An article on NPR's (National Public Radio's) website lists 12 common half-truths that many of us have accepted as facts. For instance, various news organizations have pointed out that Subway's $5 footlong sandwich actually measures 11 inches instead of 12. (Subway has explained that their methods of baking the bread can cause a slight size differential.) Here are a few more half-truths the article explored:
- Peanuts are not really nuts (and neither are Cashews or Brazil Nuts). Walnuts, pecans, and chestnuts are real nuts, but peanuts are actually legumes.
- The American buffalo is a bison, not a buffalo. It's part of the Bovidae family, which includes domestic cattle and goats.
- A koala bear is not a bear; it's a marsupial.
- A palm tree is not a tree. Palm trees belong to the monocot family of flowering plants, which also includes grasses and grains.
- "Swollen glands" are not actually glands; they are a series of lymph nodes.
- A mountain goat is not really a goat.
- Pink is not exactly a color. Physicists claim that pink should really be called "minus green" because "pink" is just the leftovers of white light when you take out the green.