Your biggest childhood misconception - Page 2

Jazhara7 · 08-13-2006, 11:07 AM

For some reason, I used to believe we were somehow related to Steffi Graf (you know, the professional Tennis player). I have no idea where I got that idea from, or why I would benefit from that. I don't think I ever tried to boast about it, maybe because even back then I wasn't entirely sure if it was right.

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RLacey · 08-13-2006, 12:55 PM

Sorry, but that's just weird.

Stoofa · 08-13-2006, 01:37 PM

HA. I used to think that we were related to Canadian figure skater Tracey Wainman. My mother used to go on about her so much, she even had pictures of her on the fridge, that I just assumed she was a cousin. I was highly annoyed when we went to the Ice Capades featuring Tracey and my mum said we couldn't meet her. Shortly after that I discovered that she was not a cousin and I was the laughing stock of the family for a few days, but can you really blame me?

I just remembered another one. My grandmother always told me that when the small bell rings during a certain point in Mass, it's God making that sound. That's the only reason I was willing to go to Mass, I wanted to hear God ring the bell because it made me feel really happy. Then we went to a different church and I observed an altar boy ringing the bell. I was crushed.

It's just occured to me that my grandmother is a big fat liar.

Huz · 08-13-2006, 01:53 PM

My grandparents used to tell me that a mouse lived under their carpet, which I simply accepted unquestioningly as a fact, to the point that I couldn't believe it when my parents told me it wasn't true.

I used to think that plane journeys served no practical purpose - you just took off, flew around for a bit and then landed at the same airport, as part of your holiday. The fact that everything was different at the destination, and nobody made sense any more, clearly escaped me...

And the 'black market' bit has reminded me of a misconception my friend held until his early 20s - he thought a 'black comedy' was a sitcom with black people in it, like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. It confused him when I described Catch-22 as one.

Jazhara7 · 08-13-2006, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RLacey

Sorry, but that's just weird.

Considering who you are talking to, is it any surprise?

-

RLacey · 08-13-2006, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Looney One

Considering who you are talking to, is it any surprise?

Well... no. I sometimes just feel the need to comment on the weirdness, though

.

Sorry about that.

pinkgothic · 08-13-2006, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spider Crusoe

I thought the black market was a literal market you could walk around in and by illegal things.

Hey, I forgot about that one. Same here!

Jatsie · 08-31-2006, 05:16 PM

I used to think that if you had, say a finger, cut off, that it would grow back again.

Maquisard · 08-31-2006, 06:09 PM

Whenever we visited our family in Germany, I wanted to take their dog back to Serbia with us. I seemed to think that "exhaust pipe" was the name for the car trunk, so I always said, "let's stuff the dog down the exhaust pipe!" Everyone thought it was funny, but never told me why.

Jazhara7 · 09-01-2006, 03:55 AM

We have these pretty, old reading glasses, that have a very nice handle:

I always thought they must have belonged to some distant relative, maybe my great-grandmother (whom I didn't know. I don't know if I have ever seen a picture of her. I know I saw a picture of my great-grandfather once). Now I learn that my mother found them in a writing desk or lectern she once bought.

There goes another childhood belief.

Still, they're very pretty.

-

***Marek*** · 09-01-2006, 12:51 PM

When I was very little I always thought there was a direct causal relationship between people kissing each other and getting dandruff. It was all due to a Head & Shoulders commercial in which a girl touched a guy's hair after he'd washed it.

***fov*** · 09-01-2006, 07:59 PM

These are awesome stories. I wish I could think of some misconceptions as cool as these.

When I was little I had two imaginary friends who lived in our living room. I only saw them in there and I was acutely aware of the fact that they lived in that room and couldn't come out into other parts of the house. I found out years later that one of the previous owners had died of a heart attack in that room.

That has nothing to do with the topic, but I can't think of anything else right now.

EDIT: Oh! Just remembered one. First baseball game I ever went to, I was probably about five years old, the Red Sox were playing the Blue Jays and in the first inning someone hit a home run out of the park. I turned to my mother and said, "Oh well, the game's over. They lost the ball."

*Melanie68* · 09-01-2006, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fov

EDIT: Oh! Just remembered one. First baseball game I ever went to, I was probably about five years old, the Red Sox were playing the Blue Jays and in the first inning someone hit a home run out of the park. I turned to my mother and said, "Oh well, the game's over. They lost the ball."

LOL!! What a great story. Five year olds say the cutest stuff.

Your imaginary friend story would be good for this thread.

Intrepid Homoludens · 09-01-2006, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jat316sob

I used to think that if you had, say a finger, cut off, that it would grow back again.

So, how do you manage to type all these posts, then?

