A-Z: Snopes Has the Dopes on Urban Legends

www.snopes.com (Photo credit: biggraham)No matter what your aunt Bertha says about the perils of Burundanga soaked business cards, and no matter how many times other people forward the warning to you, it ain't true.

But sometimes, after you've heard it so many times, you start to think, hmm, well, maybe it is true, after all.  If only there was somewhere I could check it out...

We're in luck; there actually is. (Thank you, Internet! Back in the Dark Ages, we had to go around fearing there really were spider eggs in our Bubble Yum and kangaroo meat was being served at McDonald's. So that's why the meat is so... bouncy.)

This is why Snopes.com. aka, Rumor Has It, is one of:

My 26 Favorite Ways to Piss Away Time Do Valuable Research on the Interwebs.

You may have used Snopes to verify whether President Barack Obama's birth certificate was legit or a forgery.  Or to check if any of the virus warnings zipping about the Internet were true.

But there's also some fun stuff here. On the day I visited, the question was posted, "Was the song 'American Girl' based upon a student's suicide at the University of Florida?

Just in passing, I wish a show like Burt Sugarman's Midnight was still around today. (What, you're still wondering about American Girl? Sheesh, click the link.)

I'm reproducing no quotes here, as the authors have specifically requested this not be done, not even their FAQs, with attribution.

Titanic via Wikimedia Commons

Fun areas to explore: The Hot 25, currently including the idea that the Titanic sank with a cursed Egyptian mummy in the hold. Whether water boiled in a microwave, then cooled, will harm plants.

We can search by categories. I had to find out what the Glurge Gallery was. (Don't read the description of what "glurge" is while eating.) We can see what urban legends currently exist about such subjects as crime, Disney, movies, sports, weddings, and much more.

I love the Lost Legends section.

Did you know Mr. Ed was not a horse? Or that there was a silent version of the film The Poseidon Adventure (where a ship hits an iceberg and sinks) was being screened on the Titanic as it hit the iceberg? That Sing A Song of Sixpence was code for Blackbeard the pirate recruiting a crew?

There's a Randomizer, there is odd news. It's like a trivia treasure chest.

I could (and have) spent a lot of time on Snopes.com. And will again.

My A-Z theme is My 26 Favorite Ways to Piss Away Time Do Valuable Research on the Interwebs.

Truly, sometimes an idea from a "pointless" fun site or post or photograph does result in pages and pages of writing. Or at least a blog post or two.

Are you a Snopes junkie?
Ever believed an urban legend and found out it wasn't true?

Got other fun sites beginning with the letter "S"?