We’ve all been gullible about something in our lives. Maybe you were that kid that believed in a myth or strange “fact” until you were too old – I know someone who believed that a vending machine was called a “bending machine” well into high school (because you have to bend over to retrieve your snack, obviously).
Perhaps your parents made up a little white lie to distract you when you were children, and you totally believed it for quite a few years. Whatever the reason, these confusions definitely occur, and one Reddit thread got people to confess to dumb things they used to believe, with hilarious results!
10. Strange nickname for a parking lot
“My parents always referred to a really good parking spot as a “glory hole.” It was not until I started college and exclaimed to my friends that I had found the perfect glory hole in the Chipotle parking lot that I realized that my parents’ usage of the term was very, very wrong.”—ahcowboy
9. Kids will believe in anything.
“My dad told me that the stripes on the sides of the road, the ones that make a sound when you ride on them, exist so that the blind people can drive without going off the road. We were kids and believed it for some time.”—SkyfishArt
8. Cute Fib
“When I was younger I had a pet bird and she flew away one day when I was cleaning her cage (her name was Cathy, lol). I was obviously devastated because she was my first pet and my best friend, so my dad said he was going to go out and find Cathy for me. Two hours later he comes home with a yellow budgie saying he found her in a tree down the block and caught her. I was so thankful and couldn’t believe he got her back for me. I literally only realised a couple years ago that there’s no way he could have caught her, and when I asked he confirmed that he just went to the pet shop and bought me a new yellow budgie. I lived with the belief that she was Cathy for 16 years.”—zodiacgal
7. Some beliefs are dismantled in college.
“This is a conversation between my friend and his GF in college:
GF: How do they know where to put gas stations?
Friend: I assume they do market research to see how much need there is for another gas station in the area.
GF: No, I mean how do they know there will be gas on the corner where they build the station?
Friend: They truck in the gasoline with tankers…
GF: Oh.”—AntalRyder
6. At least this is a common misconception.
“I thought toilets really did spin the other way when you crossed the equator.”—spaghatta111
5. This one is kinda cruel.
“My grandmpther told me when I was little that if I didn’t have enough money at the checkout they would throw me in jail immediately. I was scared of that until I became a teen.”—Taffythecat
4. Ah, the old chewing gum myth
“That chewing gum took 7 years to digest.”—Spicey_Kisses
3. The not-quite-so-Great Wall of China
“That he great wall of China is the only man made object visible from space.”—Favicool
2. A lot of people were wrong about bats.
And it shows!
“Bats are not blind. They have eyes and can see. Also they have an excellent night vision.”—Gullible_Taste
1. Wait…this isn’t true?
“That different sections of our tongue detects different tastes.”—Tambahnasi
Did any of these surprise you? Let us know in the comments.
