People once really believed the Moon was made of green cheese
Unchecked
| People once really believed the Moon was made of green cheese | |
|---|---|
| MISLEADING | |
| "People in past centuries sincerely believed the Moon was made of green cheese." | |
| Domain | History |
| Tactic | False Context |
| Era | Historical |
| First seen | 1520s |
| Origin | English proverbs of the 1500s. The earliest cited uses are by John Frith (1529) and John Heywood (1546). |
| Last reviewed | 2026-11-04 |
| Further reading: books on History | |
The phrase 'the Moon is made of green cheese' is often cited as proof that people once believed something absurd about the sky. Sources on its history say the phrase was a proverb about gullibility. It did not record a sincere belief.
The verdict is misleading. The proverb is real and old. The idea that whole populations held the belief seems to be a modern misunderstanding of it.
What the evidence shows
[edit]- Earliest uses. Idiom Origins cites John Frith's 1529 writing, in which he says opponents would make him believe the Moon was green cheese. The same source notes the line appears in Heywood's Proverbs of 1546.
- A saying for gullibility. ArhFoundation describes the phrase as a satirical proverb for someone gullible enough to believe the Moon is 'green cheese'. It was not a literal claim about astronomy.
- Meaning of green. The Cheese Professor reports that scholars read 'green' as meaning a new, young cheese. It did not mean a moldy or green one.
- Folk tale origin. The Cheese Professor also notes La Fontaine's 1678 fable. In it, a fox sees the Moon's reflection in a well and takes it for cheese. This fits the 'fool mistakes the Moon for a cheese' motif.
- Real lunar composition. Apollo astronauts brought back 842 pounds (382 kilograms) of Moon rocks. Astronomy magazine says they are mostly grayish, and include basalts and breccias. The common minerals are silicates.
Why it matters
[edit]The myth about the myth spreads because the line is quoted as a joke about ignorance. People then assume the ignorance was real. Checking where a famous saying came from can show that the story about it is wrong too.