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I can still remember many instances in which I learned a new word, term, or fact as a child, and I especially remember the ones that I first learned wrong.
Even many years after learning the correct info, that early incorrect "lesson" still stays with me.
Two examples were grownup terms I learned from my childhood friend who was a year older than me. That made her incredibly more mature and knowledgeable in my book!
The first was the word "divorce." My friend told me that Sonny and Cher were getting divorced (this was the mid 70s and we both always watched the TV show). I asked what "divorced" meant. She told me it means "they both love Chastity so much that they can live with each other anymore." So in my child mind, that's what divorce meant--two parents who have to split up because they love their kids "too much." I felt sorry for Chastity for being the cause of her parent' breaking up, and felt relieved that my parents didn't love me THAT much(!) What I assume happened is that her parents explained to her what divorce was, and they emphasized that even though Sonny and Cher couldn't live with each other any more, they both still love Chastity very, very much. But she got it mixed up, and thought it meant that this was the reason they could no longer love with each other. Even after I learned the actual definition of divorce, this idea would still always pop into my head when I heard people on TV telling their kids that it's not their fault that their parents were splitting up. I would get that thought: hey maybe it is the kid's fault, because the parents are breaking up because they love the kid too much.
The other word I learned from this friend was "gay." She said Elton John was gay, and I asked what that meant. She said it means "when a man and lady get married, and the man starts acting like a lady, and the lady starts acting like a man." So I figured this mean that Elton John was married to a lady (probably Kiki Dee in my head), but he did things like wear makeup, do laundry, and talk on the phone a lot, and his wife did things like fix the car, mow the lawn, and take out the trash. I still laugh to myself when I remember this "definition."
Did you even learn any amusing incorrect things like this as a kid, that still pop into your mind to this day?
I never focused on Elton John. I heard his music in the background but that was when Scorpions and Def Leppard ( and others) were pretty hot. Now I thought George Michael was hot! I loved "Father Figure" and others but I never thought to question his sexuality. I was hooked on Elton John when Princess Diana was killed suddenly. His performance in London rocked the world. The news was just earth shattering when she passed with "Candle in the Wind"
My own brother committed suicide in 1982 and he was a totally straight guy. Somehow through time, my step-mother passed ( she never got over his death) and I can remember hearing Seal with "A rose on a grave".
So in my own way, I was more focused on tragedy. My mind leans to the negative impact of suicide and other destructive implications when someone is not allowed to be who they really are.
I just got it. There were no lessons, no books, no lectures, no opinions-- everything just connected.
Last edited by thegreenflute334; 04-05-2015 at 01:34 PM..
Your cousin is awesome... lmao. Wonder if she remembers this!!
Yes! Actually she is kind of awesome. However, she does not think that the incident happened this way.
She claims that she would have never said this, that way. She says that she "offered it" as a "fun thing to do" but did not "intimidate me" into doing that.
WRONG!!!
She's a really excellent lawyer and she is smart as a whip.
Your cousin is awesome... lmao. Wonder if she remembers this!!
Yes! Actually she is kind of awesome. However, she does not think that the incident happened this way.
She claims that she would have never manipulated me into doing this, She says that she "offered it" as a "fun thing to do" but did not "intimidate me" into doing that.
She's a really excellent lawyer and she is smart as a whip.
I heard the following as a child that stayed with me for years (not all the way into adulthood, but it still comes to mind)
Don't cross your eyes-they'll get stuck that way.
Be careful not to swallow orange/apple seeds or a tree will grow in your stomach.
Don't drink coffee. It'll stunt your growth.
Don't swallow your gum, because it takes seven years to digest and pass out of your body. (I believed this one the longest for some reason)
My Dad and my older brothers were all pathological, congenital liars. I was inquisitive. Bad combo.
"Hey...Dad...What do they mean by a warm front?"
"Oh..that means it will be warm in front (of the house, I presumed)"
"What about the backyard?"
"Well...it'll be cold in the backyard." [I think he was busy doing something, hence the stupid answer]
That was all I needed to hear (it was a cool summer, not much swimming pool weather)
So I dragged the swimming pool out to the front lawn and commenced filling it up, to the consternation of my dad. He never really clearly told me why he dragged the damned thing back to the backyard. I spent years trying to figure that one out. Big BS'er! Can't answer the question? Just make it up.
Last edited by TwinbrookNine; 04-05-2015 at 03:58 PM..
I can still remember many instances in which I learned a new word, term, or fact as a child, and I especially remember the ones that I first learned wrong.
Even many years after learning the correct info, that early incorrect "lesson" still stays with me.
Two examples were grownup terms I learned from my childhood friend who was a year older than me. That made her incredibly more mature and knowledgeable in my book!
The first was the word "divorce."of divorce, this idea would still always pop into my head when I heard people on TV telling their kids that it's not their fault that their parents were splitting up. I would get that thought: hey maybe it is the kid's fault, because the parents are breaking up because they love the kid too much.
The other word I learned from this friend was "gay."
Did you even learn any amusing incorrect things like this as a kid, that still pop into your mind to this day?
That's classic! I'm still laughing. What a post.
I entered mine above. You gotta see that. It's one of a dozen. I spent 40 years unlearning all the totally (but innocently) fabricated junk I was told as a kid.
Youth = innocence, AND this takes the cake (slightly OT, maybe, but closely related): Picture it 50 years ago, high school:
This is a family site so I will not go into the anatomic details of the issue regarding the answer to the (often posed, but never answered) question of why the windows in the stairwells leading down three floors from the locker room to the pool always (and I mean ALWAYS) were left open about 10 inches up, even in the dead of winter, sometimes with snow blowing in. (Boys, you realize, swam nude, no bathing suits allowed, and no towel provided between the showers and the pool???!) To us it was just another curiosity. Possibly, a tenth grader's hazing of sorts. Nothing new; no biggie. Just go with the flow. Don't ask questions.
Well! If, by chance, you happen to have had a class in room 246, 248, 346 or 348 directly across the way, you'd soon figure it out if you ever just happened to gaze out the window about 5 minutes after the bell rang. Yikes!
[I don't know why, but the phrase "ding-a-ling-a-ling" seems to come to mind]
Last edited by TwinbrookNine; 04-05-2015 at 04:53 PM..
In the 50's, we had Jewish neighbors. My older brother informed me that Jewish people always eat bagels and lox. I had no idea what either one was, and I don't think he did, either.
I was also told (by adults):
Biting your nails will make your fingers crooked.
Sitting on concrete causes hemorrhoids.
Eating too much sugar causes diabetes.
You'll get warts if a frog pees on you.
I "learned" these, along with the idea that my parents might get raptured and leave me behind to burn in hell:
1. Your knuckles will get huge if you pop them.
2. If you smoke, you will burn up in your bed at night (I didn't realize this applied only to people who smoked in bed - I thought you would spontaneously combust or something).
3. Sperm crawl out of a man's belly button and march across the sheet and into the woman's belly button and that's where babies come from. I actually imagined little sperm dressed in marching band attire marching with purpose from the husband to the wife - always and only a husband and wife of course, who were sleeping together.
My mother thought it would be of comfort and told me lightening was the flashing of God's eyes and thunder was his voice. It made it even more frightening, but I never told her.
At night, when trying to go to sleep I wanted cover on my feet, but mother would not allow it. Even now, many years later, I need cover on my feet at night. I was afraid of the dark, but no light could be on. I have a night-light ever since leaving home. The monsters leave me along when they can see me. LOL
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