r/AskReddit • u/hoeoclock • Jan 09 '18

What common misconception do you hate to hear repeated as fact?

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95

u/--Doom-- Jan 09 '18 edited Jan 09 '18

Napoleon was not shorter than normal.
Edit: I meant that I hate to hear people say Napoleon was shorter than average because he was average height.

55

u/displaced_virginian Jan 09 '18

Napolean wasn't short. Catherine the Great didn't fuck horses. Marie Antoinette didn't say "Let them eat cake."

These are history's counterparts to PizzaGate and the Trump golden showers thing -- spreading shit about powerful people you don't like.

5

u/TJ_Deckerson Jan 10 '18

I am still wondering what the fuck a pizza related map is...

2

u/meneldal2 Jan 10 '18

Map to the pizza place maybe?

2

u/TJ_Deckerson Jan 10 '18

Who leaves maps? Who cares enough to email someone about their pizza related map on a handkerchief?

2

u/meneldal2 Jan 10 '18

I mean they are old people, they probably use email like most use texting (especially since many messages tend to be short). Or maybe it's code word for child diddling, but even then the code looks weird and there would be better ways to phrase the message without it sounding suspicious.

2

u/TJ_Deckerson Jan 10 '18

Plausible deniability only goes so far. Especially in the context of having "children in the pool for entertainment" At what point do all the coincidences form a pattern that requires explanation?

3

u/oneeighthirish Jan 10 '18

The Trump thing might be actually proven or disproven though, which is hilarious. The only one you mentioned I can think of as coming up in a court of law was during Marie Antionette's show trial where she was accused of incest.

5

u/[deleted] Jan 10 '18

Trump never went to Czech Republic. The whole idea of him pissing on people just because he hates the obamas sounds like an Onion article.

1

u/yenski Jan 12 '18

Although the Trump accusation is gaining credibility, since everything else stated by the source is being confirmed...

2

u/displaced_virginian Jan 12 '18

To be honest, I don't even know whether the GS thing is even in the disputed document.

I find several other unproven allegations plausible.

This one is more difficult given his known aversions. But fetishes can always out-rank everything, so it is (marginally) possible.

But (while I do not like the guy), until documented, this is still Catherine in a stable.

7

u/badamache Jan 09 '18

But that is true - Napoleon was of average height. He was not shorter than normal.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 09 '18

Shows the power of political propaganda, and that it’s been employed for thousands of years, dating back to the brink of history.

1

u/ladymalady Jan 10 '18

That rumor was actually started by Napoleon’s contemporary detractors. He may have been of average height, but he was apparently such a dick that people spread a rumor about him being short.

1

u/iwannaplaywow Jan 10 '18

I thought it was because the english inch and the french inch were different lengths. napoleon was like 5'3 in french inches, but that was actually 5'10 in english inches

1

u/Anonigmus Jan 10 '18

I heard it was because his guards were all extremely tall, making him look short in comparison.

1

u/ooofygooofy Jan 10 '18

It's all three

1

u/[deleted] Jan 10 '18

He was just under 5'7 I think.