Retro_Link Posted January 22, 2009 Posted January 22, 2009 You may know a fair few of these, but I just read this article and found it quite interesting. It's like the stuff you see them say on QI and it sets the alarm off! http://uk.encarta.msn.com/encnet/Features/Lists/?article=Misconceptions 10 Common Misconceptions 1. If you eat less food, your stomach will shrink Dieters are often advised to decrease their intake of food in order to shrink the size of their stomach. However, while smaller portions will obviously help with weight-loss, the size of your stomach has nothing to do with the process. On average, the organ will maintain a constant volume throughout life, regardless of the amount of food that passes through it. 2. Banknotes are made out of paper Despite being known as “paper money”, the billion or so British banknotes that are printed every year are in fact made from cotton. The fabric is beaten to form the very thin, tightly-bonded fibres of our durable "paper" notes. This explains why money can survive an accidental whizz in the washing-machine, whereas plain paper cannot. 3. Wild goldfish are gold In their natural habitat, goldfish are actually green and subsist on weeds and small invertebrates. It is only domestic goldfish that are carefully selected and bred to maintain their characteristic golden-red colour. If domestic goldfish escape to a less-protected environment, the species will usually revert to an olive green hue. 4. Mr Crapper invented the flushing toilet As appropriate as his name may be, Thomas Crapper did not invent the flushing toilet. Crapper was a famous Victorian plumber whose achievements included installing the drains at Westminster Abbey, but it was Edward Jennings who, in 1852, first took out a patent for the flush-out toilet and forever improved the sanitary world. 5. You can only fold a piece of paper in half seven times If you pick up a piece of paper and try to fold it in half more than seven times, it is highly unlikely that you will succeed. No matter how large or small the sheet, it was universally believed to be an unachievable act. However, in 2002, the feat was proved possible by an American university student, who studied the maths behind the folds. After producing a formula and testing it first on a sheet of gold foil, Britney Gallivan succeeded in folding a 1,220-m (4,000-ft) long piece of toilet paper in half 12 times. 6. Columbus believed the Earth was flat Christopher Columbus’s legendary status is often magnified with the story that when he began his voyage in 1492, he bravely defied the contemporary belief that the Earth was flat. However, Columbus’s map, which is typical of its time, survives and although it shows that he thought that the Earth was much smaller than it is, he clearly knew the Earth was round. (In fact, the circumference of the Earth was calculated by the ancient Greek mathematician Eratosthenes as early as 240 BC.) 7. Hair and nails continue to grow after death While we are alive, hair and fingernails are among the fastest growing cells on our body (nails average about a tenth of a millimetre a day). A discomforting and commonly reported occurrence is that even after death these cells continue to grow. This potentially supernatural phenomenon is, however, all an optical illusion. In reality, the body begins to dehydrate after death and the loss of moisture causes the skin to retract. This shrinking of skin cells makes hair and nails jut out more prominently, giving the illusion that they have grown. 8. Pencils are made with lead Pencils contain no lead, so there is no risk of lead poisoning if you stab yourself with one. Instead they are made up of a mixture of graphite and clay. Graphite, a crystallized form of carbon, was discovered near Keswick in the mid-16th century and was named from the Greek “graphein”, meaning “to write”. 9. White chocolate is chocolate White chocolate is a relatively new invention—it was first produced in the 1930s, almost 90 years after the introduction of the first solid dark chocolate bar. Despite being named white chocolate, it is officially not recognized as chocolate because it does not contain cocoa liquor. Cocoa liquor, a substance with a slightly ‘bitter’ quality that is a necessary ingredient for both milk and dark chocolates, is replaced entirely in white chocolate with cocoa butter. 10. Screw-caps equal cheap wine It is not true to say that screw caps (or stelvin enclosures as they are more formally known) on wine bottles indicate that its contents are cheap. In fact, although screw caps are not as aesthetically pleasing as the traditional cork, many upmarket winemakers are now recognizing and implementing the benefits of screw caps over corks. Corks, occasionally liable to becoming mouldy, can cause a chemical compound known as TCS (trichloroanisole) to be produced in the wine. When this happens, the drink both smells and tastes unpleasant (much like a damp cloth) and is said to be “corked”. Anyone got any other misconceptions/myths/urban legends? Who knows, you may learn something!
Cube Posted January 22, 2009 Posted January 22, 2009 6. Columbus believed the Earth was flat I never knew people believed that. I thought that everyone knew that he accidentally found America while trying to prove that the Earth was round.
Mokong Posted January 22, 2009 Posted January 22, 2009 I never knew people believed that. I thought that everyone knew that he accidentally found America while trying to prove that the Earth was round. Yeah me too... he was thinking he would reach India by sailing west.. hence why Native American came to be known as Indians and islands in the Caribbean the West Indies. This is the first I heard of people thinking he thought the world was flat... if he thought the world was flat there's no way he would set off to sail for "the edge" would he?
