What's a word that means a common saying which is arguably untrue?
Such as "money can't buy happiness" or "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger". Generally a false adage or something like that. All I could think of was "fallacious bumper sticker" which just sounds stupid.
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"Blood is thicker than water."
Usually said to convince someone that you should be there to help family regardless of what that family did to you. Unfortunately the full saying is "The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb", meaning the ties you form with friends can be stronger than the family you you born into.
This is probably not true. The concept of this phrase but referring to family is probably a modern confusion. There is no clear evidence it means it was really referencing ties to friends. Although I wish it did. Here's some further reading from others also looking for a clearer reference.
https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/147902/is-the-alleged-original-meaning-of-the-phrase-blood-is-thicker-than-water-real
Most of those old sayings have had the rejoinder omitted, which completely shifted their original meaning, in fact. For example, "Great minds think alike" originally closed with "but rarely do they differ", etc.