Old Wives tales you still believe in.

J_E

Are there any you find yourself doing on a regular basis even if they are probably not true?

When I was younger I was told if you open a fizzy drink by twisting the bottle, not the cap, fizz won't come bubbling out. I do it to this day and it seems to work...even though I can't think of any reason why it should.

wretcheddomain

Bit of a sexist name as I'm sure the origin of many of these myths is actually man made. That's one Old Wives tale I'd like to debunk from the start.

Angry_Mammarys

Magpies, you salute them, 1 for sorrow 2 for joy.. also when a black cat crosses your path it's bad luck.

Meangadh

That warm 7up makes everything better. Definitely true.

Angry_Mammarys

wretcheddomain wrote: »

Bit of a sexist name as I'm sure the origin of many of these myths is actually man made. That's one Old Wives tale I'd like to debunk from the start.

It's hardly something to get too worried about in fairness.

LETHAL LADY

Belt the ganglion off you with a bible.

wretcheddomain

Angry_Mammarys wrote: »

It's hardly something to get too worried about in fairness.

And the rest of the tales are? :rolleyes:

Angry_Mammarys

wretcheddomain wrote: »

And the rest of the tales are? :rolleyes:

Actually, I must apologize, I researched the reason they're called old wives tales, and the inner feminist in me is not happy:o

tippspur

Angry_Mammarys wrote: »

Magpies, you salute them, 1 for sorrow 2 for joy.. also when a black cat crosses your path it's bad luck.

I all ways taught that if a black cat crossed your path it was god luck??

wretcheddomain

Angry_Mammarys wrote: »

Actually, I must apologize, I researched the reason they're called old wives tales, and the inner feminist in me is not happy:o

I'll let you away with it this time.

Angry_Mammarys

tippspur wrote: »

I all ways taught that if a black cat crossed your path it was god luck??

It depends I think, different cultures?

Nodster

wretcheddomain wrote: »

Bit of a sexist name as I'm sure the origin of many of these myths is actually man made. That's one Old Wives tale I'd like to debunk from the start.

Aye 20/20 vision is a bonus

Muise...

Cydoniac wrote: »

Are there any you find yourself doing on a regular basis even if they are probably not true?

When I was younger I was told if you open a fizzy drink by twisting the bottle, not the cap, fizz won't come bubbling out. I do it to this day and it seems to work...even though I can't think of any reason why it should.

um, because the bottle is bigger and heavier than the cap/cork, so you twist it slower and shake the contents less?

A hat on a bed can really get my granny anxious.

That sounds like a euphemism, but it isn't.

bmcc10

If you cut down a fairy tree they'll take you away

Karl Stein

Drinking a hot cup of tea on a warm day cools you down.

Kinda goes against the laws of thermodynamics.

Angry_Mammarys

Carlos Roca wrote: »

Drinking a hot cup of tea on a warm day cools you down.

Kinda goes against the laws of thermodynamics.

I know a few people who swear by that!

Meangadh

bmcc10 wrote: »

If you cut down a fairy tree they'll take you away

Similar to that one (that I obviously don't believe!) was the idea that if you had a baby with a disability or something wrong with it, that it was a fairy child or changeling left in instead of a healthy child. The thing that gets to me the most about that is that the name for a changeling was a "Síofra", which for some reason nowadays people think is a nice name for a girl... weird.

Carlos Roca

Carlos Roca wrote: »

Drinking a hot cup of tea on a warm day cools you down.

Kinda goes against the laws of thermodynamics.

There may be some truth in it, according to The Smithsonian.

How does this work? “What we found is that when you ingest a hot drink, you actually have a disproportionate increase in the amount that you sweat,” Jay says. “Yes, the hot drink is hotter than your body temperature, so you are adding heat to the body, but the amount that you increase your sweating by—if that can all evaporate—more than compensates for the the added heat to the body from the fluid.”

http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2012/07/a-hot-drink-on-a-hot-day-can-cool-you-down/

Interesting!

KKkitty

New shoes on a table. Won't do it for the life of me.

