Urban Legends - Did It Really Happen?

Hi All,

You probably have heard about 'urban legends'...these are things like stuffing onions in your socks to cure disease or Was Tom Hanks' Dad the Lead Singer of the Diamonds? or Do Birds Exploded If they Eat Wedding Rice?

Urban legends have been around for a long, long time.  And now, with the advent of the internet, urban legends have become more and more prevalent.

And, as the internet giveth, so it shall explaineth - and create a website as an answer...forthwith two sites that discuss urban legends: Snopes and UrbanLegends.About.com.

Of the two, Snopes.com is the more popular - and just might be considered to be the seminal 'urban legends' website on the web.  Its tagline is 'Rumor Has It' - and is a well organized website.

Categories at the top of the page include 'What's New', Randomizer, Hot 25, FAQ, Odd News, Glossary, Newsletter and Message Board.

The Newsletter Subscription link has a form to enable readers to subscribe to the free weekly, Snopes.com newseletter.

Taken in turn...'What's New' lists recent updates and additions to Snopes.com - there are also links to the RSS newsfeed on this part of the page.

The Randomizer link takes you to a random urban legend - and changes each time you click on the word, Randomizer. Fun way to learn new things.

Clicking on the Hot 25 link goes to a page that compiles the 25 urban legends currently circulating most widely.  Fun stuff!

FAQ is a link that goes to the Frequently Asked Questions page on Snopes.  Useful Q&A format makes this a good starting point if you are not familiar with Snopes. 

The Odd News link features a daily collection of links to news articles and websites of interest to Snopes.com readers. 

The Glossary link  provides definitions for  number of terms that visitors to Snopes.com might not
be familiar with. Some terms come from the field of folklore and others are specific to Snopes.com.

And, finally, the Message Board link enables users to sign-up, partake and to follow various conversations that like-minded Snopes readers are engaging in.  It is a great way to share urban legend ideas and thoughts with other people on the web!!!

And now for the shameless plug part of the blog entry.  Readers can check out - get it - some books at their very own Farmingdale Public Library on the topic of urban legends.  Click on this link and you'll go to the library card catalog under the topic of 'urban legends'. 

Enjoy the legends and the links.

Regards,
Stu

Urban Legends, Myths and More: Snopes.com

Hi All,

What do the phrases, 'autos', 'business', 'cokelore', 'Disney', 'Frauds and Scams', 'Inboxer Rebellion','Old Wives' Tales', 'Travel' and 'Weddings'?

Why they are all subject headings at Snopes.com.  What is Snopes.com you ask?  Excellent question and the answer is that Snopes is the 'definitive Internet reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors and misinformation. 

Users can use the search box to type in a particular hoax or piece of misinformation to learn more about the topic.

For example, I typed in the word 'milk' and got over 100 results.  The first entry is titled, 'Doctor Operates For Free on Girl Who Years Earlier Gave Him a Glass of Milk'.

The entry has a 'glurge' - a word that describes the event that Snopes talks about.  As Snopes describes it, a 'glurge' is a word to describe the syrupy sweet e-mails that are mass-mailed to unwilling participants on the internet'.

Status of the urban legends is either 'true' or 'false'.

An example of when and how the urban legend was found is included.  Origins of the urban legend are discussed in detail (to the tune of over 1000 words) and and a 'Last Updated' time stamp is included in all entries.  Finally, a list of sources is included at the end of the entry!

Hack away and enjoy finding out about all those urban legends that you've been wondering about. 

Regards,
Stu