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"Chicken soup will cure a cold" - Although it may be good for the soul, it does almost nothing for your health. Perhaps rehydration, but no more than a glass of water. It does feel like it cures colds though.

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Hair of the dog -

If you have a huge hangover, have a Bloody Mary. They say this will make your hangover better. Actually, it just delays it, but still helps you keep the high for a little longer.

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"Breaking the chicken wishbone for luck" - Well, there is little way of proving or disproving whether breaking a wishbone gives you luck, but if it worked, wouldn’t people be roasting chickens all the time? Safe to say, do not panic if you get the smaller end of the bone.

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"When you spill salt, throw some over your left shoulder" - They say you should throw salt over your left shoulder in order to blind the little devil that lives there. It's possible to still believe this, but there is no proof that anything perches on your left shoulder, especially not a little devil.

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"Cheese will give you nightmares" -

The English were very concerned about this wives' tale and so funded a scientific study to find out what was going on. It turns out there is no evidence to suggest that cheese before bed will give you bad dreams.

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"The kettle will never boil if you watch it" - The cheek of our parents to tell us these lies in order to entertain us. This little tale has only been kept alive because of gullible children. In case you haven’t tried staring at a kettle while it's on the stove, rest assured: it will boil.

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"When you give a knife to someone, also give them a penny" - If you give a knife as a gift to someone, it is predicted to cut the ties of your relationship. So, you should put a penny with it that they immediately give back to you as payment.

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Cooking tears -

"You won’t cry from onions if you put a towel on your left shoulder." Unfortunately, simple as it seems, a towel on your shoulder will not stop the tear-inducing chemicals from reaching your eyes.

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"Put a teaspoon in a bottle to stop a fizzy drink losing its fizz" -

It just doesn’t work. Instead, put your bubbly in the fridge because that slows down the bubbling process and will keep it fizzier for longer.

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"If you burn yourself, put potato peels on it" - Nope! What may help is the pressure you are putting on your burn with the potato peel and a slight placebo effect.

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"If you burn your finger, grab your earlobe" - The strange thing is that, while scientifically it makes no sense, it does seem to ease the immediate pain. It must just be the distraction of the action at work.

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"Put an apple in among your potatoes to prevent them from sprouting" -

This one actually works. When apples decay, they give off ethylene gas. The gas helps to ripen fruits, and for some reason stops potatoes sprouting.

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"Pour white wine over a red wine stain to get rid of it" - If you spill red wine, please, do not put white wine over it. Run it under cold water, or put salt on it to soak up the red liquid. Throw the white wine idea out the window.

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"Garlic will keep the vampires away" - They say this old wives’ tale originated from people growing garlic to try and ward off mosquitoes and other blood-sucking critters. Bram Stoker must have adopted it in his book ‘Dracula,’ and so the tale spread.

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"Bananas should not be taken on a fishing boat" - It is a bit of an odd one, but lots of fishermen still do not like to take bananas on boats with them because they think it will stop them from catching fish. It seems obvious that it probably does not make a difference.

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The devil's herb - You should never transplant a parsley plant, otherwise the person who owns the land where you replant it will die. They say you should only eat it with animal meat so that the spirits of the dead will be soothed.

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The devil's herb - It takes a while for parsley to start growing. Consequently, people started to believe that the seed would visit the devil nine times before it sprouted. It was, evidently, a time of logical thinking...

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Ortolan eating - The most disgusting of all the old wives' tales is that eating the Ortolan will bring luck. In France, they used to catch these little birds and first carve out their eyes. Then the bird would be fed until fat.

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Ortolan eating - When it was large enough, the bird would be drowned in the alcohol Armagnac and roasted for 10 minutes. Then, the bird was eaten whole, guts and all. It was such a shameful dish that you had to cover your head with a napkin when you do it. Nowadays, it is completely illegal.

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Calcium spots -

The spots on your nails are not from a lack of calcium. If there is any cause for white spots on your nails, it is a deficiency in zinc. However, usually it is just genetics.

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"Shaving makes the hair grow back thicker" -

In a word, no. Although when your hair grows back it might be healthier and have a cleaner appearance, it is not thicker because you are not changing the root of the hair.

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Funny face - "If you make silly faces to the full moon, you will stay that way permanently." Again, the things our parents tell us...

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Seven years of a bad tummy - "If you swallow gum, it will stay in your stomach for seven years." It is simply not true. It will come out of your intestine with all the other food, trust us.

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Swimming on a full stomach -

"You should wait for one hour to go swimming after eating or you will have cramps and drown." You may have a little more trouble digesting because you're moving around, but it is a pure myth that eating enhances the likelihood of cramps and drowning.

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It's a girl! -

"If you have a high heart rate during pregnancy, you will have a girl." There is no evidence to suggest this whatsoever–it is always a 50/50 gamble.

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Crack, crack -

"If you crack your knuckles, you will get arthritis in your hands." This isn't true. Some people just have joints that click. It is not necessarily a bad thing.

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Googly eyes -

"Wearing the wrong kinds of glasses will damage your eyes permanently." Although it would seem to be the truth, wearing the wrong kinds of glasses does not damage your eyes. At worst, it can give you a headache because your brain is trying to make your eyes adjust. However, it does not cause permanent damage.

Sources: (Root + Bone)( Good Housekeeping)

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