language: reading

I used to believe…

When I was reading a biography as a fourth grade reading assignment, I first encountered in print the word "determined", as in "He was determined" (meaning firmly resolved), and that phrase occurred a lot in the book. Most of the way through the book, I was reading an extra "d" into the word near the end, and thinking I was encountering a brand new word "determinded", which I was thinking of as rhyming with "better minded". So I assumed it meant some state of mind implied by some prefix, "deter-" (rhyming with "better") and previously unfamiliar to me. Since the word occurred frequently in the book, I came to understand it from the context to have pretty much the actual meaning of "determined" in that context. So I assumed the prefix "deter-" meant something like firm and unchangeable, so "determinded" would mean having such a firm and unchangeable stste of mind. So I was pretty much understanding the correct meaning, in spite of reading it into an imaginary word. Near the end of the book, I finally noticed that the word lacked the extra "d" that would have mad it it end in "minded", and pretty soon thereafter, I guess I realized that it was the familiar word "determined". Guess I was a bit disappointed that I hadn't learned and deciphered a new word after all.

I used to believe…

when i was little i used to think the "TO LET" sign had been mispelled and was meant to say "TOILET"

I used to believe…

When I was little, my mom wanted to buy me a subscription to a magazine called "Children's Digest," but I absolutely refused to get it because I thought the magazine was all about digestion, and who wants to read about that?

I used to believe…

When I was little, I really wanted something from a mail-order thing, so I took the form and filled it out... but there was something I didn't know about. On the form, it said "please print".

Now, at the time, I didn't know what cursive handwriting was, so I thought that it meant you had to put your fingerprint there to show that you really REALLY wanted what you were ordering! It was like saying "please mommy, can I have this?" Hence, a 'Please Print'.

I used to believe…

When I was four or five and just starting to read I was very confused by the small print on packets of toilet paper. I read "2-ply" and thought this was actually a list of instructions, of which point 2 was "play". The fact that the "instructions" didn't say what you should play with, and that there was no number 1 (as it were) in the "list", didn't stop me from holding this belief for some time, to the frustration of my Dad who attempted several times without success to explain to me what "ply" meant.

I used to believe…

As a kid in the 70s and 80s I amassed a large number of annuals, or bumper comic (book) hardbacks which came out to coincide with the school holidays. Some of these had a "serious" feature designed to give you an idea for something to do apart from read comics, and although I generally ignored these, one, headlined "Youth-Hostelling", intrigued me for a long time. I didn't know what the term meant, but instead of finding out (or reading the feature) I tried to work it out by myself, concluding that it actually said "Youth House Stealing", and that the article warned against getting involved with large gangs of young criminals who stole houses.

I used to believe…

When we were in English class, my friend told me that they took the word gullible out of the dictionary. Well, that's all it took to convince me. But, later I went to look for it and, of course, it was still in there!

I used to believe…

All through my childhood, there was a commercial for a group called R.I.F (reading is fundamental) The announcer would loudly say "Reading is FUN! Damental!"
I thought they were saying "Reading is fun- The Mental!"
As in, those children with mental disabilities should read, too.

I used to believe…

Whenever I couldn't read a word, I would just make up something in its place. So, whenever I would read to my mom or something, she would chuckle or something at my completely made up word.

I used to believe…

Once in seventh grade we all had to read from our science books aloud. Well, I was reading a sentence and I came across the word Organism of course I thought I said Orgasm, so that's what I read outloud in front of my whole class. Everyone broke out laughing, even the teacher!

I used to believe…

When I was on vacation, we drove past a bookstore, and I read the sign(silently), but accidentally left out a letter. It was a Christian bookstore, which it also said on the sign. I only thought 'That's an unusual name for a store.' Fortunately we drove past it again, because we had gotten lost, as usual, and this time I was able to see that the name also included the letter 'I'.
The name of the store was 'Arise'.

I used to believe…

When I was 5, I believed that the older you are the bigger the books you read. I have clear memories of sitting in library class planning that in the future when I was in grade 6 (about 11 years old) I would borrow the two red 10 cm thick books that sat on the shelf behind the library teacher. As I grew older I realised that I had in fact planned to borrow two volumes of the dictionary !!!

I thought, in kindergarden, in order to read a book you had to read the page then turn it around and wave it back and forth. Little did I know the teacher was just showing us the pictures and it was not required if you were reading to your self.

I used to believe…

the old sonic sign said "happy eating" at the bottom. For a while as I was learning to read i thought it said happy easter until i asked my mom why they never took the sign down

I was nearly ten when I found out that
'Clairvoyant' wasn't an 'agony aunt'

I used to believe…

For the longest time I'd read the word "colonel" in a book without realizing that it's pronounced 'kernel'.