Usage
Examples of old wives' tales include:
- Ice cream leads to nightmares.
- Toes pointed up signify low blood sugar.
- High heart rates lead to female fetuses.
- Don't swallow gum or it will stay in your stomach for seven years.
- Making silly faces when the wind direction changes will make the silly face permanent.
- Chocolate leads to acne.
- Shaving your legs makes the hair grow back thicker.
- Eating crusts (of a sandwich) makes your hair go curly/ you grow hair on your chest
Read more about this topic: Old Wives' Tale
Famous quotes containing the word usage:
“...Often the accurate answer to a usage question begins, “It depends.” And what it depends on most often is where you are, who you are, who your listeners or readers are, and what your purpose in speaking or writing is.”
—Kenneth G. Wilson (b. 1923)
“Girls who put out are tramps. Girls who don’t are ladies. This is, however, a rather archaic usage of the word. Should one of you boys happen upon a girl who doesn’t put out, do not jump to the conclusion that you have found a lady. What you have probably found is a lesbian.”
—Fran Lebowitz (b. 1951)
“I am using it [the word ‘perceive’] here in such a way that to say of an object that it is perceived does not entail saying that it exists in any sense at all. And this is a perfectly correct and familiar usage of the word.”
—A.J. (Alfred Jules)