How we check
Most weird-law lists copy each other. A claim gets repeated until it sounds official, and nobody goes back to the statute. We go back to the statute.
Weird laws are worth reading about, but only if they're real. Every entry on this site is checked before publication, dated, and cited — and where the popular version is wrong, we say so on the same page rather than quietly leaving it out.
The process
- 01
Find the source
We start from official government registers, legal databases, and archives. Never from another weird-laws list.
- 02
Locate the text
We find the statute, ordinance, or regulation actually being referenced, and check whether it is still in force. Where we can quote it, we quote it verbatim.
- 03
Cross-check
Multiple independent sources, and local authorities where necessary. Press coverage alone is never enough to confirm a claim.
- 04
Publish with context
Why the law exists, how it is enforced, what the popular version gets wrong, and every source we used.
The four verdicts
- No longer in force
- Not a verdict — a separate mark. It rides alongside any of the four, because a repealed law can still be a true story or a myth.
What we commit to
- 01Official sources wherever they exist: statutes, legal codes, government registers.
- 02A clear line between laws actively enforced and zombie laws still technically on the books.
- 03Entries updated when the law changes, with the verification date shown on every page.
- 04Transparency about what we can't verify. Unverified is a published state, not a hidden one.
- 05Corrections published on the page they affect. Spot an error and we want to hear it.