller every year on your birthday. Until my parents told me that if that were true, my grandparents would be as tall as a house. I also used to think that Tom Petty was a green wallet. You know, “Now I’m greeeeeen! A greeeen wall-et!” ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/119 "2005-02-17T20:35:55Z")
When we were 11, two of my friends told me that to make a baby, the man has to lay on top of the woman for 12 hours. :eek: So when we played Barbies, we put them in the missionary position for a few minutes, but there was no moving them around–they were just…there. I once thought that a conductor’s baton controlled what tune the musicians were playing, not just the tempo etc. Too much Bugs Bunny, I guess. KISS sang “Hot Blooded”. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060/120 "2005-02-17T20:47:24Z")
I thought you got pregnant by swimming in a pond with tadpoles in it. Later, I too thought pregnancy occured when a boy peed inside you. It wasn’t until I saw a diagram on the inside of a tampon box, that I realised women had a little hidden “pee hole”. I thought it just came out of the vaginal opening… I was 16. :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-once-mistakenly-believed/290060.md?page=7)