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16 Lies Mothers Tell Their Kids

mothersdaycentral.com — We have all been victim to a few of Mom's lies. "Stop cracking your knuckles...it will give you arthritis!" was just one of the many things mothers tell their children to keep them in line. What lies did your mother tell you?

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  • pedromenezes, on 04/22/2008, -11/+17Some of them I've never heard. Dugg. :)
    • isuisorisuaint, on 04/22/2008, -4/+11for cereal?
    • loopis, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1211. "Wait an hour after eating to get in the swimming pool, or you'll get a cramp and die!" - My mom never added the and die part guess she loved me after all! Suck it shrink!
    • mb96net, on 04/22/2008, -7/+9what about the one "God and Santa Claus are real". They're both magical dudes that can see you at all times and know if you're good or not. One is for the sake of kids and rewards you with (what every child wants) toys, the other for the sake of adults and rewards you with (what every adult wants) not really kicking it. The tangible reward (toys) really comes from your parents, where does the intangible untestable reward come from...God of course. OK, Santa's not real, but God is...no seriously, he is.
      • Protoss, on 04/22/2008, -2/+4Pics or it didn't happen.
      • smrekar, on 04/22/2008, -5/+2This is all well and good with Santa, because my parents told me about him, but knowledge of an existence of God did not come from them, so it can't be a lie my mom told me and hence-forth off-topic on this thread.
    • InferiorWang, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3----
      Thanks to all the comic books that were read as a child, it's no shocker that many a young gal or lad were caught climbing trees like Spiderman. Mom of course shouted for you to come down before you "cracked your head open". The mere thought of your head spilling out its insides like Humpty Dumpty sealed the deal.
      ----

      What kind of weenie writes this crap? When I was little I climbed all kinds of trees. If my mom told me I was going to bust my head open, I'd laugh and keep playing in the tree. Throughout my entire childhood I only saw one person fall out of a tree. It was the most amazing thing I had ever seen. My friend slipped, fell, and on the way down foot got caught were a limb split into two branches and ended up hanging upside down a couple feet off the ground. After that, we had to get some Kool-Aid to take the edge off. Then, back to the trees.
    • danconia, on 04/23/2008, -1/+3Also many of these are only "myths" if you take them literally. For instance "poke your eye out" obviously just meant "cause an eye injury", and "crack your head open" more accurately was just a way of saying "you'll hurt your head", etc. Calling those myths for the reasons they state is like saying girls don't like having their "pussies eaten out" because "females do not like men cutting off pieces of their labia and swallowing them" and so on. A few were interesting but some others were pushing it. I mean did your moms really add "and die" to the swim-and-cramp thing? Didn't think so... (and I actually still do get cramps, hiccups, and/or feel like vomiting sometimes when swimming after I eat). You guys know what I mean?
      In addition if you go out in the cold your immune system has a harder time protecting you from viruses and other infections.
    • lotec, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2so shouldn't you bury it for inaccuracy then?
    • Mike89, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3Heh, my Nan used to tell me if I pulled faces and "the wind changed" they'd be stuck like that forever - mostly because she hated me rolling my eyes.
      Then, when my Pop had a stroke, when one of my younger siblings asked what happened to his face, she told them the wind changed. She's a funny Nan (though somewhat cruel to Pop, but I think he's used to it.)
  • tehbored, on 04/22/2008, -3/+185Caffeine isn't the most addictive drug, it's just the drug to which the most people are addicted to.
    • shyner, on 04/22/2008, -1/+14Yeah. To the extent of my knowledge, nicotine is actually the most addictive (70% of people who try nicotine become addicted, compared to 30% for heroin and 10% for alcohol).
      • yikiad, on 04/22/2008, -1/+49yeah, but 100% of all heroin addicts start out on milk...
        • mrsteveman1, on 04/22/2008, -2/+10Makes me feel better about eating that hamburger...***** pusher cows
        • counterplex, on 04/22/2008, -1/+13If you think milk is bad, wait till you hear about DHMO. Everyone's doing it and if you try to stop you die :-/

          Educate yourself and save a life or ten: http://www.dhmo.org/
          • mrsteveman1, on 04/22/2008, -2/+1man...i'm not drinking bottled water anymore, back to chewing plastic for me!
          • millyuns, on 04/23/2008, -6/+0Ha! Cute! Better known by it's chemical compound name.
          • Mononuclear, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1millyuns, you're being dugg down because dihydrogen monoxide is a really really really old joke.
      • shakbhaji, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1I watched a documentary that stated crystal meth is the most addictive drug. Also the most dangerous... stayin' the ***** away from that *****.
        • MiNGLED, on 04/23/2008, -1/+1It's not addictive, just very moorish.
    • kowalzki, on 04/22/2008, -10/+3I drink coffe because i want to. I smoke because I want to. I drink booze because I want to. I eat chocolate because I want to. I have sex because I want to...

