| 单词 | old wives' tale |
| 释义 | old wives' tale (once / 96092 pages) n An old wives' tale is a well-known belief that is actually just superstition. One old wives' tale you may have heard warns that if you swallow chewing gum, it will stay in your stomach for years. Bits of advice, warnings, and general community wisdom sometimes turn out to be old wives' tales. These include simple superstitions, like "don't open an umbrella indoors," and easy to believe advice like "if you shave, the hair grows back thicker" or "you'll get arthritis if you crack your knuckles." The term old wives' tale uses the oldest meaning of wife, "woman," and is actually quite derogatory. It comes from the tradition of mothers scaring their children out of unwanted behavior. WORD FAMILYold wives' tale USAGE EXAMPLESHe said Pimlico appears different "because the track is so narrow. It's just an old wives' tale." Los Angeles Times(May 17, 2016) No, that's probably just an old wives' tale. The Guardian(Jun 20, 2012) Bennett wrote brilliantly about that, too, in The Old Wives' Tale. The Guardian(May 31, 2012) n a bit of lore passed on by word of mouth Hyper lore, traditional knowledge knowledge gained through tradition or anecdote |
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