"Is it really true that if you clip your fingernails while your relatives are flying somewhere," the radio producer asked, "their plane will crash?" I was being interviewed about my new book, "Because I Said So!," which fact-checks 125 classic parental cliches: breakfast is the most important meal of the day, don't sit so close to the TV, don't swim right after you eat. You get the idea. During the commercial break, a producer asked me about this particular bit of wisdom, passed along by her mom.
I took a long look at her; she seemed to be in dead earnest. "Where does your mom, uh, happen to be from?" I asked as innocently as I could.
"She grew up in Russia."
I told her I'd never heard that one before - maybe it was more of a Slavic thing. I wasn't surprised at all to find out that Mom, in this case, had been raised outside the United States. In writing the book, I'd spent the past two years soliciting parental nags from friends, acquaintances and Internet strangers, and I'd learned very quickly that these bits of folklore tend to be extremely culture-specific. A classic Mexican momism might bear no more resemblance to a Scandinavian one than huevos rancheros do to lutefisk.
In China, for example, it's widely believed that sitting on a seat recently warmed by someone else's behind can give you hemorrhoids. The Brits, on the other hand, attribute hemorrhoids to sitting on cold surfaces. But sitting on that same cold concrete would lead to a different lecture from a Ukrainian mom: She'd be sure it would make you sterile.
Some Peruvians are told that lingering too long in front of the fridge can cause cancer. In the Czech Republic, everyone knows that drinking water after eating fruit leads to painful bloating. Filipino kids can't wear red when it's stormy out, since that would attract lightning. Germans and Austrians live in mortal fear of drafts, which get blamed for everything from pneumonia to blocked arteries, so summertime commuters routinely swelter on 90-degree trains and buses rather than cracking a window through which a cooling - but lethal! - breeze might pass.
In South Korea, however, the concern about ventilation is exactly the opposite. Koreans will only use electric fans if a window is cracked, because leaving a fan on in an enclosed room, it's almost universally believed, can be fatal. The mechanism behind the threat is a little vague: Sometimes it's said to be a lack of oxygen that kills you, sometimes it's a chill. But either way, you won't care. You'll be dead.
I actually grew up as a child in Seoul, South Korea, and fans were no laughing matter. Everyone took the Great Fan Menace for granted and had a hard time believing that other cultures were ignorant of it. An apartment of Americans I knew teased their lone Korean roommate by going to bed one summer night in an enclosed room with six electric fans turned on. He pleaded with them not to throw their lives away and slept in the hallway. When, in the morning, all three had survived the ordeal, the Korean roommate was still not convinced. Obviously, he said, they had been playing a practical joke on him and had cracked a window as soon as he was out of the room.
Jennings was a 74-time Jeopardy! winner and is the author of three books, most recently "Because I Said So!: The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids."
Community News Network
Related Photos
Discussion
Slate: Is your electric fan trying to kill you?
- Community News Network
-
-
VIDEO: NSA director says 50 plots foiled
General Keith Alexander says two recently disclosed surveillance programs on international communications are critical in the terrorism fight.
-
Called 'Next Stephen Hawking,' teen is perfect on math exam
There's a wall on the third floor of Lewiston-Porter High School dedicated to celebrating perfect scores on state mathematics exams. A new name joined the growing list Tuesday, which brought a smile to the face of everyone involved.
-
Bakery mix-up goes viral after cat drawn on girl's head
A photo of one graduate's cake has gone viral on Reddit due to a bakery mix-up that left a cat, instead of a cap, drawn on her head.
-
VIDEO: Rapper steps on American flag
Lil Wayne sparked a controversy when he stepped on an American flag during the filming of his new music video, but the rapper later said it was a mistake and unintentional.
-
Facebook's organ donor status sends registrations soaring
Facebook's addition of a way for its users to tell people their organ-donor status helped boost the number of people who registered as donors 21-fold in one day.
-
VIDEO: Britney Spears' sons to make acting debut
Britney Spears recorded a new song for the "The Smurfs 2," and her sons Sean Preston and Jayden will make a cameo in the music video.
-
White House, NASA want help hunting asteroids
The White House and NASA on Tuesday will ask the public for help finding asteroids that potentially could slam into the Earth with catastrophic consequences.
-
Caught on tape: Fla. teacher accused of beating autistic child
A surveillance video shows David Baier, a former special needs teacher in Davie, Fla., picking up a 12-year-old autistic student by his hair and then pushing him to the floor.
-
Is it really possible to not know you're pregnant until the birth?
Trish Staine had just finished running 10 miles while training for a half-marathon when she started going into labor. The mother of three said she hadn't gained any weight or felt any fetal movement in the months before and had no idea she was pregnant. Is it possible for a woman not to know she's pregnant before she starts giving birth?
-
VIDEO: Amphibious bus filled with tourists sinks
In Liverpool, England, a "duck bus" -- which is supposed to be amphibious -- sank while full of tourists.
-
State photo-ID databases become troves for police
The faces of more than 120 million people are in searchable photo databases that state officials assembled to prevent driver's-license fraud but that increasingly are used by police to identify suspects, accomplices and even innocent bystanders in a wide range of criminal investigations.
-
VIDEO: Miss Utah flubs answer on income inequality
Responding to an interview question in Sunday's Miss USA Pageant, Miss Utah Marissa Powell says the country needs to "create education better."
-
When trust in Uncle Sam takes a beating, workers are bruised
The recent spate of controversies - revelations about the massive collection of electronic data by the National Security Agency, the Internal Revenue Service's political targeting and conference scandals, and the seizure of Associated Press telephone records - undermines confidence in government.
