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Bloody Mary

7 playground myths and legends that everyone half-believed

Do you like butter? HOW WILL WE EVER FIND OUT?!

KIDS LOVE MAKING stuff up. More than anything, kids love passing made-up stuff on to other kids so they can scare the hell out of them, too.

These myths, legends and superstitions were drilled into us as children on the playground – and we very nearly believed they were true.

Picking dandelions will make you wet the bed

dandelions Flickr / jolly_janner Flickr / jolly_janner / jolly_janner

Dandelions ARE natural diuretic and they will make you wee, but only if you eat them. And you’re not going to do that, are you. (Or are you?)

The legend of Bloody Mary

Were you ever brave enough to try and summon Bloody Mary?

Halloween-card-mirror-2 Wikimedia Wikimedia

The legend went that if you chanted “Bloody Mary” while looking in a mirror, you would see the face of your future spouse – or a skull, which meant you would die before you were married. Shiver.

“Light as a feather, stiff as a board”

Hexenclub, Der / Craft, The Tumblr Tumblr

Is the person being lifted really weightless, or is it just our subconscious telling us so because we want to believe?

Who really cares when it’s so FUN?

Peeling apples can predict the future

Commonly done at Halloween, the trick was to make sure you peeled it all the way round before throwing it over your shoulder.

9681666904_f136191f78_k Flickr / upnorthmemories Flickr / upnorthmemories / upnorthmemories

The letter the peel spelled out was the initial of your future spouse.

#science

Magpies are the key to all the world’s secrets

magpie Flickr / Jean-Jaques Boujot Flickr / Jean-Jaques Boujot / Jean-Jaques Boujot

“One for sorrow, two for joy…”

Many of us still can’t let this one go. What if we don’t wave to or salute a lone magpie and a torrent of awful luck rains down on us? What then?

Putting buttercups under someone’s chin to see if they liked butter

buttercupchin crookedhouse.typepad.com crookedhouse.typepad.com

Never mind just asking them if they like butter – just stick a buttercup under their chin! Yellow glow = guaranteed fondness for butter.

Love tests

There were different variations (including FLAMES and the Love Calculator) but they all involved doing weird maths to find out how romantically compatible you were with someone.

photo (1) DailyEdge.ie DailyEdge.ie

The number game itself was one thing, but if it was signed off with “IDST” (If Destroyed Still True) was what really put the fear of god in you.

What if someone destroyed it? WHAT WOULD THAT MEAN?!

Do you remember any playground myths and legends from your school days? Are you still sort of scared they’re actually true? Let us know in the comments. 

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