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old wives' tale

noun
/ɔld ˈwaɪvz teɪl/CA

Etymology

In this context, the word “wives” means “women” and not “married women,” retaining the original sense of Old English wīf, which meant “woman” as well as “wife”. The phrase could be a reformation of Old English ealdra cwēna spell or a calque of Latin anīlis fābula, both literally “old women’s story.”

  1. derived from ealdra cwēna spell or a calque of Latin anīlis fābula
  2. derived from wīf

Definitions

  1. A supposed truth that has been passed down by word of mouth

  2. A rumour, myth or superstition

    A rumour, myth or superstition; something which is almost certainly untrue, despite acceptance by many.

    • According to the old wives' tales that are related about this race of genii who inhabit Iceland and its vicinity, they have a political form of government modelled after the same pattern as that which the inhabitants themselves are under.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for old wives' tale. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA