Old Wives’ Tale

An old wives’ tale is a belief that is generally believe but incorrect.  It is a type of urban legend.  They are usually traditional beliefs related to “feminine” areas of expertise including health, pregnancy, nutrition, or social relations.  However, the phrase can be applied to any situation where the commonly held belief is incorrect.

Example:  “You have a cold?  You should eat chicken soup.  It will cure you.”  “No, that is an old wives’ tale.”

Old wives’ tales come from the oral tradition.  People told stories to the next generation to pass down knowledge.  During Middle English there was a lot of illiteracy, so this was the best way to pass down knowledge (see an elephant never forgets).  The biggest flaw is that information can change over time.  If you have ever played broken telephone, you know how this can happen.

In this idiom, wife (wives’) does not refer to a married woman.  In middle English, the word for woman was wif.  And that is how old the phrase old wives’ tale is.  Similarly, midwife (someone who supports and cares for women during pregnancy) refers to any woman with the job, not just a married woman.

There are many old wives tales.  Can you think of some more?

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Reference:
https://www.etymonline.com/word/wife
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_wives%27_tale
https://ourworldindata.org/literacy