Old wives' tales.
 

There are lots, and lots.

Are any based on fact?

Which ones do you know?

I'll start off.

Picking dandelions, and getting the white sap on your skin, will result in bed wetting.

Eating bread crusts makes your hair curl.

If you hold a buttercup under your chin, and there's a yellow reflection, it means you like butter.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Eating carrots makes you see in the dark

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Two things you'll never see , a dead donkey or a poor farmer

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Hard work never killed anyone,it just makes some queer shapes.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Rubbing a dock leaf on a nettle sting, eases the pain.

Eating fish makes you brainy.

Never swim until an hour has passed since you last ate.

Starve a cold, feed a fever.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Touching toads gives you warts.

Don't put cut flowers in a sick person's bedroom.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Get rid of styes by rubbing them with a gold ring.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

If you go outside with wet hair you'll catch a cold.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

If your right ear itches, someone's talking nicely about you.
If it's your left...they aren't.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Don't tickle a baby's feet, or they'll stutter.

A picture falling off the wall means a death is imminent.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

Self-abuse will stunt your growth. (Hazel Blears.)

Predict the sex of a baby by holding a wedding ring on string over the bump. Oval or circular movements mean a girl, straight line swinging predicts the baby will be a boy.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Dont walk under a ladder. will bring bad luck.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

You can't get pregnant whilst still breast feeding, or whilst on your period.

:dummy2::dummy2:

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Surely the old wives tale is 'Feed a cold and starve a fever' or at least that is what my old gran used to tell me.....and she was definitely an old wife(well widow actually)

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

The Claim: Starve a Cold, Feed a Fever - New York Times

Seems it's from Chaucer.

"Fede a cold and starb ob feber" translated as "feed a cold and DIE of fever."

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Good news -- starving is never the correct answer.

Starve a Cold, Feed a Fever? Learn the Facts

http://ohiok.com/img/cowmooos/emotic...ed/fat-pig.gif

:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

That one is not an old wives tale, it was a propoganda release during the last war, jerry could'nt fathom out how British fighter squadrons could pounce on them on moonless nights.
Radar was the new technology, but to fool jerry, it was said that British pilots, fed on a diet heavy in carotin, for some unknown reason it didnt work on germans.
Retlaw.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Masturbation makes you kind.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Sorry.

Should read blind.

http://www.myemoticons.com/images/people/male/blind.gif

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

My nan used to say the same as Margarets,:confused: lets be honest what do the yanks know? they aint got no history.:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

You should rub butter on a bump on the head.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Eat too much sugar and you'll get worms.


To get rid of a tapeworm you need a lit candle/or a bright torch. When the worm pokes out, attracted by the light, hook it out, but without breaking it. Otherwise another will grow from what's left.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Biting on a spoon, whilst chopping onions, will prevent you crying.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

another pregnancy one some fo my friends are doing atm is weeing on bleach, the colour it turns says what sex the baby is, i havent done it, dont think urine and bleach are a good combination

ive got pregnant breastfeeding twice, the second time i was tandem feeding so breastfeeding 2!

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

A watched Kettle never boils

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Least said , soonest mended

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Marry in May and rue the day. (I did)

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Let sleeping dogs ly.
Retlaw

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Tell the truth and shame the devil

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Marry in haste repent at leisure

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

apologies to the PC crowd , one of my Grandads. Pound £ notes were/are green because the Jews picked them before they are ripe

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

On looking miserable.

'If the wind changes your face will stay like that.'

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Gosh, Ty still feeding that late ... only joking .. best of luck with the next one .. x

Running around a tree naked at midnight can cure warts.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

From my granny- re hole in your sock. You'll never trip up while your toes can see.
re a personal error. A chap on a gallopin hos 'll never see it an them as does as nowt to do wi it

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

A bird flying into the house foretells of a death.

