When I read the phrase "violators will be subject to prosecution," I thought it meant that the people that wrote the sign would one day hunt you down and execute you (probably in some foreign country years from now). I wondered why they couldn't arrest you right away... but I wasn't too shocked about the "executing" part.

Anon

when i was a kid, I thought jaywalking meant the same thing as streaking. So my dad said he jaywalked (i don't know how it was brought up) and i was shocked and angry. he then said it wasnt that bad, telling me that mom,my grandparents, everybody did it. Eventually he figured out why i had reacted the way i did. LOL

Anon

When I was about eight years old, I heard something on the news about money laundering. I thought that money laundering meant that you'd accidentally left some money in your pockets when you did your laundry, and I couldn't see why it was such a big deal... but I made sure my pockets were empty whenever I put something in the laundry, because I did not want to go to prison for money laundering.

Athazagoraphobia

One time when I was little I thought that I heard people in the house. I also thought that if I barked real loud like a big bad dog, they would go away!!! Go figure:)

Woo

when i was about four i stole a pack of gum from the store and later my mom found out how i got the gum. she told me i had to go back, give the gum back, and apologize. i told her i wouldnt go back untill she told me if i didnt i would go to baby jail, so until i was seven i never did anything bad because i didnt want to go to baby jail.

kelly

When I first heard 'statutory rape' I thought that 'statutory rape' was something like raping a statue or having sex with it.

Anon

When I was little, the whole "Don't Drink and Drive" campaign was so wide-spread that I remember yelling at my Dad in a McDonald's drive-thru for getting a Coke to drink before we hit the road. "Don't you know you're not supposed to drink and drive, Dad?!?!?" He laughed forever about that.

Julie Dodson

I had a friend who thought a serial killer was someone who went to the store, looked at a random serial number, and killed that many people.

Anon

I originally thought that all graffiti was done with very large textas (thick permanent marker pens) instead of with paint spray cans.

Anon

When I was little I used to believe that the shop owners were letting the lights on to scare the thieves. And I was asking my self: how can they be so stupid (the thieves). If me, a small child I know the lights are turned on why they still risk to go in and steal?

Ramona, Romania

i thought that drinking and driving meant that whenever you drank anything in the car that it was against the law. So anyway one day my mom was drinking a Pepsi or something in the car and i go in with her to work and i told everyone that my mother broke the law because she was drinking and driving.

Erin

when i was young (5 or 6) i would line up a row of stuffed toys either side of me in bed because i was convinced that a burgler would come in the night and shoot me. For some reason i thought that the bullet wouldn't get to me, because it had to travel through all of my teddies first.

zebra gurl

Most people are comforted by night lights, right? I used to be very terrified by nightmares when I was young, so my mother installed a night light by the side of my head.

At first, it comforted me. Somehow, though, I became convinced that an evil, female criminal lived inside of the night light. So whenever I slept, I would turn away from the night light, because I didn't want to provoke her.

John T

When I was 4 years old I saw a commercial on tv warning viewers that drinking and driving is against the law and will result in getting arrested. The next day I went shopping with my mom and she was sipping her coffee while driving. I started screaming! When she looked at me, concerned, and asked me what was wrong I told her to throw it out the window before the police came. She then explained to me what "drinking" meant.

Sara

When I was about 7 I used to be really scared of anything "bad" getting into my room at night while I was asleep. So I invented an ingenius method for keeping out the baddies: I put up my own imaginary "force-field" over my door and window. This involved drawing a square around the door or window with my finger. Of course, I had to turn the invisible ink on first by clicking my fingers. As soon as the square was complete, the force-field activated and only let good thing pass through (parents, dog, etc.). I have no idea where this protection method came from but it worked. I've never worried about "baddies" since.

Suspicous Little Child...

I used to think that the FBI were able to find out if I copied a copyrighted video tape by some special connection through the ppower cord in my VHS player.

Miguel Concepcion

Every time my family traveled to the coast, they'd buy a crab. Never wanting to share it with me, they told me that it was illegal for people under 21 to eat crab..I believed them for several years.

Delilah

I always thought that shoplifting is about lifting the shop from the ground.

Helen

I used to believe that all burglars wore white and black striped suits and carried a bag that said 'SWAG'. I think this was due to watching too many cartoons!

Erin

When I learning to drive, my mom told me it was against the law to drive in bare feet.

I duly informed others when they attempted to drive bare-footed of this obscure, little known law.

Ten years later, dozens of people informed, I found out it was my "mother's law" not a traffic violation at all!

I often wonder how many people passed what I said along to others and just how many are out there are wandering around obeying "mom's law." haha

Leslie