# Lies teachers told you in school **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 8, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163 "2016-08-08T18:20:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hbk4894](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e68b1a/32.png) [@Hbk4894](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hbk4894)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/1 "2016-08-08T18:20:40Z")
That art was worth taking as a subject ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/2 "2016-08-08T18:22:03Z")
That your grades and comments on behavior go on your “permanent record”, strongly implying that those things follow you your whole life. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/3 "2016-08-08T18:26:46Z")
That we were moving swiftly toward adopting the metric system. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/4 "2016-08-08T18:27:58Z")
That penmanship was important. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/5 "2016-08-08T18:28:55Z")
That Catherine the Great of Russia died by being crushed to death under a horse while attempting to have sex with it. My teacher was a very strange person. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/6 "2016-08-08T18:30:37Z")
French was the international language. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/7 "2016-08-08T18:50:03Z")
Penguins are mammals because they don’t fly, whales are fish because they swim. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/8 "2016-08-08T19:52:08Z")
> [@Hbk4894](#): > > That art was worth taking as a subject That’s not a lie, it’s an opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/9 "2016-08-08T20:41:29Z")
That all the accused “witches” in Salem were misunderstood teenage girls. No, the girls were doing the accusing. ---
**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:** [August 8, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/10 "2016-08-08T20:47:18Z")
- That robins have red breasts ecause their blood shows through their thin skin - that mosquitos give you malaria by laying their eggs in your bloodstream. - that airplanes fly because they “float on a cushion of air” Actually, I don’t think these were technically “lies”, because I’m pretty sure my teachers believed these things. ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/11 "2016-08-08T20:47:39Z")
The entire myth of the American marksmen skirmishing in the woods while the Redcoats stood in line like dumbasses. News flash: The British knew what skirmishing was, and those savvy American guerillas usually lost. It was a profoundly anachronistic understanding of what 18th century warfare was about. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/12 "2016-08-08T20:50:47Z")
That Jesus was hung from a pole. Not a cross. A pole. Sixth grade PUBLIC school. They tossed her out about a month later. Thanks Mom! ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2016, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/13 "2016-08-08T22:03:39Z")
It’s only at the age of 40 that I learned that it is not, in fact, illegal to kill a preying mantis. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/14 "2016-08-09T00:01:41Z")
Not direct lies so much as anecdotes as truth - years after I was out and the Internet came along, Snopes blew away several things I was told. Some I still recall: [ul]The Chevy Nova didn’t sell in Mexico because it means “it doesn’t go” [li]Catfish the size of cars live at the bottom of the dam at \ lake[/li][li]Guy gets flat outside Insane Asylum, inmate suggests using one lug nut from the other tires[/li][li]\ College library is sinking because the architect forgot to take into account the weight of the books[/li][li]Golf means “Gentlemen Only, Ladies Forbidden”[/li][li]You can’t swim for an hour after eating[/li]Swallowing gum takes 7 years to digest[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Marine\_One](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marine_one/32/3461_2.png) [@Marine\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marine_One)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/15 "2016-08-09T00:07:20Z")
“I’m sure that the guilt you feel is far worse than any punishment you might receive. Now, don’t you feel terrible?” ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/16 "2016-08-09T00:33:42Z")
5th grade SCIENCE teacher said sound was faster than light. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/17 "2016-08-09T00:34:51Z")
A driving school instructor once told me that it was perfectly legal to skip a red light by taking a shortcut through a gas station on the corner. Years later, a different instructor said that such an action was NOT legal. I still don’t know what the truth is. ---
**Author:** ![DoggyDunnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5fc32e/32.png) [@DoggyDunnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoggyDunnit)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/18 "2016-08-09T00:47:18Z")
“When you get to high school, teachers are going to start making you write in cursive!” ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/19 "2016-08-09T00:49:11Z")
That Old Faithful geyser erupts every hour, on the hour, like God intended. Years later, I listened to a ranger talk at Yellowstone where they said they never post predicted times exactly on the hour precisely to dispel that myth. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163/20 "2016-08-09T01:00:45Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > A driving school instructor once told me that it was perfectly legal to skip a red light by taking a shortcut through a gas station on the corner. Years later, a different instructor said that such an action was NOT legal. I still don’t know what the truth is. In many places(every one I have lived in) it is illegal, usually under some vague language like “Improper travel to avoid a traffic control device or officer” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lies-teachers-told-you-in-school/762163.md?page=2)