Got any superstitions to share?

[Chet]

If your ears itch, it means someone is talking about you.

If your right palm itches, it means you have money coming in, but if the left palm itches, it means you'll be spending it!

That's all I can think of for now.

Anyone else wanna share superstitions? Will be interesting to see if there are any similiarities between, for example, Chinese and English superstitions.

[AceOn6]

If you drop tableware, company is coming.

[Amy in Vermont]

An old foxhunting superstition is that the always pull on the left boot first for good luck. This was told to me by a man who was a teacher and mentor to me formany years.

To this day, I alsways put on my left shoe first.

[Des]

A wedgey is a sign of not reading between the lines.

[Eva]

Chet, I know the two you posted too. Only I don't know if I know them from my Hungarian or Dutch background...

If you have the hiccups, someone is thinking of you. You can lose the hiccups then by thinking of the person who is thinking of you.

If you spill salt, you will have a fight with someone.

If you spill salt and you want to avoid bad luck you have to throw salt over your left shoulder (or was it the right shoulder??)

If you spill sugar, you will have company coming over.

Walking under a ladder that stands against a wall brings bad luck.

Breaking a mirror means 7 years of bad luck.

Not look someone in the eyes when you toast with them, means no sex for 7 years.

If someone died in a house mirrors in that house have to be covered against bad spirits.

It brings bad luck if you see a herse / car with a coffin in it.

It brings bad luck if a black cat crosses your path.

It brings good luck if a chimneysweeper crosses your path.

Eva

[KarenSews2]

Last summer I bought a book named Bizarre Superstitions. I haven't had much time to read it, but I'll give you some random ones.

To bring luck at a wedding, hae a cat eat out of your left shoe.

A woman should serve her husband roasted owl if she wants him to be obedient to her every wish.

A loaf of bread should never be turned upside down after a slice has been cut from it.

Always eat fish from the head to the tail.

Changing your bed on Friday will bring bad dreams.

You can protect your house from ghosts by removing a door and rehanging it with the hinges on the other side.


More another day. I'm going to Chicago!

[Des]

Not being one for superstitions, but I always put the loo seat down after peeing. It's supposed to keep you wealthy.

[soulMerlin]

.....not a superstition as such, but I always look under the loo seat (not the lid) in case a snake or a spider bites my bum:eek:

h

[Des]

.....not a superstition as such, but I always look under the loo seat (not the lid) in case a snake or a spider bites my bum:eek:

h

I wouldn’t be worried about them biting ya bum...:eek:

[Chet]

Not being one for superstitions, but I always put the loo seat down after peeing. It's supposed to keep you wealthy.
You're very well trained, Des. :D

[NinasSpaceChild]

Pointing at the moon is unpolite and brings bad luck.

If you see a single magpie you should give it a two fingered salute to avoid bad luck.

Passing someone on the stairs brings bad luck.

You should never light more than two candles with the same lit match or taper.

[Chet]

Actually, I don't really mean superstitions, but any old wives' tales or old grandmothers' tales that they tell young children. Oh maybe those are superstitions.

One that I remember was if a baby was born bald, you rub brandy on the head and hair would grow. Apparently, that was what my nanny applied to my head. I was a bald baby.

There is a Chinese comedy movie with a scene in which one character is drinking from a bottle of brandy. Second character comes along, takes the bottle, pours some brandy in his hand and rubs it on his head. First character asks why did he do that, second character repeats superstition as above. After a dramatic pause, first character asks: "That means my liver is going to grow hair?"

It's funnier in the original Cantonese language.

Sorry for the digression ...

[Dee]

Having gone all Winter without catching a cold or flu bug, now it's Spring and I've caught a head cold! :mad: Which leads me to post thes old wives tales about colds:

You can't get one cold straight after another
Oh yes you can! In fact if you don’t look after yourself when you have a cold, then you will increase your chances of getting another one soon. The resistance you get from fighting one cold infection only helps you fight off exactly the same strain of virus. Remember that there are over 200 different strains to catch.

Colds and are caused by sitting in a draught, getting cold, or being caught in the rain. (a favourite of my mother's)
You normally catch a cold by touching something with the cold virus on it, and then touching your nose or eye. You can also catch colds and flu by breathing in viruses directly from someone sneezing near to you.

If I take medicines each time I get a cold it's bound to loose its effectiveness, and eventually won't work for me anymore.
Not true, as the things you can take to help with colds and flu are there only to relieve the symptoms, and help your body fight back against the infection.

You should go to the doctor when you have a cold or flu.
Not normally. Antibiotics do not kill viruses, only bacteria. Colds and flu are caused by viruses, so antibiotics have no effect. There is nothing that the doctor can give you that you can not get from your pharmacy.

I won't pass on my cold as long as I don't breathe on anyone.
It’s not the breathing that matters it’s sneezing that counts. If you have a cold or flu, then the best way of keeping it to yourself is to keep your sneezes in a tissue. Dispose of the tissue where nobody else can touch it. And wash your hands to wash off the viruses your sneeze has put there.

Feed a cold, starve a fever.
This was probably thought-up before there was anything you could do for a fever, or high temperature. Anyone with a really high temperature will not be thinking about eating. We now know that nutrition is important all the time, especially when you are ill. When you are ill only eat when you feel hungry, but then eat the right sort of things to help you back to health. Supplements can help as well. Make sure you drink plenty all the time though.

[hoops]

if you walk down west 33rd street in Ny between the hours of 10Pm and 1 am you'll probabaly get mugged.
I really don't know many of these things or perhaps have forgotten because they have proven to be untrue. the one real one i remeber is "step on a crack break your mother's back" when i was a kid i avoided cracks at all costs