List of common misconceptions

Arts and culture[edit]

Business[edit]
 Federal legal tender laws in the United States do not state that a private business, a
person, or an organization must accept cash for payment, though it must be
regarded as valid payment for debts when tendered to a creditor.[1]

A photo of Adolf Dassler, the namesake for Adidas (c. 1915)

 Adidas is not an acronym for "All day I dream about sports", "All day I dream about
soccer", or "All day I dream about sex". The company was named after its
founder Adolf "Adi" Dassler in 1949. The backronyms were jokes published in 1978
and 1981.[2]
 The letters "AR" in AR-15 stand for "ArmaLite Rifle", reflecting the company
(ArmaLite) that originally manufactured the weapon. They do not stand for "assault
rifle" or "automatic rifle".[3]
 The Chevrolet Nova sold very well in Latin American markets; General Motors did
not need to rename the car. While no va does mean "it doesn't go" in
Spanish, nova was easily understood to mean "new".[4]
 The common image of Santa Claus (Father Christmas) as a jolly old man in red
robes was not created by The Coca-Cola Company as an advertising gimmick. Santa
Claus had already taken this form in American popular culture and advertising by the
late 19th century, long before Coca-Cola used his image in the 1930s.[5]
 Netflix was not founded after its co-founder Reed Hastings was charged a $40 late
fee by Blockbuster. Hastings made the story up to summarize Netflix's value
proposition, and Netflix's founders were actually inspired by Amazon.[6]
 PepsiCo never owned the "6th most powerful navy" in the world after a deal with
the Soviet Union. In 1989, Pepsi acquired several decommissioned warships as part
of a barter deal.[7][8] The oil tankers were leased out and the other ships sold for scrap.
[9]
A follow-on deal involved another 10 ships.[10]