chewing gum

When I was little, my sister told me that if I swallowed chewing gum, or just any lollie without chewing it, I would die. I remember a teacher handing out lollies. Then I swallowed mine and I was nearly crying. I'll never let my sister forget that.

Flick

Starburst candy used to air commercials where they would show a person popping a candy into their mouth, and then the camera would switch to showing that person riding an exhilarating roller coaster ride, or sailing off the top of a mountain on a hang-glider. I guess this was to show how exciting the taste of Starburst candy was.

Except I took the commercials literally and thought that if I ate a Starburst candy, that I would instantly get shot off a cliff or sent flying around in a crazy (scary!) roller coaster. I held this fear until I was about 7!

shoolz

My older brother told me that if I swallowed gum it would stay in my stomach for seven years. Everytime I swallowed a piece I would calculate how old I would be when the gum finally got digested. I did this for years. I finally clued in when I was about twenty.

Tracy

When I was a kid I thought
If a person swallowed gum that it would stick to your insides for seven years

Angela

I used to swallow my gum so one day my dad told me that when I swallow it, it would get stuck with all the other gum and form into a ball and stick to my organs and then the docors would have to surgically remove it. I still swallowed my gum anyway.. and still do!

Cass

We believed that if you swallowed gum it would remain in your stomach for 7 years. We also believed this to be true of swallowed finger nails, so I always imagined a place in my stomach full of chewed gum and bitten fingernails!! Glad I know now.....

rain

i was told when i was little if u swallow gum it would stay there for 7 years and i would have a gum tree in my tummy which would grow and make me really tall and i would never stop growing

Anon

When I was 10 my teacher told me that if you swallowed gum it would stay inside your stomach for seven years. I believed this until the age of 14.

Anon

Although I never thought it would kill me, I used to think that gum would get stuck on my ribs if I swallowed it and just be a gooey mess.

the_only_nighthawk

My father would always tell my little brother and me when we were younger that if we swallowed our gum, we'd get stuck to the toilet seat forever. We'd laugh it off but we both admit to being extra careful in the bathroom afterwards. Not anymore, of course.

Grace C. from Chicago, IL

If you swallowed chewing gum it would make a balloon inside you and your stomach would explode

Anon

i accidentely swallowed some chewing gum once i got told that it would clog up the inside of my body and all my guts would start spewing out i wouldnt stop cryig all the way home in the car

abigayle

I believed the urban legend that gum stayed in your stomach for 7 years if you swallowed it.

Lindsay

When i was about 6, my mom was trying to stop me from swallowing my gum. She told me that if you swallow your gum, it will get stuck to your lungs and you won't be able to breathe. I never swallowed gum again and although i'm 19, i still believe it.

Fallon

I was told that when you eat Cinnaburst Gum, you can eat the wrapper and all.

I tried it, and found out otherwise...

Then I began trying this theory on other types of foods (ie: ice cream, candy bars, etc).

To this day I still wonder what I was thinking, and what the person who told me that was thinking.

Mike

I used to believe that if you swallowed chewing gum, that it could not be digested, instead, the body deposited the wad of gum into the appendix. Once the appendix became too full of gum, then that person would have to have his appendix removed. I always spit my gum out as a kid, and now I don't even chew gum anymore.

Anon

i used to believe that if i swollowed my gum trees would grow in my stoamch:)

[%]~!$mariam~!$[%]

When I was little a friend told me that if you swallow chewing gum it stays in your stomach for 7 years. After I was married I told my husband and he laughed until he choked!

OneGoodWoman

One time my best friend Jaquelyn said that if you swallowed gum it would immediately go right to your heart and stick there where it would clog your "heart tubes" (we were seven, OK?) and then your blood couldn't go anywhere go it would go in your throat and you'd drown. Jaqueline was quite a tale- spinner and I was a pretty stupid kid. Hence, my username. Hey, I will soon be known on this site as the very stupid little kid.

Stupidkid

I thought you could die from chewing gum while in the shower.

Hollow Head