Strange Superstitions and The Superstitious Among Us

Atticus Finch · Nov 24, 2010

I can't say I've ever heard of the exact superstitions you mention. My family does have a different knife superstition, though. According to my grandmother, you can't give a knife to someone you care about. It will sever your relationship with that person if you do. Instead of making the knife a gift, you must make the person pay for it...if only with a penny. The penny payment prevents the transaction from being a gift and stops the knife from severing the relationship.

Of course, I guess it follows that if you don't care for a particular person, you should give them an entire carving set.

AF

MariantheLibrarian · Nov 24, 2010

That first one sounds like one of our family superstitions-- that it's bad luck to close a knife unless you were the one that opened it. It's also bad luck to pick up a coin that's tails-up. And re: whistling, "whistle before breakfast, cry before dusk."

W-D Forties · Nov 24, 2010

An actor friend of ours thought that the whistling one had something to do with the theatre, but it sounds like a very old English one to me.

Diamondback · Nov 24, 2010

Maybe I was over-influenced by a prof who used to be a fighter pilot and subscribed to the Golden BB Theory: "Somewhere each of us has a bullet--even if only a lucky Golden BB--with our name on it. If it's fired, you're done, if not you're unstoppable."

The twist: I have the one with my name on it--I know, because I specially prepared it and watched as my name was engraved into it. "If you have a bullet with your name on it nobody else will" and all that, so despite the expectations of what'll happen if it ever flies it's actually a lucky charm for me.

Pompidou · Nov 24, 2010

"Knock on wood" is the only superstition my friends and I humor, that I can think of. Appeasing the envious spirits is important, I guess.

bunnyb.gal · Nov 25, 2010

MariantheLibrarian said:
That first one sounds like one of our family superstitions-- that it's bad luck to close a knife unless you were the one that opened it. It's also bad luck to pick up a coin that's tails-up. And re: whistling, "whistle before breakfast, cry before dusk."

But what about "find a penny pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck"? Funnily enough, just this eve I did just that!

MikeBravo · Nov 25, 2010

All superstitions are strange

23SkidooWithYou · Nov 25, 2010

All courtesy of my Gram:
Hats on the bed or shoes on the table mean bad luck. (This one is huge in our family and you will hear us shriek if you try to set a shoe box on a table!)
Birds in the house are bad luck. (Try shopping with her for kitchen curtains with this one in mind.

)
If you spill the salt, you have to throw a pinch over your shoulder.
If you drop a fork it means an uninvited guest for dinner.
If your nose is itchy, you are going to get in a fight or kiss a fool.
If your palm is itchy, you are going to come into money. (She used to say "Oh, play the lottery!")
Never give a purse without a little money inside.
Never give knives or pearls without making the person "pay" you for it. (Pearls mean tears to receive as a gift.)

I'm sure there are more that I just can't recall. The interesting twist is that my Gram was of Irish heritage so I wonder how many of our family superstitions have a UK connection.

Oh, and not from our family but from a very memorable customer I once helped....Ladies, never buy a man shoes or he'll walk away from you!

Charlie74 · Nov 25, 2010

My Mother told me never to thank anyone for a plant or the plant will die

W-D Forties · Nov 25, 2010

23SkidooWithYou said:
All courtesy of my Gram:
Hats on the bed or shoes on the table mean bad luck. (This one is huge in our family and you will hear us shriek if you try to set a shoe box on a table!)
Birds in the house are bad luck. (Try shopping with her for kitchen curtains with this one in mind. )
If you spill the salt, you have to throw a pinch over your shoulder.

If you drop a fork it means an uninvited guest for dinner.
If your nose is itchy, you are going to get in a fight or kiss a fool.
If your palm is itchy, you are going to come into money. (She used to say "Oh, play the lottery!")
Never give a purse without a little money inside.
Never give knives or pearls without making the person "pay" you for it. (Pearls mean tears to receive as a gift.)

I'm sure there are more that I just can't recall. The interesting twist is that my Gram was of Irish heritage so I wonder how many of our family superstitions have a UK connection.

Oh, and not from our family but from a very memorable customer I once helped....Ladies, never buy a man shoes or he'll walk away from you!

23Skidoo, many of them sound like ones from may family too, especially the shoes. I always thought that was something to do with hanging.

Miss Golightly · Nov 25, 2010

23SkidooWithYou said:
All courtesy of my Gram:
Hats on the bed or shoes on the table mean bad luck. (This one is huge in our family and you will hear us shriek if you try to set a shoe box on a table!)

That freaks my Mum out too but only if it's new shoes - the amount of times I nearly set a pair down (in the box) and she would shout at me to remove them! Also another superstition of hers is if there are two teaspoons on a saucer it means someone is expecting!

Missy Hellfire · Nov 25, 2010

I come from a very superstitious family too, much to the confusion of my beloved other half at times! Some of the superstitions already mentioned are very familiar to me: You must buy a knife or a blade, never be given it, never, ever put new shoes on the table, always throw a pinch of salt over your left shoulder if you spill it and never turn your clothes the right way if you've put them on back to front or inside out or 'it will turn your luck around', this can be countered however by taking off the offending garment and turning around three times before putting it back on the right way.
There are also a few more that were drummed into me as a child and now I can't not adhere to them no matter how hard I try!
Always salute a single magpie to 'throw the bad luck over your shoulder'
The same as for knives, pearls must always be bought, if only for a penny otherwise 'you'll shed a tear for every one'
Never, ever let two knives lay crossed or it will cause an argument.
Never let a new acquaintance pour tea from your teapot.
Similarly, if bubbles form in the middle of your teacup when the tea is poured, money is on the way

These are but a few! I shall rack my brains to see if I can think of any more. The only problem is that most of them are second nature so I have to wait until I do it in order to remember!

