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Adults Share The Dumbest Lies They Believed As Children

Adults Share The Dumbest Lies They Believed As Children
Trym Nilsen on Unsplash

It's funny to look back as adults to when we were kids, to imagine all the things we might have believed.

Maybe it was a lie we heard on the playground, or perhaps it was something our older brothers or sisters told us. The way the world works was new, foreign, and strange to us at the time.

So if someone told you that if you counted the stones around Stonehenge you died? You'd probably believe it.

Why wouldn't you?


Reddit user, AfterIsIsIsIsIsWas, wanted to know what you were confused about as a kid when they asked:

"What were the dumbest lies you believed when you were a kid?"

Your parents love you.

Don't ever forget that.

Especially when you discover how often they lied to you growing up.

The Magic of Imagination

"Lost my stuffed animal (a white dog) in the airport in Miami when I was 5. It was my favorite and I was really sad about it. A few weeks later my mom presented me with a brown dog that otherwise looked exactly like the white one I’d lost. She said the workers at the airport had found it and mailed it to us, but he got a tan because he was in Florida. Bought it hook line and sinker for a few years. Tan dog is now my son’s and he’s a big fan :)"

thallomys

They Can See Everything

"That our entire house was covered by cork-sized security cameras and that my parents could see my every move."

exeL4n

"My kid has convinced herself of the same thing and always randomly asks “what am I doing right now?” From across the house"

supremechev

Science!

"As a kid I had a strangulated hernia, which left me with one testicle. My dad told me if I ever had kids they would be all boys or all girls cos each testicle is for each sex. Believed it for years."

rev667

Down, Down You Go

"That the draining sound of the water in the bathtub was a monster that would suck you in as well. A lie made to get me out of the bath."

Roefl

Clever Way To Get Kids To Read More

"When I was a kid I asked my dad if reading enough books really could give you Telekinesis... (Matilda)He said yes. I spent many years after that thinking I just wasn't doing enough"

seeyouinthesun

Don't Pull Back The Curtain

"When I was a little fellow my parents used to told me when you smoke you'll die instantaneously. Unfortunately they forgot this at a campfire organized by our former neighborhood and smoked a cig. I remember I was desperately trying to stop them and cried all the time, because I thought they're both about to die."

Kojobu

Siblings are supposed to be the best friends you're born with.

Right?

How Is This Legal?

"I could not understand how all the deaths scenes in war movies seemed so realistic. So, I asked one of my older brothers how they did it. He proceeded to tell me that they empty out state prisons in the area the movie is being made, dress them up and give them guns and tell them that if they survive the filming then they get to leave jail after. I was told that at around 7 and I believed it till I was around 10."

DocBak1

Don't Count The Stones

"My sister told me that if you count all the stones of Stonehenge you will die. I still don't know how many stones there are in Stonehenge."

Sardonnicus

"This is technically true. It has no relation to when you will die and, if you don’t count the stones, you will also die but your sister wasn’t wrong."

schiznats

*tap *tap *tap

"My older brother pranked me once. I had watched a kids' TV show (I think it was "The Electric Company") that featured a guest star who was a tap dancer."

"My brother convinced me that tap dancers made their tapping sounds -- not with their feet -- but with their mouths."

"I spent the next several weeks trying to tap dance with my mouth noises before my mom made me quit."

Hysterical_Realist

Seriously, what is it with family lying to you?

That's Unfortunate For All The Crabs And Lobsters Out There

"My grandmother told me that pinching gave cancer. I got pinched once at recess and yelled at the person because I thought they were going to give me cancer."

ivumb

"My mother told me basically everything she did not want me to have caused cancer. Salt - cancer. Maraschino Cherries - cancer. Anything with any sort of food coloring in it - cancer. Soda - cancer. Spending too much time on tv/computer/video games - cancer."

"Now pinching fell under things she didn't physically want me doing. Those didn't give you cancer, they gave you blood clots..."

silenttd

That's Some James Bond Stuff

"The button on your armrest on airplanes is the eject button"

"I found out it reclines your seat embarrassingly late"

Nrd4Life

"When I was a kid my dad always told me not to touch it because it was an "emergency" button. One time when I was like 5 we were flying to visit family and he fell asleep so I pressed it a bunch because I was curious. Nothing happened and I fell asleep thinking it must be broken. I woke up in a stroller with my parents upset because the plane had to make an emergency landing and I started crying because I thought it was my fault."

crowrager

Growth?

"Hiccups are symptoms of growth spurts…"

"The other day I had hiccups and I guarantee you I didn’t grow any 🤣"

- HorrorWhore214

The Secret Ingredient

"My father doesn’t cook almost anything, except french fries. The thing is he really makes great french fries, the best I’ve eaten."

"When I was around 7 or 8 he made me believe his secret ingredient was the oil he fried them in, which was made from kangaroo poop. He made it believable, because I recently heard about that coffee that the monkey-things eat then they sh*t it out."

