old wives' tale

American  

noun

1. a traditional belief, story, or idea that is often of a superstitious nature.

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old wives' tale British  

noun

1. a belief, usually superstitious or erroneous, passed on by word of mouth as a piece of traditional wisdom

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old wives' tale Idioms  

1. A superstition, as in Toads cause warts? That's an old wives' tale. This expression was already known in ancient Greece, and a version in English was recorded in 1387. Despite invoking bigoted stereotypes of women and old people, it survives.

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Etymology

Origin of old wives' tale

First recorded in 1670–80