Angry_Mammarys

The number 13.. I see all these people getting it tattooed when it's Friday 13th, I do think they're absolutely mental:o

WilyCoyote

Not enough red wine is bad for your health.

WilyCoyote

Candie wrote: »

There may be some truth in it, according to The Smithsonian.



http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2012/07/a-hot-drink-on-a-hot-day-can-cool-you-down/

Interesting!

I can vouch for that. As a young man I worked as a tunnel miner and we drank hot tea at the face. It works! But I always understood that it made you hotter ........ so starting the sweating process earlier and the sweating process cooling you down.

The Backwards Man

The full moon really does have an effect on people. Up yours science, with your confirmation bias mumbo jumbo, you're wrong on this one.

WilyCoyote

The Backwards Man wrote: »

The full moon really does have an effect on people. Up yours science, with your confirmation bias mumbo jumbo, you're wrong on this one.

And a half moon drives you half mad! I like it.

Daqster

My family were talking about banshees over the Christmas.

I said I didn't believe in them and the looks I got off relatives was if I said I like to have sex with dead people.

All my extended family are from Monaghan and the stories they have about banshees coming to people the night before people passed on etc would give anyone the shivers.

One story involved a father and son and both swear to this day, that walking up the lane to their house (they live in the back of the beyonds) late one night, a little woman dressed in white walked up behind them crying and then disappeared.

The next day the man's mother (the boy's grandmother) was found dead in bed.

mayoman ngalway

i was told by me grandmother that;

"if you put salt on a rabbits tale, it won't run away and you can catch it"



never got close enough to the rabbit to put the salt on the tale though!!!:D

WilyCoyote

Daqster wrote: »

My family were talking about banshees over the Christmas.

I said I didn't believe in them and the looks I got off relatives was if I said I like to have sex with dead people.

All my extended family are from Monaghan and the stories they have about banshees coming to people the night before people passed on etc would give anyone the shivers.

One story involved a father and son and both swear to this day, that walking up the lane to their house (they live in the back of the beyonds) late one night, a little woman dressed in white walked up behind them crying and then disappeared.

The next day the man's mother (the boy's grandmother) was found dead in bed.

Have you not finished off all the Christmas booze yet? Please go to bed ........ you've had enough

Karl Stein

Candie wrote: »

There may be some truth in it, according to The Smithsonian.!

Looks like dodgy science to me - it's saying hot tea helps you cool because drinking it makes you sweat - sweating is the body attempting to cool itself as a result of overheating in the first place.

kylith

Carlos Roca wrote: »

Looks like dodgy science to me - it's saying hot tea helps you cool because drinking it makes you sweat - sweating is the body attempting to cool itself as a result of overheating in the first place.

Yeah, but you feel cooler.

Daqster

WilyCoyote wrote: »

Have you not finished off all the Christmas booze yet? Please go to bed ........ you've had enough

Eh, what?

Did you actually read my post.

stefan idiot jones

If you swallow bubble gum it will stick to your heart.

Rubbing a wedding ring on a sty on your eye will take it away. It does work.

If you eat a dry pot noodle you WILL die.

WilyCoyote

Daqster wrote: »

Eh, what?

Did you actually read my post.

Of course I did. That's why I came to my conclusion - rightly or wrongly.

You are talking piseogs here ....... . Nothing wrong with that but please don't believe it. Opening cockerels stomachs is another way of getting in touch ....... as the spirit takes you!

Daqster

I think it is you who is drinking mate.

Daqster wrote: »

My family were talking about banshees over the Christmas.

I said I didn't believe in them and the looks I got off relatives was if I said I like to have sex with dead people.

WilyCoyote wrote: »

Of course I did. That's why I came to my conclusion - rightly or wrongly.

You are talking piseogs here ....... . Nothing wrong with that but please don't believe it. Opening cockerels stomachs is another way of getting in touch ....... as the spirit takes you!

mikemac1

Eating mentos and then immediately drinking coke will rip your stomach apart

Ever drop a mentos into a bottle of coke and watch what happens? Yeah now imagine the internal damage that could do to you

J_E

mikemac1 wrote: »

Eating mentos and then immediately drinking coke will rip your stomach apart

Ever drop a mentos into a bottle of coke and watch what happens? Yeah now imagine the internal damage that could do to you

There's a way back out! You'd probably puke at most.

hardCopy

mikemac1 wrote: »

Eating mentos and then immediately drinking coke will rip your stomach apart

Ever drop a mentos into a bottle of coke and watch what happens? Yeah now imagine the internal damage that could do to you

Cydoniac wrote: »

There's a way back out! You'd probably puke at most.

