Definition: An apocryphal, secondhand story told as true, plausible enough to be believed, and likely to be framed as a cautionary tale, about some horrific, embarrassing, ironic, or exasperating series of events that has supposedly happened to a real person.
Expanded Definition: What Is an Urban Legend?
Expanded Definition: What Is an Urban Legend?
Also Known As: UL, urban myth, urban belief tale, contemporary legend, migratory legend
Common Misspellings: urban ledgend, urban legand, urban ledgen
Examples:
- "The Choking Doberman," a creepy campfire story about a burglar whose hidden presence in a family home is revealed when the homeowner's dog coughs up a chewed-off finger, is always related as a true event but in fact is regarded by folklorists as a classic urban legend.
- "The lack of verification in no way diminishes the appeal urban legends have for us. We enjoy them merely as stories, and we tend at least to half-believe them as possibly accurate reports." -- Jan Harold Brunvand
Common Urban Legends:
