10. 6 Boys are heavier babies than girls. Lack of hygiene also made people more susceptible to serious infections. Of course, premature babies may weigh less than others, but on average, boys are bigger than girls. After business hours, holidays or weekends: hs-publicaffairs@ucdavis.edu The idea is that spider webs are high in Vitamin K, a naturally blood clotting compound. ..rubbed some burn water on it and the pain left immediately!! Don't let these poor decorating choices ruin your interiors. Peel the bark off of a tickle tongue tree and chew on it to instantly numb. The phrase "old wives' tale" is often used to describe an old cure or piece of wisdom that has been passed down through the generations. If you dont have cigarettes available, use loose leaf tea. It's a viral infection of the larynx that often causes an odd-sounding, barking cough. 15 Popular Old Wives Tales That Are Completely Untrue. navigator.sendBeacon('https://www.google-analytics.com/collect', payload); Bluish yellow means it's a boy and greenish brown means it's a girl. According to Mexican legends, a bird landing on the back of someone's chair then flying away is a sign that the person will soon die. A baby girl's heart rate is usually faster than a boy's, but only after the onset of labor. Though some old wives' tales are true, most are harmless and at least one described here is dangerous. Chicken soup can help cure a cold? According to the stories, breaking a mirror causes seven years of bad luck. Why You Should Eat Carrots Every Single Day, Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. So, tucking your thumb into your hand is said to shield your parents from the grim reaper. (A) True, 19 If you look at someone cross eyed and the wind blows, you will stay like that? Though your parents might have warned you as a child that a swallowed piece of gum will take as many as seven years to digest, the chewing candy is actually digested immediately, with any indigestible parts excreted with your stools. Old wives' tales have been around for centuries, and many people still believe them. They were self-sufficient because theres was no other way to be. Catnip tea or caraway seed tea or a bit of onion juice is said to cure colic. Once cool, dab your finger in the resin and apply to the ringworm. if( navigator.sendBeacon ) { (A) True bad weather is coming, 16 If you sit to close to the TV you will go blind or get square eyes? densaniebla/pixabay. After 15, it was curtains. 1. Dry well and rub Vicks into your feet to moisturize. "People were using steam kettles at home and burning their kids. Both Russia and Norway have superstitions surrounding indoor whistling. Create a soap and mustard poultice with bread in it. Tea made from the roots of queen of the meadow. Mexican Quiz & Trivia for Seniors in Aged Care, Cinco de Mayo Day for Seniors in Aged Care, Speed Friendship Group for Seniors in Aged Care, Throw the Rubber Thong | Australia Day for Seniors, Canada Quiz for Seniors Canada Day Activity. Relax, feline fans: Your cat will not suck your baby's breath from their body. Apparently, girls have faster heartbeats than boys. Make a thick paste from green walnut husks and water. In Cajun French people who bought warts were called traiteur or faith healer. Another version of this is to just apply the poultice to the sick persons chest until it dries. Rub half of a freshly cut potato on a wart and bury the other half in the yard. Just splash some water behind someone to give them good luck. Seeing a pair of them is fine, but a single magpie is supposedly a sign of bad things to come. If the stars are out, it will be nice tomorrow. But research shows being cold can have an adverse effect on your immune system. The details of what happens when one's reflection is shattered are hazy, but they can't be good. Add remainder of ingredients, reseal, keep mashing it up mixing thoroughly. Eighty-two percent of the women with severe heartburn during pregnancy gave birth to especially hairy babes. Why this old wives' tale is strange: In China, some people believe the number four is a bad omen. And seeing as pennies are made of coppera metalthe currency became associated with good luck. Like Sick Kids' doctors, pediatricians at her hospital give children who need it an oral steroid drug and/or a dose of inhaled epinephrine to reduce inflammation. It has since been turned into a museum, and people still visit. According to Baby Center, using rubbing alcohol on a baby's skin is . Creating an oil of garlic to put in your ear will help treat ear infections. Apply a poultice of mullein leaves on a burn. Applying fingernail polish to ringworm supposedly suffocates the fungus. While carrots do contain beta carotine, a vitamin that helps maintain normal vision, eating more of them won't help fix poor eyesight, explains Berkeley Health. If so, the old wives' tale says you might be expecting a girl. While rubbing alcohol does actually help in stain removal, using drinking alcohol, like white wine, will only cause problems down the line: the sugars in it will caramelize and eventually create even more stains. xhr.open('POST', 'https://www.google-analytics.com/collect', true); As it turns out, there are a surprising number of true old wives' tales. Superstitions involve luck, magic or the supernatural. Apply a poultice of epsom salt and leave it on until it dries. But whether or not this old wives' tale works is irrelevant, seeing as just a few drops of alcohol can be toxic to an infant. Or if you want to send Lauren a quick message, check out her contact page. Please enter your username or email address. Applying kerosene when you step on a nail or shut your fingers in the door will supposedly take the pain away immediately. I collected some on the last snow. They spend hours replying individually to the letters left at the museum. Pure lard will supposedly clear up diaper rash as well. If thoseparticles cause a red sky in the morning, the sailors know that a low-pressure system, or storm, is likely to follow. Red sky at night sailors delight, Red sky at morn sailor be warned. Make a strong tea and soak a cloth in it and apply to sunburns. (A) False, 2. an old wives' tale ( disapproving) an old idea or belief that has proved not to be scientific: When you're expecting a baby, people tell you all sorts of old wives' tales. Harvard Medical School explains that the misconception comes from the idea that coffee causes osteoporosis. Old wives tale. Place a bar of Irish spring soap under the sheets in your bed and sleep with it. It's an old baby gender prediction tale that mixing your urine with drain cleaner will show the sex of the baby. If you nail a snail to a fence the wart will supposedly fall off. Taking large doses of vitamin C won't help prevent a cold, and there's really "no solid evidence" that it will decrease the severity of cold and flu symptoms or even shorten the duration of the illness, Conway says. A red sky at night indicates that the sinking air and potentially dangerous weather has passed. You don't have to have kids to appreciate the corniest, punniest dad jokes of all time. Drink 4x a day. Black crows and ravens are seen as bad omens in several countries, from the U.K. to South Korea. Burn a paper bag and blow the ashes away after its burned down. You can predict the sex of your baby with a wedding ring test. Some helpful members even commented on how that particular old wives tale is now backed by scientific evidence. DOWNLOAD OUR TO QUIZ PRINT 1. There are approximately one trillion pregnancy adages to go around, butthis one happens to be true. The old wives' tale that a wooden spoon is capable of preventing water from boiling over, works because of two factors. It's a traditional remedy as embedded in our culture as downing chicken soup to soothe a cold or putting baking soda on a bee sting: When kids have the croup, surround them with steam to help them breathe. (Ireland). If the cows in pastures are all lying down, it's a sure sign of rain. 25 Crazy Old Wives' Tales People Still Believe, Stress Management Center and Phobia Institute. Today, we know the baby more likely passed from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Carrying high versus low. If they left their bottles on the table, they were charged for them. Reading in a darkly lit room might give your eyes some dryness or fatigue, but it won't cause any serious or long-term damage. Cornstarch can be applied to a babys bottom to absorb any moisture and protect from future diaper rashes. There is nothing hiding in horseradish that would somehow make it the magical cure for chest colds, and yet somehow still reach for the plant whenever we're under the weather. The infection generally. Often taking the form of short, clever sayings meant to pass along wise advice, most old wives' tales contain exaggerated or simply false claims. Seal, mash till they are broken up. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); God bless Dr. Aba for his marvelous work in my life, I was diagnosed of HERPES since 2019 and I was taking my medications, I wasnt satisfied i needed to get the HERPES out of my system, I searched about some possible cure for HERPES and i saw a comment about Dr. Aba how he cured HERPES, DIABETES, HEPATITIS B and CANCER with his herbal medicine, I contacted him and he guided me. Take a feta look at the resultshere. Rub tiger balm onto sore muscles and wrap with a hot, steamy towel. Just by holding and soothing the child, most attacks resolve within 30 minutes. Chewing gum is not meant to be swallowedbut if you happen to gulp it down by accident, you have no need to worry. Tired, but fine! According to lore, the emperor's headache magically vanished after he touched a particular column in the church. will cure croup; onions cooked or raw should be eaten by persons . Sprinkle black pepper around where you find mice droppings to stop them from coming back. Inhale the steam, drink the tea with a little honey if you have a stuffy nose. (A) True, 6. Make a tea by putting some pine top needles and boneset in boiling water. Covers marked with a "K" are considered good luck because, in Swedish, the word for love starts with a K. Covers marked with an "A" are thought to bring bad luck because the Swedish word for heartbreak starts with an A. document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', function() { And perhaps it's because it's so easy to convince yourself of the fact that bad things come in threesafter all, this notion is explored pretty much every time a celebrity passes awaythat this superstition is so widespread and believed in. The idea behind the old wives' tale is that soap releases magnesium, one of the deficiencies that's believed to cause the leg cramps. An apple a day keeps the Doctor away? How cheery. Still, Neto acknowledged it may be hard for parents and even some long-practicing doctors and nurses to abandon the notion that humidity is the treatment of choice for croup. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Break open a puffball mushroom over a cut to stop bleeding. Cravings These 25 old wives' tales are some of the most commonly believed ones around the world, so check them in preparation for your next cultural adventure. Since the dawn of time people have reported dogs going mad, cats getting their love on and seizure rates shooting through the roof. Consume mall amounts of tobacco as a dewormer for parasites. With the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994, a story started doing the rounds in primary schools about a monster that awaits girls in the school toilet. So no, you cannot drown your fetus by taking a bath. Today, we have electricity. About one in every 20 children under age six will develop croup at some point. Create a poultice made from mud dauber nests and water and apply to a bee or spider bite. Later, the carrot-eyesight link further gained validity in the public eye when sugar supplies became scarce and, as such, the British Ministry of Food made a push for more vegetables and fewer sweets, with cartoons like "Dr. Though today this old wives' tale is entirely erroneous, there actually was once a time when sitting too close to your television set could harm your health. What is the meaning of "old wives' tale"? These 25 old wives' tales are some of the most commonly believed ones around the world, so check them in preparation for your next cultural adventure. The Associated Press contributed to this report. This is just a fact. No, you won't drown if you don't wait at least 30 minutes before jumping in the pool. Mayonnaise hair mask to suffocate lice and then comb them and the eggs out. Old Wives' Tale: Seizures Increase during a Full Moon The 'Transylvania Hypothesis' is a theory that states weird stuff happens around a full moon. Old Wives Tales about Horses Posted on October 3, 2016 by The Equine Report By Dr. Kelly Hudspeth, DVM. by Zack Walkter. These are things that we've been told over and over again throughout the years - but are any of these old wives' tales actually true? Neto said although unproven, taking wee ones outside in the cold air will often alleviate symptoms of croup, which affects children up to five years old (after that age, it is called laryngitis). If the mixture turns green it means a girl, if it turns blue it means a boy. Since then, her hospital no longer employs mist to treat kids who come to the ER with the condition, Neto said Tuesday from Ottawa. Some people buy warts by rubbing a penny on them. It's Time to Stop Believing These Old Wives Tales, 'WoF' Fans Say This Is the Biggest Choke on Show, according to Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, How Much Water Should You Drink Every Day, According to Experts. Another option is to pee on your own feet in the shower, and then wash them clean. After an empire or two fell on a Tuesday the 13th, people decided the day was a bad omen altogether. I'm Dr. Cindy Gellner. Some of these superstitions might surprise you. Enjoy sharing these popular wives' tales with your senior residents in aged care, have a laugh and see if anyone can guess if these are true or false. Pediatrician Dr. Cindy Gellner says no. Bringing in eggs after dark will bring bad luck. Regardless, the cautionary tale has worked, with most Turkish people avoiding gum at night. Morning Sickness. Why do we touch wood for luck, throw spilt salt over the shoulder, or avoid walking under a ladder? xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'text/plain;charset=UTF-8'); Cutting your nails at night is no big deal because we have plenty of light to do it. Whether you believe in superstitions and old legends or not, their cultural roots may surprise you. (The reader who submitted this one also commented on how the kids would fight over who got to eat that one oily potato!). Why this old wives' tale is strange: Actually, it's not that strange at all when you think about it. Tale**. You may want to get rid of all of your contaminated shoes and use bleach in your shower spray and leave it to dry for 20 minutes before rinsing with very hot water. We've all heard the superstitious saying: "Find a penny, pick it up. Most old wives tales were followed by other members adding how their grandparents used to tell them that, or that they do what was recommended and it works every time! You brush your teeth, slip in yourretainerand begin to doze off. 5 years ago. When pregnant if you suffer with heartburn it is said your baby will have lots of hair when born? Chopped up onion to draw out the poison. Thus, it is useful to note the full circle folk medicine has traveled and to give credit to the writers of fiction who have meticulously described and corroborated the practice of folk medicine. Rub a dried bean on the wart and bury it in the ground. Almost everyone has heard at least one of these sayings. You slam that last piece of pizza as the credits to Stranger Things roll. Breathing dried mullien smoke will supposedly bring up all the phlegm from your lower lungs. While it can be fun to try and guess the baby's sex during pregnancy, she says these old wives' tales are only right about half the time. Symptoms develop gradually, over two days, and you usually start hearing the typical barking cough by day three. For more info on how to use Garlic Medicinally, check out my post on The Medicinal Benefits of Garlic. A popular old wives tale claims that chestnuts are a foolproof spider-repellent. Carrot"gracing advertisements and billboards everywhere. 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Using steam kettles at home and burning their kids your finger in yard. A particular column in the door will supposedly clear up diaper rash well... By persons catnip tea or a bit of onion juice is said to shield your parents the... The wind blows, you wo n't drown if you have no need to worry onions cooked or raw be... Put in your ear will help treat ear infections breaking a mirror causes seven years of bad.... The ashes away after its burned down are seen as bad omens in several countries, from the grim.! Or raw Should be eaten by persons day, your Privacy choices Opt. Think about it on them up all the phlegm from your lower lungs no other way be... Attacks resolve within 30 minutes onion juice is said your baby will have lots of when... Charged for them accident, you wo n't drown if you happen to it... Steam old wives' tales for croup at home and burning their kids is now backed by scientific.! 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