language

I used to believe…

My mom bought me a Guinness Book of World Records when I was 8 and I loved reading it because I thought it would make me a genius. Why did I think that? Well, I didn't know what "Guinness" was nor how it was pronounced, so I assumed it was called the "Genius's Book of World Records"!

I used to believe…

My first language is English, and when I was little I thought that everybody in the world could automatically speak and understand English, even though they could speak their own language as well.

I used to complain about only knowing English, that everybody else in other countries could speak it to and how boring it is having a language that everyone in the world could speak.

Then my sister finally explained the concept of languages... hahaha

I used to believe…

When I was little, I used to watch "A Christmas Story" every holiday season with my parents. There's a scene in the movie where the main character gets punished for saying "Oh, fudge!" and so for years I thought "fudge" literally WAS the F-word. I remember telling one of my neighbors, "Isn't it weird how the worst cuss word in the world is a dessert?" I didn't understand the confused look he gave me until much later.

I used to believe…

When I heard the name Jose, I thought it was actually spelled "Hoasai". I had seen the name Jose in print, and may have known its pronunciation, but never connected it to "hoasai".

I must have been about 8-9 and I read a book called 'The boy who climbed into the moon'. I remember sitting in the bath and looking out of the window. I saw the moon in the sky and I utterly thought that I would be able to get a ladder and climb to the moon. It would be hard but possible. Great book

I used to pronounce the word 'nuclear' like 'nuke-yuh-lar.' My parents and brother told me that George Bush pronounced the word 'nuclear' wrong, but when people told me how he said it, I couldn't hear the difference. I assumed I was saying it correctly, though. One day my brother noticed how I said it and told me I said it like George Bush. I felt terribly stupid, but I still couldn't hear the difference, so I tried not to say the word. Finally, a friend of mine helped me say it right, "Say new. Now say clear. Now say new-clear."

I used to believe…

When I was in like 5th grade or something I watched the movie "Juno." There's that one part where she says "Mom! You's a dick!" I asked my mom, what that meant, and she said it meant "a mean person." For a while I thought all swear words were just meaningless insults that for some arbitrary reason were worse to say than something like "meanie."

I used to think the phrase "point of view" was actually "point of you." Since it sounds so similar, nobody noticed until I was about 12.

I used to believe…

When I was a kid I believed the phrase "the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach" was suggesting that you bypass the ribcage and sternum by going through the stomach and reaching up when you rip a man's heart out

I used to believe…

When I was a kid I thought the body of a deceased person was placed on the top drawer of a large dresser and a king's crown was placed on top (in Spanish, my first language, coffin and drawer are the same word)

I thought "birthday" was actually "Bert day" to celebrate Bert from Bert and Ernie. My mom must have thought I was just mispronouncing it because she didn't correct me until I was about 7 years old, at which point she had to explain to me what a birthday was.

I used to believe…

When I was very young, I thought that "the" was pronounced "thee", and if you meant "th-uhh", you had to spell it "th".

I used to believe…

When I was young, I'd try to make my mother laugh by telling her jokes. She'd usually roll her eyes and remark dryly, "That's hilarious." So for many years, I believed that "hilarious" meant "not very funny."

I used to believe…

When my uncle got "ten-year" (tenure!) at the university, I thought he had a job for 10 years, so I wondered why his position was secure for life (and why they didn't call it something more accurate!)

I used to believe…

For most of my life I spelled "father" as "farter". Why did no one correct me, especially my very own farter?!?

I used to believe…

When I was in 2nd grade, I thought once you got to 3rd grade you knew how to spell all the words in the English language. That's why I always asked the 3rd graders at daycare for homework help!