88 Annoying Myths Many People Still Believe, According To People In This Thread

The fingers on my two hands wouldn’t be enough to count how many times I’ve heard that Einstein was bad at school math. Or that bulls go into full-on rage mode when they see red.

Turns out, many of those are just urban myths disguised as common knowledge. So what other nonsense do we, my fellow human beings, all blatantly believe in? This thread on r/AskReddit may give us some answers as people share some of the most annoying myths we all are guilty of trusting in.

Have any annoying myth on your mind to add to this list? Hit us in the comment below!

#1

Fish only have a 5 second memory. My fish are fed automatically on a timer and they know dinner time better than my goddamn cat.

Image credits: Osr0

#2

That if you touch a baby bird, its mother will abandon it because of the smell. Birds actually have a very bad sense of smell.

Image credits: grmidnight

#3

You swallow 8 spiders a year in your sleep. The thing was created to see how easily fake news spread.

Image credits: JustAnAverageBrit

#4

MSG - a lot of people still believe it's basically poison. It's no more harmful than regular salt.

Image credits: ToothbrushGames

#5

You have to wait 24 hours before filing a missing person's report.

Image credits: popthetab

#6

Black belts have to register their fists as weapons... I can't believe I was dumb enough to fall for that.

Image credits: d_tiBBAR

#7

That cutting your hair off makes it grow in thicker.

Image credits: KingKombo

#8

That dairy cows just "make" milk.

Cows aren't any different than the rest of the mammals. They make milk when they have a baby. Humans just take the baby away after it's born.

Image credits: the_V0lum3

#9

You can "detox" your body from toxins and parasites by drinking certain teas or taking some weird medication.

Repeated diarrhea and frequent urination doesn't indicate toxins leaving your body, your liver and kidneys do the job. If your liver is not functioning or you have a kidney disorder, obviously you need help but it won't be teas that someone on Instagram is boasting about.

Image credits: bitterherpes

#10

People think bats are blind. They aren’t.

Image credits: Bloodragedragon

#11

The five second rule.

Image credits: Appropriate-Wrap-664

#12

Sugar makes you hyper.

Image credits: Chiperoni

#13

Undercover cops have to tell you they're cops.

Image credits: Lawgang94

#14

If you lift your hands above your head while pregnant you will strangle the baby. I am sure it was started by smart women who didn’t want to do all the housework while pregnant and tired. I still hear it every now and again.

Image credits: Letmetellyowhat

#15

that myth about how nasa invented ballpoint pens for space while the USSR just used pencils... basically completely untrue

Image credits: NepetaLast

#16

Cracking your knuckles makes them bigger/gives you arthritis.

This is an ongoing battle between myself and my older coworkers.

Image credits: Deezus1229

#17

The Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure visible from space. First of all, it's not, and second, other ones are.

Image credits: Plug_5

#18

That Napoleon was short. He was average height

Image credits: AspectOfSociety

#19

In my country people believe that if you're pregnant and cut your hair, the baby will be born blind lmao.

Image credits: Arthurlmnz

#20

That historically, corsets were extremely dangerous. That is false. “Tightlacing”, which is basically just what’s seen in the movies, where they make the corset as tight as they can, was not very common, and only used in the extremely upper class. Most people wore corsets completely safely, lacing down very little, if at all. Women climbed mountains, biked, did sports, and everything, in corsets.

Image credits: icee5728

#21

Astrology: that your horoscope tells something about your personality

Image credits: Metamorphosed_

#22

That carrots improve eyesight. It was actually British propaganda from World war II, I think to explain how they kept on shooting down German planes at night, in order to conceal their invention of a new type of radar I believe. More funny than annoying, I just want to say it.

Image credits: SirGideonthe3rd

#23

Lightning never strikes the same place twice.

Image credits: thebelsnickle1991

#24

That certain animal 'parts' have healing/magical properties. Like tiger whiskers protect the wearer or rhino horn cures impotence and hangovers.

Image credits: storm_in_a_teapot

#25

That companies "can't" say that you were fired, or why you were fired, "by law."

Image credits: Fondren_Richmond

#26

People with OCD just repeatedly wash their hands and like things clean and organized. This is how it presents in some people. There is so much more to this mental illness that people aren’t aware of that lead to people not getting diagnosed or help.

Image credits: Oss251817

#27

That Vikings wore horns on their helmets.

Image credits: AndyTheThiccer

#28

That violence in the world is getting worse and worse. Actually, in relation to the world's population we live in the most non-violent era in history. The problem is that, while 500 years ago you might have not even heard all the news from within your city, we can now hear all the horrible news from all over the world (and we're also more people). But still, human interaction and conflict in general is much less violent than it used to be.

Image credits: mediocre_medstudent1

#29

Einstein was bad at school math.

Image credits: el_juanjo

#30

Ostriches bury their head in the sand when confronted. The fact that Ostrich legs and claws are powerful enough to kill any predator makes a mockery of the myth. In actual fact, they don't make nests but bury their eggs in warm soft soil. They then frequently turn the eggs over in the ground to stop them overheating giving the appearance that they are sticking their heads in the ground from a distance.

