When I first encountered "lb.", I had no concept of abbreviations and would read it aloud, "lib". So Dick and Jane would go to the store to get two libs of butter...

Heather Lodge

As a kid I loved to read and I would read in bed almost every night. I especially loved books about animals and the natural world with lots of big glossy photos. However I believed that if a book was left open any "bad" creatures such as spiders which were on that page could come out and bite or eat me so I was always careful to close my books up and if there was a photo on the front or back cover I would turn that side face down to the floor.

Belinda, AUSTRALIA

I used to believe if you read a book in the dark, you would go blind.

Ellen

When I was 8... I read the book Fantastic Beasts and where to find them, which is written as part of the harry potter books.

I read the entry about a Letifold which the book said was a big black blanket-like animal that slithered under the door and ate people. I made my parents keep my bed facing the door so i could always see if there was one crawling in. Then I read the book again and noticed that it said they could only be found in tropical areas. So i was safe.

Then my parents made me go on vacation to Hawaii. I cried myself to sleep because I was so scared. After we went home my parents managed to convince me there was no such thing.

harry potter obsessee

When I was about 8 or 9 I loved to read (I still do). My mom said that reading made you smarter so I always had this vision that after each book you read that your brain literally had these little tick marks showing how many books you've read. The more tick marks you have the smarter you are.

Bobbi Jo

When I was about 9 or 10 I was very into reading the dictionary - my brother (5 years older) must have thought this was kind of geeky and asked me, very seriously, if I knew that the word 'gullible' wasn't in the dictionary - you can see what's coming next can't you?

t

In the 1930s and 1940s, Virginia Lee Burton wrote and illustrated children's books about anthropomorphic vehicles. There was a steam shovel named Mary Anne, a snow plow named Katy, a cable car named Maybelle, and others.

Several of these stories were collected in a book called something like "Tales of Modern Machinery". (The copy I read to pieces when I was little was probably an original printing that one of my parents had owned since childhood.) I'd never heard the word "modern", before, but I deduced from this book that it meant "old fashioned". Those vehicles looked like the ones in the old photo albums from when my grandparents were newlyweds...

Brenda

i thought grown ups read in a different language!

Anon

When I was 6 or 7, I received a children's one-volume encyclopedia. At the end of some entries, it would suggest that you "Look Up" a related subject. I could not understand why the book wanted me to look up. I tried staring at the ceiling but nothing happened.

Anne

I was told, at the age of 5, that "No Vacancy" at a hotel meant that no animals were allowed. (we were on vacation, I was talkative, parents were saying anything to answer my questions so I would shut up) Well, I grew up, but I never put two and to together, just would see a hotel/motel and believe that no vacancy meant they didnt allow dogs/cats. At the age of 11 (yes, 11!!) I was walking with some of my parents friends in Orlando, FL, and I mentioned "Wow, alot of places around here dont allow animals!!" Well... with alot of laughs,I finally understood. :-)

Sarah

I believed the book Babar was how my name was spelled.

Barbara

I used to think that the "rod" in a "Rod and Gun Club" was the tamping rod used to push everything down the barrel. I thought that people in these clubs only fired old fashioned muskets.

Ann Y.

I used to think (for an embarrassingly long time!)that FAQ meant For Any Questions, because that was what people said they would leave time for at the end of a presentation.

For Any Questions

It's not really something I misheard in a song but there is a song called "You're a grand old flag" or something around that, and we had to play that in my music class and when I first flipped through the music book I thought it said "You're a grand old fag". Even my two friends that were with me in my music class thought it said that.

Maryse

My dad is in the Navy and my family goes to the Navel Base a lot. When I just learned how to read, I always thought to myself that we were going to the 'belly-button' base, =)

Ciarlene

I once was at a friend's house and we were going to go to the grocery store. So we were perusing the ads and reading the big deals on food for the day. It was that day when I first realized that meat was not sold in units known as "libs", as my friend's father calmly explained to me. In fact, "lbs." was short for pounds (and I still don't understand why).

Ann Y.

I used to believe that photos of people in magazines or books, if they were looking straight at you from the photo; then they could REALLY see you and everything you were doing. It still creeps me out to this day, a little.

Maggie, NJ

i used to believe that 'island' was pronounced 'is-land' instead. I know im not alone on that one! :)

Da KornMeal

When I was little, I really wanted something from a mail-order thing, so I took the form and filled it out... but there was something I didn't know about. On the form, it said "please print".

Now, at the time, I didn't know what cursive handwriting was, so I thought that it meant you had to put your fingerprint there to show that you really REALLY wanted what you were ordering! It was like saying "please mommy, can I have this?" Hence, a 'Please Print'.

Bunny

I used to believe that "G" was a vowel. As far as i was concerned, vowels were letters that could make two noises. At that time, i thought they were just called the two-soundy-letters. I first found this out at the age of 6 and believed it until first grade. I was sad when i found out it wasnt.

G aint a vowel!!!