      I could stop anytime. Just give me a good reason to stop.
      • secondplayer, on 04/22/2008, -3/+5Dumbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb.
    • verkon, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3Try sugar, like the most addictive thing there is.
    • sonnybobiche, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1This article has a glaring omission: caffeine is a stimulant and as such has a primary side effect of reducing appetite (the same way cigarettes and adderall do). Therefore, kids who drink coffee will eat less food and may have stunted growth as a consequence.
  • Angelix, on 04/22/2008, -3/+119"If you keep playing with it, it will fall off someday."
    Every mom's favourite lie.
  • jimmick, on 04/22/2008, -3/+129Man
    I want to climb into that thumbnail
    And beat that kid with a skipping rope
    • bgrah449, on 04/22/2008, -2/+37Dugg for the poetic linebreaks
      • NoCt1, on 04/22/2008, -0/+10true.. i would have buried but the line breaks build anticipation..
      • R0l0, on 04/22/2008, -1/+3Dugg for making me lol.
    • ligyron, on 04/22/2008, -10/+3Not sure why you're being Dugg. Is this a reference I'm missing?
      • PlagueDoctor, on 04/22/2008, -6/+1Just look at his face, man.
      • adadadada, on 04/23/2008, -4/+3because most diggers are violent assholes
      • rhustang, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3he wants to take a skipping rope and beat the kid in the last picture.

        there is no kid with a skipping rope in the article.

        /confusion
    • Paradoxymoron, on 04/23/2008, -1/+1Haiku?
  • miriad, on 04/22/2008, -0/+24Funny... Russian mothers are telling the same lies :)
    • threemagic, on 04/22/2008, -0/+17There are universal lies!

      Somewhere in a distant galaxy, some alien mother is telling their kid to quit playing with it before he goes blind in 9 eyes.
    • dromni, on 04/22/2008, -1/+4Brazilian moms too! Amazing!
    • kowalzki, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3Polish moms as well. :)
    • verkon, on 04/22/2008, -0/+7In soviet Russia, they apparently are like the rest of us...
    • resonator, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2Aussie mums too. I've heard all those.
    • DiggMasterJ, on 04/23/2008, -3/+2In Soviet Russia you have no mother.
      • LostAngeles, on 04/23/2008, -1/+3In Soviet Russia, you tell your mom these lies.
    • cruzlee, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Dutch moms tell all these lies. AND that smoking marihuana makes you a heroine addict.
    • Mike89, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1The thing is though my Mum thinks some of this ***** is real. Like the arthritis thing.
  • staxofmax, on 04/22/2008, -2/+54"If you were watching the television your Grandmom had as a child, then maybe it could happen. Very early television sets did emit a form of radiation, which causes all kinds of problems."
    ....
    Reminds me of a Simpsons episode: "There she is, the old Radiation King. You'd park yourself right there and watch for hours on end." [pan to Homer's shadow burned into the floor and wall]
    • Abram730, on 04/23/2008, -1/+1How about "Reading books for too long at a time can make you near sited" Make sure to look at objects that are far away from time to time while reading. Also night lights can cause you to focus on your eye lids and cause near sightedness.
  • LaurenApril, on 04/22/2008, -2/+25wait, so gum doesn't sit in your stomach for 7 years?
    • Turambar, on 04/22/2008, -1/+5nope, it's a simple case of refined organic tree sap vs highly corrosive stomach acid.

      acid wins.
    • NevaDieENT, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2First off stomach acid doesn't break it down... otherwise there'd be no basis to the lie. What happens is it still does through the alimentary canal... if thats the right word, and comes out with the rest of your '*****' if you dug through it (please don't) you'd find the gum as it was maybe slightly different... and stinky.
  • SuperJimmyJimbo, on 04/22/2008, -5/+23coffee...addicting? I can stop any time i want! I've done it 100s of times before! I don't have a problem, really. i don't. hey starbucks.
    • mywhitenoise, on 04/22/2008, -1/+7yuppie.
    • JaredXM, on 04/22/2008, -3/+10Coffee isn't addicting, I stop every night.
    • chuckDontSurf, on 04/22/2008, -1/+1Why is my coffee shaking? I don't want my coffee shaking!!
      • xwfilm, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2And your face is greasy. Real greasy...
    • Thepirateking, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2I don't think we have time to stop for a handjob Joe.
  • OBDriftwood, on 04/22/2008, -0/+10717. No, you're not adopted....
  • suzywang3000, on 04/22/2008, -16/+6um... carrots actually DO help you see in the dark.
    • khail250, on 04/22/2008, -3/+11they help me see your beauty suzy
      • talonstriker, on 04/22/2008, -1/+8they help you see your wang when you see suzy
      • TonyLocNE, on 04/22/2008, -1/+2aside from prom kid yesterday... I do believe this is the first pick up line I have ever seen on digg.
    • 11oops, on 04/22/2008, -0/+12Can eating carrots really improve your eyesight? Sorry No! They will help to keep your eyes healthy and not deteriorate as quickly. When your mother said "Eat your carrots, they'll help your eyes," she had a point. Eating carrots does provide benefits to your eyes, experts say.
      Both vitamin A and beta-carotene are known to lower the risk of eye disease, hence the carrot's association with eyesight. The University of Wisconsin has developed a variety of carrot that contains 3 to 5 times more vitamin A than the average carrot. Named the Beta III, it was bred especially for growing in countries suffering from severe vitamin A deficiency and epidemic blindness.

      Carrot do however help you see in the dark - Well - Yes And No! - When you eat carrots, the beta-carotene is transformed into retinol or vitamin A. Carrots are high in Vitamin A, and a deficiency in this nutrient can cause some difficulty seeing in dim light. Vitamin A is essential for the formation of the chemical retinal, whose presence in the retina is necessary for vision. Our eyes have two kinds of light sensitive cells: the rods and the cones. The rods are the cells we rely on to see in dim light. They are sensitive to Vitamin A deficiency, because it can cause a shortage of retinal.

