h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Its a popular misconception that humpty dumpty was an egg. Who says he's an egg? I say hes the king's son, and he busted his head open when he fell, and hte king ordered his men to put him together again but he couldn't.

Also, the first thanksgiving was NOT held by the pilgrims. THe indians who were there with them, I think it was.
And in Northern US its a popular misconception, I've heard, that the pilgrims were the first to in america.

The favourite food of mice is not cheese.

He's an egg in Alice Through the Looking Glass. I don't know if that was the first instance of him being an egg or if it originated before that, but I personally think that might be where it comes from.

Doesn't that just totally blow your mind? THE FAVORITE FOOD OF MICE IS NOT CHEESE!!!

There's popular misconception trouble brewing on this thread:-
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"Ye" as in "Hear Ye" is not technically supposed to be pronounced "Yee"
Its an English letter, the 27th, capital Y is what it looked like, from about 4 centuries ago I think, and is pronounced "Th" So it should be "Hear the, hear the" But it looked like a capital "Y" and stayed that way... I think now it can officially be pronounced Yee but it really shouldn't.

On the other hand s *do* like cheese! (My mother's cat did.) Mice like bacon rind, I hear.

Elephants have unremarkable memories.

the Job Seekers Agency now the Department For Work And Pensions
will not only help you find work they will advise you on all benifits
you are entitled to and if you need help filling in the forms or understanding the lanquage,they will be kind,patient,and understanding ,with your situation,and are employed to see that all that can be done willnahhhh got that wrong again didniti

i have one! carl sagan never used the phrase "billions and billions," actually i read in his bio that the whole thing irritated him a bit.

I have anotehr one " It always rains in Manchester"........... either a vast overstatement or a gross calumny. Your choice

inside every fat man tere is atin man ..................dying for a slap-up meal

More popular misconceptions...

1) That Aleister Crowley was a Satanist. He was not, he was in fact far more concerned with several Egyptian gods.

2) The Church of Satan is Satanic. the two have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

3) 'Tarot' comes from the ancient Egyptian 'tar rosh,' meaning 'royal road.' 'Tarot' actually comes from a medieval Italian word for 'gambling.' 'Royal road' in ancient Egyptian is in fact something like 'wethret nesew.' The misconception arose by one Antione Court de Gebelin writing a huge nine-volume encyclopedia called 'Le Monde Primitif,' or the Ancient World. It was basically about Egyptian religeon, culture, and language, but was written about 40-50 years before hieroglyphics were translated.

another miscomception which annoys me intensely is that advert on the telly - the really annoying car ensurance one where the guy says "calm down, dear, it's just a commercial" not "it's only"

or maybe i got that the wrong way round?

screw it, noone gives a toss anyway.
i can't believe i'm following up this conversation from 2000!
i suddenly feel very sad and lonely and may be driven back to chemistry revision very shortly. meh.

There's a popular misconception that "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown is fact based. It's not. All the stuff about Priory of Sion (which Brown is adamant is a real secret society) and Knights Templar is complete nonsense. The book is OK if taken as a complete work of fiction, but that's about it. However, there are people cashing in on the book's success and doing 'Da Vinci Code' tours around Paris, where most of the book is set. People visit the chuch of Saint-Sulpice and expect to find a broken flagstone in a corner.

There is a popular misconception that Eskimos have 50,100 or 500 words for snow... and that the life in Elizabethan times email is factual. It is about as factual as Dan Brown's book!

Mozart and Salieri were actually good buddies. Rocked my world...

Another misconception is that well-educated people are civilized people.