What is an Urban Legend?

Answer 1

A myth created by a society that something has or will happen when in fact it never did and never will. For example a duck's quack has no echo. It's an American import to the UK popularised by teen movies.

Answer 2

An urban legend is something like this story: Where a man and his sweetheart are driving along a forest road, hopelessly lost when they run out of fuel. The boy says he'll go and get some more, goes into the trunk and gets the cannister and tells his swetheart to stay in the car until he returns. The girl turns on the radio for some company and there is a news report that someone has escaped from a nearby lunatic aslymn, he is dangerous and not to be approached under any circumstances. She falls asleep to be awoken by a steady banging noise on the roof of the car like THUDD, THUDD, THUDD. Before she has a chance to investigate, she hears the police telling her to step out of the car and walk to the front of the car and to keep on walking and not, under any circumstances to turn around. She gets out of the car carefully and walks to the front to see the 2 police cars not more than 20 yards ahead. However she can still hear the THUDD, THUDD noise accompanied by a small, low laugh. She turns and sees the figure of a man banging the severed head of her lover against the roof of a car.
This story has many variations and people almost invariably set it in a forest or woods near them. It is often told around campfires or in hushed whispers on school outings. Whether the story has any factual base is anyone's guess as the definition is sufficently vague for people to never quite be sure. In a nutshell that's what an urban legend is, a story that becomes myth in the telling.

Answer 3

Urban legends are a special kind of tale that gets around on the belief that the events actually happened. While many urban legends originated from true stories, they often become distorted or exaggerated as they are passed along.

Answer 4

There was a time when people actually sat out on their front porches or front stoops in city neighborhoods and sometimes told stories to titillate and scare the children or each other. Stories could spread throughout the whole city in a very short time and were sometimes taken as facts. Now, the stories spread in other ways and are called Urban Legends.

Answer 5

Citing something as being true when it is untrue and the rumour starts to circulate until people accept it as fact!

e.g There was this Frosties Ad out in the UK with this kid dancing and singing around saying Frosties are gonna taste great. A while later it was reported that he had committed suicide because of the bullying he was getting from making an annoying ad. this circulated for ages in internet forums and chat rooms, but he is alive and well [after someone tracked him down] and is actually a professional gymnast!

Look at the Urban Myths reference site!!
http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/frosties.asp

Answer 6

It's where a story goes around concerning something that is so fantastic or wierd that it is unlikely to be true....

My favorite is about the biker who nicked the number plate from the back of the speed camera van, attached it to their bike and rode up and down the street past the van at twice the legal limit..... nice story but I doubt it's true.

Answer 7

It's a popular story or rumor that has been around a city or community for several to many years, and is usually false, like reports of alligators living in New York City sewers.

Answer 8

A popular story of something happening or some event that may or may not be true. A lot of times the origin of the story is unknown.

Answer 9

That men are realy pigs and have the their manners. Watch a film of "A Company of Wolves" with Angela Lansbury.

Answer 10

a modern story of obscure origin and with little or no supporting evidence that spreads spontaneously in varying forms and often has elements of humor, moralizing, or horror: