Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Afufaq
Afufaq
Afufaq
LEWD FOOD
T. There're kosher Chinese restaurants in and around big East Coast cities.
T. Most mass-market beers contain "foaming agents" to make them form a head.
U. Eating lots of chicken fast food causes males to grow breasts (from hormones)
T. Eggs and chicken are horribly contaminated, and should NOT be eaten raw.
T. Unless marked "dairy", fast food shakes aren't milk: mostly carrageen gel.
T. Lead leaches from lead crystal decanters into drinks;this is not good for you
Tb.Eating carrots may improve night vision, because of large amounts of Vit A.
Tb.Microwaved food is better (other cooking allegedly creates carcinogens)
Tb.Eating celery takes more energy than its digestion yields.
U. Mick Jagger used a Mars bar as a dildo on nubile pop loon Marianne Faithful
F,T,T,U.Fast food places use unusual ingredients: worm, 'roo meat, seaweed, rat.
["'The Kentucky Fried Rat' and Other Nasties" in TVH]
F. Stranger at restaurant eats your cookies, you grab, later find you took his.
["The Packet of Biscuits" in TCD. Yes, yes, yes, this is story Douglas
Adams claims really happened to him.]
F. Cook cheated into buying Mrs Fields' recipe, gets revenge by spreading it.
["The Mrs. Fields Cookie Recipe" in CBA. This UL is probably a descendant
of the "Red Velvet Cake" UL in TVH]
F. Aspirin and Coca-Cola taken together get you high. (Nope. May cause insomnia)
F. Drinking distilled water is bad for you since you don't get "trace minerals"
F. Green M&M's ("Smarties" in UK and Canada) are an aphrodisiac
F. Red M&M's are a carcinogen (Nope, they used red dye #5,not dangerous #2)
[Both M&M legends are in "Green M&Ms" in TMP]
F. Ingesting a tapeworm will help you slim, so people do this regularly
["'Bosom Serpent' Legends" in TCD.]
T. Many CIA (and other gov't) snackbars are staffed by blind people.
F. Grape seeds can get caught in your appendix and give you appendicitis.
T. British army doses water with bromide (for purification), soldiers say it's..
U. ... to suppress soldiers' libidos. US Army salts their peters with saltpeter.
Fb.Kennedy family made their pile thru a Scotch import monopoly
Tb.Kennedy family made their pile thru smuggling Scotch during prohibition.
F. The red leaves of Poinsettias (aka the Xmas Plant) are deadly poisonous.
["The Poinsettia Myth" in TMP]
T. People have been poisoned by eating food cooked on burning oleander branches.
Tb.Asparagus stinks up pee, but ability to smell it is genetically inherited.
T. Fresh seeds from plants of rose family react to form cyanide in the body.
T. Lots of Asian restaurants have humorous names to English speakers.
F. Mikey (Life cereal) exploded from eating Pop Rocks with soda (You wish!)
["The Death of Little Mikey" in TCD]
Fb.A popular Mexican beer was rumored to be made with urine.
T. Some people like to eat the placenta (aka afterbirth) of their children.
F. Shampoos and foreign beauty aids are made from aborted babies.
F. Couple travels to exotic locale with pet dog. Eaterie prepares it for them.
["Food and Restaurant Rumors and Legends" & "Unfortunate Pet Legends" in TCD]
F. Ex-Pat ethnic eateries (Chinese/East Indian/Italian) use cat/dog/human meat.
["The Eaten Pets" and "Further Ethnic Stereotype Legends" in TMP]
F. Cantaloupes are infected with salmonella and are thus bad to eat.
Fb.In pre-revolutionary Paris, peasants resold food from restaurant garbage.
T. Vegemite (and Marmite) is made from yeast by-products, salt, and other stuff.
SNUFF MOVIES
By definition, a snuff film is one in which the film is the *purpose* of
(rather than incidental to) the murder. I.e. if they ran out of film, the
murder would be postponed until someone could run down to the 7-11 & get
more. Paul Lanning, the FBI's chief researcher into child pornographers
was quoted by "The Times" of London:
"In 20 years I have not seen any hard evidence that they have
commercially produced sexually explicit films of murders for the
gratification of other people. Simulated snuff movies using
special effects are so realistic there is no point in risking life
in jail."
Note to the new reader: please don't send or post e-mail saying "snuff movies
*could* exist, because people are naughty enough" - this is not in dispute;
the point is that no examples have yet come to light. Until someone shows
evidence of their existence, snuff films are in the same category as UFO's,
the Loch Ness monster, and Bruce Willis's hair -- i.e. "believed false."
