# What Urban Myths seem to hold on for years or decades even when disproven **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 12, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852 "2026-06-12T19:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/361 "2026-06-29T01:37:52Z")
There is an argument, which we’ve seen here, about if your _real_ name is what you call yourself, or what other people call you, or what your official name is. It’s clear that Diana, Princess is called Princess Di in some places, by some people. And that in some places, in some cases, to some people, the difference mattered. So it’s at least a SDMB nitpick. Whether it’s _real_ or not, not so much. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/362 "2026-06-29T03:24:17Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > There is an argument, which we’ve seen here, about if your _real_ name is what you call yourself, or what other people call you, or what your official name is. There was a long involved quote in one of the Alice books about what things are called, versus their name, versus their title. I cant seem to find it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/363 "2026-06-29T03:34:35Z")
_Through the Looking-Glass_, Ch. 8: > “…The name of the song is called ‘_Haddocks’ Eyes_’." > “Oh, that’s the name of the song, is it?” Alice said, trying to feel interested. > “No, you don’t understand,” the Knight said, looking a little vexed. > “That’s what the name is _called_. The name really _is_ ‘_The Aged Aged Man_’.” > “Then I ought to have said ‘That’s what the _song_ is called’?” Alice corrected herself. > “No, you oughtn’t: that’s quite another thing! The _song_ is called ‘_Ways And Means_’: but that’s only what it’s _called_, you know!” > “Well, what _is_ the song, then?” said Alice, who was by this time completely bewildered. > “I was coming to that,” the Knight said. “The song really _is_ ‘_A-sitting On A Gate_’: and the tune’s my own invention.” ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/364 "2026-06-29T11:33:27Z")
Don’t want to hijack the thread too much, but I remember watching “Name That Tune” back in the 1970s, and the first notes were played. The contestant hit the buzzer and replied “This Old Man!” Tom Kennedy said, “No, sorry, the title is ‘The Children’s Marching Song.’” At the time, I would have replied “This Old Man,” too. ---
**Author:** ![DETXL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/detxl/32/19366_2.png) [@DETXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DETXL)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/365 "2026-06-29T12:59:16Z")
@DrDeth explained it, but I’d put it in a class of “common beliefs of dubious veracity about animals” from the same time, e.g. - That pelicans pierce their own breast for blood to nourish their young - That lynxes (a type of wolf) cover their urine because it turns into a precious stone - The entire existence of the pard, a cat that naturalists identified by inference since the leopard must’ve been the degenerate offspring of a lion and _something_, but they knew it could not be the panther, a [noble and Christlike creature whose only natural foe is the dragon](https://bestiary.ca/beasts/beastsource79.htm) I don’t know how much any of this was ever actually taken seriously, and perhaps that is a misconception itself (that the average medieval person literally believed that lynx pee turns into gemstones, instead of taking it as entertainment). I certainly don’t think, for example, that 19th-century newspaper editors genuinely believed every stone giant that was dug out of the ground, and I don’t think they expected their readership to. Still, I’d argue that those stories fit the mold of what we’d call “urban legends” today. Contemporary animal tales have a little bit more longevity, but not much so. Probably the only ones that still have currency are any number of animals that are said to mate for life, but are not monogamous in practice. More fun ones—the idea that lemmings swim because they are migrating to Lemuria, as [William Duppa Crotch argued](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_11/August_1877/The_Norwegian_Lemming_and_its_Migrations), or that coyotes steal watermelons by selecting the largest and roundest and rolling them off for miles—have long faded into obscurity. Actually, I thought of another. The entire idea of alpha wolves, and the pack structure as a rigid hierarchy from alpha to beta to omega, might be a “misconception” rather than an “urban myth,” per se, but it has certainly held on for years after it no longer had currency amongst biologists. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/366 "2026-06-29T14:50:53Z")
Tom Kennedy was wrong. According to Wiki “It received a boost in popularity when it was adapted for the film _The Inn of the Sixth Happiness_ (1958) by composer Malcolm Arnold as “The Children’s Marching Song”.” But I don’t think the original song was ever called that. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/367 "2026-06-29T16:41:41Z")
As for animals, someone already mentioned lemmings committing mass suicide by jumping off a cliff. I’d like to mention one that _might_ be an urban myth: the female praying mantis will often bite off the male’s head during mating. It _was_ observed in the lab, but there is speculation that the lab environment caused stress in the mantis, resulting in the action. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/368 "2026-06-29T17:23:22Z")
> [@DETXL](#): > > - That lynxes (a type of wolf) Huh? Lynxes are a kind of cat… I suspect a lot of the medieval animal myths were just the result of some earnest chap from an urban area coming and talking to what he considered a bunch of country idiots, and being made fun of without realising it. Bears are born shapeless and ‘licked into shape’? Weasels give birth through the ear? Games of ‘let’s see what the tourist will believe’ are pretty widespread; it’s practically the national sport in Australia. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/369 "2026-06-29T18:22:57Z")
