“She sells seashells down by the seashore.” Most everybody knows this as a tongue twister. But it was written by a guy named Terry Sullivan in 1908 as a tribute for Mary Anning, who was one of the first female British paleontologists in the first half of the 19th century. She and another woman would go to the seashore and search for fossilized remains, discovering many extinct species (including dinosaur remains) and helping to debunk the Christian myth that god created the universe in six days. And here I thought it was just something made up by a school teacher at some point.
I am Mexican, and when I was growing up my mom and her sister sang corridos (traditional narrative songs), while my mom played guitar. One song they sang was particularly interesting, as it was full of violence, drama and action. It was called the balled of Joaquin Marrieta. Things like anglos stealing his mine claim, beating him, raping and killing his wife, and finally a decapitation for the poor Robin hood style hero.
Later when I took Chicano studies in college, I learned that the lyrics of the song were about actual things that happened to a real person and his family in California around 1849.
I’ve met kids (and in some cases, adults) who didn’t know that the Titanic and Indianapolis were real ships.
Or that there really was an Apollo 13.
Or that D-Day really happened.
Or that Wyatt Earp and John Henry “Doc” Holliday were real people.
They just thought that they were cool things from movies.
I used to date a woman that was quite sweet and naive (even though she was a world traveler and had a lot of interesting experiences under her belt). I was teasing her one time about it and she told me how people had even told her that ‘gullible is not in the dictionary’ and how she had fallen for it. My immediate reply was " Well it isn’t in the dictionary!". She incredulously, said, “Really?” Twice.
If you say “gullible” really, really slowly it sounds just like “oranges.” Try it!
Just thought of another one.
When Metalica came out with the video for “One”, and for years after, I never heard of Johnny Got His Gun.
Imbecile as well, in Roman law it is someone who can’t decide for him/herself due to infancy, senility, mental illness, slavery, imprisonment or being female.