MariantheLibrarian · Nov 26, 2010

bunnyb.gal, only if it's heads-up

rue · Nov 26, 2010

Atticus Finch said:
I can't say I've ever heard of the exact superstitions you mention. My family does have a different knife superstition, though. According to my grandmother, you can't give a knife to someone you care about. It will sever your relationship with that person if you do. Instead of making the knife a gift, you must make the person pay for it...if only with a penny. The penny payment prevents the transaction from being a gift and stops the knife from severing the relationship.

Of course, I guess it follows that if you don't care for a particular person, you should give them an entire carving set.

AF

I think I'll be buying a knife set for my husband's ex-wife then lol

rue · Nov 26, 2010

Superstitions that I follow...

break a mirror= 7 years bad luck
knock on wood
spilt salt- throw some over left shoulder
Never walk under a ladder

Oh and my husband always heard....

go out the same door you came in.

Subvet642 · Nov 26, 2010

W-D Forties said:
An actor friend of ours thought that the whistling one had something to do with the theatre, but it sounds like a very old English one to me.

When I was in the U.S. Navy, an old Master Chief told me that there were only two people on a ship who were allowed to whistle: Bo's'ns Mates and cooks; Cooks, to prove that they weren't eating any fruit and Bo's'ns Mates, traditionally used a whistle to give commands to Sailors in the rigging and elsewhere. For anyone else to whistle onboard ship, it was said, would cause the wind to die down.

Shangas · Nov 26, 2010

Here are a few from my parents and my grandmother...

- Never pass something to someone over your shoulder without turning around to look first, or you'll give it to the Devil. (I did that to my gran once, and she went berserk!)
- Never place a bed in a room so that the head or foot of the bed points directly at the door. Only do this when someone is dead ("I won't leave until they take me out feet first" kinda thing). We don't follow this one much, but if we have guests over, mum will insist on it.
- Never buy second-hand goods, because they will still contain the spirit of its previous owner and that will bring bad luck (My room is chock-full of second-hand goods and I'm fine!)
- If a husband dies while his wife is pregnant, the baby must be given away, as the baby is a sign of bad luck. (my grandmother had to adopt one of my aunts over this superstition after my great-uncle died while my great-aunt was pregnant back in the 1950s with one of my aunts).

Being Chinese, I have a massive number of Chinese superstitions (told to me by relatives) which relate to food. Here are just a few...

- Never stick your chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice. It's bad luck.
- Always hold your chopsticks in the middle of the shaft. Holding them too close to either end affects your chances of marriage.
- Never stay in the kitchen while dumplings are boiling or steaming, or they won't cook properly (kinda like 'a watched pot never boils').
- Children should not eat chicken's feet, because it will affect their handwriting at school.

DavidVillaJr · Nov 27, 2010

We only had one superstition when we were growing up.

"Never give money to your Uncle."

maybe it was just good advice....

W-D Forties · Nov 27, 2010

Shangas said:
Here are a few from my parents and my grandmother...

- Never pass something to someone over your shoulder without turning around to look first, or you'll give it to the Devil. (I did that to my gran once, and she went berserk!)
- Never place a bed in a room so that the head or foot of the bed points directly at the door. Only do this when someone is dead ("I won't leave until they take me out feet first" kinda thing). We don't follow this one much, but if we have guests over, mum will insist on it.
- Never buy second-hand goods, because they will still contain the spirit of its previous owner and that will bring bad luck (My room is chock-full of second-hand goods and I'm fine!)
- If a husband dies while his wife is pregnant, the baby must be given away, as the baby is a sign of bad luck. (my grandmother had to adopt one of my aunts over this superstition after my great-uncle died while my great-aunt was pregnant back in the 1950s with one of my aunts).

Being Chinese, I have a massive number of Chinese superstitions (told to me by relatives) which relate to food. Here are just a few...

- Never stick your chopsticks upright in a bowl of rice. It's bad luck.
- Always hold your chopsticks in the middle of the shaft. Holding them too close to either end affects your chances of marriage.
- Never stay in the kitchen while dumplings are boiling or steaming, or they won't cook properly (kinda like 'a watched pot never boils').
- Children should not eat chicken's feet, because it will affect their handwriting at school.

Wow Shangas, your family puts mine in the shade!
The one about giving the baby away is heartbreaking though. I can't imagine hving to do that on top of losing a spouse.

Shangas · Nov 27, 2010

Thanks WD40s.

Here's a couple more...

On Chinese New Year, do not take out the rubbish and do not sweep the house (if this must be done, it should be done before New Year's Eve). Doing either of these activities on New Year's Day or New Year's Eve will sweep out the good luck of the coming year, along with the bad luck of the old year (another superstition my mother believes).

Similarly, lighting firecrackers, or hanging firecrackers outside your front door on Chinese New Year, brings good luck. Lighting the crackers scares away evil spirits that might bring bad luck for the new year (mother still hangs firecrackers on our front porch each February for this exact reason).

Probably the most famous Chinese superstition:

Never buy anything in sets of four. Four is the traditional Chinese number of bad luck.

Never buy someone a clock for a present (of any kind), as this brings bad luck. Watches are perfectly safe.

At funeral-wakes, only serve one serving of each dish. At wedding-celebrations, serve two (or multiples of two) servings of each dish. Bad things should only happen once, while good things should always come in pairs.

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