# What's the most obvious lie you've ever believed past childhood? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 8, 2020, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616 "2020-02-08T05:57:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kk\_fusion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kk_fusion/32/15276_2.png) [@kk\_fusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kk_fusion)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/21 "2020-02-08T17:16:09Z")
“Free beer tomorrow”. This wasn’t even meant to deceive; just a throwaway joke on my regular bar’s LCD. Yet I dragged my new girlfriend there the next day just to see the same display. Hormones, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/22 "2020-02-08T17:21:24Z")
“Oh, you don’t want any of that pecan pie. It tastes yucky.” Said by several of my aunts, usually while holding a plate containing a slice of pecan pie. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/23 "2020-02-08T17:23:34Z")
For a very long time I believed in the existence of pineapple trees. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/24 "2020-02-08T17:39:45Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#): > > Don’t let these beliefs hold you back. > Swallow as many spiders as you want. Nobody is stopping you but yourself. swallowing may also prevent pregnancy.😛 ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/25 "2020-02-08T18:25:51Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > Since this is the UK government National Health Service, I’d be inclined to trust it. Am I naive? No, you’re not naive. This one is definitely true. Just ask my oldest sister, born six months after my parents were married. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/26 "2020-02-08T19:02:48Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > No, you’re not naive. This one is definitely true. Just ask my oldest sister, born six months after my parents were married. 😃 Premature and 8 lbs. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/27 "2020-02-08T19:07:34Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I was going to post something about American exceptionalism, but now I’m pretty much just adrift… Exactly what I was going to post. With hindsight I’d say the reality dawned on me when I was about 30 (1980). No particular trigger- I just realized what silly bullshit the “greatest nation on earth” schtick was. ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/28 "2020-02-08T19:27:04Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > More on this at > [Can I get pregnant if I have sex without penetration? - NHS](https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/pregnancy/can-i-get-pregnant-if-i-have-sex-without-penetration/) > > In part, > "It’s possible for you to get pregnant without having sexual intercourse if, for example: > > sperm get into your vagina – for example, if you or your partner have semen or pre-ejaculate on your fingers and touch your vagina > your partner ejaculates near your vagina > your partner’s erect penis comes into contact with your body near your vagina > The risk of getting pregnant in this way is very low because sperm can only live for a short time outside of the body. However, if you’re not planning a pregnancy, it’s important to know that it’s possible to get pregnant in this way." > > Since this is the UK government National Health Service, I’d be inclined to trust it. Am I naive? I would think it’s possible, the same way it’s possible for me to win the lottery twice. I’m sure somebody out there has done it, but it will never be me and I will never know them. ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/29 "2020-02-08T19:41:12Z")
“Beatniks are cool.” “Poetry is cool.” “Poverty is cool.” “Normalcy is uncool.” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/30 "2020-02-08T19:44:37Z")
> [@pirviii](#): > > I would think it’s possible, the same way it’s possible for me to win the lottery twice. I’m sure somebody out there has done it, but it will never be me and I will never know them. Pretty much this. Theoretically possible but highly unlikely unless a significant amount of semen is introduced into the vagina. It takes more than one sperm to fertilize an ovum, it takes a team to wear down the ova’s cell wall to let one sperm successfully enter. And since most sperm will be desperately trying to penetrate things that are NOT the ovum, success depends on large numbers. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/31 "2020-02-08T19:47:46Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Premature and 8 lbs. It’s like you’ve met my mom! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/32 "2020-02-08T22:37:49Z")
Not so much a lie but an assumption on my part. It was not all that long ago that I learned that ponies were not young horses. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2020, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/33 "2020-02-08T23:16:27Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Not so much a lie but an assumption on my part. It was not all that long ago that I learned that ponies were not young horses. > mmm Almost everyone not a horse person seems to think that, so don’t feel alone. Some of it is not knowing the nomenclature (foals are young horses, ponies are short horses), some of it is lack of observation (they look entirely different) due to lack of interest. I know nothing about vast areas of human endeavor (football? cars?) but I can’t remember a time I didn’t know what ponies were. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/34 "2020-02-09T00:06:18Z")
“Too much sex is a bad thing, you will get desensitized to it” ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/35 "2020-02-09T00:18:00Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > For a long time I persisted in the belief that strength and weight limits on bridges was tested by driving bigger and bigger trucks over your balls. With or without soy sauce? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/36 "2020-02-09T00:25:44Z")
I was still somewhat a kid at the time but I believed that the first time you are stung by a bee, you’ll be OK, but it will cause you to be potentially fatally allergic to all subsequent bee stings for the rest of your life. I thought that was how the anaphylatic shock stories worked. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/37 "2020-02-09T00:55:51Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > When I was in middle school, my mom told me that you could get pregnant without having sex. Something about how if bodily fluids are involved and your vagina is exposed, the fluids can find their way into your vagina and impregnate you. Since I never received any sex education (only abstinence education), it took me a while to be disabused of this notion. If semen gets on the skin of the perineal area, it can indeed lead to pregnancy. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/38 "2020-02-09T00:57:46Z")
> [@kk\_fusion](#): > > “Free beer tomorrow”. > > This wasn’t even meant to deceive; just a throwaway joke on my regular bar’s LCD. Yet I dragged my new girlfriend there the next day just to see the same display. Hormones, I guess. Was FREE BEER the name of the house band? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/39 "2020-02-09T01:23:48Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > If semen gets on the skin of the perineal area, it can indeed lead to pregnancy. Got a cite for that claim? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2020, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616/40 "2020-02-09T01:47:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > “Oh, you don’t want any of that pecan pie. It tastes yucky.” > > Said by several of my aunts, usually while holding a plate containing a slice of pecan pie. “Is it sweet though? Here (zzzzzzzzip) let me have a taste…” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-most-obvious-lie-youve-ever-believed-past-childhood/847616.md?page=3)