# Snopes literalism **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 30, 2000, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snopes-literalism/47753 "2000-12-30T03:34:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzel)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snopes-literalism/47753/1 "2000-12-30T03:34:00Z")
In the “Things you can’t believe some people don’t know” thread, a High School teacher recounted the time when he told his class that semen is mostly sugar, and a female student asked “Then why doesn’t it taste sweet.” Then, another poster posted a Snopes link and said something to the effect of, “Are you sure you didn’t just read that somewhere?” He’s probably sure considering it actually _happened to him_. Just because Snopes calls something an “Urban Legend” does not necessarily preclude it having happened. Snopes is a good reference for debunking lame e-mail forwards and “friend of a friend of a friend” stories, but it is not the infallible inspired word of God. This teacher did not say “I was sitting in the teacher’s lounge one day, and the math teacher told me about his wife’s dentist who once talked to this guy on the bus who was a health teacher, who was talking about semen and…” He actually experienced it. I doubt that he just heard the story and incorporate it into his own memory. That seems much more farfetched than a student asking a logical question. And while I’m at it, Snopes citing possible psychological reasons for an Urban Legend is not the same as disproving it having occurred. For example, the Snopes account of this Urban Legend includes this explanation: > [@](#): > > This story most likely originated as a joke in a more chauvinistic era, intended as a quick, humorous put-down of women that combined their perceived unsuitability for traditionally male pursuits (such as science) with a trivializing view of them as mere sex objects. Just because a story could be conceived to have negative implications for women does not mean that it never happened. In fact, we at the SDMB have a personal account of a teacher who witnessed it. ---
**Author:** ![Tzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzel)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snopes-literalism/47753/2 "2000-12-30T03:37:32Z")
Oh, and I should also point out the this UL was classified with a white bullet, defined on the Snopes site as such: > [@](#): > > White bullets are the ones most commonly associated with “pure” urban legends – entries that describe plausible events so general that they could have happened to someone, somewhere, at some time, and are therefore essentially unprovable. Some legends that describe events known to have occurred in real life are also put into this category if there is no evidence that the events occurred before the origination of the legends This makes it even more inappropriate for someone to use a Snopes link to suggest that someone who personally witnessed the event may be in error, since the site itself says that it “could have happened to someone, somewhere, at some time.” ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snopes-literalism/47753/3 "2000-12-30T03:42:47Z")
Well, I know the person who wrote the email shown here. She actually wrote to Snopes and told them this, but they haven’t changed the info at the site. [http://www.snopes2.com/sex/aphrodis/altoids.htm](http://www.snopes2.com/sex/aphrodis/altoids.htm) ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snopes-literalism/47753/4 "2000-12-30T03:45:42Z")
A lot of this material was covered in the infamous “Up the butt, Bob” thread. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=22386](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=22386) Not something I want to open back up. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snopes-literalism/47753/5 "2000-12-30T04:25:26Z")
Tzel, is [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=48799#post929723) the post you’re referring to? Because that doesn’t sound like a post from the high school teacher, it sounds like a post from a student. Just a minor point, doesn’t make it untrue, but slightly hurts the credibility. ---
**Author:** ![Tzel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Tzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzel)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snopes-literalism/47753/6 "2000-12-30T04:42:12Z")
Ah, I see. Interestingly enough, in the past 15 minutes or so, I’ve been reading the thread linked to above, which contains a lot of discussion about false memories. Seems I’m a victim myself. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snopes-literalism/47753/7 "2000-12-30T05:21:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by smackfu \* > \*\*Just a minor point, doesn’t make it untrue, but slightly hurts the credibility. \*\* Because young people, as a group, can’t be relied upon to tell the truth! ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snopes-literalism/47753/8 "2000-12-30T05:50:02Z")
I don’t think you should get upset if the story isn’t updated right away. Do you realize the sheer volume of stories they go through? And the whole site is updated almost daily, or at least twice a week. Also, snopes and Barbara moderate their board, and participate on the board quite a bit, w/o any help. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snopes-literalism/47753/9 "2000-12-30T07:11:37Z")
Without commenting on the specific incident mentioned here, I have been accused of lifting a memory from Snopes here on the boards. So it does happen. In fact, I hadn’t heard of the UL until after I had experienced it. I remember reading Snopes and thinking, “Hey! That happened to me!” ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2000, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/snopes-literalism/47753/10 "2000-12-30T16:08:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tzel \* > [snips] > And while I’m at it, Snopes citing possible psychological reasons for an Urban Legend is not the same as disproving it having occurred. Amen. A while back, I had a (very) minor email ado with Ms. Mikkelson on this very issue. Related to this issue, I find some of these psychological reasons stuck in a bit of a time warp. One example sticks in my mind – the various legends about supernatural events occurring if a woman graduates from a college a virgin. Snopes gave, as usual, a misanthropic interpretation of the legend. I tried and failed to point out that, while the legends may have begun as female-bashing, at many schools of which I am aware, it has been co-opted by the female students themselves, a la “Queer” and homosexuals. The larger point I was trying to make is that the reasons and meanings of legends is mutable, something I don’t see Snopes often acknowledging. Sua