*ahem*

When I was a kid my very superstitious Nanay told me that if I went to sleep with my hair still wet while the fan was blowing on me I'd wake up the next morning blind. I was scared shitless and never showered at night, only during the day.

Then she told me that if I slept with my feet sticking out from under the blanket (as I was sometimes prone to do) demons would come from the dark, grab my feet, and thrash me around the room. Considering how the wet hair thing freaked me out, imagine what this one did to me.

When I was FOB at age 7 and trying to deal with my new life in America, I watched television all day. There was this Imperial Margarine commercial that came on, the one where the wife serves her husband toast with the margarine spread over it, he takes a bite, and suddenly a beautiful crown appears on his head while trumpets sound. I begged Nanay to buy me Imperial Margarine and, though she thought I was crazy or something for wanting that particular brand, she acquiesced and got it for me. I grabbed it from her hands, opened the plastic container and spread the margarine on bread and ate it. It took me several minutes of staring at the top of my head in the mirror to realize it wasn't gonna happen. I was seriously depressed for the rest of the day.

Squinky · 09-01-2006, 09:21 PM

Those stories made me larf.

samIamsad · 09-01-2006, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens

I begged Nanay to buy me Imperial Margarine and, though she thought I was crazy or something for wanting that particular brand, she aquiesced and got it for me. I grabbed it from her hands, opened the plastic container and spread the margarine on bread and ate it. It took me several minutes of staring at the top of my head in the mirror to realize it wasn't gonna happen. I was seriously depressed for the rest of the day.

LOL!

Yeah, capitalism is a nasty bitch.

And now for something completely different... Try to imagine the look on my face when I turned my (er,.. a friend's) Barbie puppet upside down. Is there anything more creepy and surreal than realizing there isn't anything to be found beneath a skirt at all? Nightmares. Nightmares!

Intrepid Homoludens · 09-01-2006, 09:31 PM

That's so very similar to my Stretch Armstrong incident.

samIamsad · 09-01-2006, 09:36 PM

Indeed.

I say it's time to sue toy makers for not meeting their customer's very demanding expectations (and/or even probably inflicting serious psychological harm). That I say!

Such a nightmare..*mutters* a nightmare..

*Melanie68* · 09-01-2006, 10:28 PM

When I was a kid, I remember checking Ken out....

.... and not seeing much.

Squinky · 09-01-2006, 10:44 PM

Yeah, he either had smoothness between his legs or underwear permanently fused to that area.

08-13-2006, 11:07 AM	#21
Jazhara7 Ale! And keep 'em coming! Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Beyond the Pattern of Reality...or Germany Posts: 8,527	For some reason, I used to believe we were somehow related to Steffi Graf (you know, the professional Tennis player). I have no idea where I got that idea from, or why I would benefit from that. I don't think I ever tried to boast about it, maybe because even back then I wasn't entirely sure if it was right. - Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ - "esc(x) cot(x) dx = -csc(x)!" Dennis added, and the wizard's robe caught on fire. "Gosh," Dennis said, "and some people say higher math isn't relevant." >>>Inventor of the Mail order-Assassin<<< And This...is a Black Hole - BYE!

08-13-2006, 12:55 PM	#22
RLacey The Thread™ will die. Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 22,542	Sorry, but that's just weird. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ RLacey \| Killer of the Thread™ I do not change to be perfect. Perfect changes to be me.

08-13-2006, 01:37 PM	#23
Stoofa Roar? Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Canada Posts: 665	HA. I used to think that we were related to Canadian figure skater Tracey Wainman. My mother used to go on about her so much, she even had pictures of her on the fridge, that I just assumed she was a cousin. I was highly annoyed when we went to the Ice Capades featuring Tracey and my mum said we couldn't meet her. Shortly after that I discovered that she was not a cousin and I was the laughing stock of the family for a few days, but can you really blame me? I just remembered another one. My grandmother always told me that when the small bell rings during a certain point in Mass, it's God making that sound. That's the only reason I was willing to go to Mass, I wanted to hear God ring the bell because it made me feel really happy. Then we went to a different church and I observed an altar boy ringing the bell. I was crushed. It's just occured to me that my grandmother is a big fat liar. Share Share this post on Twitter

08-13-2006, 01:53 PM	#24
Huz Kersal Massive Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Manchester Posts: 1,430	My grandparents used to tell me that a mouse lived under their carpet, which I simply accepted unquestioningly as a fact, to the point that I couldn't believe it when my parents told me it wasn't true. I used to think that plane journeys served no practical purpose - you just took off, flew around for a bit and then landed at the same airport, as part of your holiday. The fact that everything was different at the destination, and nobody made sense any more, clearly escaped me... And the 'black market' bit has reminded me of a misconception my friend held until his early 20s - he thought a 'black comedy' was a sitcom with black people in it, like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. It confused him when I described Catch-22 as one. Share Share this post on Twitter Last edited by Huz; 08-13-2006 at 02:01 PM.

