food folktales

[Pan]

You know how some people say eating brains makes you smarter? Well, my mother also used to jokingly say that if I ate calf brains, I'd be as smart as a cow.

[Pan]

Oh, another one that my grandmother and mother used to tell me was that if I didn't eat carrots, I wouldn't be able to see in the dark.

[Ling]

Anything that I disliked, my mom would say, "Eat it; it'll make you beautiful!"

So then I would eat it, of course.

I was a vain girl.

I guess the best example was: "Eat your snow peas--you'll be as beautiful as Snow White!"

Others:

-chips will give you a sore throat

-milk will make your throat phlegmy

-any acid and milk will "curdle" in your stomach, giving you a stomach ache (e.g. no eating oranges and drinking milk at the same time)

-don't eat anything acidic in the morning without eating some sort of starch, or else you'll get a stomach ache

-you should drink hot soup after a fattening meal (I don't know the reason for this, though)

[SuzySushi]

Well, some of these have a grain of truth...

<<eat carrots and you'll see better in the dark>> Carrots are rich in beta-carotene/vitamin A, which is necessary for good night vision

<<milk will make your throat phlegmy>> Milk does thicken mucus secretions in the throat, and also makes hem more visible.

[Tepee]

On the flip side, if you don't finish all the food on your plate (squeaky clean), your husband will be as pimply (as the amount of rice/crumbs left on the plate).

[malarkey]

We always had a jersey cow on the farm for milking. The cream that would rise to the top of it was as thick as sour cream and had an incredible flavor. I used to eat it straight off with a spoon. My mother always told me (in an attempt to make me stay out of it) "that will make your insides stick together"

[malarkey]

I remember being told that when you swallowed gum it would take 7 years to dissolve.

Yes! I was told this one too!

I also remember being told by a vegetarian that it takes 7 days to digest steak. LOL

[TurtleMeng]

On the flip side, if you don't finish all the food on your plate (squeaky clean), your husband will be as pimply (as the amount of rice/crumbs left on the plate).

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Oh boy, have I heard that one before.

My husband is short and stout, but no pimples.

My grandpa gave this unbelievably weird one:

If you stretch after your meal, your arms will be frozen in the air. He vividly told the story of a relative whose arms were stuck in that position.

[SuzySushi]

When my husband was a boy, he used to grab his meals on-the-run. His parents (of German-Austrian background) told him that if he ate standing up, his legs would become as thick as an elephant's. Forever after, he made sure to sit at the dinner table until he was finished.

[Mooshmouse]

Rubbing lemon juice on your skin will lighten your freckles or help them disappear. Never an issue for me, but I remember elementary school friends trying this to no avail.

[sparrowgrass]

I've told this one before: My grandma told me if I ate my breadcrusts, I would learn to whistle.

I faithfully ate my crusts and worked on my whistle. Next time I saw her, I proudly whistled up a little tune.

She then told me that angels cry when little girls whistle.

With some folks, you just can't win.

Someone told my mother, when she was a girl, if she swallowed her gum, it would wrap around her heart and kill her.

The Evil One (ex) swore that drinking milk and eating fish made him sick--a belief his family held.

If you take the last thing on the serving platter, you will be an old maid.

If you peel an apple all in one piece and toss it over your shoulder, it will form the initial of your husband to be.

Not food related, but kitchen related: if you slop water on the front of your apron as you wash dishes, you will marry a drunkard.

If someone is sweeping the floor and you lift your feet so they can sweep under them, you will be an old maid.

[gourmande]

a childhood friend's "wise" older sister told us:

"if you swallow grape seeds they'll accumulate in your appendix, which will cause it to rupture and you will die!" Needless to say, I spent a sleepness night fretting over how many grape seeds I had swallowed thus far in my short life... I was convinced I wouldnn't make it past age 6!

[touaregsand]

Rubbing lemon juice on your skin will lighten your freckles or help them disappear.  Never an issue for me, but I remember elementary school friends trying this to no avail.

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Jan did this on the Brady Bunch. After that episode aired thousands of freckled folks probably tried this.

