Over in GQ there was a question regarding the old rhyme “Ring Around the Rosie” as being a reference to the plague. I was about to reply that yes, it is but then thought better of it. Having been caught out in the past I decided to do some quick research and found that, in fact, folklorists are almost certain the rhyme has nothing to do with the plague.
This SUCKS! It was so much more fun to sound all knowlegeable at parties and say, “You know, that rhyme is about the plague.”
This isn’t the only time it’s happened either. The guy who strapped rockets to his car and flew into a cliff is untrue, the library sinking because engineers didn’t account for the weight of the books is wrong, it’s possible other women exist that are as cool as my wife and so on!
Sometimes ignorance is bliss! This sort of thing also screws with your social life. You’re at a party and someone says, “You know, that rhyme is about the plague.” Then you, not willing to allow ignorance to go unchallenged, pipe in, “Not really, the rhyme was actually written a few hundred years after the plague.” Result? Dirty stares at you as the smart ass know-it-all who has to ruin a perfectly harmless piece of folklore! Maybe it’s all in the delivery but that’s something I’ve never been very good at.
Of course, you might say that as an American it is my God given right to bury my head in the sand and remain as ignorant as I wish and you’d be right. Unfortunately I can’t help it…IGNORANCE MUST BE STOMPED OUT!
A while back I pissed off a lot of close friends because they would email me stupid ULs and I would respond with a nice note and a link to a debunking.
To cheer myself up I instituted the Order of Snopes, with the motto “Above All, Accuracy”*, still found in my sig line. It doesn’t make people like me, but it warns them that I have an attachment to truth over entertainment.
That rocket car story was the funniest damn thing I’ve read in a dog’s age and worth the 45 minutes it took to wade through it. Thanks a million, friedo! I needed that.
I wanna know where I can get the rocket Darwin fish, http://www.cardhouse.com/rocketcar/fish1.gif , on wheels plaque. Mind you if I did put stuff on the back of my truck it would be a regular Jesus fish but it’s still pretty cool.
The bad looks always happen to me too. My friend always likes to bring up the pluck yew/fuck you story. I always correct her. I get snide comments back. Ah well, such is our lot in life.
I’m so glad other people find stern truth a bit disappointing at times. It still cheeses me off that Catherine The Great didn’t actually die from being crushed by a horse during sex. (With the horse, that is.)
Lusty old gal, fershure, but unfortunately just another one of those endearing bits of legend. Though to be honest I’ve never just popped out with that at a party, either.
Yeah, and fighting ignorance can make you a wet blanket at parties. Eventually, people will stop inviting you.
You don’t get more ULs to laugh at in a private moment if you debunk every one your friends give you. Reading it on Snopes is nowhere near as much fun as hearing it from some dork who actually believes it, so you act like YOU believe it and he’ll tell you more.
And the folklorists are wrong about “Rosie.” I read it in a book. It must be true.