Sleeping with a bar of soap in the bed prevents cramps.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

:eek::eek:Bet that ones a site for sore eyes Kate:D:D:D you do have warts don't ya;);):D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

I heard that one G only it was a spud not soap

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

I was just going to say that......or a bit of magnet is another old fashioned remedy.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Water that you have boiled eggs in will give you warts.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

..and maybe more - my egg supplier doesn't wash the eggs before I get them, and chickens have only one 'exit hole' for everything.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Blowing up a brown paper bag will cure hiccups.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Tha's med thi bed, now that es to ly in it.
Retlaw.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

You should look into that statement deeper, have about how an egg pops out

How a Hen Lays Her Egg

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

That's what I said, diddle I?:D
"Chickens, as well as other birds, have a common opening for reproduction, and for the evacuation of stools and urine". = one exit hole
Interesting link thanks.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

You can't turn a sow's ear into a silk purse.

Sweets and chocolate causes acne.

If cows are lying down in the field it will rain soon.

If your left palm itches money's coming to you, and the reverse if it's your right palm.

You can catch polio from playing in muddy puddles.

Never sweep up after dark, someone will be dead by morning.

Put a penny in your shoe for good luck.

Always put the opening of pillowcases away from the door, to prevent nightmares.

Never whistle near a churchyard.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

another one for itchy palms......if your right palm itches...'rub it on wood, makes it good'

Ears itching:- left for love, right for spite, but changes over at night.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Many a mickle macks a muckle

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Is that from Harry Potter, err no thats a muggle:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

"'Many a mickle makes (or 'maks') a muckle' is a curious Scottish saying of antiquity, although it is also common in the North of England and not entirely unknown elsewhere. It is derived from 'A wheen o' mickles mak's a muckle', and means 'many of one thing make another, larger, thing'. A simple lesson, but one which needs restating; one must always look after the pennies. What are 'mickles' and 'muckles'? Webster 1913 states that each word is essentially a variant of the other, both meaning 'amount'. Arguments arge as to whether 'mickle' is in this case a corruption of 'pickle' (a Scots word for 'little'), and as to whether 'mickle' was once inherently inferior to 'muckle' or merely a variant. Whatever the case, the proliferation of this proverb has ensured that 'muckle' is now widely regarded as being the superior of 'mickle', something which is likely to persist.

So now you know

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Now we know where you came from, secrets out at last, always thought you were found under a gooseberry bush.:D:D:D:D
Retlaw

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Gooseberry bush don't be daft, a spiky bramble more like it :D:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

My Nanny always used to say "Count the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves"

See a penny, pick it up, and all day long you'll have good luck!:)

Don't put new shoes on the table -brings a death in the family.

An owl hooting on your roof brings the same....

In England we say "Touchwood", in Italy they say "Toccando il ferro" or "Touch iron"

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

I have a book of these sayings which i use when teaching English, some have equals in Italian and others are completely different, the one i have to avoid is:
A bird in the hand.....

In Italian "Uccello" (bird) is also used to describe a certain part of the male anatomy!!!!

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

The dandelion - Dente-de-leon (French) -Dente di leone (Italian) -known colloquially as "Pis-en-lit" both in France and Italy where the leaves are picked young and eaten as a salad. Very bitter with well-known diuretic effect -Pis-en-lit literally means "wet the bed"! There is always some wisdom/ truth in these sayings...

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

15 pints can have the same effect...or so i was told.:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

With me a large mug of tea has the same effect...

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Thats a gudun fro thee:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
Be carefull of that stuff, it has female hormones in it.
After 15 pints tha starts to talk daft & that can't drive.
Retlaw.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Thats true cashy like the old song goes, 15 pints and wad do you get,you wake up in di mornin and the bed is wet.:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

... and you're sleeping next to your mother-in-law:eek:;):D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Some, not all.

The wind did change, and my face didn't stay like that.

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...x7V77LJxywaDNx

:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Even 15 pints would have worked on either of my mother in laws, there was nowhere in the bedroom to park their brushes:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

This is lancashire not norfolk, you can tell when you get there all the jumpers on the washing lines have three arms:D:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

I don't know if anyone else came across this one, but it sure scared the ever lovin' outa me. Whenever I got a bump on my head ... I'm talking about saner days when there were no helmets, knee pads, etc. when all you were doing was going out to play .... and it was often, my gran would put a penny on the bump and place a bandage around it to hold it in place. She told me that if I didn't keep the penny in place my head might burst through the bump:eek: I put all my efforts into keeping that penny over the bump until she took the bandage off.

