Orde Coombs 
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Myth and Urban Myth
For a word so often applied to events or stories from long, long ago, myth has a remarkably recent history in the English language. The earliest evidence for the word is from 1830, well after the time when the events themselves are thought to have occurred (though it should be noted that the related words mythology and mythic are hundreds of years older – still not as old as Achilles, but not young, either!). One application of myth, however – in the phrase urban myth – is quite new. Curiously, an urban myth does not usually have anything to do with the city: it is simply “a story about an unusual event or occurrence that many people believe is true but that is not true.” An example would be the tale that Elvis Presley is still alive after spending decades in a witness protection program. The phrase urban myth has been used to describe such hoaxes since at least 1971.
Examples of myth in a Sentence
Andy Battaglia, ARTnews.com, 20 Nov. 2024
And once again, our two heroes — recast as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza tilting at wind turbines — struggle to reconcile the myths that men write for themselves with the realities that life is actually willing to offer them.
—David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 19 Nov. 2024
There’s a myth that pumpkin seeds act as a natural dewormer for dogs with parasites, but Watkins says that’s not the case.
—Clare Mulroy, USA TODAY, 31 Oct. 2024
The book also features jewels that recall armor, and ones that are inspired by royals, popes, Greek myths and antiquity.
—Samantha Conti, WWD, 4 Nov. 2024
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Cite this Entry
“Myth.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/myth. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
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myth
noun
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