I know you want to believe it. I know that it came from a trustworthy source — your sister, your cousin, your aunt — who would never lie to you. I know it is almost plausible. But, no. Your aunt did not have twins in her class named Orange Jello and Lemon Jello. Your sister did not overhear a woman in the grocery store calling her daughter Shithead. Your cousin the nurse never had to explain to someone that Vagina was not an appropriate name for a newborn. Stop forwarding me these silly stories, people.
Posts tagged as:
myths
Metafilter Mythbuster?
One of my favorite sites is Metafilter (aka “mefi”). I found it way back in ‘99 and became a member in March of ‘00. For years it has consistently been wonderful. The users are infinitely more mature and intelligent than the ones at digg. It’s really quite incredible how mefi has managed to stay so respectable while digg seemed to get overcome by what are apparently mostly invective teenagers.
{ 1 comment }
No Champagne for Shula and the Boys
And so another childhood belief is disproved. I had always liked the oft-told tale of the surviving members of the ‘72 Dolphins sending a case of champagne to the team that beats the last unbeaten NFL team each season. Apparently it’s simply another urban legend. I followed a link from Pop Culture Junk Mail to Snopes, where there’s a long and detailed debunkment of this myth. It looks like I didn’t even have the myth correct, either. Snopes says that the story is supposed to be about the surviving members drinking champagne together (or simultaneously). Oh well …
{ 0 comments }
Urban Myths
From the “Frequently Asked Questions” page at the California Highway Patrol web site:
I have heard that some gangs are initiating new members by driving with their headlights off and when people flash their lights at them, they must shoot the drivers of the cars who do this. Is this true?
Ha!
{ 2 comments }
Miss Cleo
Yes! This snip from NextDraft makes me very happy:
Missouri has filed lawsuits against the psychic Miss Cleo (if you have ever watched television, you know her) charging her with consumer fraud. According to the state’s attorney general: ‘Miss Cleo should have seen this coming. It doesn’t take a crystal ball to realize that ripping off consumers isn’t without consequences.’
{ 1 comment }
More Debunking
The Urban Legend Combat Kit is a free collection of canned responses to help you combat Internet myths and urban legends. When someone sends you an urban legend, just cut and paste the appropriate response from this site.
Another fine link via Rebecca’s Pocket
{ 0 comments }
fake facts
I’m a big fan of urban legends. Well. Okay. I’m a big fan of debunking urban legends. (Stop the bunking!) I don’t do much actual debunkment myself, rather I tend to inform people when what they are telling me is an urban legend or where they can go to learn if I am really risking my life by flashing my headlights at the moron driving at midnight without his lights because it’s a known fact! that gangs in LA drive around town with their lights off just waiting for someone to flash them so they can kill them as part of a gang initiation … So I got quite a giggle and smirk attack while reading things that might be true (but aren’t).
[click to continue...]
{ 3 comments }
Disney Myths
More Debunking Fun!
Claim: The closure and removal of Disneyland’s Skyway in November of 1994 was prompted by a guest’s having fallen from the ride several months earlier.
Status: False.
Claim: Several guests have lost their lives on various Disneyland attractions.
Status: True.
Claim: One of the castle spires on the cover of Disney’s The Little Mermaid home video was deliberately drawn as a phallus by a disgruntled artist.
Status: False.
Has anyone ever died while riding Space Mountain?
You’ve probably heard the rumor that a passenger was decapitated while riding Space Mountain Anaheim. This is Urban Legend; people have died while riding the attraction before, but their deaths have been caused by such things as heart attacks (it is fairly well accepted that one such death in Paris was due to a heart attack). One version of this story has that a test dummy in the Orlando Space Mountain was the thing which lost a head.
{ 28 comments }
Deaths at DisneyLand
Great Caeser’s Ghost! I had no idea that so many people have actually been killed at DisneyLand! I’ve been in California for about three months now and haven’t made it to DisneyLand yet. I’ve heard nothing but bad things about it, although I want to visit if only to compare it to Disney World. I grew up in north central Florida and have been to Disney World at least fifty times (seriously) and I have always had a terrific time. It is just about my favorite place on the planet. (I wonder if there is another page somewhere with death statistics about Disney World …)
link via weblog wannabe
{ 22 comments }
Fixed Earth
The belief that the Earth is rotating on an “axis” and orbiting the sun is
The Granddaddy of All Deceptions in the World Today!
{ 1 comment }