      The retina is the light-sensing part of the eye that holds the rods and cones, which contain enzymes that absorb light and allow us to see. When light strikes the retinal molecule, it changes its shape. This activates a cascade of chemical reactions that informs the brain that light has entered the eye. When the levels of light sensitive molecules are low, due to Vitamin A deficiency, there will not be enough retinal to detect the light at night. During the day there is enough light to produce vision, despite low levels of retinal. So it's only night vision that can be improved by eating carrots.

      The rods provide black and white vision and respond in dim light while the cones provide colour vision and respond to bright light. Vitamin A helps the retina tell black from white and provides for colour vision. It also helps us see in dim light or at night. When you go into a darkened theatre after being out in the bright light, your eyes are able to adapt because of the vitamin A that you have stored in your body.

      So really the answer is they do help you see in the dark, but can only improve your night vision if you are deficient in Vitamin A.
    • thecosmicpope, on 04/22/2008, -0/+10The myth of carrots aiding your eyesight in the dark was started in World War 2. When the British invented Radar during the war they didn't want the Germans to know they had such a device and started the rumour that carrots were what the pilots were eating. In reality, British planes were fitted with airborne radar, which won the battle in the skies in World War 2.

      Carrots don't help you see in the dark. But radar can.
      • MattB123, on 04/22/2008, -0/+4This is what I had always heard too. In the same story, it was said the poor Nazi pilots were being force fed carrots after their superiors heard the rumor.
    • coreyb, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2Mom, is that you...?
  • cerealjynx, on 04/22/2008, -3/+3"Nintendoitis"
    I knew she was pulling my chain on that one. Still didn't have an NES of my own till well after SNES came out.
  • anchorman, on 04/22/2008, -1/+50No Santa Claus?
  • Jsmuli2, on 04/22/2008, -2/+32You can drown from cramps, because if you are not an experienced swimmer, and you get a cramp in deep water, you might freak out a bit, especially since you having short and shallow breaths, you might just cause yourself to go into shock. In fact, that is how a lot of drowning victims start, as just "freaking out." Lifeguarding 101 teaches to save yourself first, and if some person is freaking out and your going to save them, they might get you into a bear hug or a choke hold which might lead to the both of you drowning. They wouldn't teach you that if it wasn't true.

    So the cramping itself won't make you drown but its the cramping that can cause people to overreact thus increasing chances of drowning.
    • madeingermany, on 04/22/2008, -3/+1surely you can have a cramp in water - but it is not caused by a meal taken shortly before bathing.
    • Bob042, on 04/22/2008, -0/+5It seems like it would be more useful for mothers to tell you "If you get a cramp, don't freak out." then. Seems like "If you get a cramp, you're going to die!" isn't exactly helping the situation...
    • Dystisis, on 04/23/2008, -1/+0They say dont eat directly before swimming because that will increase your chances of getting cramps. Besides, swimming with a full stomach can be annoying or weird. Its not a bad advice.
  • mywhitenoise, on 04/22/2008, -0/+40They're not exactly intentional lies, a lot of moms are stupid and actually believe these things.

    The shaving thing is the dumbest one. One of my cousins had a half-grown moustache for years because he was afraid if he shaved it off it would grow thicker.....so keep shaving it, you moron! You'd rather have that ridiculous thing on your face then shaving it off every couple of days?
    • bloodomen13, on 04/22/2008, -0/+6My brother-in-law just recently started shaving. He's 38 years old! Has very little facial hair but he had these disgustingly fine, curly LONG hairs on his upper lip for YEARS. Honestly looked like pubes. I used to get on him about shaving that crap off but he was too lazy and worried it'd grow back thicker. So shave that off!

      Surprisingly... he somehow managed to get a girlfriend and finally decided to shave that crap off and begin showering on a regular basis. Guess that's a win for everyone involved!
      • doctechnical, on 04/22/2008, -0/+12I envy you. How often do you have an opportunity to call someone "Pubelips"?
      • fef560, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1guy in my class has that, it's gross
      • Mike89, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Except his girlfriend I'd say.
    • JesusHatesYou, on 04/23/2008, -1/+3Women are stupid, not just moms. Let's hear some crazy dad myths. Women are just cum rags? Well, that's not a myth. ;)
  • Falldog, on 04/22/2008, -1/+27"However, other than landing on a well placed axe, your chances of breaking your skull open were small."

    Nitpicking much are we?
    • blackinthmiddle, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2Agreed. Also, I have to disagree with number 4. Your system works to maintain your body at a certain temperature. If you don't wear extra layers, your body has to work that much harder, thus compromising your immune system and making it harder to fight off a virus that might enter you.