08-31-2006, 05:16 PM	#28
Jatsie Lovable rogue Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Great Britain Posts: 6,378	I used to think that if you had, say a finger, cut off, that it would grow back again. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ "Jatsie is amazing." - Jazhara "My mental image of Jat is a gentleman sitting in a leather armchair, wearing a robe. The light in the room is dim and strangely he's not sitting in front of a computer, but next to a small, round table with a box of cigars on." - Jelena Gay-Nerds.com

08-31-2006, 06:09 PM	#29
Maquisard Citizen of Bizarro World Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Htrae Posts: 4,219	Whenever we visited our family in Germany, I wanted to take their dog back to Serbia with us. I seemed to think that "exhaust pipe" was the name for the car trunk, so I always said, "let's stuff the dog down the exhaust pipe!" Everyone thought it was funny, but never told me why. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ By no rocket’s blue shade am no shells dead down there, Gave no proof all day long that the flag was unwhere! No say does am spar-strangled shroud hang limply! Under land of no free! Am us home coward-leeee! ~Excerpt from the Bizarro Anthem

09-01-2006, 03:55 AM	#30
Jazhara7 Ale! And keep 'em coming! Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Beyond the Pattern of Reality...or Germany Posts: 8,527	We have these pretty, old reading glasses, that have a very nice handle: I always thought they must have belonged to some distant relative, maybe my great-grandmother (whom I didn't know. I don't know if I have ever seen a picture of her. I know I saw a picture of my great-grandfather once). Now I learn that my mother found them in a writing desk or lectern she once bought. There goes another childhood belief. Still, they're very pretty. - Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ - "esc(x) cot(x) dx = -csc(x)!" Dennis added, and the wizard's robe caught on fire. "Gosh," Dennis said, "and some people say higher math isn't relevant." >>>Inventor of the Mail order-Assassin<<< And This...is a Black Hole - BYE!

09-01-2006, 12:51 PM	#31
*Marek* Puts the 'e' in Mark Join Date: Sep 2003 Posts: 3,138	When I was very little I always thought there was a direct causal relationship between people kissing each other and getting dandruff. It was all due to a Head & Shoulders commercial in which a girl touched a guy's hair after he'd washed it. Share Share this post on Twitter

09-01-2006, 07:59 PM	#32
*fov* Rattenmonster Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: San Francisco Posts: 10,404	These are awesome stories. I wish I could think of some misconceptions as cool as these. When I was little I had two imaginary friends who lived in our living room. I only saw them in there and I was acutely aware of the fact that they lived in that room and couldn't come out into other parts of the house. I found out years later that one of the previous owners had died of a heart attack in that room. That has nothing to do with the topic, but I can't think of anything else right now. EDIT: Oh! Just remembered one. First baseball game I ever went to, I was probably about five years old, the Red Sox were playing the Blue Jays and in the first inning someone hit a home run out of the park. I turned to my mother and said, "Oh well, the game's over. They lost the ball." Share Share this post on Twitter

09-01-2006, 09:21 PM	#35
Squinky Unreliable Narrator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Le Canada Posts: 9,873	Those stories made me larf. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Squinky is always right, but only for certain values of "always" and "right".

09-01-2006, 09:31 PM	#37
Intrepid Homoludens merely human Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Chicago Posts: 22,309	That's so very similar to my Stretch Armstrong incident. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ platform: laptop, iPhone 3Gs \| gaming: x360, PS3, psp, iPhone, wii \| blog: a space alien \| book: the moral landscape: how science can determine human values by sam harris \| games: l.a.noire, portal 2, brink, dragon age 2, heavy rain \| sites: NPR, skeptoid, gaygamer \| music: ray lamontagne, adele, washed out, james blake \| twitter: a_space_alien

09-01-2006, 09:36 PM	#38
samIamsad capsized. Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 5,534	Indeed. I say it's time to sue toy makers for not meeting their customer's very demanding expectations (and/or even probably inflicting serious psychological harm). That I say! Such a nightmare..mutters a nightmare.. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Look, Mr. Bubbles...!

09-01-2006, 10:28 PM	#39
Melanie68 Super Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,907	When I was a kid, I remember checking Ken out.... .... and not seeing much. Share Share this post on Twitter

09-01-2006, 10:44 PM	#40
Squinky Unreliable Narrator Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Le Canada Posts: 9,873	Yeah, he either had smoothness between his legs or underwear permanently fused to that area. Share Share this post on Twitter __________________ Squinky is always right, but only for certain values of "always" and "right".

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