Laura Wattenberg on
Ledasha, Legends, and Race [
Part Two |
Part Three] "Why does it matter? We tell funny stories all the time without believing them. (Does anybody really think that a priest, a rabbi and a chicken walked into a bar?) I believe it matters in the case of urban legend names because they're not merely humor...and they're not random. They exist in a complex social setting, and they serve a subtle and consequential purpose. They are proxies for talking about race."
posted by ocherdraco
on Nov 1, 2009 -
109 comments
The Devil's Tramping Ground is a barren circle in the forest in North Carolina. As a result of nothing having grown within the circle for at least the last hundred years, it has become the subject of some of that state's oldest legends. John Harden, a journalist, newspaper editor and author said of that place
"... the story is that the Devil goes there to walk in circles as he thinks up new means of causing trouble for humanity. There sometimes during the dark of night, the Majesty of the Underworld of Evil silently tramps around that bare circle; thinking, plotting, and planning against good, and in behalf of wrong. So far as is known, no person has ever spent the night there to disprove this is what happens.". No person until you came along and played
this neat interactive flash movie, that is.
posted by Effigy2000
on May 29, 2008 -
21 comments
Euromyths from the English press in alphabetical order collected by the European Union's UK Press Room. Examples include: EU orders farmers to give toys to pigs, pets to be pressure cooked, circus performers must wear hard hats, no more Caerphilly Cheese in Caerphilly, butchers cannot give a dog a bone, EU says Brit yoghurt has to be called Fermented Milk Pudding & Brussels makes bright smiles illegal.
posted by Kattullus
on Aug 25, 2007 -
64 comments
Frederick Remington was an American artist who in 1898 became a war correspondent and illustrator for the
New York Morning Journal during the Spanish-American War. The
Journal's editor in chief, William Randolph Hearst I was an American newspaper magnate whose paper had, circa 1895, fought to liberate Cuba from Spanish rule by writing sensational stories of Cuban virtue and Spanish atrocities in an attempt to influence US opinion. In 1898, Hearst sent Remington to Cuba to report on the war which Hearst was certain was about to begin. However when Remington arrived, he telegrammed Hearst saying "Everything is quiet. There is no trouble here. There will be no war. I wish to return." Hearst responded "Please remain. You furnish the pictures, and I'll furnish the war." Not long after, the war began. These telegrams are often cited as one of the most famous (if not the first) examples of
yellow journalism (so much so it is mentioned in
Citizen Kane) and is meant to speak to the powerful potential effects of the news media.
But did The Remington-Hearst "telegrams"actually ever take place, or is this simply another urban legend?
posted by Effigy2000
on Jul 6, 2007 -
8 comments
Occasionally the folks at Snopes get asked to debunk some very unusual potential urban legends; questions so ridiculous you can only marvel at the motivation behind the asker's particular situation. Fortunately, they have collected and
published the best of these questions online.
found via
posted by jonson
on Jul 30, 2005 -
39 comments
sniggle.net :: calls itself a 'Culture Jammer's Encyclopedia' -- its a fabulous compendium of forgeries, fakes, hoaxes, counterfeiting, spoofs, pseudoscience, and just plain weird stuff. Perfect fodder for killing time on a Friday afternoon.
posted by anastasiav
on Apr 23, 2004 -
6 comments
Victoria Beckham aka Posh Spice is fighting a move by second division
Peterborough United to register their nickname POSH as a trademark for it's club merchandise claiming that the nickname is recognised around the world as belonging to her.
The term POSH is
widely believed to have originated in the time of the British Raj when P&O passenger ship tickets were marked POSH -Port Out Starboard Home - port (left-hand side) berths were mostly in the shade when travelling out (easterly) and the starboard ones when coming back. So the best and most expensive berths were POSH. Unfortunately P&O say they have never issued such tickets and none have ever been found even though many tickets do exist from the time.
But
this page from the US Navy METOC site claims it originated in Boston as a label for the luggage of wealthy passengers travelling from the US to Europe to indicate which side of the ship to place the luggage to protect it from the sun.
Should you be allowed to register a word in common usage as a trademark? If posh goes what word is next.
posted by stunned
on Nov 13, 2002 -
32 comments
Not so quick on the uptake, eh Ann? Looks like Ann Landers may have been taken in by an urban legend. So those of you hoping that this fad spreads to your neighborhood, you may want to cancel that X10 order now.
posted by vaca
on May 17, 2002 -
10 comments
Terrorists Target malls on 10/31 hoax I have received seven e-mails today about the 'mall attack' and I have had enough. I am sorry, but now is not the time to blindly forward on anything about terrorism without checking the facts. Even a simple Google search will prove most hoaxes false.
The only thing we have to fear is 'forward this to all your friends.'
The FBI has something to say about this also.
posted by DragonBoy
on Oct 12, 2001 -
20 comments
Urban Legend, I choose you! Pokemon is being banned in several Muslim countries because of rumour that it is anti-religious. What's your favorite urban legend that resulted in widespread societal changes? (You need not limit yourself to religious edicts . . . an sort of change made by people in power because of an urban legend will be fine.) Why do you think that urban legends have this power? What does this say about human cognition?
posted by iceberg273
on Apr 24, 2001 -
46 comments
