My mother used to say, when we did something physically dangerous, "Stop that, or you'll break your neck." Since breaking things (like a toy) usually meant a part was completely separated from the rest, I pictured someone with a broken neck as having his head broken off. (Which puzzled me even more when I overheard the grown-ups talking about someone who was recuperating from a broken neck, since I figured no one could live after having their head broken off.)
I assumed the same principle applied to broken arms and legs; I was much relieved when a boy in school broke his arm and I saw that he hadn't become a one-armed boy.
A childhood belief about general
others believed things like this
- Broken bones meant that your arm or leg was separated from your body.— Kelly Hanson
- When i was about 5 I used to believe that Broken Hill was a broken hill. — Saad
- I used to believe that comets were pieces of the Sun that had broken off.— Carmen
- When I was a little girl I used to believe cats were broken because of their moter sound when they purr— Shaune F.
- I used to believe that the lungs where tubes in the neck.— Some Guy
- I was always afraid of dracula so i would put tons of blankets over my neck— Lissa