[touaregsand]

Anything that I disliked, my mom would say, "Eat it; it'll make you beautiful!"

So then I would eat it, of course.

I was a vain girl. 

I guess the best example was: "Eat your snow peas--you'll be as beautiful as Snow White!" 

Others:

-chips will give you a sore throat

-milk will make your throat phlegmy

-any acid and milk will "curdle" in your stomach, giving you a stomach ache (e.g. no eating oranges and drinking milk at the same time)

-don't eat anything acidic in the morning without eating some sort of starch, or else you'll get a stomach ache

-you should drink hot soup after a fattening meal (I don't know the reason for this, though)

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My mother used the "it'll make you beautiful" one on me. It worked untill I was 5 when I finally told her that I thought I was beautiful enough!

I'm Asian, but I have very fair skin. I also drink alot of milk. If I had a dime for everytime another Asian person asked me if my skin was white because I drink alot of milk... Alot of otherwise intelligent people ask me this question.

[cakewalk]

Someone told my mother, when she was a girl, if she swallowed her gum, it would wrap around her heart and kill her.

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My friend told me if I swallowed my gum it would stick to my heart and I would die. I was horrified.

An old Yiddish saying: if you're a "nosher" it will rain at your wedding.

[LurkerLoo]

Not from my mom, but a gullible friend during my childhood: if you swallow gum, it will somehow grow through your scalp and get stuck in your hair. I kept challenging her on the illogic of this, but she wouldn't budge. (and in spite of all the gum I swallowed, nary a bit ended up on my scalp!)

My mother (who is Korean) also told us the one about taking the last serving of anything--if you do, you'll be an old maid. When my sister and I got older, we'd make a point of taking the last serving, and then when Mom would utter the inevitable phrase, we'd smile and say "GOOD, I don't want to get married anyway!" And so far we're both still unmarried...

[yslee]

I'm Asian, too. When my mother was pregnant with me, my grandmother urged her to drink a lot of soy milk so my skin would be fair. When I emerged a toasty nut-brown (well, brown by Chinese standards), my mother said, "Well, so much for all that soy milk." My Ah Mah's quick riposte? "The problem is not the soy milk! It's all that coffee you drank, too!"

[touaregsand]

I'm Asian, too. When my mother was pregnant with me, my grandmother urged her to drink a lot of soy milk so my skin would be fair. When I emerged a toasty nut-brown (well, brown by Chinese standards), my mother said, "Well, so much for all that soy milk." My Ah Mah's quick riposte? "The problem is not the soy milk! It's all that coffee you drank, too!"

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My brother is a toasty brown too. When we were little my mom would always say it was because she ate too much chocolate when she was pregnant with him.

[Mooshmouse]

As a kid, I read that if you saved the tip of a piece of pie and eat it last while thinking of the person who you'd like to marry, your wish would come true. That one fuelled a lot of little girl dreams. And a lot of pie eating.

[The Hersch]

Going swimming after eating results in Certain Death.

[bloviatrix]

Eating the last piece of food will leave you an old maid.

[chile_peppa]

My Japanese mother told me that eating seaweed would make my hair black. My hair IS very dark, but it has red highlights from my Scotch-Irish ancestors. She wanted me to look more Japanese.

My American grandmother told me that eating bread crusts would turn my absolutely straight hair curly. She wanted me to be more American.

Needless to say, neither of these things changed my hair at all.

[touaregsand]

My Korean mother and every other middle aged Korean woman I know told me eat only "pretty" foods when I was pregnant with both my children. The "reasoning" was that pretty food would result in pretty children. Of course I don't think there is any correlation but my kids are beautiful if I do say so myself.

Another one from my mom, she says she ate a lot of fruit, white peaches in particular, hence my fair skin according to her.

[Lone Star]

My great-grandmother said if you drop a dishtowel and it lands crumpled, a gentleman is coming to call.

[TurtleMeng]

All these skin color things remind me....

my aunt used to eat lots of rice with soy sauce. Everyone in our family FIRMLY believes that's what made her so dark.