# Stuff adults told you as a kid that you believed **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 11, 2010, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796 "2010-10-11T15:53:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/21 "2010-10-12T02:40:11Z")
My mother told me thunder was the sound of clouds banging together. If they banged together really hard, they made a spark, which was lightning. I’m 58 years old and I still kind of believe it. ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/22 "2010-10-12T04:22:00Z")
Their was always the old " If you listen to Led Zeppelin you’ll go to Hell and destroy America" story. I’m still working on it. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/23 "2010-10-12T04:31:09Z")
Your face will stick that way You’ll grow a watermelon in your stomach After “running away from home” (for a few hours) my mom convinced me she would just give me to the church. If you use too much shampoo, your hair will fall out. (Don’t waste shampoo). ---
**Author:** ![goldmund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a4c791/32.png) [@goldmund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goldmund)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/24 "2010-10-12T05:43:07Z")
We had an idiosyncratic ice cream man who went by the name of “Jolly Joe”. He would come around after 9pm on summer nights. He drove one of the old-fashioned ice cream trucks where the driver would have to stop, get out, and walk to the back of the truck to serve you (this was in the 80s). The truck had a rather ominous sounding slow bell. Ding… ding… ding… Anyway, my dad used to tell me that this was a truck from the “bad boys school”, coming around to check that little boys were in bed, and take them away for rehabilitation if they weren’t. Obviously he just didn’t want me to have ice cream at that hour, but I believed this for many years. Eventually I worked up the courage to glance out the window, and finally learned the truth. He also used to tell me that 5th gear would make that car’s wheels retract, and the car would hover above the road so that it could go faster. I believed this, too. ---
**Author:** ![ramel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb8c5e/32.png) [@ramel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ramel)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/25 "2010-10-12T07:03:29Z")
Oh lots of things! If you swallow water at the exact time you hiccup, you’ll die. There’s a medical condition which starts as a spot on your neck which then spreads all the way around your neck as a circle. Then your head falls off. I believed it! When I was very young at school, the teacher would gather us all onto a large mat, so she could read to us. But being young and incapable of keeping still for more than five seconds, we all kinda drifted off the mat through child Brownian motion. So one day she put a large speaker next to the mat and said it was a very loud alarm that would make a loud noise if we left the mat. I believed it 100%. I was a very gullible child. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/26 "2010-10-12T12:14:06Z")
You know those metal electrical boxes by the side of some roads? Well, when I was a kid in the 50s they were big wooden boxes right on the ground. One day I asked my father what was inside them, and he said “bubble gum.” For years I searched in vain for a box without a padlock. Never found one. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/27 "2010-10-12T14:48:22Z")
My dad and brother conspired to trick me. When my brother gave a quick push on the dashboard of the car in front of the passenger seat, my dad gave a quick push on the gas pedal, and the car would accelerate just for a half second. They did this repeatedly and had me convinced my brother was pushing the car forward from the passenger seat. Of course, when I tried, it didn’t work… because I wasn’t pushing hard enough. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/28 "2010-10-12T16:10:31Z")
My dad told me that he was a werewolf. That’s why sometimes he’d go out at night with Mom and the kids had to stay home with the babysitter. I didn’t believe him at first, so he said that’s why he has hair on his face and chest and my mom didn’t. I said I’d have hair when I got older and he said that’s because I’d turn into a werewolf too! When I was 16, he said, I’d all of a sudden start turning into a wolf and it’d happen once a month for a night. Then he told me an elaborate story about this girl I’d meet and how my friends would think it was weird but then they’d think it was cool. So, basically, the plot of Teen Wolf. :mad: I also thought he could change the traffic lights by voice command. We’d be sitting at a red light and all of a sudden, he’d say “I’m tired of sitting here. 1, 2, 3, turn green!” and the light would do it! My little brother and I tried in vain to mimic the feat until the day he let me in on the secret. He told me to count 3 seconds from when the cross-street turned red. My brother was sooo pissed that I’d gained “the power” and he hadn’t yet. I’ve used this trick to impress no less than two (2!) grown adult girlfriends. I’ve told some lies, too. I told some kids that the RFID key system was actually a retinal scanner. I’d prove it by telling them to hold their eye up to it. The door, of course, didn’t unlock. When I held my up to it, it worked. Of course, I was palming the key and holding my eyelids open with the same hand. They spent the afternoon trying to figure out whose eye was cleanest so they could try again. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/29 "2010-10-12T16:30:02Z")
> [@Indyellen](#): > > For years my dad told me stories about this Indian Brave named “Falling Rock”; we kept driving past these areas marked “Watch Falling Rock” and my dad had me convinced to look out for this Indian guy… A friend of mine was told by his Dad that if you found a rock in the middle of the road, you should pick it up and turn it in to the Dept. of Highways. They would then reward you for getting rid of the hazard by presenting you with a nice watch. Thus the signs - “watch for rock on road” ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/30 "2010-10-12T16:32:38Z")
When I was little, I (like a lot of kids) didn’t like taking baths. My mom used to tell me that if I didn’t take a bath, the guys from the Health Department would come and take me away. I pictured guys in dark suits and sunglasses, carrying briefcases (kind of like the Blues Brothers 🙂 ) and genuinely worried that this would happen. My dad also had me convinced when we went on a road trip that I was going to get to see giant grasshoppers by the side of the road. I got all excited, waiting for them to appear, and finally he pointed them out: they were [oil pumps](http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/4608042/2/istockphoto_4608042-silhouette-oil-pumps.jpg), painted green. I was a little disappointed, but I had to admit that they _did_ look rather like grasshoppers! ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/31 "2010-10-12T16:56:52Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Thus the signs - “watch for rock on road” Not a trick, but it reminds me of the signs saying: Slow Children at Play Why warn me about slow children playing? ---
**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:** [October 12, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/32 "2010-10-12T17:16:05Z")
I’m reminded of a lie a friend’s parents told him, which I exposed. I think I was about five years old. Friend and his parents were over, and Friend was telling me that his parents were going to Hawaii. He didn’t want them to fly, because he thought the plane would crash. So his mom told him “s’okay - there’s a bridge. We’re driving.” Friend bought it. I didn’t. I’ve always been fascinated by maps, and even at an early age I was up on my geography. “There’s no bridge to Hawaii!” I told him, then found an atlas and proved it. I wish I could remember how his parents wormed their way out of that one… ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/33 "2010-10-12T17:27:31Z")
> [@Bearflag70](#): > > > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > > > Thus the signs - “watch for rock on road” > > Not a trick, but it reminds me of the signs saying: > > Slow > Children > at Play > > Why warn me about slow children playing? 'Cause they’re too dumb to get out of the way of your car, duh. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/34 "2010-10-12T18:01:58Z")
When I was quite small, mopeds were popular. My dad (who likes motorcycles) called them deathtraps. I thought that was the actual name of the machine, and imagined it written out in chrome cursive on the side. I thought the manufacturer must be kind of dumb to name it that–how many people would buy something called a Deathtrap? ---
**Author:** ![Surly\_Chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Surly\_Chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surly_Chick)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/35 "2010-10-12T18:37:08Z")
My dad told me that the Skyway Bridge in Chicago was kind of just like a ramp and you had to go really, really fast to launch your car to fly over and make it to the other side. I was petrified of ever taking it. Yes, I was a gullible child. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/36 "2010-10-12T19:02:58Z")
I had the opposite happen as a child. My old world grandparents got me hooked on [blood tongue](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_tongue) as a child. I ate it all the time along with my grandfather. My older sisters were completely grossed out by it and would tell me “You know what that is right? It’s pig’s blood and ox’s tongue.” I never believed them and would counter with “nah, they just call it that, you guys are lying.” There’s no way grandma would serve me that. We’d argue back and forth with my granparents neither confirming or denying either way. It wasn’t till years later that I found out that it really was what my sisters had told me. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/37 "2010-10-12T22:03:16Z")
I love this thread; I’m picking up all kinds of new stuff to try out on my kids. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/38 "2010-10-12T22:19:12Z")
When I was a kid, my mom would warn us not to swallow our chewing gum. According to her, it would wrap around our innards, only to have to be surgically removed at a later date. And I believed it. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2010, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/39 "2010-10-12T22:21:03Z")
Swallowed gum would stay in your stomach forever and build up into a big hard ball, and you’d eventually need an operation. Ooops, didn’t see missred’s post till now! ---
**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:** [October 12, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796/40 "2010-10-12T23:14:14Z")
The only thing I can think of is that I thought blinkers (as in turn signals in cars) worked backwards to the way they did. And that, if I could convince the cop I was 5 (which I did by holding up my open-fingered hand), I wouldn’t have to wear a seat belt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stuff-adults-told-you-as-a-kid-that-you-believed/556796.md?page=3)