      *Edit* I see Apokalyps2547 mentioned this as well below.
  • dupswapdrop, on 04/22/2008, -7/+1Every warning always ended with "your poke your eye out!"
  • PdxPhoenix, on 04/22/2008, -79/+7718. Santa Clause
    19. Easter Bunny
    20. Tooth Faerie
    21. Boogyman
    22. Jesus
    23. god
    • masterm1nd, on 04/22/2008, -25/+9You don't know what a lie is, do you.
      • urbandistrict, on 04/22/2008, -11/+2I...AM.... IRONIC-MAN!
      • BoneheadFarker, on 04/22/2008, -3/+20Yeah...the cake...
      • PdxPhoenix, on 04/22/2008, -6/+4No I don't... I'd ask you to enlighten me, but I'm not sure I'd care for _your_ definition.
        • masterm1nd, on 04/22/2008, -4/+2Well I'll tell you anyway. A lie is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement with the intention to deceive. To lie is to state something one believes is false with the intention that it be taken for the truth by someone else. Now correct your mistakes and hand it back to me tomorrow.
        • masterm1nd, on 04/22/2008, -2/+2But you're probably right, you'd be better off admittedly not knowing what a lie is than hearing 'my definition'.
        • JulyZerg, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2So parents believe in Santa when they tell their kids about him?
          That's news to me...
        • Gizza, on 04/23/2008, -0/+3That's funny. I thought I lie was just something that isn't true.
    • Kasot, on 04/22/2008, -11/+334. The Holy Ghost
      How _could_ you forget?
    • mithrasinvictus, on 04/22/2008, -5/+1124. the market will regulate itself.
      25. the enemy of my enemy is my friend
    • Firehed, on 04/22/2008, -9/+12Okay... even atheists know that Jesus was a real person. It's the walking on water thing (or whatever) that's made up.
      • digitalhippie, on 04/23/2008, -9/+6Don't be to certain, other than the Bible there is no mention of Jesus. It is possible that he was as fictitious as the claims about him. But that's another article.
        • iloveGod08, on 04/23/2008, -4/+3I'd like to see you name 3 individuals with PhDs on the subject of Middle Eastern History that agree with you.
        • JCPahl, on 04/23/2008, -1/+5I've never heard of even a single person with a PhD on 'Middle Eastern History.' But please look up Gerald Massey, Egyptologist, John Romer, archeologist, or Allen D. Callahan, Associate Professor of New Testament, Harvard Divinity School, among hundreds of others.
      • Stephiems, on 04/23/2008, -2/+2Yes, I agree, Jesus did exist, but he was just a regular man. If anyone has seen that program by James Cameron, it doesn't prove Jesus existed, but it comes close enough that if the graves they found didn't belong to Jesus and his family, then there are some pretty amazing coincidences out there. The Bible does have some correct historical references in it, and I think most poeple who study religion and the Bible would agree that Jesus did exist, but his life was...let's say exaggerated...to make an interesting story.
      • MadOtaku, on 04/23/2008, -1/+6Firehed, it's really not that cut and dry. The only writings authored by contemporaries of Jesus which mention him are some of the various Gospels (many were not included in the New Testament). The earliest non-Christian writing of him was by Titus Flavius Josephus. Josephus was born in 37 AD, which is roughly 4 years after the supposed death of Jesus.

        Depending on how much you trust early Christian writers and your beliefs about the founding of Christianity, it could be reasonable to disbelieve in the existence of Jesus because, unlike many other prominent historical figures, there would be no reputable contemporary accounts of his life.

        I'm not much of a conspiracy theory person though. So although I'm an atheist, I believe with around 60-70% certainty that Jesus existed as a historical figure.
      • hmcook87, on 04/23/2008, -1/+1santa was based on a real person as well, but you wouldn't deny that he's not real would you?
    • mille716, on 04/23/2008, -1/+1526. I won't leave you kids for Gary, my new boyfriend I met over the internet.
      27. You can trust Gary since he's done serving his time it means he's paid his debt to society.
      28. Gary would never molest you.
      29. I'm going to come back soon, I'm just going out for groceries.
      30. Of course I love you!
      • Shouden, on 04/23/2008, -0/+331. You are so cute, the cutest boy I have ever seen....
        32. Girls are going to be head over heels for you when you get older.

        Of course I am now 500 pounds, and a virgin. Well unless you count my mother, but thats a different story...
    • Pritchard, on 04/23/2008, -8/+324: This is a video of Pamella Anderson, Naked!
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU
  • Apokalyps2547, on 04/22/2008, -9/+43"It's cold outside - if you don't bundle up you're going to get sick!"
    You sure that's a myth? Yeah I know colds are caused by viruses, but I thought being cold weakens the immune system, thus making it easier for viruses to cause symptoms.
    • toner, on 04/22/2008, -3/+2that one is not lie. the flu virus acts like an m&m. the protective coating melts in warmer temperatures which causes the virus to die. link...
      http://www.scientificblogging.com/the_evilutionary ...
      • PizzaPops, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2Viruses can't die. They aren't even alive in the first place. A virus is just a bunch of RNA or DNA in a protein coat more or less. If the protein coat denatures the virus is going to have a hard time inserting its genome into its host.
    • ieatpizza, on 04/22/2008, -1/+4If you wear too many layers, you will sweat and then it's easier to catch the bacteria that gives you a cold.
      • atgmac, on 04/22/2008, -2/+1You'll sweat more when it's cold out?

