the top 200 beliefs

For the longest time, possibly even into adulthood, I thought that cart with one wheel and two handles that workers sometimes use to wheel around anything from dirt to crap to cement mix was called a wheel barrel instead of a wheelbarrow. Strange how no one corrected me during all the times I had talked about wheel barrels. Then one day I found out, I had innocently been going through the dictionary when I made a shocking discovery, I was like WTF is a barrow?!

Donald Duck (from grown-ups : work)

When I was 4 I overheard my mom talking to my dad about a doctor's appointment she had. I asked her if she was going to see Dr. Pepper, as I believed this was the only doctor there was.

Anon (from people : names)

Walking at night my 4-year-old daughter kept staring at the moon above the trees. "I think the moon's following us," she said. "Papa, you stay here." She walked about 100 feet, staring constantly at the moon.: Then she stopped and called out, "Papa, come here!" I did, while she kept gazing at the moon. Then she said,"No, it's not following us. It's only following ME!"

tedrey (from nature : outer space)

I thought it was illegal for women to use Just For Men hair coloring

Brainhead (from body parts : hair)

I thought the police didn't have to follow the law and could do whatever they want. My reasoning was they were the enforcers of the law so who would arrest them or whatever? I wondered why all the bad people didn't just become cops so they could do crimes with impunity.

Brainhead (from the law : police)

Ah, the stories I could tell on my superstitions..
But one of my personal favourite beliefs as a kid had to be my fears of ghosts. They literally haunted my childhood.
This is a little long..
I was one of those kids with an overactive imagination and a love of horror films, which quickly proved a bad combination. I was hooked on the films during the day and terrified once the lights went out.
All of this resulted in the eventual belief forming that if I did not have every part of my body covered by the duvet, a ghost could grab me and "drag me away." I was never clear on where I would be dragged; just certain I would be pulled from the safety of my bed into some place of unknown horrors.
"The duvet rule" as I referred to it, was not only necessary when I was in bed. It was also vital if I got up in the night to use the bathroom or get a drink.
So, imagine the fun as, my head covered by a duvet, and my hands clutching the sheets around me, I shuffled down the landing, feeling my way to the bathroom each night. It made quite a sight for my parents, should they wake up.
Also, I was firmly convinced that a ghost lived under my bed. Don't ask me how. But I was convinced an evil spirit waited there for me and it was only a matter of time before we met up. To prevent this, I went to the extremes of keeping a hammer beside my bed.
This belief died a death the night when, my dear older brother, who knew of every one of these fears, decided to hide under my bed after everyone was asleep, for his idea of a joke. He waited there, shook the bed slightly until I woke up, and then slid his hand up and grabbed my ankle.
I was prepared for the moment. I let out a blood-curdling scream, reached out, grabbed my hammer, leant down to my ankle, and firmly battered the hand holding it.
My parents were not pleased with being woken up. I was not pleased with my brother's sense of humor. My brother was not pleased with entering casualty with three broken bones in his hand.
But one good thing came of it all. For some reason, the night completely erased my fear of ghosts. So I guess it wasn't all bad.
My brother, nursing three broken bones, may not have agreed.

The girl who took on a ghost with a hammer (and won) (from make-believe : ghosts)

I thought seeing red meant you if you were really mad your vision literally got a red tint to it. I figured I had just never got mad enough for it to happen

Olcasgean (from body parts : eyes)

I misunderstood the concept of the Sandman as a kid.
My mom, checking on me before she went to bed, found me sitting up in bed. Why aren't you asleep, she wanted to know.
Calmly, I told her I was waiting for that old man to come and throw dirt in my eyes!

Goggy (from make-believe : imaginary friends)

When I first heard the term al fresco I thought it was someone's name. I think the first place I heard it was "an al fresco buffet" and thought "this guy Al Fresco must be a really good cook if they mention him by name!"

Mintaka (from people : names)

I thought a contract killer was someone who kills people who break a contract

Nate (from the law : criminals)

As a young child all my cousins were many years older than me and by the time i was 8, they were all in college. They were always talking about "taking shots," but I didn't really realize what it meant except that it involved drinking from a tiny glass. Then, I had a horrible allergic reaction to something and had to go to the doctor. The doctor tole me I would need to get a shot of Benadryl. I smiled back at him assuming he was going to grab a small glass of medicine for me. Imagine my horror when he brought out a needle!

i hate surprises (from the law : drugs)

When I was about 4 or 5, I asked my mom what happened to the bath water once it went down the drain. She told me it went to a plant. She meant a water refinery plant, but for a while after that, I thought that somewhere out there was a plant so big it needed everyone's bath water to grow. :P

Rachel (from at home : bathrooms)

I used to believe that when I turned 6 I would turn into a boy! My brother and sister had me convinced their baby pictures were each others. I think I was more nervous the day before my 6th birthday then any other day in my life.

Melissa (from grown-ups : getting older)

At home when I was bored, my mother would tell me to go outside and lay on the ground because I might be able to see Pegasus, the mythological Greek flying horse. So I'd lay out in the yard all day looking up at the sky for Pegasus and being very quiet so not to scare him away. I just knew he'd fly by at any time.

Nikki (from animals : general)

As a child with nothing to do, my mother would give me a salt shaker and tell me if I could put salt on a bird's tail, I could catch it. I spent many days running around trying to put salt on a bird's tail and never succeeded.

Nikki (from animals : birds)

I used to believe that I could take a bath and talk into the water spout and anyone else taking a bath could hear me.

Nikki (from at home : bathrooms)

I used to believe that if someone hit you on your back when you're eyes were wide open your eyes would pop out of their sockets.

Scared little sister (from body parts : eyes)

I used to believe that after a person had surgery the surgeon would run them under a giant sewing machine to stich them together again

Makenna (from body parts : general)

when we first got a car with electric windows, my sister and i coulnt figure out how the windows went down. my dad told us that they were voice activated.you just had to say "windows down" and windows up". he would say it and then at the same time, press the button. my sister and i tried for ages to get the windows down by voice, and he kept telling us we were saying it wrong.

cara (from transport : cars)

when i was little i didnt realise that the rounded lines on the windscreen of the car were from the windscreen wipers. i asked my dad what they were from and he told me it was the reflection of the mountains.

cara (from transport : cars)