(please remember that i was very young when this happened!)

i was at my friend's house when his mum came in to offer us some chewing gum. she offered it to evryone and we sat around the table playing cards. i had never seen gum before, so i just put it into my mouth, chewed it then swallowed it. i looked around and saw everyone was still chewing it, and i was thinking how slow they all were. it was only until i asked my dad what it was that i realised how stupid i was.

toni

My nan believes that if you swallow chewing gum, it will stay in your stomach for 7 years. Some of my friends also believe that it just sticks to the inside of your stomach and never comes out! o_O

BOOSH! Checkmate!

When I was little, i had the very bad habit of swallowing a lot of bubble gum. My mom used to tell me that one day I would get stuck to the toilet seat! I didn't care and still don't as I still swallow gum.

NANCY

i used to think if you swallowed bubble gum it would take 5 years to digest and it would get burnt by the acid in your body.

josh

We believed that if you swallowed gum it would remain in your stomach for 7 years. We also believed this to be true of swallowed finger nails, so I always imagined a place in my stomach full of chewed gum and bitten fingernails!! Glad I know now.....

rain

I used to believe that if I swallowed bubble gum, a bubble gum tree would grow inside of me.

Ryan

When I was 8 , I thought that if you swallowed bubble-gum, it would make a bubble in your stomach and you would need to get operated in order to get it out. Now I am 10 and I'm not sure anymore since I've been on your site.

Taïsa

when i was a little wee girl, i always used to swallow my gun instead of spiting it out. well one horrible day, my mom told me that if u swallow your gum one more time, it will not digest in my stomach. i rubbed my stomach and i just started to cry. then i thought of myself in 17 years and i imagened my self as a big bellied girl who no one talked to. because i swalloed so much gum. it made me so sad.

joslyne anderson

I used to think that if you swallowed your bubble gum you'd pee through your mouth.

Becky

My father hated chewing gum so he told me that chewing gum was made of cat's gut. I had always assumed that it was tru and didn't realize that it wasn't until I was in my 20's (and I still can't chew gum)

Anon

When i was younger a friend told me chewing gum was made from cat guts, they got the guts and added flavour to it, it never stoped me chewing though

Anon

THAT CHEWING GUM STICKS TO YOUR GUTS
I GOT BEAT UP AFTER TELLING SOME1 THIS WHEN I WAS 7

JOE SCHMO

Here I am laughing at what kids think. As a kid I've believed a couple of the things as well.

Until I get the to gum section. Imagine my shock to learn that gum does NOT stay in the stomach for several years like I've always believed. I had to Google it to prove myself wrong just now. I'm 34.

Calvin

When I was in pre-school, my friends and I would chew on the stuff in plant stems because an older kid told us it was "Indian chewing gum"

Jeff

My sister told me that when I swallowed Bubble Gum, it stayed in my stomach forever. She said that I had a bubble gum gum tree inside of me, and it grew with every piece I swallowed.

Carly

when tongue splashers gum first come out, a rumor went around my school that the gum permanently stained your whole mouth whatever color the gumball was. the whole school was in mass hysteria for about a week until someone discovered the effects were only temporary.

lc

i used to believe that chewing gum was poisonous

bob