Singapore Urban Legends Question & Answer

Question 1: What is an Urban Legend?


Answers :

1) An urban legend is an apocryphal, secondhand story told as true and plausible enough to be believed, about some horrific, embarrassing, ironic or exasperating series of events that has supposedly happened to a real person. It is likely to be framed as a cautionary tale.
Factual or not, an urban legend is meant to be believed. In lieu of evidence, the teller of an urban legend is apt to rely on skillful storytelling and reference to putatively trustworthy sources -- e.g., "it really happened to my hairdresser's brother's best friend" -- to convince listeners of its veracity.


2) An apocryphal story involving incidents of the recent past, often including elements of humor and horror, that spreads quickly and is popularly believed to be true.

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Question 2 : How To Spot an Urban Legend?


Answers :

1. Consider the form of the information passed along to you. Is it a narrative — a story with a beginning, middle and end? Does it feature a surprising twist and/or end with a 'punch line' reminiscent of a joke? If so, it may be an urban legend.

2. Urban legends usually toe a fine line between outlandishness and plausibility. Does the story seem a little suspect, yet believable? Was it told to you AS IF it's true? Often the teller of an urban legend will even begin with the statement, 'This is a true story...'

3. Look for statements like 'This really happened to a friend of a friend' (or 'I heard this from the wife of a co-worker,' or 'You won't believe what happened to my brother's housekeeper's son,' etc.).

4. Have you heard the same story more than once from different sources, possibly even with different names and details? If you've heard more than one version, it's probably an urban legend.

5. Consider whether there's evidence to suggest the story you've heard is false, and/or there are commonsense reasons to disbelieve it.

6. Does the story seem too good to be true; too horrible, or too funny to be true? If so, there's a good chance it's an urban legend and NOT true.

7. Check books and Websites about urban legends to see if the story is listed there (see resources below).

8. Research any factual claims in the story to see if there is published evidence to support them. The burden of proof is on the teller of the tale.