        If you're sweating that much from all your layers you'll take some off.
      • iloveGod08, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2The cold is caused by a virus, not bacteria.
    • Isandunk, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3You're right - Cardiff University did a trial...
      "Recent research has demonstrated that chilling may cause the onset of common cold symptoms. A study at the Common Cold Centre in Cardiff UK in 2005 took 90 students and chilled their feet in cold water for 20 minutes and showed that the chilled group had twice as many colds over the next 5 days as a control group of 90 students whose feet were not chilled." - Johnson C, Eccles R. (2005) Acute cooling of the feet and the onset of common cold symptoms. Family Practice 22: 608-613.
      Not the greatest sample size, so maybe not totally reliable.
      • anonydigg, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2Maybe somebody in the chilled group had a cold? (Even if isolated they could pass it to the operator and he/she could pass it to everyone? - or have the cold virus spread through the testing area/equipment?)
      • daishin, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Actually with a sample size of n=30 or greater you tend to get a fairly normal curve.
    • bwdd, on 04/22/2008, -2/+1It's not that the cold weakens the immune system, it's just that the germs are able to move faster in the cold.
    • JulyZerg, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1Yes - make sure you stay inside your bubble, Billy! You might get a COLD if you don't! Remember - I DIED from a cold when I was your age!
    • MadOtaku, on 04/23/2008, -1/+1Colds are more common in the winter months because people spend more time indoors with the windows closed. Lack of ventilation leads to stagnant air in which airborne viruses can easily spread.
      • Goodanswer, on 04/23/2008, -1/+3Very well said. With that I would like to add one piece of information. When you are colder you spend more resources trying to get warm or stay warm, thus making your body allocate more resources than just the immune system fighting off a virus. It may not be 100% correct but it makes a lot of sense.
    • Dystisis, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1You're an idiot if you think being cold/wet etc. has nothing to do with getting sick. Every doctor on the planet would disagree with you. In fact, almost everyone who has been out a cold night before would, too...
    • Abram730, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1acute effect of severe chilling is a suppression of several cellular and humoral components of the immune response, including a decrease of lymphocyte proliferation, a down-regulation of the immune cascade, a reduction of natural killer (NK) cell count, cytolytic activity, activation of complement, and the induction of heat shock proteins. However, adaptation to a given cold stimulus appears to develop over the course of 2-3 weeks. Further work is needed to examine interactions between cold exposure and exercise, and to determine whether the disturbances of immune response are sufficient to impair immunosurveillance in human subjects.
  • talonstriker, on 04/22/2008, -1/+9#16..."How dare mother get involved in the first place - she didn't have one, so how could she know for sure?"
    LMAO. I'd love to see the reaction if I say that to my mom.
    • ostracize, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3Makes sense to say that though. I bet dad's reaction will be as different as night and day.
  • 007ami, on 04/22/2008, -1/+7My mom used to tell me that our beat-up sedan went up on two wheels around corners. It sure felt like it, given the speed she would go! Hmm... that must have been dangerous. What was she thinking?
  • crakurhed, on 04/22/2008, -1/+10I don't know why 'Every time you masturbate you kill a kitten' didn't make the list....
  • firecow, on 04/22/2008, -2/+44One of the ways the carrot rumor was spread was in WW2 when the British said they could see Nazi bombers at night because they ate a lot of carrots. This was actually used to cover their new technology of airborne radar.
    • tradwolley, on 04/22/2008, -0/+8I thought it was from the observation that you never see a bunny with glasses. We all know they like carrots.
    • tjlsmith, on 04/23/2008, -0/+5Close. They started to put red lights on aircraft instrumentation to preserve night vision, but didn't want the Nazis copying the idea from examining the inevitable shoot-downs.

      So, they lied to the pilots, some of whom they knew must get captured, and told them they were getting more carrots to improve their night vision, and quietly changed all the instrumentation to red lights.

      You know how people assume correlation implies causation? Happened here. Everyone's night vision improved and they all figured it was the diet. A bodyguard of lies...

      The Nazi's must have been puzzled when it didn't work for them, though...
  • finista, on 04/22/2008, -0/+6Is 16 correct? Can I go and play now?
  • fr0ng, on 04/22/2008, -1/+4If caffiene is in fact the most addictive drug in the world like the article suggests, why isn't it on the Schedule 1 list of drugs?
    • dondara, on 04/22/2008, -0/+7Good lobbyists
    • mrsteveman1, on 04/22/2008, -0/+6Because that list is used as a way to ban FUN drugs, not drugs that are dangerous.

      Go ahead, go through the list and try that little test.
    • Goodanswer, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1Well, its because they already figured out how to have a monopoly on caffine in soda and can make money off of it. If they really wanted to stop it they could. Caffeine raises the heart rate and makes it irregular from a half an hour to 3 hrs. Even a half cup of coffee. We all know not to fu*k with your heart, yet we keep ingesting soda, coffee and energy drinks that muck it up alot.
  • MrSketch, on 04/22/2008, -1/+5My mom always told me not to play in the street because I was so small the cars couldn't see me.
  • deaftly, on 04/22/2008, -19/+7The site pulled a Heath Ledger
  • TonyLocNE, on 04/22/2008, -2/+8whoa.. do I feel like an ass. Up until this very moment I've been eating carrots believing that they will improve my eyesight.. Hell, this girl the other day told me that she had bad eye sight, so I told her she didn't eat enough carrots when she was younger.. I always thought it was true, I have 20/20. I feel cheated.
    • Mish48, on 04/22/2008, -0/+5Son...I can't help but feel, that you probably should have seen this coming....
    • TonyLocNE, on 04/23/2008, -0/+1duh dun tis.. clever.
    • Dystisis, on 04/23/2008, -0/+0If a person has bad eyesight it could in fact mean they didn't eat enough carrots. This list sucks, the only point they had was that carrots are incapable of improving a normal eye sight.
  • lacreme, on 04/22/2008, -2/+11http://www.duggmirror.com/
  • Hitpoint, on 04/22/2008, -4/+1Mirror?
  • az0madman, on 04/22/2008, -2/+43"If you keep playing with it, it will fall off someday."
    I kept playing with it and eventually it did fall off. They're talking about baby teeth right?
  • yanski, on 04/22/2008, -19/+0Most of the mothers lies will make us a better person. May be they can't explain the correct ways of telling their child about the pros and cons of our doings. And it can be one of the reason to control the bad habits of their children. Our mom is always right even though sometimes they tell us a lies but for sure a lot lessons we can learn out of it.

