Rumors spread like wildfire. It’s always weird to see how a totally false story takes hold and everyone is convinced it really happened.

These 12 folks from AskReddit had very strange rumors started about them… luckily none of it was true.

1. That’s a random one

That I wore bicycle helmets when I drove my car.

2. In the buff

“He mows the lawn naked.”

Um, gym shorts and a tank top is not naked.

3. Surprise!

I had a couple friends over one day after school. There were a bunch of clothes in boxes by the door that were being donated. However, I found out later that my friends thought this meant I was moving.

They thought I was too sad to tell anyone, so they arranged a surprise going away party in my grade 3 class. Yeah, that got awkward quick…

4. RIP

That I was dead.

I was on “The Corridor Committee” at school drawing up a code of conduct at the end of my 4th Year (you can imagine how much tang I got at school) and the new rules were to be announced the following school year.

But then I had to change schools at very short notice over the summer holidays and only told my socially isolated circle of friends.

So the new school year starts and everyone gets the Start-of-Year assembly where they’re told “Welcome back!” and to “Work hard…” etc. Then they were introduced to the new Corridor CodeTM

The head teacher reads off the code and says “Special thanks to [list of people involved] and [my name], who sadly is no longer with us.”

And that’s how my death was accidentally announced to the entire school.

5. Also RIP

I went to treatment in 9th grade from March to May. When I came back, people looked at me like they saw a ghost. Found out that there was a rumor that I had died. Needless to say people were surprised.

6. Poor mum…

My mum had a seizure when I was at dinner with her after school. Her first ever, it was very traumatizing etc.

Anyway, I went to a Catholic school, so in the morning, they made an announcement about remembering my mum in their prayers (this was standard policy when family members of students were sick, injured or died.)

Somehow, a couple of girls interpreted this as my mum had died. They were really shocked that I was in school at all. So first I had to clear that up.

Then, some freshman girls decided that the actual truth was that I had killed my mother. They told a teacher they didn’t feel comfortable around a murderer.

So most outrageous rumor I heard specifically about myself was that the freshmen thought I had killed my mum.

7. Great friends

A rumor spread that I had died in a car wreck. This happened while I was visible and in school. I would show up to classes and people would jump with joy realizing that it had been a lie.

My friends were jerks.

8. Not the case at all

That I was a huge snob. I was amazed to hear it because I was massively shy with low self-esteem and terrified to talk to anyone.

9. Yacht life

In middle school this one girl had a birthday party on a boat and invited pretty much every girl. I wasn’t invited but I didn’t care since we didn’t know each other. Some girls who didn’t like me decided to invent the rumor that I was having a birthday party on my yacht the same day as the other girl had hers.

I still don’t quite understand the reason for this rumor. My birthday wasn’t anytime soon, I certainly didn’t own a yacht…all they did was make me sound rich.

10. Toilet Nuke

According to some rumor I wanted to build a nuke on my toilet at home.

I was a weird kid, but how?

11. Pet Cemetery

Growing up, my dad was really in to taxidermy. When I say ‘really’, I mean so much so that our house was filled with little stuffed birds, dear heads on the wall, and a stuffed beaver by the front door.

In elementary school, the kids started a rumor that my dad would steal pets and taxidermy them to display at our home. I found it pretty hilarious, except when people stopped wanting to come over to my house.

12. She’s not there

It wasn’t during high school, but afterwards. Some of my younger siblings friends were convinced that I didn’t exist.

I was really self-conscious in high school and had managed to avoid getting my picture taken for any reason. I even managed to have a school ID without a photo. Consequently, my name appears in the year book as a graduate – but there is no photo and no other photo or mention of me.

When I got my year book and proudly showed my parents how I had managed to avoid having my picture in the year book, they told me to return it for a refund.