> [@DETXL](#): > > @DrDeth explained it, but I’d put it in a class of “common beliefs of dubious veracity about animals” from the same time, e.g. > > - That pelicans pierce their own breast for blood to nourish their young > - That lynxes (a type of wolf) cover their urine because it turns into a precious stone > - The entire existence of the pard, a cat that naturalists identified by inference since the leopard must’ve been the degenerate offspring of a lion and _something_, but they knew it could not be the panther, Good addendum, thanks. > [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > _Through the Looking-Glass_, Ch. 8: Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/370 "2026-06-29T18:39:01Z")
Sometimes I wonder if the old “natural philosophers” ever saw an actual animal, or talked to a farmer. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/371 "2026-06-29T18:47:22Z")
Some thought that actually going out and doing experiments polluted pure thought. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/372 "2026-06-29T18:57:28Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Tom Kennedy was wrong. According to Wiki And Wiki is _never_ wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/373 "2026-06-29T18:58:09Z")
Evidence to the contrary is always welcome. Got any? ---
**Author:** ![DETXL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/detxl/32/19366_2.png) [@DETXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DETXL)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/374 "2026-06-29T19:02:18Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Huh? Lynxes are a kind of cat… That’s what they want you to think! (Modern etymologists trace lynx back to Greek λυγξ, lynx, meaning, uh, “lynx,” and eventually to the Proto-Indo-European root \*lewk, “bright, shining,” apparently because of its visual acuity. Older scholars concluded that it came from λύκος, lykos, “wolf” and therefore that the lynx was a kind of wolf. In a similar fashion, identifying “panther” as pan (all) + ther (animal, beast) is what led them to conclude that it was a friend to all animals (except the dragon)). But yeah: like you I have to imagine that even if most people had not seen a weasel, that’s an absurd fact to believe about them. On the other hand, the bear thing survived with little evolution from as early as Pliny to as late as Hildegard of Bingen and has some internal logic (since, obviously, “ursus” must come from Latin oris (ōs) + suo, “her mouth”). On the third hand, we’ve been saying the moon is made of green cheese [since the 16th century](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_is_made_of_green_cheese) without ever literally believing it. (ursus comes from ἄρκτος, arctos, the north, but taboos associated with mentioning or naming bears makes the precise evolution a little unclear) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/375 "2026-06-29T21:14:44Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Some thought that actually going out and doing experiments polluted pure thought. Does that explain why Aristotle never looked into a woman’s mouth? > **[A quote from The Impact of Science on Society](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/90478-aristotle-maintained-that-women-have-fewer-teeth-than-men-although)** > > Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by examining ... > [@Filbert](#): > > Games of ‘let’s see what the tourist will believe’ are pretty widespread; it’s practically the national sport in Australia. If you are in the States and are asked to go Snipe hunting, be wary. > **[Snipe hunt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snipe_hunt)** > > A snipe hunt is a type of practical joke or fool's errand, in existence in North America as early as the 1840s, in which an unsuspecting newcomer is duped into trying to catch an elusive animal called a snipe. Although the snipe is a real bird, a snipe hunt is a quest for a nonexistent creature whose description varies. > The target of the prank is led to an outdoor spot and given instructions for catching the snipe; these often include waiting in the dark and holding an empty bag or making noise... ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/376 "2026-06-29T21:51:53Z")
Or cow-tipping. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/377 "2026-06-29T22:40:04Z")
Cows hate it when that happens. And they are far larger than you are. ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2026, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/378 "2026-06-29T22:47:24Z")
I mean, as long as the cow provided reasonably good service… ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/379 "2026-06-30T01:07:26Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > As for animals, someone already mentioned lemmings committing mass suicide by jumping off a cliff. I’d like to mention one that _might_ be an urban myth: the female praying mantis will often bite off the male’s head during mating. It _was_ observed in the lab, but there is speculation that the lab environment caused stress in the mantis, resulting in the action. Here I am, a faithful Doper and '99er. And I’m going to cite [Snopes](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/preymates/). The research cited there seems quite solid and multi-sourced. It isn’t quite an urban myth. It does happen, but other factors need to be in play there. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2026, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852/380 "2026-06-30T12:00:42Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > As for animals, someone already mentioned lemmings committing mass suicide by jumping off a cliff. I’d like to mention one that _might_ be an urban myth: the female praying mantis will often bite off the male’s head during mating. It _was_ observed in the lab, but there is speculation that the lab environment caused stress in the mantis, resulting in the action. Female Praying Mantis: Oh, John, I’m so excited! I _must_ have you-- Right here! Right now! Male Praying Mantis: No!!! Not in the lab! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-urban-myths-seem-to-hold-on-for-years-or-decades-even-when-disproven/1030852.md?page=20)