    _________________
    gianski
    Did you see it? One more time? You won't get faked out here! http://www.SelectWealthSystem.com/?t=wc
    • JulyZerg, on 04/22/2008, -0/+2So... not masturbating makes you a better person?
  • doctechnical, on 04/22/2008, -2/+75"Your father and I still love each other, honey... we're just going to live apart. Everything will be fine."
    • lawlerskate, on 04/23/2008, -1/+0depressing, but QFT

      dugg
    • ryan926, on 04/23/2008, -2/+2that hits too close to home buddy, might want to watch it.
  • bouncyman, on 04/22/2008, -5/+36I had problems getting the page to load... so in case anyone else does:

    Myth busting Mom-isms

    1. "Stop cracking your knuckles...it will give you arthritis!"

    For some odd reason, young boys love cracking their knuckles. Whether it's the sound of the crack or the feeling it makes, we feel relieved when one cracks a knuckle. After getting all that finger stress out, Mom smacked you upside the head, reminding you of the extreme arthritis you'd get because of all that cracking.

    A study of 300 people who had bad habits of cracking their knuckles did not find any evidence that doing so leads to arthritis. Some of these individuals did lose strength in their hands and also had soft tissue damage. The "cracking" noise you hear when you crack a knuckle is merely a release of nitrogen gas that is constantly building up in your fingers. Arthritis is usually a symptom that you feel later in life and is usually inherited from your parents.

    2. "If you shave your facial hair, it will come back thicker."

    One of the most important times in a young man's life is the first sight of facial hair growth. A teen can sometimes grow a beard in their early years while others try to catch up to their more-manly brethren. Mommy doesn't want her little boy to grow up to quickly, and devised the reverse psychology technique of telling you that shaving would make your beard come back fuller. So you shaved constantly and mom had a boy for a little while longer.

    Shaving your hair has nothing to do with the growth of new hair. If it did, wouldn't your balding father would be spending extra time shaving his head? The reasons for thinking this way relates to the thickness of new hair as opposed to the older, thinner hair that you most recently shaved off. In addition, hair is only alive in the scalp, so cutting it off does nothing to affect its growth.

    3. "Watching TV too close will hurt your eyes and make you go blind!"

    The first things you did after school involved plopping your little butt down in front of the TV and catching some cartoons. G.I.Joe, Transformers, & My Little Pony- all of these wonderful programs kept us at bay for hours. We kept our eyes glued to the action - all at the risk of going blind, something mom loved to point out.

    If you were watching the television your Grandmom had as a child, then maybe it could happen. Very early television sets did emit a form of radiation, which causes all kinds of problems.Other than that extreme case, there's really nothing wrong with sitting closer to the TV then if you were farther away. It can put a strain on your eyes, but the notion of going blind is simply untrue.

    4. "It's cold outside - if you don't bundle up you're going to get sick!"

    When was the last time you saw an adult who was happy that it was cold and snowing outside? The upside of cold weather included snowball fights, Christmas, and missing days from school. The downside? Catching a cold, supposedly. Mom always had us put on multiple layers of clothing. Was mom just being too over protective of her freezing young ones or just a little crazy?

    This old wives tale is a rather obvious one to debunk once some simple understanding of how common colds work in the first place. Colds are the result of a simple virus that we get from breathing in from the air. People stay inside more during winter, with all the doors and windows shut. This makes for a drop in fresh air circulation, creating more opportunities for you to breathe in those pesky cold viruses.

    5. "Make sure to clean behind your ears - if not, potatoes will start growing there!"

    Taking a bath was on the most hated list of things to do, right up there with cleaning your room and going to bed early. Mom knew this, as she spent years dragging you into the water and forcing that Johnson's & Johnson's baby shampoo all over your noggin. When it was time to wash ourselves, the "potato ears" were just frightening enough to keep them squeaky clean.

    Mom grew up with the potato threat to get her bum in the bath, and she passed it onto you to do the same. And if we didn't wash behind our ears? Then you probably smelled funny and were made fun of a lot, but there were never any potatoes.

    6. "If you swallow a watermelon seed, if will grow inside your stomach!"

    Kids love watermelon, meticulously picking out the seeds as they ate the favorite summertime treat. Everyone remembers the time that one got through - what did we do? We ran to mom to tell her what happened and that we were scared of the watermelon that would eventually grow inside of us.

    Luckily, mother's warning was merely a way for us to make sure we didn't choke on any of the seeds, as little ones tend to do from time to time. Other small complications could arise from swallowing seeds, such as one being lodged in the appendix or damaging an intestine, but these would just be rare occasions.

    7. "Don't swallow that gum - it will stay in your stomach for seven years!"

    When it came time for us to be allowed to chew gum, mother only did so with the strict knowledge that swallowing that gum would hurt our little tummies for years to come. Then came the day when you simply forgot about the Juicy Juice that you were chomping down on one minute and before you know it, down the hatch it went.

    Wrong again mom! Accidentally swallowing gum every once and awhile is not going to turn your stomach into Bubble-Yum. Gum is made up of two major components, sugar and a type of plastic. Your body breaks down the sugars and the plastic gum ends up in your stool. There's really no way gum can "get stuck" inside your belly.

    8. "You're too young to start drinking coffee - it will stunt your growth."

    When you are a kid, the notion of being grown up seems so cool, which just proves how innocence and stupidity go hand and hand. Every parent started their day off with a nice fresh cup of joe. As you wanted something that made you feel more grown up, mom was there to mention coffee would stunt your growth. Back to coco we went, because being short was like being a kid forever!

    Coffee has never been responsible for stunting anyone's growth. The reason behind the lie used by parents is to deter their teenagers from drinking coffee because of it's other side effects. Caffeine is the most addictive drug in the world, and mom knows that. Having a lot can create anxious teens with too much energy.