-
VIDEO: You won't believe how much Google interns are paid
Many interns work for free. Not at Google.
-
Purchases by dementia sufferers put stores in quandary
An increasing number of lawsuits have been filed across Japan against department stores that allowed unusual purchases to be made by elderly people with dementia.
-
VIDEO: Plane slams through hangar after wrong turn
A small passenger plane crashed through a hangar at the Chino, Calif. airport after the pilot apparently lost control during an engine test.
-
Lucky customers pay only 44 cents a gallon for gas
Due to a technical error that lasted nearly two hours, premium pumps at a Marathon station were priced roughly $4 below where they should have been.
-
VIDEO: National anthem singer gets hit with racial tweets
After 11-year-old Sebastian De La Cruz sang the national anthem at game three of the NBA finals, rascist tweets poured in. Some tweets questioned De La Cruz's right to be in the country, to which he said: "People don't know, they just assume that I'm just Mexican, but I'm not from Mexico, I'm from San Antonio, born and raised."
-
VIDEO: Husband accidentally sells wife's wedding ring at garage sale
A husband who accidentally sold his wife's wedding ring at a garage sale is hoping the person who bought will bring it back.
-
Police rescue children while mother smokes pot
Two juvenile males were rescued while climbing out a third-floor window by police while their 25-year-old mother was smoking marijuana downstairs.
-
Mass. madam's arrest could prove embarrassing
Young women who worked for accused madam Lori Barron told police they performed sex acts on hundreds of area men, including a police officer, firefighters, a city councilor, teachers, lawyers and court workers, according to police reports filed Tuesday.
-
Police arrest man accused of dining and then dashing
A man who has sampled many of Gloucester’s better restaurants without paying was arrested in a final fiasco at Azorean last weekend.
-
VIDEO: NASA Releases incredible images of tornadoes on the sun
Space weather can have a surprising impact here on Earth.
-
Congressional inexperience may be biggest hurdle to tax code rewrite
As lawmakers rewrite the 4,000-page U.S. Internal Revenue Code, the complexities of Congress - not just the tax code - may present some of the biggest hurdles.
-
Pa. woman digs up two-headed piglet
It sounds like a tabloid headline: “Local woman digs up two-headed piglet in backyard.”
-
Consumers' desire for local, organic food drives online grocery business
Just a few years ago, consumers who were fervent about eating locally-grown and organic foods had to head out to the nearest Whole Foods or farmers market. Now all it takes is a few swipes of the mouse at an online grocer like Door to Door Organics, Relay Foods or AmazonFresh.
-
When is a nightgown appropriate in the office?
Who among us hasn't wondered if pajama pants are OK in the winter? What about clingy, see-through blouses for spring? And now that it's almost summer, what about nightgowns? Specifically, what about midthigh-length, straw-colored cotton nightgowns at work?
-
VIDEO: Super glue saves Kansas newborn
An infant girl in Kansas was recovering Monday after doctors used surgical super glue to seal a bleeding aneurysm in her brain.
-
VIDEO: Obama administration drops morning-after pill appeal
The Obama administration will allow minors to obtain one form of the emergency contraception known as the "morning-after pill," dropping its appeal of a judge's order requiring it to be sold over the counter.
-
When did sunscreen get so complicated?
Summer is almost here, which means it's time for picnics, pool parties, and every parent's favorite pastime: chasing after your kid with the sunscreen bottle. But what's arguably more arduous than slathering lotion onto a screaming 3-year-old is choosing the right sunscreen.
- More Community News Network Headlines
-
Tiger on Sergio: 'It's Time to Move On'
Robot Action Connected to Human Thought
Rain Damages Brazil Soccer Stadium
NYC 911 Call Lasts for 8 Hours
Obama: US Has Helped Syrian Rebels
California Cops Cruise on Stand-up Paddle Patrol
Falling Cable Hurts 10 NASCAR Fans
RAW: NSA Director Says 50 Plots Foiled
Raw: 100K Protesters Flood Brazilian Streets
Afghan Forces Take Afghanistan Security Lead
Obama: NSA Secret Data Gathering 'Transparent'
Raw: First Lady, Daughters Enjoy Irish Sights
Transgender Candidate Running in NYC
Man Who Disrupted Flight Ranted About CIA
Ex-NFL Star Chad Johnson Out of Jail
Feds: 7-Eleven Stores Exploited Immigrants
Today in History June 18
Oklahoma City Thunder Players Tour Moore
Iran's Rowhani Urges 'Path of Moderation'
Raw: NASCAR Driver Jason Leffler Dies in Wreck
Inside Kim Kardashian's Premature Labor
Raw: Huge Fire Near Yosemite National Park
Paige Butcher Scorches on Hawaii Beach
Video: worst way to load cargo onto a plane
Never-before-seen footage of '08 Times Square bomber
WATCH IT: Lil Wayne tramples American flag
Mariah Carey Looks Beautiful in a Tiny Cut-Out Swimsuit
Out of Control Boat Throws Passengers Overboard
See Lindsay Lohan in Rehab
Sofia Vergara Posts Perky Backside Pic in Thong
Gaga Ditches Her Crazy Couture
Caught on Tape: Teacher Accused of Beating Autistic Child
"Stay Classy" Campaign Aims to Curb Binge Drinking
Sesame Street Tackling Tough Topic Parents in Jail
Miss Utah Fumbles Interview Question
Deranged man claims Newark-bound flight was poisoned
Cameron Diaz and Kate Upton Show Off Their Amazing Bikini Bodies
NBA FINALS: Spurs Win Game 5, Lead Series
