Sally Breslin: My Life: DEBUNKING SOME "OLD WIVES' TALES"

I'm not sure why, but the other night I sat down and just started browsing the Internet for no reason in particular...and I ended up learning quite a few things.

I learned there are people who actually collect vomit bags and pay good money for them. I learned that you can download a game called “Elf Bowling” and watch Santa, with an evil “ho, ho ho!” line up his elves and mow them down with bowling balls until blood squirts out of them. And I learned that you can bake your own Oreo cookies from scratch by following a simple online recipe.

One of the most fascinating things I read on the Internet, however, was a page that debunked Old Wives’ Tales. Actually, it was written in the form of a true or false quiz. I’m embarrassed to admit that I didn’t score very well on it, getting only 6 right out of 10.

I thought it might be fun to share the quiz with you to see how you do. Just answer True or False to the following statements. The answers will appear at the end of the quiz.

TRUE OR FALSE?

1. If you stop exercising, your muscle will turn to fat.

2. Eating too much chocolate will give you acne.

3. Turning a light off and on uses more electricity than just leaving it on.

4. Flat ginger-ale will help settle an upset stomach.

5. Cats have been known to suck the breath out of babies.

6. Black coffee helps you sober up.

7. A dog with a hot, dry nose is sick.

8. If you touch your poison-ivy blisters, you will spread the rash.

9. Shaving hair makes it grow back thicker.

10. Reading in dim light will ruin your eyes.

ANSWERS

1. False. It’s like apples and oranges - muscle is muscle and fat is fat, and you can’t turn one into the other. You might get fatter when you stop exercising, but that’s because you’re not burning as many calories, not because your muscles are transforming into mounds of jelly-like fat cells.

2. False. According to one study conducted by dermatologists, people who were prone to getting acne practically were fed their weight in chocolate. They got plenty of cavities, but no dramatic increases in acne flare-ups.

3. False. Flicking a light switch simply turns the light on or off. It doesn’t use any extra energy, especially if you use LED bulbs. It might, however, shorten the lifespan of an old incandescent bulb.

4. True! Beat the ginger-ale until it no longer fizzes, and then drink it. Ginger has stomach-settling properties and is especially effective for motion sickness. Some experts say it works even better than Dramamine, and without any associated drowsiness.

5. False. This Old Wives’ Tale is said to have started when cats were seen, often right in the cribs, with their mouths pressed to babies’ faces. Sure, it looked suspicious, but what were these cats really doing? According to animal experts, they simply were licking all of the yummy milk residue from around the babies’ mouths.

6. False. The caffeine in coffee will help perk you up, but it won’t reduce the amount of alcohol in your body. So, in essence, coffee will just make you a more wide-awake drunk.

7. False. A hot, dry nose most commonly means the dog just has been inactive for a while - sleeping, for example.

8. False. The oil from the poison ivy’s leaves is what spreads the rash. Once you thoroughly wash the oil from your skin and clothing, you no longer can spread it. The blisters merely contain fluid from your own body - similar to when you burn yourself - which is not contagious.

9. False. Your hair follicles remain the same thickness whether you shave them or not.

10. False. Trying to read in poor light may give you eyestrain or a headache, but if you rest your eyes for about a half-hour, they should be as good as new again.

SCORING

9-10 correct: Congratulations! You’re either a genius, or you don’t know any Old Wives!

7-8 correct: Not bad! You have the ability to figure out the truth in most statements you hear!

5-6 correct: Average. You believe a lot of things you hear, but not all.

Below 5: A little too gullible. You firmly believe that if the Old Wives said them, then they have to be true!

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