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Lies you were told as a kid?
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oneser lemmy.zip oneser@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-06-28
#52 · Quote Reply

"When you grow up, you can be anything you want to be." I wanna be a homeowner. 🫩

To be fair, "grown up" could be 19 or 95 :) so keep trying!

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expatriado lemmy.world expatriado@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-18
#53 · Quote Reply

Lucky you. I always got told we couldn't go because I was bad for [insert any completely normal behavior here].

[insert any completely normal behavior here].

causing so much destruction at the park/McD's/arcade that required to be close for renovations

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magnetosphere fedia.io magnetosphere@fedia.io
Joined: 2023-06-30
#54 · Quote Reply

They are pretty docile as long as you don't trap them against your skin or threaten their hive. They will bump you if they want you to leave, though.

Yeah. I was a toddler losing my shit. My little brain couldn’t handle subtleties. Bees=sting was all I could manage.

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Firebirdie713 lemmy.blahaj.zone Firebirdie713@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2023-06-07
#55 · Quote Reply

"Trans people are just gay men who are willing to become women to sleep with more men." From my mother who had a bachelor's degree in biology.

Not only incredibly transmisogynistic, but also confused me a lot as a transmasc kid hitting puberty and wondering why my body suddenly felt very, very wrong in ways beyond the norm.

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kryptonianCodeMonkey lemmy.world kryptonianCodeMonkey@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-13
#56 · (edited) Quote Reply

My pronounced cowlick on right side of my forehead was from when I was a baby and my mom let a cow lick me and the cow spit made my hair get stuck that way. I was probably 4 at the time, believed her, and I was very offended that my mom had been so irresponsible as to allow this and leave me permanent defaced. I didn't really question it again until i was probably 8-10

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aramis87 fedia.io aramis87@fedia.io
Joined: 2024-03-07
#57 · Quote Reply

When I was between 10-12 years old, I attended a family celebration at my grandparents' house. I walked into one of the side rooms where my uncle was chilling by himself on a couch, and I noticed something shiny in the upper corner of the window. I took a closer look and found a wad of aluminum foil smashed into the corner against the window pane and it was somehow affixed there. I pointed to i...

So? What was the wad of aluminum foil doing crammed into the upper corner of the window?

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gastroglizzy piefed.social gastroglizzy@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-08-26
#58 · Quote Reply

[insert any completely normal behavior here]. causing so much destruction at the park/McD's/arcade that required to be close for renovations

Ah, c'mon that was ONE time. Why you gotta go bringing up old shit?

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finalarbiter lemmy.dbzer0.com finalarbiter@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2023-08-16
#59 · (edited) Quote Reply

Much more inconsequential than some of the answers here, but I believed well into my 20s that it was illegal to turn the overhead light on in a car while driving at night.

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gastroglizzy piefed.social gastroglizzy@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-08-26
#60 · Quote Reply

Driving without shoes will get you arrested.

I get where it comes from though. Many jurisdictions have laws that require "appropriate footwear" while driving. Many people interpret this at face value and think it means footwear is required. Most of the time though, either a definition within the statute or case law will stipulate that bare feet is considered appropriate. What they're really trying to prevent is people driving in flip-flops, untied shoes, or other footwear that can get caught in the pedals.

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darthsundhaft piefed.social darthsundhaft@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-01-19
#61 · Quote Reply

"You'll be better off when you're older"

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TrackenDaKracken lemmy.world TrackenDaKracken@lemmy.world
Joined: 2026-09-29
#62 · Quote Reply

Whenever one of these questions comes up, all I have to say is my parents were saints compared to so many. I was raised without religion, whenever I asked something they did their best to answer honestly, never forced me to do stupid shit, etc.

My brother, on the other hand...

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we are all crazypeople.online crazycraw@crazypeople.online
Joined: 2025-06-30
#63 · Quote Reply

The USA is the land of the free

or home of the brave.

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we are all crazypeople.online crazycraw@crazypeople.online
Joined: 2025-06-30
#64 · Quote Reply

Things can only get better.

wo wo whooaa wo wha whoaa

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frustrated_phagocytosis fedia.io frustrated_phagocytosis@fedia.io
Joined: 2024-03-03
#65 · Quote Reply

Women are intellectually, emotionally, and physically inferior to men. That one sort of backfired on him because his daughters worked to disprove that bullshit and don't have relationships with him but his son barely graduated high school and hasn't worked ever and lives at home at 40. He's in for a rude awakening when they die because I'm not taking care of lazy men. He'll die without a caretaker.

