We were once Burgled and so have a couple of my friends and our parents used to always refer to it as "The house is Upside down, its so messy" I was always puzzled upon returning back from school to see it back in its place again, the right way up!

Nick Blakesley

I used to think grown-ups had this rule that when someone didn't hear what you said, you had to say it in another way. I remember this happening when I was watching tv with my mom.
The woman on tv said: "I think we should break up" the man would say: "What?!"
and the woman would reply: "It's just not working out".
I found it strange that the woman just didn't repeat what she said since the man didn't hear her. Instead she said something else and I never understood why....

Tomas

I remember hearing the words 'the numbers are in numerical order' on the lottery. At the time I thought the announcer had said 'the numbers are inAmerican order'.

Natski

When I was a kid I couldn't figure out for the life of me how to say the words "A Adult" without it sounding strange, (At the time I wasn't aware of the word 'an') and often ended up saying "A grown-up".

will was a strange child

i used to believe that when on the news the presenter said bulletin i thought they meant they had put a bullet in some one!

m potter

I always wondered where all the words and their meanings originated from, and I decided that at the beginning of time, there was a big table of old wise men with long white beards, and they all discussed certain sounds and decided to give them meanings, for example, "PEN-CIL" would mean that pointy skinny stick that you write with.

Anon

Until I was in 5th grade, I thought that calling someone a "wannabe", was like calling someone a lesbian. This was why girls were always calling other girls "wannabe's" when they were name calling. I specifically remember saying "That girl is such a wannabe", thinking that I was saying that she wanted to kiss other girls.

Christa

I never could figure out why two people would talk to eat chover. Whatever "chover" was!?!?!?!

Turns out I mis heard "talk to each other."

But I still want some chover. it sounds like it might taste good ;-)

Anon

When I was about maybe...8 i used to think that picturesque was pronounced picture-skweh

Anon

I used to think the word fault was pronounced 'fork' so if I ever got into trouble I would say: "it wasn't my fork!"

Lozzz123

One day several summers ago, I was in our back yard tie-dying tee-shirts. My brother's friend, Brian, who was about 15 at the time, came out to see what I was doing. I told him that I was tie-dying and then explained how you have to twist the shirts and tie rubber bands around them to get the patterns in the dye.

Brian's eyes got big and he said, "Oh, that's why it's called tie-dye!" Well, I laughed and asked him where he thought the name came from, but I already had a suspicion.

"I thought it originated in Thailand!"

Marie

I used to think that to have an affair meant to have a fight. One day, when my friend and I were at a ski resort, we started fighting and I went off alone to hide from her. Her Dad came over to ask what was wrong and I said "(my friend's name) and I are having an affair!" Her dad seemed a little confused. It was later that my friend told me what an affair REALLY was. Oops.

Anon

When I first met a deaf person who could speak, I assumed she was from some foreign country, because she talked funny.

Anon

I used to believe that the sign language used by Deaf people involved fingerspelling every word. Probably due to reading a Happy Hollister book with a Deaf character who taught the Hollister kids the finger alphabet to use for silent communication purposes in their "detective" work.

silent talker

there's such thing as "soul-security"( social security )
because of the way my stupid parents pronounce it

elizabeth

One day I was talking to my dad about when people get kicked out of their house. I was trying to think of the word "Eviction Notice"but instead i said, "erection notice" My dad told me to never say that word again and he never told me why. A few years later I rwalized what it meant. Hehe... I'm only human!

eviction notice

When I was about 3 or 4, I used to get "I" and "you" the wrong way round. I would say "you" when I meant myself and "I" when I meant someone else. I was using the logic that other people referred to me as "you" and to themselves as "I", so therefore I should refer to myself as "you" and to them as "I". For example, at the dinner table I would say to my Mum "You want some of mine" when I meant "I want some of yours".

Alan, Sheffield, UK

I used to think that cattle was a kind of kettle, because it was a similar sounding word. I had a recurring dream about my parents filling the kettle and saying it was the cattle, and it made a funny noise, something like "Voontoom, voontoom, voontoom". The Christmas carol "Away in a manger" has a verse which says "The cattle are lowing and the baby awakes, but little Lord Jesus no crying he makes". I thought that meant the kettles are whistling.

Alan

I used to think that the word "treefeller" was actually "treefella" and it was a little fella who did something with trees. I wasn't sure what though.

Katie