Monday, February 16, 2009

Heads or Tails


THIS week's theme/prompt is:

HEADS - "Legend"


Urban Legends are the bane of the Internet.


What is an urban legend, you ask?


Zimbio says, "An urban legend is a kind of modern folklore consisting of stories often thought to be factual by those circulating them.... Urban legends are not necessarily untrue, but they are often false, distorted, exaggerated, or sensationalized."


The best source on the Internet to determine if something is true, partially true, or just an urban legend is Snopes.


For example:


Semen from several dead men is found in restaurant food. (completely false)


Dropped food will remain germ-free if picked up within five seconds (completely false, although we use the five-second rule at my house!)


The FDA has issued a warning about an association between Hepatitis A and green onions (true)


The design of the California flag was a mistake. (true)


Walt Disney's body was put in cryonic storage. (completely false)


Finland once banned Donald Duck because he wore no pants. (completely false)


A tooth left in a glass of coca-cola will dissolve overnight. (completely false - but we have a lost tooth we could try that with tonight!)


Casinos pump extra oxygen onto the gaming floors during the early morning hours to keep tired patrons from heading off to bed. (completely false)


I could spend hours debunking urban legends at Snopes. It's so fun!

14 comments:

  1. Really fun post!!

    Hugs Giggles

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love reading urban legends - proof that superstition isn't dead.

    ReplyDelete
  3. EXCELLENT post this week....It's perfect for the prompt and the link you provided is for those who send off those 'unwanted' emails filled with urban legends!!! Great choice.


    My H o T legend this week is posted now...do drop by if you have a moment.

    Happy Tuesday.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I knew the onion one was true because Taco Bell no longer serves them on their nachos. (Fat people know these things hahaha)

    Only five seconds? :P

    ReplyDelete
  5. What Walt is not frozen how dissapointing. I heard it was just his head though...still not true I guess

    ReplyDelete
  6. My hubby loves snopes and we use it regularily....I didn`t know that about the onions...that is interesting...

    ReplyDelete
  7. I love this stuff. I am always checking out things at Snopes. Thanks for the heads up on the green onions!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Snopes is such fun and so was your HoT! I've never left a tooth in coke; but I did have a friend who left a chicken bone in coke. It didn't dissolve completely and certainly not overnight; but the acid did make the bone very flexible.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Snopes is a fine place - I can't believe how often I visit when dire warnings are forwarded by well-meaning friends. LOL De-bunking has to be at least as much fun as creating legends! Nice post!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks so much for the comment <3 means a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  11. okay but I know for a fact Coca cola with take the rust of a nail.

    ReplyDelete
  12. It is fun! I always use them.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I always turn to Snopes for those pest emails that go around.

    I always thought the Donald Duck one was true. lol

    ReplyDelete
  14. I always get such a kick out of reading those on Snopes - and realizing that some people actually believe them!! Whenever I get one of 'those' e-mails, I check it out on Snopes, and if it's not true, I hit 'Reply All' and let the sender - and everyone else - know!! Maybe that's why I don't get so many of those anymore....

    ReplyDelete

I love comments! Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails