When I was about ten, I didn't yet know what the F word meant. I thought it meant flipping someone off. So one day on the bus, some kids were saying that word. I wanted to sound cool, so I joined in the fun and said, "I effed my cousin." Everyone started laughing, and I was so embarrassed I started to cry! Then one of my friends came up to me and told me what it really meant, and I started crying even more! Now, seven years later, I'm still mortified when I think of that moment.
A childhood belief about swearing

others believed things like this
- When I first started to develop my breasts I thought it meant I was producing milk— trisha
- i used to think the word "friendship" meant a special kind of rocketship that you went on with your friends.— chips ahoy!
- For years I heard the word "pedophile" and thought it meant a pedicurist's tool.— Lauren
- I fully believed, up until about 6 years old, that the word 'accident' was a noun that meant 'burnt toast'.— Karl Goetz
- I used to believe that "nuptial" was a naughty word. I thought it meant nipple. XD— Sara Hagen
- I use to think that flipping people off meant "hi".— kat