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An old wives' tale is a wisdom much like an urban legend, supposedly passed down by old wives to a younger generation. It is so named for the alleged lack of sophistication of old wives. Today old wives' tales are also common among children's peer sex education in school playgrounds. Old wives' tales often concern pregnancy, puberty and nutrition. Image File history File links Circle-question. ...
An urban legend or urban myth is a kind of modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them. ...
Sex education is a broad term used to describe education about human sexual anatomy, sexual reproduction, sexual intercourse, and other aspects of human sexual behavior. ...
Look up Education in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...
A pregnant woman near the end of her term Pregnancy is the carrying of one or more embryos or fetuses by female mammals, including humans, inside their bodies. ...
Puberty refers to the process of physical changes by which a childs body becomes an adult body capable of reproduction. ...
The updated USDA food pyramid, published in 2005, is a general nutrition guide for recommended food consumption. ...
Most old wives' tales are false and are used to discourage unwanted behavior, usually in children. Among the few tales with grains of truth, the veracity is likely coincidental.
Common old wives' tales Image File history File links Information_icon. ...
Shortcut: WP:WIN Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia and, as a means to that end, also an online community. ...
Eating carrots improves your night vision Half-truth
Carrots do contain Beta-carotene, which is converted to vitamin A in the liver. Vitamin A helps to maintain healthy vision, but the carrots do not contain enough Beta-carotene to make any significant difference. This tale started in the Second World War when the British spread a rumour that their plane spotters were eating carrots to give them improved vision, concealing the truth about the invention of radar. Also the night fighter ace John Cunningham (21 kills) who was an early proponent of airborne radar in his Bristol Beaufighter, was nicknamed "Cat's Eyes" and alluded to have exceptional night vision because of his carrot eating. Binomial name Daucus carota L. Percentages are relative to US recommendations for adults. ...
Carotene is a terpene, an orange photosynthetic pigment, important for photosynthesis. ...
This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ...
Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ...
A rumor (British English: rumour) is a piece of purportedly true information that is circulated without substantiating evidence. ...
This long range radar antenna, known as ALTAIR, is used to detect and track space objects in conjunction with ABM testing at the Ronald Reagan Test Site on the Kwajalein atoll. ...
The Bristol Beaufighter is also the name of a car produced by Bristol Cars in the 1980s. ...
Having sex standing up is a contraceptive False
This is an example of an old wives' tale in peer sex education. Sperm cells are capable of swimming up the vaginal canal, through the uterus to the fallopian tubes, where they may fertilize an egg, (which also actively pulls the sperm towards it), regardless of the body's position during or after sexual intercourse. It is also believed that certain muscular actions during intercourse draw the spermatozoa upward, as well. A spermatozoon or spermatozoan ( spermatozoa), from the ancient Greek σπÎÏμα (seed) and (living being) and more commonly known as a sperm cell, is the haploid cell that is the male gamete. ...
This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...
The uterus or womb is the major female reproductive organ of most mammals, including humans. ...
The Fallopian tubes, also known as oviducts, uterine tubes, and salpinges (singular salpinx), are two very fine tubes leading from the ovaries of female mammals into the uterus. ...
A human ovum Sperm cells attempting to fertilize an ovum An ovum (plural ova) is a haploid female reproductive cell or gamete. ...
It has been suggested that Duration of sexual intercourse be merged into this article or section. ...
The tale is believed to have originated as a misunderstanding of advice by fertility specialists not to be standing up during coition, if one is attempting to become pregnant. While it is true that some positions encourage pregnancy, the converse idea that some positions prevent it is false. A pregnant woman near the end of her term Pregnancy is the carrying of one or more embryos or fetuses by female mammals, including humans, inside their bodies. ...
Chocolate causes acne False
Chocolate does not cause acne in healthy individuals[1][2][3], but can have an extreme effect if one is sensitive to a specific ingredient in certain confections, such as pasteurized milk or hydrogenated oil. This is an example of an old wives' tale used to discourage unwanted behavior by associating it with a negative effect. Chocolate most commonly comes in dark, milk, and white varieties, with cocoa solids contributing to the brown coloration. ...
Pasteurization is the process of heating food for the purpose of killing harmful organisms such as bacteria, viruses, protozoa, molds, and yeasts. ...
Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction in which unsaturated bonds between carbon atoms are reduced by attachment of a hydrogen atom to each carbon. ...
Masturbation causes blindness False
This is an attempt to discourage masturbation (usually among young males) by associating it with blindness. In men, it is also associated with hairy palms and mental illness. Masturbation in females is sometimes said to cause infertility; this is equally false. Masturbation by a man may reduce fertility in the immediate future by using up some stored sperm, however this is not a long-term effect and not a reliable birth control: the sperm will be replaced naturally in a matter of hours and healthy young males are able to ejaculate again within half an hour. It has been suggested that Autoeroticism be merged into this article or section. ...
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or psychological factors. ...
Semen or ejaculate is the fluid discharged from the penis during ejaculation, usually at the time of orgasm. ...
The only correlation between the two is semen contains a large amount of zinc (as much as 0.25 milligrams of zinc to 1 mL of seminal fluid), and a deficiency in zinc (although nearly impossible to achieve solely by masturbating) will cause a decline in a person's vision. General Name, Symbol, Number zinc, Zn, 30 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 4, d Appearance bluish pale gray Standard atomic weight 65. ...
Staying out in the cold without a coat causes pneumonia False
Pneumonia is caused by bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumoniae. Variations on this tale include that someone who stays out in the cold will catch a cold or the flu (which are both known to be caused by viruses). Pneumonia is an illness of the lungs and respiratory system in which the alveoli (microscopic air-filled sacs of the lung responsible for absorbing oxygen from the atmosphere) become inflamed and flooded with fluid. ...
Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular, bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ...
Binomial name Streptococcus pneumoniae (Klein 1884) Chester 1901 Streptococcus pneumoniae is a species of Streptococcus that is a major human pathogen. ...
// Acute viral nasopharyngitis, often known as the common cold, is a mild viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory system (nose and throat). ...
Influenza, commonly known as flu, is an infectious disease of birds and mammals caused by an RNA virus of the family Orthomyxoviridae (the influenza viruses). ...
Groups I: dsDNA viruses II: ssDNA viruses III: dsRNA viruses IV: (+)ssRNA viruses V: (-)ssRNA viruses VI: ssRNA-RT viruses VII: dsDNA-RT viruses A virus (from the Latin noun virus, meaning toxin or poison) is a microscopic particle (ranging in size from 20 - 300 nm) that can infect the...
This tale was not debunked until fairly recently. As public awareness of the cause of disease increased, the tale evolved to include a number of different pseudoscientific explanations. One popular explanation is that a low core body temperature negatively impacts the effectiveness of the human immune system. This intuitively makes sense, as we know fever, an elevated core body temperature, is one of the immune system's defenses against infection. However, studies have shown[citation needed] that there is no statistical correlation between lowered core body temperature and decreased immune response. Still, this old wives' tale, in its modern, pseudoscientific version, is still prevalent. Phrenology is regarded today as a classic example of pseudoscience. ...
A scanning electron microscope image of a single neutrophil (yellow), engulfing anthrax bacteria (orange). ...
An analogue medical thermometer showing the temperature of 38. ...
Another version of this old wives' tale common in much of the world is that sitting by an open window or by air-conditioning will cause colds and pneumonia. The standing water in some air conditioning systems may allow bacteria such as those that cause Legionnaires' disease to multiply. However, the chance of catching such a disease from air-conditioned air does not change depending on the distance one sits from an affected air conditioner. Legionellosis is an infection caused by species of the bacterium Legionella, most notably . ...
Stepping on a rusty nail causes tetanus Half-truth
Tetanus is an anaerobic bacterium and can be transmitted via puncture wounds such as those received by stepping on a rusty nail. It is not the rust on the nail that causes the tetanus, however, but the dirt on the nail, which may contain the tetanus pathogen; even a visibly clean nail (or other item) previously exposed to soil containing the bacterium can be the source of a tetanus infection. The apparent correlation between rusty nails and tetanus stems form the anaerobic bacteria requiring moist areas, making a good environment for rusty nails also a good environment for tetanus. It is believed that Robert E. Lee's horse Traveller died in this way, less than a year after Lee's death. Tetanus is a medical condition characterized by a prolonged contraction of skeletal muscle fibers. ...
An anaerobic organism or anaerobe is any organism that does not require oxygen for growth. ...
A blacksmith removing rust with sand prior to welding Rust damage in automobiles can create hidden dangers. ...
// This article is about the Confederate general. ...
Traveller and Robert E. Lee Traveller (1857 – 1870) was Robert E. Lees most famous horse during the American Civil War. ...
Any wound that closes over at the surface before healing underneath can harbour a tetanus infection. Under such conditions the tetanus bacterium can flourish in a person not appropriately immunized. The tetanus bacterium is commonly present both on skin and in soil. Before the availability of a vaccine for tetanus it was necessary to keep potentially dangerous wounds open so that they would heal from the bottom up, thus preventing the anaerobic conditions that tetanus thrives in.
See also: Correlation implies causation (logical fallacy) Correlation implies causation, also known as cum hoc ergo propter hoc (Latin for with this, therefore because of this) and false cause, is a logical fallacy by which two events that occur together are claimed to be cause and effect. ...
Other old wives' tales - Habitual knuckle-cracking causes arthritis. False.[4]
- Chewing gum, if swallowed, remains inside your body for seven years. False. Chewing gum is excreted like any other undigested piece of food or stray object swallowed. In very rare cases, chewing gum (and many other substances) may form bezoars in those susceptible.
- If you make a face and the wind changes direction, your face will stay that way. False. This legend is prevalent among sufferers of Bell's Palsy and non-scientific health practitioners, but there is no causation.[5]
- If you go swimming less than an hour after you've eaten, you'll get cramps. False, but some scientists do in fact advise not to swim - or engage in any physical activity - for some time after eating, as the parasympathetic nervous system will kick in and start digestion, overriding the orders of the sympathetic nervous system which brings the body into the mode for physical activities.
- If you touch a toad, you'll get warts. False. Warts are caused by a virus, which are usually species specific. Almost all viruses that infect frogs do not have the correct receptors to infect humans as well.
- If you feel a burning in your ears, it means that somebody is talking about you. A variation on this is that if you hear a ringing in your ears, someone is thinking about you. In Pakistan, India, and former USSR countries, hiccups are a sign that you are being remembered by someone. In Japan, if you sneeze it means that somebody is talking about you behind your back. It is not possible to verify or disprove, so the adage is likely to persist indefinitely.
- If you have a stye, you must have read or watched pornographic materials. False.
- If you feed chocolate to a dog, it will get intestinal worms. False, but chocolate intended for human consumption can kill dogs. One component of chocolate, theobromine, is a mild stimulant in humans, but quite toxic in some other animals, including dogs. However, dogs are able to eat a small amount depending on their weight (though it is not advised to feed them any at all as too much will indeed kill them).
- If you consume Pop Rocks followed by a carbonated drink, your stomach will explode and you'll die. False, but a very popular legend among children.
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