Monday, October 26, 2009

Heads or Tails Remix

Skittles asks us to choose any previous theme for Heads or Tails and do a post on it. I'm going to use the post I wrote when our theme was LEGEND. This was originally posted on February 16, 2009.

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!

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6 comments:

  1. I'm a designated debunker. I have a friend who will forward something to me and add... "Sic, 'em!" It is fun. I used to use About.com but decided to try Snopes once and have stuck with them since. It is a fun site to browse thru.

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  2. I cannot believe the 5 second rule is true. lol

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  3. Oh c'mon... 5 seconds is hardly enough time to pick something up and brush off the pet hair. 10 at least... ;)

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  4. Cool list, and I don't care what they say, every kid knows the 5 second rule!

    We did prove in a science class that a tooth or any small bone fragment can be dissolved in coke, it just doesn't happen over night.

    Calico Contemplations

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  5. So did the tooth ever decompose?
    My hots is up... doingthemathcountingmyblessings.blogspot.com/

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