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theherk lemmy.world theherk@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-02
#66 · Quote Reply

It's illegal to turn the interior light on in the car while driving. If you make that face, it'll stay like that. Sitting too close to the TV will give you square eyes If you lie, you get spots on your tongue (would then ask to show you your tongue when they asked you if you telling the truth) The Square box in that corner (the maximize window button on a PC) is a camera and we can watch what you do.

You have strange parents. Square eyes? Spots on your tongue? Bizarre.

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Boozilla lemmy.world Boozilla@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-05
#67 · Quote Reply

"This will go on your permanent record".

Outrageous lie back in the 80s.

Unfortunately true today with the internet and the surveillance state.

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Warl0k3 lemmy.world Warl0k3@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-10-11
#68 · (edited) Quote Reply

It's illegal to turn the interior light on in the car while driving. If you make that face, it'll stay like that. Sitting too close to the TV will give you square eyes If you lie, you get spots on your tongue (would then ask to show you your tongue when they asked you if you telling the truth) The Square box in that corner (the maximize window button on a PC) is a camera and we can watch what you do.

If you lie, you get spots on your tongue

Oh lmao the spots on your tongue thing is ancient. Transient lingual papillitis, also called "lie bumps". Ton of cultures share the myth that you get them from lying - we don't know what causes them (and fuck do they hurt) and they're rarely talked about, so it's always weird to run into that in the wild; it seems so absurd you'd never expect it to be as widespread as it is.

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Hegar fedia.io Hegar@fedia.io
Joined: 2024-06-26
#69 · Quote Reply

or home of the brave.

Moving to the US the general level of fear is soooo noticable.

Someone warned me not to hold my bus money in my hand, like the sight of $2 was gonna get me stabbed in Portland 😆

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MajorMajormajormajor lemmy.ca MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-06-12
#70 · Quote Reply

Yea same here, my mother told me that she will never be able to come to terms with my #decision

Ironic, since these parents are choosing to be terrible people filled with hate.

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expatriado lemmy.world expatriado@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-18
#71 · (edited) Quote Reply

there is a god race is a biological reality men and women are fundamentally different Just world theory America is a force for good in the world The Enlightenment makes Western culture superior The post-war boom where a single income could buy a hose/ car/ and college was a universal reality and not exclusive to white men. Guns make you safe.

guns make you safe

my ex tried to kill herself with pills, i think if we had a gun she would have succeeded. i think every person i have known to die of gun wounds were self inflicted

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threeonefour piefed.ca threeonefour@piefed.ca
Joined: 2025-06-07
#72 · Quote Reply

My health class was taught by our gym teacher and she was terrible at it. Some points I remembered being taught:

  • Hypertension is when the hamstrings of your legs shrink because you don't stretch every morning. Hypertension can kill you, so make sure you stretch.
  • All drugs make you hallucinate. Every single one of them. Usually dragons. People die on drugs because they're trying to get away from the dragons and jump off buildings or run into traffic.
  • Babies have super suction power which they use to breastfeed. An adult cannot get milk from a breast because they can't suck hard enough.

I learned these were wrong after starting secondary school where biology was taught by someone who studied biology. Except for the breastfeeding thing. That one was through personal research.

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SeeMarkFly lemmy.ml SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2024-02-02
#73 · Quote Reply

Practically every sport can be boiled down to “2 groups of people disagreeing where a ball should go”.

Exactly, WHY disagree?

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SeeMarkFly lemmy.ml SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2024-02-02
#74 · Quote Reply

Idk, in golf and bowling everyone seems to be agreement about where the ball should go, if not who should successfully get it there.

Bowling? Throwing a huge heavy ball at some things that don't move?

Not very sportsman like.

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eurodyne piefed.world eurodyne@piefed.world
Joined: 2026-07-25
#75 · Quote Reply

I don't like sports, but I don't like books either. Am I bi?

Let’s find out!

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IronKrill lemmy.ca IronKrill@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-06-09
#76 · Quote Reply

"I will love you no matter what" That changed real fuckin fast when i came out as trans

Now that I think about it, this is surely almost always a lie? I doubt many people will keep loving someone once they find out they're a serial killer, pedophile, or worse, a conservative.

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SlumDogGazillionaire piefed.social SlumDogGazillionaire@piefed.social
Joined: 2026-05-01
#77 · Quote Reply

I get where it comes from though. Many jurisdictions have laws that require "appropriate footwear" while driving. Many people interpret this at face value and think it means footwear is required. Most of the time though, either a definition within the statute or case law will stipulate that bare feet is considered appropriate. What they're really trying to prevent is people driving in flip-flop...

"Appropriate footwear" oh you mean "feet prisons"?

4
The Velour Fog lemmy.world Blackfeathr@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-12
#78 · (edited) Quote Reply

Raised by a hard right parent. Was told that outside the US, every country was basically third world. Even the UK, people there still living in the mud in medieval times under a tyrannical monarchy or some shit.

A more humorous lie I was told was if you swallowed chewing gum, you'd blow bubbles out of your butt. A family friend who told me that said it happened to their dog.

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brewery feddit.uk brewery@feddit.uk
Joined: 2023-07-21
#79 · Quote Reply

I don't like sports, but I don't like books either. Am I bi?

I like sports and reading. Am I asexual or also bi?

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IronKrill lemmy.ca IronKrill@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-06-09
#80 · Quote Reply

Most outrageous / unbelievable lies Jesus is god Most offensive / dangerous lies Republicans want what is best for the country too. The world / USA fought the Nazis because of how evil they are The KKK / Neonazis / White Supremacists are in the past. Most “adult meant it as genuine advice but it’s laughably out of touch” lies Work hard and stay loyal and you will progress in your career. Lies y...

The KKK / Neonazis / White Supremacists are in the past.

I don't think my parents even taught me this, but it still felt like "history". Realising how much is still active was a wake up...

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ThatGuy46475 lemmy.world ThatGuy46475@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-01-25
#81 · Quote Reply

In reply to an earlier post

Well maybe liberty should get rid of the fur ball mascot

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EmilieEasie fedinsfw.app EmilieEasie@fedinsfw.app
Joined: 2026-03-28
#82 · Quote Reply

[insert any completely normal behavior here]. causing so much destruction at the park/McD's/arcade that required to be close for renovations

my sister and I were little demons!!!

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COASTER1921 lemmy.ml COASTER1921@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2023-10-05
#83 · Quote Reply

Raised by a hard right parent. Was told that outside the US, every country was basically third world. Even the UK, people there still living in the mud in medieval times under a tyrannical monarchy or some shit. A more humorous lie I was told was if you swallowed chewing gum, you'd blow bubbles out of your butt. A family friend who told me that said it happened to their dog.

Some older people truly believe that the US is the only civilized country on earth. I was told the same as a kid whenever I complained about anything. They'd say that children born anywhere else in the world would be so much more grateful than me to be growing up in the best country on earth. This was in Kansas too, which in hindsight makes it even funnier.

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X piefed.world X@piefed.world
Joined: 2025-10-20
#84 · Quote Reply

Exactly, WHY disagree?

Because then no fighting over ball. Can’t have that, now can we?

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corsicanguppy lemmy.ca corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-06-12
#85 · (edited) Quote Reply

Now that I think about it, this is surely almost always a lie? I doubt many people will keep loving someone once they find out they're a serial killer, pedophile, or worse, a conservative.

serial killer, pedophile, or worse, a conservative.

We can still love each and every one of them, and tell them so during visiting hours. Especially the conservative, as I suspect they quickly become some bubba's bitch.

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Hetare King piefed.social HetareKing@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-10-02
#86 · Quote Reply

All I got is weird, but ultimately harmless ones.

  • If you eat the bread ends, you'll eventually become able to whistle.
  • If you sit too close to the TV, your eyes will turn square.
  • If you swallow chewing gum, a chewing gum tree will grow in your belly.
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corsicanguppy lemmy.ca corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-06-12
#87 · Quote Reply

guns make you safe my ex tried to kill herself with pills, i think if we had a gun she would have succeeded. i think every person i have known to die of gun wounds were self inflicted

i think every person i have known to die of gun wounds were self inflicted

I'm worried you know enough people to make a statistically significant conclusion.

Prior art confirms: overwhelmingly, the gun you are shot with will be your own. Next is one weilded by someone well-known to you.

10
expatriado lemmy.world expatriado@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-18
#88 · (edited) Quote Reply

i think every person i have known to die of gun wounds were self inflicted I'm worried you know enough people to make a statistically significant conclusion. Prior art confirms: overwhelmingly, the gun you are shot with will be your own. Next is one weilded by someone well-known to you.

i didn't claim to give statistically significant conclusion, my statement was clearly anecdotal, so you can take it as such without being misleading

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Gerudo lemmy.zip Gerudo@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-06-28
#89 · Quote Reply

Trade schools are for those who couldn't make it into college.