Tb.The Feds, cops, CIA etc have never actually found a real snuff film.
Fb."Snuff films" actually exist (Nope, tho' there are various wannabe fakes)
T. Some psychotics have taped the murder of their victims.
Tb.Mr. Ed was actually a zebra. The series was in B/W so viewers couldn't tell.
ARTHROPOD CRACKERS
T. Really big insects (snakes too) can get imported along with fruit shipments
F. Dragonflies ("darning needles") can sting you very severely.
T. Only hymenopterans sting. A large dragonfly may be strong enough to pinch.
F. If a dragonfly or a ladybug lands on you, you will have good luck.
T. "Killer" African bees are swarming into Texas from down South.
T. A lot of people have found live or dead insects in their fast food snacks.
T. Cockroaches love coffee, live in TV's, too often get in your cup or food.
T. Insect lays eggs in open wound; months later baby insects eat their way out.
F. Cactus shakes, then explodes with hundreds of scorpions/spiders
["Spiders in the Yucca" in TMP]
F. Explorer gets bug in ear; bug eats thru to other ear; gave birth on way...
[Similar ULs under "A Bug in the Ear" in CBA]
F. Bugs congregate in the pointy ends of bananas, so discard before eating.
Fb.Lobsters, dropped in boiling water, scream.(Nah, it's steam from under shell)
Fb.Moth/butterfly scales from wings will poison or blind you.
REFERENCES:
Jan Harold Brunvand (_The Vanishing Hitchhiker_, 1981, ISBN 0-393-95169-3;
_The Choking Doberman_, 1984, ISBN 0-393-30321-7; _The Mexican Pet_, 1986,
ISBN 0-393-30542-2; _Curses! Broiled Again_, 1989, ISBN 0-393-30711-5
all published by W.W. Norton) is one of the leading folklorists today and
has done much to popularize the study of ULs. Also has a great back hand.
Cecil Adams (_The Straight Dope_, 1984, ISBN 0-345-33315-2 and_More of the
Straight Dope_, 1988, ISBN 0-345-35145-2 both published by Ballantine
Books). Author of "The Straight Dope" Q&A column of _The Chicago
Reader_ and is syndicated in many alternative newspapers. Cecil is "a
National Treasure" who "tells people what they actually want and need
to know instead of useless rubbish." Worth reading if only for for his
writing style.
William Poundstone (_Big Secrets_, 1983, Morrow and _Bigger Secrets_, 1986,
Houghton-Mifflin). Sorry, it's a secret.
Interested (or desperate) readers should also contact Terry J. Wood
for other suggested reading at:
INTERNET: tjw@unix.cis.pitt.edu BITNET: TJW@PITTVMS CC-NET: 33802::tjw
UUCP: {decwrl!decvax!idis, allegra, bellcore}!pitt!unix.cis.pitt.edu!tjw
You may also wish to ask about Alka-Seltzer/seagulls while you're at it.
An urban legend:
* appears mysteriously and spreads spontaneously in varying forms
* contains elements of humor or horror (the horror often "punishes"
someone who flouts society's conventions).
* makes good storytelling.
* does NOT have to be false, although most are. ULs often have a basis
in fact, but it's their life after-the-fact (particularly in reference
to the second and third points) that gives them particular interest.
------
Unbounded thanks to: Mark Brader, Raymond Chen, Cathi A.Cook, Scott Deerwester,
all the other Terry's: Monks, Wood, etc., David Esan, Alan Frisbie, Tom Greer,
Phil Gustafson, David A. Honigs, Wendy Foran Howard, Jim Jones, Susan Mudgett,
Bill Nelson, Tom Neff, Brian Scearce, Randal Schwartz, Ken Shirriff, snopes,
Dwight Tovey, Peter van der Linden, and Greg Widdicombe.
And of course, you folks on the net (and everywhere else) whose culture
(and participation in it) which makes it all possible!
If you have general comments, you can post them to the net. If you have
specific comments, you can either hold 'em between your knees or send
them to me (your choice, but don't send them to me after you've held them
between your knees) at the e-mail address below.
Original FAQ list by Peter van der Linden, February, 1991.
Maintained by Terry Chan since July, 1991.
Last updated: August 21, 1991, by Terry Chan.
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INTERNET: twchan@lbl.gov BITNET: twchan@lbl.bitnet
"I realize that I'm generalizing here, but as is often the case when I
generalize, I don't care." -- Dave Barry