I visited a family friends farm every primary school holidays and one of their older son's told me that if I jumped in cow paddies I would grow to be really tall. Sorry to say...it didn't work. I'm now 40 and just the average 5"2.

Anon (from body functions : general)

My mom used to tell me , 'never leave a single cereal on the bowl'. Because they would cry so hard even the whole house could hear them. Not only that, they would cry out my name. Until now, I always finish my cereal, until the last drop.

Danna (from food : general)

When I was about 5 my parents told me not to stick me arm out the window when travelling in the car as it might be cut off by oncoming traffic. So then I figured that if you stuck your arm out of the window a chainsaw popped out of the oncoming cars bonnet which then cut off your arm. I believed this for a few years.

Frosty (from transport : cars)

When i was younger my Grandma convinced me that there was a left and right sock. It took me forever to put on socks til i was about 12

Mae (from grown-ups : family)

When I would watch TV and hear something like "Bank Robbery with two people killed, news at 11:00"...I thought that somebody KNEW this was going to happen, and I wondered why they never stopped it before it happened...at 11:00!

Anon (from death : people)

My parents used to have plastic plug-socket protectors (i.e. the plug prongs attached to a shield bit) to prevent inquisitive toddlers from electrocuting themselves.

Apparently I was of the belief that they were actually there to prevent the electricity from flowing out!
Pretty sensible, I thought! :)

MarkP (from science : physics)

Until I was 8, I thought Jesus was a woman. They told me he was nice and kind to people. I didn't know any men like that.

Roger Cooke (from religion : characters)

when I was younger I was convinced my mother had eyes in the back of her head, and could even see through walls. Once I was in the living room, which can't really be seen from the kitchen, and I decided to test it out. I was practicing my fake karate moves, which I thought I was excellent at, and I called out to her to see if she knew what I was doing. She yelled back that I was doing karate, and I was absolutely shocked. I didn't mess with her from then on, because she obviously had killer X-ray vision.

Steph (from grown-ups : family)

When I was little my dad told me I was born with unusually large feet and that since his feet were really small the doctors surgically switched them so that our feet would match the rest of our bodies.

Bigfoot (from body parts : general)

I used to believe - until maybe the age of 12 - that the Pullitzer Prize was in fact the "Pullet Surprise," as in, "Surprise! You won!"

joshi (from language : speaking)