"Dad went on to explain how he owned a kangaroo farm in Australia, the kangaroos being bred for the sole purpose of sh*tting, just like this coffee. The farm had a dozen employees which would process the poop into oil, which they would proceed to send all the way to Romania, just for him to make french fries."

"I don’t remember for how long I believed him."

- Conscious_Daikon_547

Leprechauns

"Once, this guy on my bus in first grade told me and my friend that leprechauns are real."

"I didn't believe him. He then told us that HE was a leprechaun, and then proceeded to give us a long and detailed story of how he gets away with being one."

"I didn't believe it at first, but he was such a good storyteller that in the end I was convinced that he truly was a leprechaun."

- tiffanymff

Leaving Without You

"My mom took me and my little brother Christmas shopping one time when I was four and he was three."

"She had to pick up a few items at a department store and we really wanted to hang out in the toys, so she said 'If you're not ready to go when i get back, I'm leaving without you.' Just a common mom warning."

"After we played for a while and looked for her for about 10-15 minutes (it was really busy) I assumed she left without us. She said she would, and I believed her. I told my brother she left and we just had to walk home."

"It was about 3 miles and so began our little version of 'There And Back Again.' "

"We were fearless, walking along Highway 66 and collecting all sorts of roadside bits like a wooden soda bottle box, a discarded muffler, an umbrella, an old shoe and various interesting rocks."

"About 1/2 mile from our house my Mom found us, cut across three lanes of traffic with the car and stopped us. She ran out of the car crying and half livid."

"I thought it was nice of her to come get us since we had misbehaved, but didn't know why she was so upset."

"A number of people at the store parking lot and driving on the road had told her of the little kids hiking down the road with their Christmas treasure."

"It was 1965."

- eris0xaa

Always Watching

"That everyone in our town had some connection to my mum."

"She told me everyone knew who she was and was looking out, so any inappropriate behaviour, actions, etc would eventually get back to her."

"I didn't do anything ever for fear her contacts would tell her."

"Yes, I went crazy once I moved out of home."

"Realizing I wasn’t actually being observed was too delicious, I over-did all the things I’d missed out on. I indulged in every vice."

"Yes, I’m now an insecure, anxious, perfectionistic, insomniac, surprise!"

- ReaganInc

Bob Barker

"My older brother told me that Bob Barker was over 200 years old."

"He somehow convinced me that Bob was still alive because of all the Price is Right money. It seemed legit at the time."

"He also told me that Bob Barker made all the Price is Right girls sleep with him, I guess that part could have been true."

- HomeCat_

Watermelon Tree

"When I was a kid, I loved eating watermelon."

"One day while I was eating, I accidentally swallowed a seed. I asked my elder sister about it. She said 'a watermelon tree will grow out of your head tonight.' "

"I was terrified about it and didn't sleep or eat watermelon for a while. Nevermind that watermelons don't even grow on trees."

"To this day, I think about this whenever I have watermelon (I still love them)."

- Maleficent_Hippo1716

Two Horses

"My mom told me 'Dos Equis' translated to 'Two Horses' - being young I absolutely did not understand my mother was pulling my leg."

"I justified it by connecting Equine and Equis and was like. 'Yep. Must be the truth.' "

"So I went repeating this information until someone who spoke Spanish corrected me."

"She thought it was pretty funny when I told her the story. The Xs all over the bottle make a lot more sense now."

- via6201

Mouth Taste

"I used to think that saliva or mouth taste (something like that, I’m not sure) would transfer through the water of water fountains."

"I was young, in 1st or 2nd grade, so whenever I’d go to get a drink I’d let it run for a few seconds before I actually drank anything. Especially when a kid I disliked drank before me."

"Funniest part is, if my crush at the time had just taken a drink from the fountain before me, I’d drink right away."

"I have no idea why or how I started believing this."

- AshTheInventor

It's okay to believe things as a kid.

Take that wondrous, open spirit into adulthood to learn as much as you can.

But, also, don't press the button on the sides of airplane seats.

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Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

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Two identical goats stare into the camera while standing in a field.
Photo by Jørgen Håland

When discussing love and relationships, the motto is usually less is more.

But what if there is more of one partner?

Being involved with identical twins can be quite the experience.

Can you really tell them apart?

Is everything identical?

If you're attracted to one, aren't you automatically attracted to the other?

So many questions.

Now we need some answers.

Redditor nicknamesofdaveryder wanted to hear about love and the twin experience, so they asked:

"Redditors who married someone with an identical twin sibling, why are you glad you're not with the other twin instead?"

I've never met a lot of twins, let alone gotten involved with a pair.

I have questions.

Hopefully I get some answers.

Saved

Comedy Central Wink GIF by Drunk HistoryGiphy

"My late husband's twin was a non-functioning alcoholic and my husband wasn’t. My husband says joining the navy was what saved him from going down that road."

iteachag5

Falling Asleep

"Story time! I am an identical twin (we still look so much alike!) and one night I spent the night at her house. She and I fell asleep in the same bed because we were up late talking, etc. Her husband slept on the couch. The next morning my twin went to take a shower and her husband laid down on the bed with me (thinking it was her of course). I jokingly said 'Hey sailor, looking for a little variety?' He shot off the bed and said 'If I was looking for variety, do you think I'd choose you??'"

tanyagal2

The Good Guy And The Other One

"I didn't marry him but I dated an identical twin. His twin's girlfriend and I used to joke around that she got the evil twin. He was just a selfish, messed-up person. One of the benefits of breaking up with my boyfriend was no longer having his twin in my life. Plus, his ex gf and I are still great friends! The good guy was just the lesser evil. She wanted to get as far away from that family as I did. The best thing to come out of those relationships was our friendship."

super-ro

Love Wins

"My dad's an identical twin. People have a hard time distinguishing them, but to my mom and me, they look like two completely different people because of the way they walk/talk/etc. Obviously, my mom only fell in love with this one person. When you love someone it's actually pretty easy to tell identical twins apart."

michaelsgavin

Issues

Threaten Ashley Olsen GIFGiphy

"The other twin has the same personality as I do. We argue readily and are super competitive with each other. We butt heads on a lot of issues."

why_not_send_a_nude

Personality clashes aren't just a twin thing.

It's a human thing.

We can't help ourselves.

Different People

Triplets GIF by RuPaul's Drag RaceGiphy

"I work with a guy who married an identical triplet, one of the triplets also works with us. I asked him one day if it was weird working with someone who looked just like his wife. He got a little pissed and basically said they are all very different people and he doesn't see much of his wife in her."

LeafMeAlone_99

He's Evil

"We’re not married but known each other since we were 12 and have been together 3 and a half years. His twin is a massive di**head who tried to break us up multiple times, was madly in love with me in his own words, and after 2 years of pursuing me declared I was a terrible person and put him through hell. Because I didn’t break up with his TWIN BROTHER to date him."

xMollyP

Life Choices

"My husband and his twin brother look very different to me, although they are identical and get mistaken for one another all the time. They couldn’t be more different in terms of personality. They have different values and life goals, hobbies, one is introverted and the other is extroverted. If they were two people who didn’t look alike, I would automatically not be attracted to my brother-in-law simply because we are not remotely compatible personality-wise."

"Also they have very different styles. I do not find the way my husband’s twin dresses/grooms his hair attractive. It’s so wild to me when people can’t tell them apart because they couldn’t be more different in my eyes."

lanieeeeeeee

Opposites

"Well, my wife and I have been together for 30 years. She has a 'mirror' twin. Even now, if you don’t know them well or interact frequently you will not be able to tell them apart. They are complete opposites. I married the extrovert, she has never met a stranger, will try anything at least once, and can find a positive aspect in almost everything she encounters, they are also best friends, my wife drags her sister along all the time."

"Once she’s out she enjoys our activities. I love my SIL, all three of them, but so glad I married the one like me. The mirror part even goes for looks, when I see my wife’s reflection I see my SIL, it’s weird sometimes. Also, attitude and personality are everything, I have never been 'attracted' to her twin."

redbonecouchhound

The Look

Sexy Damon Wayans Jr GIF by Global TVGiphy

"I used to date an identical twin. Although I found his brother objectively handsome, I wasn't attracted to him at all. It was cool to directly experience how attraction goes far beyond just the looks."

Liatessa

I've never been intrigued by twins, and now I never will be.

confused man in blue t-shirt

Sander Sammy on Unsplash

My Father was considered a genius.

At 16 he graduated high school as Valedictorian, joined the United States Navy as soon as he turned 17 then was promptly recruited by Admiral Hyman Rickover's team converting the Navy from diesel to nuclear power.

He served as a nuclear and electrical engineer on naval vessels after the conversion project ended, then as a reactor inspector for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission after retiring from the Navy.

He also needed a full time babysitter in order to survive. Things like paying bills, buying groceries, feeding himself all escaped him. He lacked any semblance of common sense.

Really smart people doing very unsmart things isn't uncommon.

And sometimes a person is labeled a genius who's really an idiot with good brand marketing.

Keep reading...Show less

Corporations don't get big overnight.

A lot of tough decisions, big wins, and sometimes even bigger losses, go into their growth.

But sometimes companies make mistakes that the public simply cannot let slide, and it can be hard to imagine how the company could stay afloat after the backlash.

Redditor Astro_Shogun asked:

"What decision by a company received the most amount of backlash from the public?"