    9. "Eating your carrots will improve your eyesight enough to see in the dark."

    The white lies that mom threw at us were to make sure we stayed safe. Now carrots, on the other hand, were something that she encouraged us to eat - because, eating them would make our eyesight better. Already we had come to terms with going blind from sitting too close to the TV, so if there was a way to reverse its affects by eating carrots, then we were all over it.

    The reality of carrot intake actually improving our eyesight to the levels of being able to see in the dark are ridiculous. The myth probably started when one mother found out that Vitamin A is one needed to maintain healthy eyesight, with carrots of course being rich in the vitamin. Of course, no amount of carrots could be eaten to actually improve our vision.

    10. "Stop playing with that toad - you'll just get warts on your hand!"

    While we had a dog or cat growing up, what was even cooler was getting to play with animals that you didn't see on a regular basis. And when it came to animals in the backyard, finding a frog or toad jumping around was a rare occasion, resulting in chasing it down and giving it the mason jar treatment. Until we learned about the warts.

    No, mom, you can't get warts from playing with a toad. Warts, in fact, are very similar to colds - they are caused from a virus that infects the underlying layers of skin and are passed from one person to another via direct contact. The myth that the toad is responsible probably arises from the wart-like growths that toads have to camouflage them in their environment. Another reason has to do with people who are allergic to certain types of toads, and have developed wart-like rashes.

    11. "Wait an hour after eating to get in the swimming pool, or you'll get a cramp and die!"

    Splashing around in the pool was all day affair. Once the hot dogs and hamburgers were gone, it was back to the pool for any unfinished water business. Then mom warned that if we jumped in the water too soon, it might be our last time. All of a sudden that pool of refreshing water turned into a pool of fire.

    During digestion of food, more blood is sent to help in the process, with less left around to tend to our muscles. It is possible to get a cramp if you're using those muscles more than your body can handle. Drowning because of cramp is just another of mother's exaggerations.

    12. "If you keep making that face, it might freeze and stay that way forever!"

    One if the earliest forms of making fun of your classmates was using your facial expressions. Flashing a tongue, crossing our eyes, pushing our nose up - all of these things either made some unsuspecting friend cry to mommy. That is, until mom caught on and let us know that those crazy faces could end up becoming permanent.

    Mom completely lied when she told you that your face could freeze just because you were sticking your tongue out at others. Usually a child with complications or loss of control of facial muscles has these symptoms from conditions they are born with, sadly. Other diseases, such as Parkinson and Huntington's disease can affect these muscles, but are not developed until later in life.

    13. "You're going to poke someone's eye out with that!"

    Growing up, whatever resembled a lightsaber from Star Wars probably at some point got used as a weapon. Whether it was a toy, a broom handle, or even the cardboard from a roll of wrapping paper, Mom would always warn us about "poking someone's eye out" which either scared us enough to stop or made us swing even harder.

    Playing with toy swords and brooms could result in a number of injuries, but probably wouldn't result in the "poking" of one's eye out. It is possible that the eye could be severely damaged in the process, but an eyeball flying out of the socket is not going to happen without pulling it out with your fingers.

    14. "Eating too many spicy foods will give you ulcers."

    Teenage boys tend to enjoy spicier foods. You have young men everywhere seeking out the spiciest things around in the hopes that they can brave the heat to sit at the table with the "big boys" like Dad and Uncle Ron. "Bring on the wings, the salsa, the jalapeno", you say. And mom chimes back with, " and "don't forget the ulcers!"

    Eating spicy food does not have anything to do with causing ulcers. The work conducted by Australians Robert Warren and Barry Marshall ended up in the awarding of the Nobel Prize, who concluded that stomach ulcers are actually developed by a strand of bacteria known as helicobacter pylori.

    15. "Get down from there - you're going to fall and crack your head open!"

    Thanks to all the comic books that were read as a child, it's no shocker that many a young gal or lad were caught climbing trees like Spiderman. Mom of course shouted for you to come down before you "cracked your head open". The mere thought of your head spilling out its insides like Humpty Dumpty sealed the deal.

    It's probable you could obtain hundred other possible head injuries; everything from a minor concussion to traumatic brain damage could have occurred. However, other than landing on a well placed axe, your chances of breaking your skull open were small.

    16. "If you keep playing with it, it will fall off someday."

    Out of all the lies that mom mentioned to us over the years, perhaps none was taken more seriously by adolescent boys then the possibility of it it "falling off". How dare mother get involved in the first place - she didn't have one, so how could she know for sure? Then the epiphany kicked in - of course, that's why she didn't have one! She knows because it happened to her!

