The Student Room Group

Common Misconceptions

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Woodworth
I used to think Dracula was some sort of top politician for America living in Philadelphia

no idea where i got this idea from, except i guess Transylvania sounds like Pennsylvania, but i doubt i even knew Philadelphia was in Pennsylvania


As a child, I was convinced that Pennsylvania and Transylvania were in fact the same place. Pennsylvania was just the modernized name. I even have a picture of an imaginary movie poster that I drew in the 1st grade, captioned, "The Vampire: Coming from Pennsylvania".

Furthermore, I also used to think that the word "oxymoron" referred to Billy Mays...
Original post by Botticello

I also took years to realise that people thrust when they have sex, from the books I read I just thought they lay still.


omg lmao, same!
i used to think god was the priest in church and that thunder and lightning was either people in heaven moving their furniture or bowling! or that gods fave football team lost!
all down to my parents wonderful parenting skills e.g lying to me

i also just learned just this christmas that mince pies do not contain mince
I used to think that an adult shop was just a corner shop that adults could go to if they particularly hated kids: kind of like those adult-only resorts!
Reply 644
Original post by TheGoat
I don't know if this has been said already but..

I was terrified of the idea of chewing gum staying in your system for 7 years if you swallow it when I was younger.. Now I know it isn't true 8-)

And not really a common misconception but.. I know people who were told that when ice-cream vans play music, they're telling you they have no ice-cream left 8-)


Yeah when i was little i swallowed gum and thought i was gonna die! :redface: hahaa and yeaah about the icecream van, my parents used to tell me it was the "music van" so i couldnt have any!!! :mad: :tongue:
"Who are these morons?"
"They're called Mormons"
Reply 646
When I was four or five I asked my father about how thunderstorms work and he told me that when clouds collide the friction causes sparks, i.e. lightning. The collisions itself are responsible for the thunder :biggrin:
I never actually said "Luke, I am your father".


It went like this:
DV: Obi Wan never told you about your father.
LS: He told me enough. He told me you killed him.
DV: No, I am your father.
When I was a kid, I thought that all TV shows were broadcast live. It really confused me when I was watching Eastenders at 8pm and it was broad daylight on the show, but pitch dark outside.

I also thought that all teachers lived at school and when we went home, they would stay behind to sleep and wake up the next morning to teach us again.

And that I could dig my way from my back garden to Australia with a metal spoon. I didn't get very far.
All guys only think about is sex :yy:
Reply 650
I knew someone whose mind exploded when she found out narwhals are a real animal.
My mum always used to call me "Speedy Gonzales" and I always thought she was calling me "Speedykins Alice".

When I was little there was a Muslim girl in my class and for years, before I knew about Islam, I was convinced her mum was a nun (it was actually a hijab she was wearing, not a habit) :rolleyes:
I used to be convinced that my toys could actually talk and move around so I'd tip toe up the stairs and down the hall and then peer round my bedroom door expecting to see my toys moving but I never caught them. I watched Toy Story way too much...
I used to think (and still do sometimes) that ATM stands for automatic transaction machine, but its automated teller machine...
Reply 654
Not really a misconception, but I recently learned that scuba stands for Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus :smile:
Reply 655
Pin stands for personal identification number which renders 'PIN Number ' incorrect
Original post by Fusion
Pin stands for personal identification number which renders 'PIN Number ' incorrect


Same with the 'ehic card'
I thought tv characters actually lived in the TV when I was little. And much to the horror of my parents, I once poured an entire glass of orange juice into the Sky box to give Mickey Mouse a drink.

And ham was kept in hambags. And you kept spare underwear in BRIEFcases.
Reply 658
I never used to think that there was a difference between cottage pie and shepherds pie (both look the same and I never ate them often enough to think about it). The former uses beef and the latter lamb.
Original post by littlechinagirl
I thought tv characters actually lived in the TV when I was little. And much to the horror of my parents, I once poured an entire glass of orange juice into the Sky box to give Mickey Mouse a drink.

And ham was kept in hambags. And you kept spare underwear in BRIEFcases.


the fact you had a sky box when a kid has me wtf.

Quick Reply