Dang It, Photobucket

"When Photobucket decided to take the whole internet hostage by asking for 400 dollars a year for what was previously a free image storage solution. The move broke years of forum posting and erased a significant portion of the web collective knowledge."

- denpo

"Yup. And now they're holding almost all of my son's childhood photos (some of which I managed to save in other places) hostage."

- KnockMeYourLobes

"Browse any forum thread from the early 2000s and practically all the images are gone because everyone used Photobucket back then. It will be the same way with Reddit whenever Imgur goes under."

- NothingOld7527

So Salesy

"JCPenny doing away with sales and trying to present itself as a more upscale store. Sales immediately plummeted, and they reversed course quickly."

- flyingcircusdog

Cheap Jewelry

"Gerald Ratner said the reason his jewelry company could sell stuff so cheap was because the products were crap. It destroyed the company overnight."

- simplemtbman

Front Wheel Drive

"Ford, in the '80s, tried to replace the aging Fox body Mustang with a front-wheel drive, Mazda-based car. This was pre-internet, but car people got UPSET and deluged Ford with a letter expressing their anger."

"Ford backtracked, kept the Fox body around, and released the vehicle that was going to be the new Mustang as the Probe. It lasted two generations, but the Mustang soldiers on."

- StillN0tATony

Online Only

"Microsoft got roasted when they announced Kinect and always-online were required for the Xbox One. Took all the momentum they had from the 360 era and put them miles behind Sony."

- Jerry_Williams89

Childhood: Destroyed

"Sonic having human teeth."

- LightDash

"I just immediately pictured teeth in a Sonic milkshake and had a horrified reaction before my brain caught up to you meaning the character."

- Rolizas

Questionable Upgrades

"Very recently, T-Mobile. A company that 10 years ago called itself the Uncarrier by making a series of pro-consumer changes to its plans and the previous CEO built almost a sort of cult of fans of the company. Then T-Mobile acquired Sprint and got a new CEO."

"A couple of weeks ago, T-Mobile internal documentation revealed it was going to automatically upgrade customers on old grandfathered plans up to new plans, which were more expensive. Customers would have to call in to opt out of the change. 'They weren’t raising customers’ rates, they were moving them to better plans.'"

"Well, major tech news got ahold of that, and then even some local news stations, and T-Mobile quietly 'clarified' a week later via internal communications that only one percent of their customers would be affected."

- artimaticus8

Coming Together in Hate

"Anyone remember the Kendall Jenner Pepsi ad when she solved police brutality?"

- vernon3

"Those moments are precious. There are a few things these days that bring everyone on the Internet together. That was one of those things. We all hated the Pepsi ad that solved police brutality."

"That ad had it all. Pandering, ignorance, arrogance, and talking down to their audience."

- notwoutmyprob

"And a Kardashian."

- Kitchen_action

With Every Purchase

"I couple of years back a local Detroit area car dealership decided the best way to celebrate MLK day was to give away free car alarms with every purchase."

"Nobody liked that."

- graveybrains

A Sale Gone Too Well

"Hoover UK offering two free flights to America if you spend £100 on their products. They anticipated that people would spend a lot more than the minimum required which would cover the approximately £600 value of the tickets."

"When the company was deluged with purchases around the £100 mark, they reneged on the offer, which prompted a very expensive lawsuit. The fallout was so bad that the UK division of the firm was sold to a rival company."

- Live-Dance-2641

New Drink, Who Dis?

"New Coke."

- PeggyWithPhatA**

"After the relations disaster, the public clamored for the decision to be reversed, and Coca-Cola released 'Coke Classic.'"

"Coke Classic soon had an even higher market share than Coke did before the public relations fiasco, and a new theory made the rounds: that Coca-Cola deliberately made these decisions, simply to gain publicity, and increase market share."

"The reaction from Coca-Cola’s executives was, 'We aren’t that smart, and we aren’t that stupid.'"

- Malthus1

A Tweet Turned Sexist

"Burger King stating that 'Women Belong in the Kitchen.' What they were TRYING to say was that they wanted more diversity. People didn't see it that way, and in the end, they had to issue an apology."

- zerbey

The Downfall of an Incredible Publication

"Here’s one there should be a public outcry about."

"Disney bought National Geographic and controls everything it does. This is the last year the iconic magazine will be available. I’m incensed."

- redheadMInerd2

(The writer of this article is equally incensed.)

Predicting the Future

"I feel like whatever YouTube is cooking up lately will be the next one."

- Just_Aioli_1233

"Tech companies sure know how to kill off highly popular and profitable apps, super quick. It’s interesting to watch it happen in real-time. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, all losing tons of followers and destroying their own stock."

- Eleanor_of_Accutane

It's easy to see how all of these mistakes resulted in huge backlash, sometimes at the total expense and downfall of the business.

But some of these mistakes were made by companies that are still huge today, and to a certain extent, that's kind of surprising.