    The most frightening mom myth turned out to be the biggest lie of them all! Of course mom had to do something about the situation - her little boy was finally growing up to be man, something every mother has to deal with at some point. However, health professionals will tell you that, no mater how much you "play" with it, it's never going to fall off!
    • breadfred, on 04/22/2008, -0/+1Thanks for that, really appreciated as site went down! As a side remark on no.12, your face staying the way it is when you pull an ugly face, I have some personal experience. I used to frown a lot and had developed wrinkles in my forehead. My (then) wife told me to stop frowning, which I did, and now the wrinkly forehead has developed in an nice smooth film display area.
  • AnimalTaglits, on 04/22/2008, -0/+29Considering the subject matter, #16's picture is very disturbing.
  • phreak22, on 04/22/2008, -3/+1Mirror: http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:k_apbADCi1wJ:w ...
  • potst1cker, on 04/22/2008, -3/+617. Go with the cheaper hosting, it'll survive the digg effect. Promise.
  • mclewell, on 04/22/2008, -1/+13Everyone knows that once you open Vodka, you have to drink it because it will go bad.
    • mywhitenoise, on 04/22/2008, -7/+5Vodka always taste like *****.
      • geneticlone, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3That just means you haven't drank enough of it, trust me at a point it starts tasting really good.
  • Beastmasta, on 04/22/2008, -5/+3Wait, if you are very cold your body's immune system will weaken... right?
    • GregLoire, on 04/22/2008, -4/+5Only if you're at the point of hypothermia. Otherwise your core body temperature is pretty stable, regardless of how cold it might seem.
      • iamnotbatman, on 04/22/2008, -3/+7If your body has to expend extra energy to keep itself warm, then yes, the immune system is weakened.
        • keruha, on 04/22/2008, -2/+1Thank you. What is up with illiterate teenagers flooding Digg? I mean, it is simple enough - you expand extra energy when shivering and your immune system can't handle the viruses and bacteria in the air. You get sick. Simple, end of story.
          • GregLoire, on 04/22/2008, -2/+2I'm illiterate? Do you even know what that word means? I might be wrong about what I said, and for that I apologize (even though it's the expenditure of energy that weakens the system, not the actual temperature) but how was my statement illiterate?
    • 0ceanic, on 04/23/2008, -0/+2shrinking blood vessels to conserve heat limits the places your immune system can "travel" to.
      carrots do contain vitamins which allow you to produce more collagen which will allow your pupils to expand faster for faster and better night vision.
      watching tv closely can cause nearsightedness. actually, staring at any focal point for extended periods of time can make your eyes less flexible.
      cracking your knuckles does increase the chances of osteoarthritis. but it is rhumatoid arthritis that causes really bad arthritis.
  • dunderballer, on 04/22/2008, -2/+112. "If you keep making that face, it might freeze and stay that way forever!" I still can remember contemplating whether making monkey face ( pulling ears out, flipping bottom lip, placing tongue over upper lip) was worth the risk of being permanently like that. I think I ultimately decided it was. Seriously though, when parents have so little care for whether their statements to their kids are based on fact, it teaches their kids to have the same low standards for fact based logical reasoning. I don't have anything to back that up, nor do I care because of the low standards set by my parents monkey face' reasoning.
  • Ihatenicks, on 04/22/2008, -9/+0The 'cracking your muscles' one is true.

    It causes fluid build up and swells the knuckle joint.. painful hands in later life.
    • NathanielJ, on 04/22/2008, -1/+1Source? 'cause if you don't have one then I'm going to go with the one saying the exact opposite that the story provides.
      • Ihatenicks, on 04/22/2008, -2/+0Does the physical evidence of the hands of some members of my family count? What about actual medical advise?
        Cracking any joint in the body causes the cartlidge at the ball joints to separate from the bone (in repeated abuse) these air spaces then become filled with fluid, it's the same fluid that gathers under a burn blister, plasma, and this continued irritation cause stiffness and swelling.

        But TBH if you are concerned, or even curious, go talk to your doc they'll confirm it, don't trust random articles on the net and especially not ones that pop up on Digg.
        • NathanielJ, on 04/22/2008, -0/+3No, the physical evidence in some of your family members shows that SOMETHING caused their knuckles to be in pain later in life. I'll take my chance at this point because there has yet to be ONE study showing an actual link between cracking knuckles and arthritis or any other knuckle pain. All they found was slightly swolen (but not painful) knuckles and weakened grip.

          Source: Castellanos J., Axelrod D. (1990). "Effect of habitual knuckle cracking on hand function". Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases: 49(5):308–9
          • Ihatenicks, on 04/23/2008, -2/+0If you are tring to state that after a 'legitimate' study, that they were the results... then I call bull on the study.

            There's plenty of crap on the net supposedly legitimate this and that, so I'll stick to actual info that I can be sure of.. and I can certainly say that medical advice from sources that I know and trust, hands down beats some unknown (to me) 'authority' whos results fly in the face of the known interactions between muscle and joints.

            MEH to your source.
  • Paranoidmarvin, on 04/22/2008, -0/+6That article made me feel like my childhood was a futile attempt to be something I wasn't
  • antdude, on 04/22/2008, -1/+1http://duggmirror.com/arts_culture/16_Lies_Mothers ...
  • deaftly, on 04/22/2008, -3/+4"6. "If you swallow a watermelon seed, if will grow inside your stomach!""
    You know who else likes watermelons?




    EVERYONE!
  • HaSatan, on 04/22/2008, -1/+5"Is it true that if you dont use it, you lose it?"
  • childo, on 04/22/2008, -1/+7I fell for most of these...
  • antdude, on 04/22/2008, -6/+2http://digg.com/health/Your_Mom_Lied_5_Common_Body ... for five of them. Sort of a dupe.
  • madzamb, on 04/22/2008, -2/+1Hurry hurry... the dinky is coming!!!!
  • LegoLooney27, on 04/22/2008, -5/+0Can't say my mother ever told me about potatoes growing behind my ears... nor did she ever tell me to bundle up when it's cold outside... I live in Florida where I wear shorts year round!
    • ktan91, on 04/23/2008, -1/+0I didn't clean behind my ears for some time...... I actually have trapped dirt behind it turned into lumps...I guess they can be called Potatoes..
  • diggdong, on 04/22/2008, -1/+6Must be a slow list day
  • gutterboy, on 04/22/2008, -1/+11If you masturbate in public you will go blind. False as *****.
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