Imagine if that happened today ... charges would be laid; questions asked in the House; letters written to the Times; threads on AccyWeb:eek::eek:;):D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Come to think of it, I also put a lot of effort into avoiding getting bumps on my head:D Maybe that was the point:confused:

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Ya letters from disgusted of Tunbridge Wells:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Remember my grandma putting butter on a bruise:confused:

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Some girls at our school swore that putting toothpaste on lovebites made them fade faster...:eek:

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Putting a rose thorn under your pillow will make your dreams come true.

Just make sure you don't have nightmares, the night you try this.

:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Na it just covered um up:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Does this one count? "If you step on a nick, you'll marry a brick and a beetle will come to your wedding":eek:

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Monday's child is fair of face;
Tuesday's child is full of grace;
Wednesday's child is full of woe;
Thursday's child has far to go;
Friday's child is loving and giving;
Saturday's child works hard for a living.
But the child that is born on the Sabbath day
is fair and wise, good and gay.

I'm Thursdays child and I have gone far from home - are these true for you?
My sister is Wed. but was always the bright and bubbly one of the family....

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

cannot remember what day i was born, in fact its hard work remembering the year these days.:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

I bet Jews and Muslims find that hard to fathom.

:rolleyes:

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Never even thought about what day I was born until I saw your post. It turns out it was on a Friday. Might go out for a pint tonight to celebrate.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

I remember it as marry a stick mobertol

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Me neither Bernard, how do ya find out, to me its a 7 to 1 shot:rolleyes:

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

You can find out here
What Weekday Was I Born on?,Ask Jeeves

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Friday, yeah that's me. ;) :D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Thanks Margaret, looks like I should be celebrating with Bernard I was born on a Friday too:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Right load of Bull, if a child was born around midnight on a Sunday, and the time wasn't recorded to the exact second, then it could be a Sunday, or a Monday child, and who could prove which was which.
Same with Cesarian births, left to nature they could be a diiferent day of the week.
Retlaw.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

I suppose it is really -my sister actually had twins who were born on different days -one just before midnight and the other a bit after....
It's like horoscopes though -a lot of people like to read them and generally believe them if they are good!

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

If you stare directly at the sun, you'll damage your eyes.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

When you move to a new home, rubbing butter on a cat's paws will stop it wandering back to your old house.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Nitric Acid has the same effect.:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Another one in that vane "you should always rub your eyes with your elbow":rolleyes:

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

A mate of mine always used to tell barmaids they should rub the chest with Vic if they had a cough um
















My mates name was Vic:rolleyes::D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Will put this one to the test on my 3 cats whenever we next move house!

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

If the oak comes out before the ash -the world will get a splash,
if the ash comes out before the oak -the world will get a soak!

Red sky at night, shepherd's delight,
red sky in't mornin' shepherd's warning.

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

This is so that the cats spend their time licking the butter off rather than trying to get back to their old home..
Not sure it will work!

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence....

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

My Nanny always used to tell me that if i ate up my crusts (of bread) it would make my hair curl!

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a letter
Four for a boy.
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret, never to be told

I don't know if this is just because it was the theme tune to a 70's kids programme but i always thought this was for counting Magpies....

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.....

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise!

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

That's a complete load of bullshine Mi healths crap I'm skint the only thing which rings true is the wise bit, but that's only because I attended (with cashy) the University of life:D

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

As they say Jay, 2 out of 3 ain't bad, as you share your "pearls" of wisdom -that is wealth indeed!;)

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

"If you want something saying, ask a man.
If you want something doing, ask a woman." (Margaret Thatcher - can we consider her an old wife?)

Re: Old wives' tales.
 

Rub butter on a bump on the head.

Put steak on a black eye.

Rinsing your hair with urine will give your mane a healthy shine.

(These three could be connected, after someone got thumped for taking the pee.)

:D