Our childhood taught us a lot of strange little ‘facts’ that seemed believable enough at the time, but they weren’t true, even though they followed us into adulthood.
Those long legs came with a scary story
Daddy longlegs have quite the reputation, especially since they’re so small. The story goes that they have the deadliest venom of any living creature, but they can’t bite humans because their fangs are too short. But that’s just not true.
For starters, harvestmen, which we often call daddy longlegs, don’t even have venom glands or fangs. Cellar spiders sometimes get the same nickname, and they do have venom. But there’s absolutely no evidence it’s particularly dangerous to people. They’re not deadly.
Their world has more color than that
The idea that dogs only see black and white is a myth. They do see color, it’s just not the same range that people do because we have three types of color-detecting cone cells. Dogs only have two.
To dogs, blues and yellows stand out fairly well, while reds and greens are a little more muted. They don’t see a red ball sitting on green grass the same way we do. But their vision certainly isn’t completely gray.
The pool wasn’t waiting to expose anyone
Lots of kids were scared into holding it in until they got home. The myth says that pools contain a secret chemical that turns bright blue around anyone who peed. Newsflash, that’s not true. There’s no standard ‘pee detector’ in public pools, although urine does react with chlorine.
It creates chemicals called chloramines that give swimming pools their strong smell. But there are no colors. It’s likely this myth spread to teach children to be more hygienic when they’re swimming.
Getting close is the part that matters
The idea of porcupines firing their quills is a lie. Turns out, the defense is much simpler than that, as a porcupine raises its quills when it’s threatened. It may swing its tail toward whatever’s bothering it, but it can’t fire them. The quills just come loose after contact.
Porcupines can, however, shake a few quills loose when they feel under attack. That’s probably how the shooting story started. You’re not going to find them launching quills directly at anyone, though, as you have to get real close for that to happen.
The hump has a different job
You’d think that a camel hump ought to contain water. It doesn’t. No, the hump actually stores fat, and the camel can use it for energy when there’s very little food. The hump will actually shrink and even lean to one side when camels use a lot of the reserves.
Camels are able to deal with dry conditions through other tricks, like being able to tolerate considerable dehydration. They’ll drink huge amounts when water becomes available again. But the idea of them having a portable water tank just isn’t true.
Coffee never controlled the growth chart
There are plenty of reasons why adults want to keep children away from coffee. But the claim that it’ll make kids short wasn’t one. There’s no proven connection that drinking coffee stunts a child’s growth, and that’s because height depends a lot on your genetics.
Your nutrition, health, hormones, and other factors are important, too. Caffeine can still cause problems for younger people, like sleep trouble and anxiety, so teaching kids to avoid it is a good idea. It’s just that the reasoning is a little flawed.
That famous sting remedy can backfire
No, peeing on a jellyfish sting isn’t going to help you out. It’ll only make things worse. Urine doesn’t have anything in it to neutralize jellyfish venom, and it could actually make the remaining stinging cells release more venom.Â
These cells are called nematocysts. They can keep firing, even after the tentacle stops being attached to the jellyfish. You should immediately seek medical care to get that sting fixed, and save the urine for the bathroom.
One surprise isn’t a guaranteed fix
Someone sneaking up to scare you will cure your hiccups. Maybe that works sometimes, but it’s not a guarantee, and certainly not the only remedy for hiccups. Hiccups come from your diaphragm contracting, then your vocal cords quickly closing.
It’s true that a sudden scare might interrupt the pattern sometimes, but it isn’t a reliable cure. Excitement and sudden emotions can actually cause you to have hiccups in the first place. Holding your breath and letting your diaphragm relax is a better idea.
The famous freezer story never happened
One weird childhood rumor says that Walt Disney is frozen underground, waiting for future doctors to bring him back. There’s another that says only his head was preserved. Neither one is true. The man behind the mouse died on December 15, 1966, and his body was cremated two days later.Â
His ashes were placed at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California. His daughter has repeatedly rejected the frozen Disney story, but the rumor has continued to stick around. It’s probably because it sounds so interesting.
Your eyelids aren’t holding everything in
The reason you close your eyes when you sneeze is because of a reflex. It has nothing to do with the snot shooting out of your eyes because, well, that’s just not true. Your eyelids aren’t physically keeping the eyes inside their sockets.Â
Some forceful sneezes may burst a tiny blood vessel in the eye and leave a red patch. But these patches usually look worse than they actually are, and they’re a long way from an eyeball flying across the room. Thank goodness for that.
Those little white marks have another explanation
People usually blame tiny white spots on their nails on low calcium. That’s just not true. The common kind of spots, known as leukonychia, usually comes from minor damage around the part of the nail where new growth begins.Â
Maybe you bumped your finger or bit your nails. Even having a rough manicure may be enough to cause problems. There are also other possible causes, like certain skin conditions and medications. Either way, calcium deficiency isn’t the scientific explanation.
The heat isn’t what creates the sore
Peppers usually take the blame for stomach ulcers, and it’s probably because the burning feeling makes the connection seem obvious. That doesn’t make it real, though. Stomach ulcers start for completely different reasons, like bacterial issues.
Regularly using aspirin or ibuprofen may also damage the stomach lining. Spicy food can irritate an ulcer that’s already there, yes, and it might make eating pretty unpleasant. It’s just not the reason why the ulcer is there in the first place.
Popeye took things quite a bit further
Popeye had one mouthful of spinach, and then he was ready to punch through walls. That’s cartoon logic, though, and doesn’t ring true in the real world. Real spinach is packed with useful nutrients, like folate and iron.Â
It does have compounds the body can turn into vitamin A. But none of these things are going to make you stronger overnight, although it’s still a good idea to eat spinach.
The cold shield isn’t really there
Someone starts coughing or sniffling, and then another person tells them to have some vitamin C. While it’s good to keep up your vitamin C intake, taking it regularly won’t stop you from catching a cold.Â
The difference is that regular vitamin C intake could make your cold slightly less unpleasant. It might also make a cold last for less time. Even so, having a big dose only after your symptoms begin won’t cure your sickness.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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