That reaction is caused by the pitted surface of the mentos.

By the time they've been chewed and swallowed they'd have no more effect on the coke than the rest of your stomach contents.

SarahBM

You will get a cold from going to bed with your hair damn. - been told that all my life and Im too chicken to do it cause it will probably turn out to be true!

Kablamo!

It's a brave and foolish person who sits on a kerb- asking to banjax your kidneys!

Rabelais

If you cavort with Protestants then the Quare Fella will take over your mind.

Digital Solitude

hardCopy wrote: »

That reaction is caused by the pitted surface of the mentos.

By the time they've been chewed and swallowed they'd have no more effect on the coke than the rest of your stomach contents.

This is what school lunchtimes are made for. I'll get back to yis

burnhardlanger

Mocking is catching.

Conall Cernach

mayoman ngalway wrote: »

i was told by me grandmother that;

"if you put salt on a rabbits tale, it won't run away and you can catch it"



never got close enough to the rabbit to put the salt on the tale though!!!:D

I was told by an old farmer neighbour of mine when I was a kid (under 10) that if you put pepper on a carrot and leave the carrot on a stone a rabbit will come along, see the carrot, sniff it, sneeze and knock himself out on the stone. I tried that for a while one Summer.

bodice ripper

SarahBM wrote: »

You will get a cold from going to bed with your hair damn. - been told that all my life and Im too chicken to do it cause it will probably turn out to be true!

I have never owned a hair dryer in my life and I always, always go to bed with my hair wet. It isn't true.

bodice ripper

bodice ripper wrote: »

I have never owned a hair dryer in my life and I always, always go to bed with my hair wet. It isn't true.

I don't think it magically attracts a cold virus, but does it not make your pillow smell musty and damp?

Ush1

kylith wrote: »

Yeah, but you feel cooler.

Yes, so sweat makes you cooler, not tea. Tea indeed makes you hotter.

bodice ripper

Candie wrote: »

I don't think it magically attracts a cold virus, but does it not make your pillow smell musty and damp?

Not that I have ever noticed. I do towel dry my hair, but it is long, dense, straight hair, it takes hours to really dry.

I have been known to go out with it wet in the winter. If you are used to it, you barely even notice a difference.

Gokei

The appearance of white spots on the fingernails is due to not calcium in your diet.

Until very recently, I thought this was a fact!

seamus

Meangadh wrote: »

That warm 7up makes everything better. Definitely true.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10365310/Best-cure-for-a-hangover-Sprite-scientists-claim.html
Sprite and 7up being basically the same thing.

Flat 7up is very sugary and has a low acidity. So it's quickly absorbed through the walls of the stomach, but gentle on it at the same time. This rush of glucose into the bloodstream will instantly improve your energy levels and therefore your mood. Your stomach will likely feel a lot better because any residual bile and acid has been diluted by the 7up. Heating it just further reduces the impact on a dodgy tummy.

It's magic.

SarahBM wrote: »

You will get a cold from going to bed with your hair damn. - been told that all my life and Im too chicken to do it cause it will probably turn out to be true!

Being cold doesn't give you a cold (or pneumonia). It just happens that these illnesses are at their most active and virulent during colder weather.

Pumpkinseeds

Angry_Mammarys wrote: »

Magpies, you salute them, 1 for sorrow 2 for joy.. also when a black cat crosses your path it's bad luck.

When a black cat crosses your path the cat is merely on it's way somewhere, no luck good or bad involved:)

Muise...

Pumpkinseeds wrote: »

When a black cat crosses your path the cat is merely on it's way somewhere, no luck good or bad involved:)

If I say 'psshpsshpssh' and the cat skips up to slink around my shoes, I consider it good luck.