#31

If you go outside with your hair wet you will get sick.

Image credits: laiwo

#32

That you can spot-reduce fat. Far too many quacks on the internet talking about “toning” and “melting belly fat” with a hundred sit-ups a day.

#33

Scholars in the middle ages didn't believe the Earth was flat. The ancient Greeks knew that [stuff] was false. The myth of the flat earth was a post-Romanticism fancy in pop culture, not a serious scholarly movement.

That line from Men In Black has pissed me off ever since I learned the truth.

Image credits: BlueOysterCultist

#34

Bulls get angry when they see the color red. It's not true..

Bulls are actually red-green colorblind. What actually triggers the bull's anger is the movement in front of them.

#35

That if you shave your hair, it’ll grow back thicker and darker. The hair looks thicker because it has a blunt edge after shaving. The hair will taper back out when it grows again.

#36

Flushable wipes are flushable

#37

Right side brain logic left side brain creative.

#38

That vaccines cause autism, are made by the government to control you etc etc.

#39

Schizophrenia is the same thing as Multiple Personality Disorder

#40

Organic means no pesticides used. As I understand it, it means that no synthetic pesticides were used.

#41

Touching baby animals in the wild will make their mother abandon them.

#42

You can make sure to have a girl baby by doing ...

You can tell the sex of the baby while the woman is pregnant by ...

...STFU I’m so sick of hearing these

#43

The ONE thing everyone thinks they know about lemmings is bulls**t. They're not "suicidal," and will not succumb to herd-mentality and follow each other over a cliff in a big group if they're scared.

This "fact" originated in a Disney-produced nature documentary (documentary in a very loose sense). They literally made stuff up whole cloth because it looked cool on camera. They chased the lemmings over the edge of a small rise, and used camera tricks to make it look like they were falling to their deaths.

Then the lemmings became a pop-culture metaphor for harmful conformity, and cartoonists all over still reference it.

#44

that tryptophan in turkey makes you sleepy during thanksgiving. no. chicken has more tryptophan than turkey, and we only get sleepy on thanksgiving because we eat so much.

#45

Many people still believe hymens are like plastic food seals that cover up the hole and get popped when you have sex for the first time, and if a girl doesn't bleed she's not a virgin.

#46

That tropical fish can be kept in a vase or bowl.

#47

We only use 10% of our brains. If you don't know what 100% is, then how do you determine what 10% is.

#48

That gold fish can life in small fish bowls. Worst possible thing to do to them. They die so quickly because they are messy fish and ultimate swimming in toxic water. The need twice the water a regular fish needs to dilute the ammonia their food and waste create. Goldfish can grow up to 12-14 inches and live 10-15 years in a proper habitat! Just because your parents’ parent did this or you see them at the fair doesn’t mean it’s right. Same goes for most animals kept in small cages/tanks. If you aren’t going to do it right, then you should not own that pet. Do your research. End rant ha

#49

The North Star is the brightest star in the sky.

No it's not. It's Sirius.

#50

That the customer is always right.

#51

Oh god I work with kids and old people who work with the same kids:

That going outside in the rain/cold weather will make you sick. It will not.

#52

White wine gets red wine out of the carpet

#53

A lot of commonly believed stuff about the female reproductive system/anatomy, like vaginas getting loose if a woman has a lot of sex, or that having a lot of sex somehow drastically changes the look of a woman's labia.

#54

Not a myth per se, but the number of people who grossly misunderstand how evolution and natural selection works is crazy high.

#55

Here in Taiwan people believe you can grow taller by exercising a lot, even if you're a full grown adult.

#56

The highest tax rate means your entire income is taxed at that rate

#57

People saying that blood is blue and it turns red when it hits oxygen. The only reason it appears blue (like in your hand) is merely a trick of lighting and reflection. And why/how would our blood have such a quick and large reaction to oxygen?

#58

That historical armor was basically useless, only increasing the chance of maybe deflecting a blow if you were lucky. You still see it in movies, shows and games where a knife or sword or arrow will go through armor like it's cardboard.

In reality armor was very useful. Very good armor, like a knight's suit of plate, made the wearer virtually invincible. The best plate could stop even early firearms. A knight in full plate and wielding a shield was pretty much the tank of the medieval battlefield. Doubly so if on horseback. Specialized weapons and a concerted effort was needed to defeat one, although typically no one would try to kill a knight since you can't ransom a corpse.

But even simple gambesons, which were made from layers of fabric, could resist a sword cut. High quality gambesons could resist all but the strongest cuts from specialized cutting swords.

Also: that swords were super heavy. A typical one-handed arming sword from the middle ages weighed around 3lbs, 4 max. A two-handed long sword could get up to 5lbs. Rapiers weighed around the same as other swords, which is contrary to popular belief.

Yes, swinging around a 3-4lb object would tire someone out, but the people doing so were generally more fit than the people reading this thread.

#59

Gym instructors saying they have zero percent of body fat

#60

Alpha dogs aren't a thing, researcher who "discovered" this made a mistake and tried to correct it but the damage was done.

