Such tales are considered superstition, folklore or unverified claims with exaggerated and/or inaccurate details.
Old wives' tales often centre on women's traditional concerns, such as pregnancy, puberty, social relations, health, herbalism and nutrition.
Old wives' tales are often invoked to discourage certain behaviours, usually of children, or to share knowledge of folk cures for ailments ranging from toothaches to dysentery.
In 1611, the King James Bible was published with the following translation of a verse: "But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself [rather] unto godliness" (1 Timothy 4:7).
The stories do not attempt to moralise, but to teach lessons and make difficult concepts like death or coming of age easy for children to understand.