S/O Old Wives' Tales - Proven False

[ladyknight1]

My dad used to always say: Coffee would make my toenails turn black and put hair on my chest. Hasn't happened yet.

[Nikko-chan]

"If you keep makin that face it is going to get stuck that way!"

Suuure it is....

[doodlemor]

Grandma told me to eat the crusts of my bread to make my hair curly.  I refused, and my hair is very curly.

[misha412]

I was told by my grandmother that if I ate the core of an apple, I would have an apple seed take root in my stomach and an apple tree would grow there.

I proved that tale wrong. I ate the core of many apples. No trees have appeared yet.

[JenJay]

If a pregnant woman raises her arms over her head it'll strangle the baby. My cousin said her doctor told her that. I told her to find a new doctor!

[magician5]

When I was little they told me "if you sit that close to the television, you'll ruin your eyes!"

Turned out, I was sitting that close to the television BECAUSE my eyes were in bad shape already.

[Piratelvr1121]

Grandma told me to eat the crusts of my bread to make my hair curly.  I refused, and my hair is very curly.

On the flip side I ate all the crusts I could and my hair is still quite straight.  Only time it gets a natural curl is when I'm at the beach and the salt air gets to it.

My oldest likes to eat the cores of apples and so far, no trees. 

Don't go outside with your hair wet or you'll catch cold!  I often don't have time to dry my hair before leaving and I have yet to catch a cold.  Speaking of colds, dh insists that if your temperature is lower than normal, it means you have a cold and that's why they call it a cold. 

One year I was working at the Ren fest in one of the food booths and on the very last weekend it was raining cats and dogs.  One of my coworkers fashioned a slicker for me out of a trash bag but it only went to mid thigh so the rest of me got soaked on the way to my van.  Well I was talking to a friend on the way home who told me to "change out of your wet clothes as soon as you get home so you don't get sick!"   I didn't get sick at all, and it kind of made me chuckle.

And I heard that one about pregnancy and raising one's arms above their head. 

[pwv]

Whenever we went to the beach or pool and had something to eat while there, my parents would be very strict about the "no swimming for an hour or else you'll get cramps".  I've gone back into the water many, many times immediately after eating and haven't gotten cramps yet.

[ladyknight1]

My mom would take myself and my sisters to the pool on rare occasions. Every time I went, I would buy a Zero candy bar and eat it in the pool. I never got cramps.

[rose red]

Don't go to sleep with wet hair or you will get headaches for the rest of your life.

If you get caught in the rain, wash your hair right away or you will get lice.

[Hillia]

Chocolate gives dogs worms.

Besides my mom, I was told this very definitively by a vet tech.  He was a major jerk in many other ways, so the fact that he was also incompetent at his job was no surprise.

[CakeBeret]

My mom always insisted that if I went to bed with wet hair I would catch a cold.

As an adult I frequently do so, and have never gotten sick from that.

[Thipu1]

Don't go to sleep with wet hair or you will get headaches for the rest of your life.

If you get caught in the rain, wash your hair right away or you will get lice.

In our house, it might be the hottest day in July but, if you went to bed with wet hair, you'd catch a cold. 

You never bathed or washed your hair when you had a cold.  Obeying that one just added to the misery.   

Also, a woman should never sit on anything cold.  That will cause 'pneumonia of the (ahem)'. Or at least constipation. 

Wearing rubber boots in the house will cause problems with your eyes. I have no idea where that one came from.

An open umbrella in the house is bad luck.

When you remark on the beauty of a bride or a baby you must always add, 'God bless her' or 'God love him'. Not to do so is to invite the attention of unpleasant spirits.  I believe this one's originally Irish. 

My, we did grow up in an odd world, didn't we? 

[stitchygreyanonymouse]

Like with apple cores, if you swallow watermelon seeds (but only the black ones), one will grow in your stomach. As seedless watermelons got more popular, "see, they made these because all the kids grew watermelons in their bellies!"

I may be a bit rotund these days, but I’m pretty sure a watermelon never took root in my belly.

[athersgeo]

My mom always insisted that if I went to bed with wet hair I would catch a cold.

I've had that one quoted to me many times and likewise never suffered. In fact, I propose a modification:

Go to bed with wet hair, get a wet pillow.

Here's another one: don't put your feet on the radiator/hot water bottle/hot wheatbag/cat you'll get chilblains.

I've never suffered a chilblain in my life, despite doing all of the above at various times. (Though I will admit putting your feet on a cat is dangerous for entirely different reasons!)