general

My Dad told me if I stepped on a mole hill I would develop a new mole - (walks through country fields have thus proved hazardous all my life).

Caroline

When my parents tried to explain what an echo was, they didn't do very well. I thought it was an animal that lived in caves and mimicked you. I spent all our camping trips looking in cave to find the "echo"

Meg

that sheep had legs longer on one side then other thats why they could stand on mountain sides without falling down

bob

cuando era pequeña y saliamos por la noche a pasear por el campo yo creia que las estrellas cantaban...hasta que descubri que realmente los que cantaban eran los grillos

Anon

I and a number of my friends were told by a teacher in primary school that Haggis were small sheep-like creatures which lived in Scotland. She went on to elaborate that Haggis' right legs were shorter than their left legs and so they lived on steep hills and only moved anti-clockwise around the hill. The way to catch one was therefore to run towards it from the opposite direction. It would then try and turn around to flee but, due to the whole leg thing, it would, of course, topple over and roll down the hill, where another person would be waiting to catch it.

Needless to say that, coming from a teacher, I believed this for years.

Rebecca Elliott

Beeing from Austria my fahter told me that there are left and right cows. All depending wich way they walk around the steep hills, and therefore having shorter or longer legs on one side

Magic

Someone told me that sharks could kill in eighteen inches of water - it was several years before I could stay in the bath for more than 30 seconds (I still can't bear to have a bath within 24 hours of seeing Jaws on TV - and I am 41 now. I really didn't think I'd ever admit this to anyone!).

Amanda

my grandpa used to tell my sister that cows standing on hills were called "hill cows" and their legs on one side were shorter than the other. she still says that when she sees them

angel

My mother once took me and my little cousin Amy(who was only three) to my uncle's farm. Amy could make all the animal noises, so my mother pointed to the white cows and asked what noise they made. Amy said "Baaa Baaaa" My mother said "No, that's not right, try again." She pointed to some black cows. Amy said"Mooo Mooo". So my mother pointed to the white cows again and Amy said "Baaa Baa". I just stood there, trying not to laugh. As far as Amy was concerned, cows could never be white. The only farm animal that could be white was a sheep.

Anon

My grandad told me that the only way you could possibly scare a shark was to swim backwards and make a noise like a cheese.I believed him. When I found out it wasn't true, I cried like a six year old child, which I was.

James

When I was little our baseball team was sponsored by a company named "Tony's Broadloam and Carpets," only there was a space between Car and pets. I thought they sold tiny animals that would live in your car. I asked the coach if we would all get car pets if we won a game. He thought I was being a smart ass

Hartless

I used to think that a vegetarian and veterinarian were the same thing. That since you worked with animals you didn't eat them.

Sara

when i was little and visiting my grandma in the highlands of scotland my mum told me that sheep were able to stay on the steep hills and not slip because one front leg and one back leg were longer then the other two..was only a couple of years ago i actually thought about it and realised id been dubed..im 21 amazing what you dont question

Anon

When I wer 4 I lernt about rats. A big rat lived under our shed, a shed raised off the ground by an inch or so. Obviously rats were flat. Rats, I wer told, FLEW for the throat when cornered - aha rats could fly as well ! AND had razor sharp teeth. Not like the cuddly toys that pass for rats these days.

Phlar

I was about 3 when Jaws came out. One day my dad and I were driving some place at night and an ad came on the radio for the movie. I asked my dad some things about the movie. At one point he said that Jaws comes out of the deep dark water and gets people. I looked at the tpitch black area where the truck floor board was under my feet. I decided that if he came out of deep dark areas, then I could be in danger. So I pulled my feet up onto the seat. I refused to put them down the rest of the trip.

Lee

When I was little, my dad would tell me all the sounds the animals would make. One day, I got a playset with African animals, and he picked up the zebra and told me that they said "zeeeeebra!" I believed this until I saw real zebras on TV.

Zeeeeeebra!

When my dad was little his older siblings convinced him that there were flocks of flying turtles.

Anonymous

Whenever I saw a picture of a whale spouting water, I thought it was urinating.

Anon

When I was young I lived near a farm. On Sundays I would go out on my bike. I used to believe that there was an indian reservation in the area and we were going to be attacked only to learn later in life it was actually the cockerals crowing.

fja

when i was about 5 yrs old, i was at my uncle's cottage and when night fell, i saw fireflys for the first time. I ran to my uncle and asked what are those things glowing in the forest? He told me that if i knew that ghosts are invisible, then they form themselves into flys and that they glow at night cause they are not flys, they are ghosts. This sacred the living heck out of me and i asked my uncle what are we going to do to get rid of them? He told me when i go to bed tonight, i was to take my toy gun with me and if any of these "ghosts" gets inside my room, i was instructed to shoot them and if i missed any of the them, my uncle will shoot them with his hunting rifle. My mother was so mad at my uncle cause i couldn't sleep for days after that. Even today, i can't look at fireflys the same way as everyone else and i'm in my mid forties

Moe