Old wives' tale
Encyclopedia
An old wives' tale is a type of urban legend
, similar to a proverb
, which is generally passed down by old wives to a younger generation. Such "tales" usually consist of superstition
, folklore
or unverified claims with exaggerated and/or untrue details. Today old wives' tales are still common among children in school
playgrounds. Old wives' tales often concern pregnancy
, puberty
and nutrition
.
In this context, the word wife means woman rather than married woman. This usage stems from Old English
wif (woman) and is akin to the German
weib, also meaning "woman". This sense of the word is still used in Modern English in constructions such as midwife and fishwife.
Most old wives' tales are false and are used to discourage unwanted behavior, usually in children, or for folk cures
for ailments ranging from a toothache
to dysentery
. Among the few tales with grains of truth, the veracity is likely coincidental.
The concept of old wives' tales is ancient. In the 1st century, the Apostle Paul wrote to his young protégé Timothy, "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself [rather] unto godliness" (I Timothy 4:7 KJV).
Examples:
These tales were often collected by literate men, and turned into written works. Fairy tales by Basile, Perrault, and the Grimms have their roots in the oral tradition of women. These male writers took the stories from women, with their plucky, clever heroines and heros, and turned them into morality tales for children.
Urban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
, similar to a proverb
Proverb
A proverb is a simple and concrete saying popularly known and repeated, which expresses a truth, based on common sense or the practical experience of humanity. They are often metaphorical. A proverb that describes a basic rule of conduct may also be known as a maxim...
, which is generally passed down by old wives to a younger generation. Such "tales" usually consist of superstition
Superstition
Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: that one event leads to the cause of another without any process in the physical world linking the two events....
, folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
or unverified claims with exaggerated and/or untrue details. Today old wives' tales are still common among children in school
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
playgrounds. Old wives' tales often concern pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
, puberty
Puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes by which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of reproduction, as initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads; the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy...
and nutrition
Nutrition
Nutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
.
In this context, the word wife means woman rather than married woman. This usage stems from Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
wif (woman) and is akin to the German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
weib, also meaning "woman". This sense of the word is still used in Modern English in constructions such as midwife and fishwife.
Most old wives' tales are false and are used to discourage unwanted behavior, usually in children, or for folk cures
Traditional medicine
Traditional medicine comprises unscientific knowledge systems that developed over generations within various societies before the era of modern medicine...
for ailments ranging from a toothache
Toothache
A toothache, also known as odontalgia or, less frequently, as odontalgy, is an aching pain in or around a tooth.-Causes:* Dental etiology, In most cases toothaches are caused by problems in the tooth or jaw, such as** Dental caries...
to dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
. Among the few tales with grains of truth, the veracity is likely coincidental.
The concept of old wives' tales is ancient. In the 1st century, the Apostle Paul wrote to his young protégé Timothy, "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself [rather] unto godliness" (I Timothy 4:7 KJV).
Examples:
- Ice cream leads to nightmares.
- Toes pointed up signify low blood sugar.
- High heart rates lead to female fetuses.
- If you step on a crack you'll break your mother's back/step on a line and break your mother's spine.
- Breaking a mirror will earn a person seven years of bad luck.
- Don't swallow gum or it will stay in your stomach for seven years.
- Various other stories, all resulting in "seven years" of something.
- It's bad luck to open an umbrella indoors.
- Don't make silly faces or your face will stay that way forever.
The oral tradition
Old wives’ tales originate in the oral tradition of storytelling. They were generally propagated by illiterate women, telling stories to each other or to children. The stories did not attempt to moralise, but to teach lessons and make difficult concepts like death or coming of age easy for children to understand. Also these stories are used to scare children so they don't do certain things.These tales were often collected by literate men, and turned into written works. Fairy tales by Basile, Perrault, and the Grimms have their roots in the oral tradition of women. These male writers took the stories from women, with their plucky, clever heroines and heros, and turned them into morality tales for children.