nationalities

When I was younger, I used to think people in China walked upside down.

Max

I used to think that all British people were related to the Queen and that they were able to visit Buckingham Palace and see her family anytime they wanted

American Girl

When I was little, I thought that Spanish and Italian were the same except Spanish was good and Italian was evil. I probably got this belief because the only Hispanic people I knew of were always friendly to us and would never hurt anyone, while my only knowledge of Italian people was scary, ruthless gangsters from DVDs and books my parents had.

Lived in California for a long time

When I was little, I saw a picture of Mafia gangsters in a book and thought they were Spanish instead of Italian.

C

I used to think that the little people used in population charts represented just one single person, and wondered how they could count every specific person living in every country.

Anon

I used to think the word barber was related to the word 'Berber', like Turks and North Africans being Semitic people, and Turkish guys being into male hairdressing.

Anon

I used to believe that Eskimos were literally immune to the cold, and that they had magic powers like the ability to freeze people or make it snow everywhere. I also thought the reason why they wore fur parkas and lots of layers was because they had to keep their powers secret, by pretending they were normal people who would die if they froze. When I was in 2nd grade, I got to meet an actual Eskimo and was so stunned and shocked. I was really, really, afraid to ask him about his magic powers, because he might get upset that I "blew his cover" and then use his powers to freeze me to death.

Anon

When i was little, i thought the reason why people from New York sounded so funny because they had a cold stuck in their throat all the time.

Ann

I used to think Asians who wore glasses were meant to be cross eyed, because of how they read and write backwards in languages like Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Urdu, etc!

Anon

I used to think all Italians worked in pizza restaurants.

Anon

I used to think everyone had to be born in the country that they were ethnically from or related to their accent.

Anon

I used to believe that everyone in the world understands English and Spanish

Anon

I used to think that all Dutch people wore clogs and lived in windmills

American

That germs came from Germany.

Alicia