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It’s very human to get hooked on exciting and shocking things and share that information with others. However, not all that we hear or read is true, no matter how exciting it may seem.

Misinformation can spread like wildfire, even long after being disproven. Luckily, the internet is full of curious people who, seeking to dispel those fake truths, band together in online threads like this and share their knowledge for the world to see. Check out what they wrote down below, and if you feel like you want to keep going, check out this other article of ours, too!

More info: Reddit

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online Money can’t buy happiness. Complete b******t! Money buys tons of happiness and anyone who says it doesn’t is a liar or doesn’t know how to have a good time!

Maleficent-Winter187 , Mufid Majnun Report

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Ubedhheij
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11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Or are bosses and CEOs that are trying to rip you off.

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    #2

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online The lady who sued McDonalds for coffee being too hot was exaggerating and an opportunist. McDonald’s smeared her name. The poor woman needed skin grafts (!!!!) due to that coffee burn.

    PricklyPear1969 , Visual Karsa Report

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    WindySwede
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    and she only asked for her medical bill to be covered at first? Some panda hopefully have some good links about this?

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    Some false facts start as a joke, some are made to deceive, and some are first really thought to be correct, only to be proven otherwise later. But regardless of its origin, if not stopped, this fake or outdated information is, at best, annoying and, at worst, harmful.

    As we found out by reaching out to u/Clear-Type5753, that is precisely why they started this thread. “There’s so much misinformation out there, and people often guess or don’t research properly,” says the author, emphasizing just how much misinformation there is around us nowadays.

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    #3

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online People love to talk about how pandas are incapable of surviving, and so evolutionarily incompetent that they need to be goaded into even reproducing.

    In fact, pandas are very highly specialized and adapted to an ecological niche that was never under threat until human intervention. They're grazers in bamboo forests, which used to be an enormous biome, and their behavioral issues in captivity are just a result of not having access to even a reasonable approximation of that biome.

    They evolved to be picky about food because they evolved surrounded on all sides by food and adapted to extract the best food efficiently, instead of clear-cutting their environment to get worse food. They evolved to patrol enormous territories because they evolved surrounded by endless usable habitat in all directions. It's not their fault that animals act weird when transplanted from their homes.

    itmustbemitch , Stone Wang Report

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    WindySwede
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Strange that some humans try to shame the victims... /s 😞

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    #4

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online As a dietitian, it drives me nuts when people say that iceberg lettuce is devoid of nutrition. A typical serving of 100 grams provides 17% of your daily Vitamin A and 20% of your Vitamin K requirements, all for just 14 calories. Plus, it's a good source of potassium, manganese, and fiber. So, it’s far from being “just water.” There's definitely nutritional value there.

    awkwardcamelid , engin akyurt Report

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    WindySwede
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    🤦‍♂️ Even cucumber contains some nutrients.

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    Helping this cause, the OP also added their own contribution to this actively disproven “facts” list. They said that this so-called “truth” would be the belief many people have that a dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s. In reality, both humans’ and dogs’ mouths are full of many different species of microbes (at least 600 each), and comparing them is akin to apples and oranges.

    The post received around 10,000 upvotes in no more than 2 days, to which the poster said, “I was excited and surprised by the overwhelming response.” In addition to that, being contacted by Bored Panda caught the author unexpectedly. According to them, this surprise was welcomed nonetheless, and they’re happy and honored to have the data of their post used to pursue the further extermination of this misinformation.  
    #5

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online Trickle down economics.

    Busy-Tomatillo-875 , Tim Mossholder Report

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    Jilly
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Or huge tax breaks to "job creators". We are all job creators. We all shop, get haircuts, eat out etc.

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    #6

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online That you can catch a cold from being outside in the cold. You become more susceptible, but the actual cold is a virus you can only catch from other people.

    Funkytownn , Thom Holmes Report

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    marneederider40 avatar
    Marnie
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Has anybody in the past 75 years EVER actually thought that a cold was literally caused by being in the cold? When they say they caught a cold from being outside, wasn't that always just a shorthand for "I caught a cold that I otherwise might not have, because being in the cold made me more susceptible"? I've heard people say it, and every single one understands about viruses and knows being in the cold doesn't directly cause a cold.

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    It’s not like fake news is something fresh and unfamiliar to us. So why do people keep falling for it despite that? This question led us to do more research, coming across an article by the Center for Information Technology & Society.

    Surprisingly, gullibility is not to blame here. According to the article, falling prey to misinformation most often happens due to cognitive biases, also known as mental shortcuts and automatic processes meant to make our lives easier, which we all have.
    #7

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online The whole alpha wolf thing

    aguadiablo , Milo Weiler Report

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    Doctor Strange
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This study was done on captive wolves, so it was essentially like thinking you are an expert on human behavior because you studied prisoners. In reality, wolf packs are families, and the 'alphas' are the parents. It is their job to keep the other members of the pack protected and well fed and happy. So that guy at the amusement park with the waist pack full of snacks, making sure his kids are safely having fun and everyone is well fed and hydrated? That is the truest alpha male you will ever find.