I would have absolutely gone into welding if I had been told the honest truth about what the trades can earn.

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felixwhynot lemmy.world felixwhynot@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-14
#90 · Quote Reply

I just wanted to share that I’ve been reading “Lies My Teacher Told Me” and it’s really good!

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Thorry feddit.org Thorry@feddit.org
Joined: 2025-08-30
#91 · Quote Reply

In reply to an earlier post

If you make that face, it'll stay like that.

I was told this as well, so I'd try to look as sad, afraid and angry as possible. I'd contort my face for hours, trying to push the corners of my mouth down till it hurt. I wanted it to stay like that, so when I went to school the next day somebody would ask me what's wrong and I could tell them about my father beating the shit out of me every day. Unfortunately, it did not stay and nobody asked.

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yermaw sh.itjust.works yermaw@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2025-07-10
#92 · Quote Reply

Trade schools are for those who couldn't make it into college. I would have absolutely gone into welding if I had been told the honest truth about what the trades can earn.

Similar story - binmen. Teachers warning you that'll be you if you dont try hard and get good grades.

Id fucking love to be a binman, way better hours, pay and perks than any other job ive ever worked.

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SatansMaggotyCumFart piefed.social SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-06-16
#93 · Quote Reply

My parent’s friend told me that wind was caused by trees swaying and I looked pretty stupid when I proudly told my class this fact as a high school senior.

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MajorMajormajormajor lemmy.ca MajorMajormajormajor@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2023-06-12
#94 · Quote Reply

In reply to an earlier post

Garden gnomes: "The fuck is this shit?"

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m0nt piefed.social n4ch1sm0@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-08-05
#95 · Quote Reply

Garden gnomes: "The fuck is this shit?"

"The fuck? Is this shit?"
FTFY

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boonhet sopuli.xyz boonhet@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2025-06-16
#96 · Quote Reply

Trade schools are for those who couldn't make it into college. I would have absolutely gone into welding if I had been told the honest truth about what the trades can earn.

Better live in a country where welders qualify for early retirement then, as the welders I've known have all developed issues with their eyesight, often starting in their late 20s or early 30s. Yes there's a mask and every professional welder uses it because they know just how quickly they'd fuck up their eyes otherwise, but even then you're still staring at a spark for a significant portion of your workday.

Health-wise, it's one of the worse trades to get into because of that. Financially, of course... that's probably part of why it pays so well.

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Lojcs piefed.social Lojcs@piefed.social
Joined: 2025-06-30
#97 · Quote Reply

In reply to an earlier post

I'm starting to believe some level of sociopathy is also required

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boonhet sopuli.xyz boonhet@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2025-06-16
#98 · Quote Reply

My health class was taught by our gym teacher and she was terrible at it. Some points I remembered being taught: Hypertension is when the hamstrings of your legs shrink because you don't stretch every morning. Hypertension can kill you, so make sure you stretch. All drugs make you hallucinate. Every single one of them. Usually dragons. People die on drugs because they're trying to get away from...

Except for the breastfeeding thing. That one was through personal research.

ಠ_ಠ

30
boonhet sopuli.xyz boonhet@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2025-06-16
#99 · Quote Reply

Now that I think about it, this is surely almost always a lie? I doubt many people will keep loving someone once they find out they're a serial killer, pedophile, or worse, a conservative.

Disapproving of someone's choices and actions doesn't mean you don't love them anymore. In fact that's why it hurts more when someone you love does something truly heinous. It's often hard to just suddenly let go when it's your child, sibling, etc.

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yermaw sh.itjust.works yermaw@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2025-07-10
#100 · Quote Reply

In reply to an earlier post

Kids are still getting that advice. Had a 15 year old in a few months back getting his CV out there already for when he finishes school. Dressed in a smart shirt and tie and everything.

Definitely, 100%, no question his 60-something dad was outside in the car.

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wolfeh lemmy.blahaj.zone wolfeh@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Joined: 2025-01-19
#101 · Quote Reply

My health class was taught by our gym teacher and she was terrible at it. Some points I remembered being taught: Hypertension is when the hamstrings of your legs shrink because you don't stretch every morning. Hypertension can kill you, so make sure you stretch. All drugs make you hallucinate. Every single one of them. Usually dragons. People die on drugs because they're trying to get away from...

I thought people usually chased the dragon, rather than running away.

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