Chris the great Posted January 22, 2009 Posted January 22, 2009 hum, one i do know that broke me inside a ninja could not "catch" a samurai's sword with his bare hands also a samurai sword will not cut anouther sword in half, it may break a thinner one, but not actualy cut it the more folds in the steel the stronger the sword. this myth centers around the idea that the number of times a smith folds the steel used to make a katana, the stronger it will be. this is rubbish. the reason for folding steel was that the japanese stell was of poor quality, with the carbon atoms spread unevenly, which would form brittle point in the blade making it shatter. by folding the steel they were more evenly distributed, and there is no eveidence to surgest a sword's steel was foulded more then seven times.
DomJcg Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 ooo, its never too cold to snow, and the place without rainwater/liquid is a part of the southern anartica, absent for 13000 years.
Cube Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 On a similar note, it's a common misconception that deserts are hot. Antarctica is a desert.
Chris the great Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 oh, some people do actualy belive the earth is flat. still! these people are alowed to drive cars/buy guns/donate organs. unbelivable.
Jonnas Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 The columbus one had me go "huh?" as well. Of course he believed it was round! As for the topic at hand...I suppose most stereotypes fit this.
DomJcg Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 A misconception is that we have 2 nostrils, i count 4!
Eenuh Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 Apparently there's people in civilised countries (like America), who think that for a girl, her urine comes out of her vagina... Honestly, what?! Education these days, tsssk.
Mundi Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 About the Columbus thing I remember learning that to his death he still thought that he had sailed to India and the reason he sailed to the west was to find a shorter way to India because sailing from Europe to India was very dangerous due to the southern cape of Africa (Cape Of Good Hope) and the funniest one, Iceland is green and Greenland is icy durr hurr
Falcon_BlizZACK Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 MAJOR common misconception: If I say 'gimme some ass' (to my princess) I DON'T MEAN ANAL SEX! (I mean doggy style...love you ^^)
Nolan Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 It's not actually legal to download roms of games even if you do own the game, and there is no 24 hour grace period that you can have them before being illegal.
Shino Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 Colombo being Italian or the first one to discover America, he was Portuguese and Brazil was discovered before Colombo reached Hispaniola.
Chris the great Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 Colombo being Italian or the first one to discover America, he was Portuguese and Brazil was discovered before Colombo reached Hispaniola. i thought columbus was spanish,
Eenuh Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 i thought columbus was spanish, Portuguese but used the Spanish king's and queen's ships/money/permission/whatever to take the trip I think. Might have that wrong though.
Shino Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 i thought columbus was spanish, Yeah, that one too. Its even worse.
GothicPlague Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 SO basically this is a thread for people who watch QI, yes?
Shino Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 Portuguese but used the Spanish king's and queen's ships/money/permission/whatever to take the trip I think. Might have that wrong though. You're right. He asked the Portuguese king's support with no success, they considered his distance estimations for reaching India far too short (they were right), then he went to the King of Spain.
Mundi Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 Colombo being Italian or the first one to discover America, he was Portuguese and Brazil was discovered before Colombo reached Hispaniola. Yeah and it dosen´t help that there were already people there to begin with. Also vikings couple hundreds years before in North-America, but they kinda got chased off. Speaking of vikings, they never had horns on their helmets.
EEVILMURRAY Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 It has been a common misconception that I'm not dynamite in bed. This has been refuted on several occasions. hum, one i do know that broke me inside a ninja could not "catch" a samurai's sword with his bare hands Surely that would depend on the speed.
Shino Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 Yeah and it dosen´t help that there were already people there to begin with. But they were lost! Also vikings couple hundreds years before in North-America, but they kinda got chased off. By who? Speaking of vikings, they never had horns on their helmets. Dear god... they're ruined now, you ruined it. Worst thread ever.
The fish Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 As far as the 10 common misconceptions listed go, I knew all of them... Here's a few others: - All people who live on council estates are chavs. - All men just like women to get into their pants, or they're gay. - Friends is good. - The Earth is closest to the sun in June/July - There is no water anywhere in the Universe other than Earth. - The first year of all Uni courses involve no work. - Sofas are genuinely on sale. - A grenade detonating will cause nearby petrol pumps, etc. to explode. - Hitler was a vegetarian. - OJ was innocent. - Bill Clinton did not have sexual relations with that woman. - Dyslexia is a cause of having trouble spelling/reading. - To be a Quaker, you have to be a Christian. ...to name but a few!
Slaggis Posted January 23, 2009 Posted January 23, 2009 - Friends is good. Liars make baby jesus cry.
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