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    #8

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online Way too many Confederate States of America apologists still out there. The war was over slavery. Not taxes, tariffs, exports, states rights or any of the other tired excuses.

    amusingtossaway , Jen Theodore Report

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    dbear_63 avatar
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    11 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So, this basically reduces the whole conflict to being the answer to a Trivial Pursuit question. Slavery was indeed a primary reason but for the south it was one more of economics than morality. If slavery had been the sole reason, then the North would have been wise to jet let the South go. Pressure to be recognized as a legitimate sovereign nation, especially by European countries would have eventually led the Confederacy to free the slaves themselves. With that issue no longer standing in the way both sides would have come to the conclusion that they should reunite. The problem with this scenario is that it doesn't take into account other factors such as the North's economic domination of the South and States' rights. Please don't trivialize this terrible chapter in American history by saying it was about one thing and one thing only. That's just an insult to the memories of those that fought and died on both sides of the conflict.

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    One of the main culprits here is confirmation bias. It causes people to seek, favor, and remember information in a way that would confirm their preexisting beliefs.

    However, the list of cognitive biases significantly affecting our information use doesn’t stop here. For instance, we tend to act without fully understanding the information in front of us, reacting to and forming opinions based on the attention-grabbing titles and not reading the article they’re connected to.

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    #9

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis

    bootygoon2 , Pixabay Report

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    Jill Bussey
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If it did cause arthritis, I would suffer in almost every joint in my body.

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    #10

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online That people used to only live to age 30 in the past. I can't believe how often people still mention this misconception. Average mortality rate ≠ individual life expectancy

    Inky-Skies , Ruben Ortega Report

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    marneederider40 avatar
    Marnie
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This myth drives me nuts. Mainly it was childhood diseases killing a lot before age 5. Once you made it to that age, life expectancy was probably in the 70s nearly everywhere that wasn't extremely over-populated or suffering a famine.

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    Popularity is another strong factor that causes something known as the “bandwagon effect.” In other words, when people see that a lot of fellow users like and support something, they’re more likely to do it, too. 

    When we see something shared and reacted to very many times, we might assume that someone else must’ve verified it before for it to get so popular, and thus, we focus way less on assessing this information.
    #11

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online The misconception that humans only use 10% of their brains, which has been debunked by neuroscience. In reality, various parts of the brain have specific functions, and most of the brain is active at different times.

    Solo-Yolo27 , Robina Weermeijer Report

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    Luke Branwen
    Luke Branwen
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sometimes it's not that hard to believe. Trump rally, Andrew Tate and Elon Musk fanboys, NFT investors...

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    #12

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online It’s illegal to talk about how much you’re paid

    mynamesamazing , Pixabay Report

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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Not illegal, just frowned upon. Don’t tell your relatives!

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    As many could guess, falling for fake news can just as well be accredited to political views and alignments. People are prone to more readily accept information that positively correlates with their political ideology and reject news opposing it.

    And lastly, misinformation is notoriously sticky, and it’s difficult to undo the effect that false news leaves. According to the article, our memory is not very good at differentiating between a truth and a lie. When it comes to remembering something, we sometimes tend to assume that information was correct, regardless of whether it was false and whether it was later corrected. 
    #13

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online Myers-Briggs personality test has no indepently verified evidence behind it. It has no more scientific evidence behind it than a Cosmo quiz.

    ZimbuMonkeygod , Ben Mullins Report

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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It makes a lot more sense when you distinguish between the way corporations are using it and the rather more salient lesson from the Myers Briggs fad that other people have different personalities, needs and preferences than you and you can’t always make assumptions about others based on what YOU prefer.

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    #14

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online Carrots improve your night vision.

    It was a “fact” promoted by the Allies during WW2 to hide their invention of radar. All those British pilots are downing German bombers at night because they eat so many carrots! Totally not because we have a device that lets us see them day or night from dozens of miles away.

    JimTheJerseyGuy , David Holifield Report

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    noltha avatar
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Still, nyctalopia (night-blindness) may be caused by the deficiency of vitamin A. And carrots are rich in carotene, which is converted to vitamin A in the body. So carrots do not improve night vision, but help to prevent night-blindness.

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    To summarize, in this day and age, information can spread faster than ever before, and disproven “truths” that keep circulating can be more dangerous than they ever were. 