There is no such thing as an alpha dog

#61

Poor people are poor because they don't know how to manage their money

#62

History is filled with this stuff, but I'm gonna go with general misconceptions due to an inability to read history in context.

Often if you read a funny and strange story where you go 'haha those dumb superstitious people in the past' in reality there isn't superstition behind it, there's politics and power. For example, if you hear of someone being excommunicated and declared a witch / heretic for some odd reason the truth is the given reason is just a made up excuse, and the real reason is political intrigue.

#63

Not myth I guess but there is an astounding amount of people who have said to me "wait bugs aren't animals" or "bugs/fish are animals?"

I think they're confusing animal with mammal maybe but they usually include birds in there with animals so I dunno.

Maybe they just think animal means "fuzzy thing which which I am familiar".

#64

All of these mom's groups thinking some Chinese calendar is going to predict the gender of their baby. Or a pineapple pizza is going to induce labor.

#65

I have a black cat with white spots on her belly and people have made comments about never having a black cat because they are bad luck or evil. Dude, it’s a cat. Also, hear often comments regarding not breaking mirrors or sweeping over someone’s feet. Its 2021 we really still believe this?!

#66

Shark fins / shark products are great for health

#67

That margarine is "one molecule away" from being plastic.

Firstly, "one molecule away" makes no sense. It is a meaningless phrase.

Secondly, being "one atom away" is also meaningless, because a change in atomical structure means the substances are different.

A molecule of H2O has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. H2O is water.

H2O2 has two hydrogen atoms and two oxygen atoms. H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide.

But we don't caution against drinking water by saying that it's "one atom away" from being hydrogen peroxide, because that one atom completely changes the makeup of that substance. Water isn't "almost" peroxide or vice versa.

This is an oversimplification, obviously, but suffice it to say that you shouldn't take advice from someone who claims that margarine is "one molecule away" from being plastic. It's a complete misnomer.

I don't even like or eat margarine but this drives me up the freaking wall.

#68

“We care about your privacy” AbsoluteBollocks™️

#69

That if your hand is bigger than your face you’re gay…

#70

That you get warts from frogs. Warts come from the human papilloma virus and come from contact with the virus through broken skin. It is a human specific virus and cannot be spread through different species.

#71

You lose money by working overtime because of taxes.

#72

That all GMOs have to be bad. There's a reason scientists still want to work on GMOs; it could greatly reduce the costs of food production and end world hunger.

Golden Rice, for example, is rice that is modified to maximize beta-carotene (basically vitamin A) to support areas whose diets cause vitamin A deficiencies. Anti-GMO groups oppose the effort (obviously) citing the normalization of GMOs and the corporate control of necessary dietary requirements in impoverished regions as their reasons against Golden Rice, but they fail to prove the rice itself is harmful (one study was believed to for some time, but it got exposed for breaking regulations that could have affected results). I think it's safe to say that children would rather save themselves from starvation than save themselves from glorifying GMOs or corporate dependency

#73

Mixing vinegar and baking soda in water makes an amazing foamy cleaning mixture! Actually they neutralize and form either a weak acid or weak base….either of which can actually be used as a cleaning agent and you don’t have to waste chemicals mixing the two….just use a small amount of either in water depending on what you’re trying to dissolve.

#74

So many people still think acid itself is deadly, but we find acid everywhere. Citric acid is in orange juice. Acetic acid is in vinegar. Carbonic acid is in any carbonated drink. Sulfuric, muriatic, and hydrofluoric acids are among the dangerous ones.

#75

Not sure if this fits here exactly, but the McDonald's hot coffee lawsuit being a frivolous case filed by a money hungry customer. That poor lady was a real victim who suffered legitimate injuries who only wanted her medical costs covered.

#76

Daddy long legs are venomous/ poisonous but too small to bite you. They’re not.

#77

That woman can hold their period like we can hold our pee. I am still pissed at that teacher...

#78

At some point, a viral video allegedly proved that the “beg buttons” at crosswalks are just placebos.

Some of them are, but most of them really do add a cycle for pedestrians to get a walk signal. You should use them regardless.

#79

Driving with interior lights on at night will get you arrested.

#80

its not really annoying per se but

The tongue map thing

the entire tongue tastes all flavors

#81

That natural is always better and chemicals are always bad. Also that you need to “detox your body” and let your skin “breathe”.

#82

Apple products are the most “secure”

#83

Frosted Lucky Charms are, in fact, not magic.

#84

That July and August were added to the calendar, throwing off the "Sept-Oct-Nov-Dec" numbering. This is not what happened. July and August were actually renamed versions of the original months "Quintilis" and "Sextilis". They did not throw off the order. The calendar used to begin in March. January and Feburary were the months that were added - they didn't use to keep official track of the months during Winter. King Numa Pompilius was the guy who added these months in around 713 BC. The shifting of the calendar to have January first is also attributed to him. It was NOT the fault of Julius Caesar.

#85

That the government still has our best interests in mind.

#86

"Volatile" does not mean "explosive" or "flammable".

#87

It's illegal to kill praying mantis.

Not annoying. I just think it's kinda weird and funny that it's such a common myth.

#88

"Card counting is illegal" lol

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