    Not all of the false information is dangerous - some is simply annoying. But knowing how to differentiate between what’s real and what’s not online is crucial. And updating your mental libraries with corrected facts like the ones we see in this Reddit thread is definitely beneficial.
    #15

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online "the triptofan in turkey makes you sleepy!"

    1: you'd have to eat an entire 20 pound turkey by yourself in one sitting to get enough triptofan to get sleepy from it

    2: chicken actually has higher concentrations of it, and nobody is running around saying chicken made them sleepy.

    Overeating makes you sleepy. Not the turkey.

    Vict0r117 , Claudio Schwarz Report

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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Dealing with keeping on a "big happy family" face is always what made me sleepy on Thanksgiving from exhausting my social battery, but blaming the turkey just sounds better.

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    #16

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online That your ancestors ate anything resembling the Paleo diet.

    Ahjumawi , Louis Hansel Report

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    #17

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online 24 hours for a missing persons report—can’t tell you how many people call 911 after their child/partner has been missing for that long.

    Calfee911 , Erik Mclean Report

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    #18

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online Referring to a post from a few minutes ago. You must drink 3 litres of water every day to maintain your health.
    There is no scientific basis for this “fact” and overindulgence can be dangerous

    Live-Dance-2641 , Nigel Msipa Report

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    WindySwede
    WindySwede
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Drink when thirsty, if you are to thirsty go see medic it could be some issue. Food also contains water, that also needs to be counted in! Pee have no reason to be as translucent as the water from a natural spring.

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    #19

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online That Napolean was short. He was actually average height. The power of propaganda is immense.

    Diablix , Desert Morocco Adventure Report

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    skyrender avatar
    Sky Render
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Seems some modern politicians are having issues with this too. Apparently a notorious far-right politician was recently spotted wearing high heeled boots to make himself look taller, even though he's a perfectly normal height at 5'8" without them.

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    #20

    Homeopathy

    Professional_Class_4 Report

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    #21

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online That on average you swallow 8 spiders a year.

    tastygrowth , Егор Камелев Report

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    #22

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online After eating wait 30 minutes before swimming

    bumblebearst , B Mat an gelo Report

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    JL
    JL
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I always wait 24 hours to swim after eating, and I report people missing after 30 minutes. I think I may be doing it wrong.

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    #23

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online That if you touch a baby animal for any reason, their parents will abandon them because they now smell like you.

    victorhausen , Bill Fairs Report

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    jj_26 avatar
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Herd of bison wouldn't let a calf back in after a tourist helped it out of a ditch this year in Yellowstone. Tourist could be charged a fined. Calf was euthanized. There is truth to this one. https://www.npr.org/2023/05/24/1177857710/bison-calf-yellowstone-man

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    #24

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online That one anecdote that every paranoid snake-hater doles out about that pet python who stopped eating and would sleep in the bed with its owner. Supposedly "sizing her up" and "making room" to eat her.

    Snakes aren't that smart. They're opportunistic predators, they don't really plan ahead. Could you imagine a python sliding up next to an antelope and calmly trying to compare measurements? Besides, the most common pet snakes are too small to eat a full grown human anyway. (They can definitely squeeze one to death on accident, so you should never handle a large snake alone, but they won't try to eat you afterwards.)

    Symnestra , Tyler B Report

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    Ubedhheij
    Ubedhheij
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    11 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My pet snake is still small but I can't imagine her eating a human every or at least family and friends. Edit: I agree Svelk929, I even made an art work in 6th grade saying this.

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    #25

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online That our blood is blue before it reaches oxygen

    JannaWing , Polina Tankilevitch Report

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    #26

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online That you will make less by getting a raise due to getting into the next tax bracket (US specific). This is true only in very rare scenarios like receiving disability, but by and large, you won't make less per paycheck with a raise.

    Ol_Man_J , Towfiqu barbhuiya Report

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    Gabby Ghoul
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I was in one of those very rare scenarios when I was on disability.

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    #27

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online Scientists don’t know how bees fly.

    GeorgeCabana , Myriams Fotos Report

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    skyrender avatar
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It was a misunderstanding of a statement concerning fixed wing flight. Specifically that there's no way a bee could fly if it had wings like an airplane at that size. Which, yeah, no kidding.

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    #28

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online If you shave facial hair it grows back thicker

    Plenty_Anywhere8984 , Craig McKay Report

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    #29

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online That men have one less rib than women. I have no idea how people still spread this, but I heard it all throughout childhood

    nhadams2112 , Mălina Sîrbu Report

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    Geoffrey Scott
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    11 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Dang...now "I want my rib back" argument with my wife is null and void.

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    #30

    30 False Facts That Are So Ingrained In People’s Minds They Can’t See The Truth, As Shared Online Breakfast is the most important meal of the day

    Extension-Olive9058 , Thought Catalog Report

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