superstitions/ old wives tales you inherit from your .....

[Matata]

Re: superstitions/ old wives tales you inherit from your ...

Throw a butterknife out the door during a thunderstorm to make the storm stop.

If you have a persistent headache or bad luck, it is probably maloik (il Malocchio). To determine the culprit wishing misfortune upon you, my grandmother would put a handkerchief over her head and mumble secret words while dripping olive oil from her finger into a bowl of water. Naturally, once the culprit is identified through mystical means, you can then give that person the evil eye.

If you point at the stars, you'll get warts on your fingers.

 

[GliderPoss]

Re: superstitions/ old wives tales you inherit from your ...

This is a great topic!

OK I have a few:
- Hold you break whilst passing a cemetry
- Lift your feet when driving over cattle grids
- Dont step on a crack in the pavement (that's an old one)
- Ears burning - someone is talking about you
- Necklace fastener at the front - loved one is thinking of you
- If you gift someone a knife they must give you money in return
- Black cockatoos means rain is coming
- Green sky means hail (this one is true!)
- Dont ever cuss an animal, they understand you

 

[HopeDream]

Re: superstitions/ old wives tales you inherit from your ...

From my grandmother:

If you have a wild bird fly inside the house it signifies a death in the family.
( Once, a humming bird got inside and I caught it with a teatowel and released it - everything was fine)

From my other grandmother:

Eat your crusts and they'll give you curly hair/a beautiful singing voice.
(I don't like crusts or curly hair)

 

[monarch64]

Re: superstitions/ old wives tales you inherit from your ...

This is a great topic!

OK I have a few:
- Hold you break whilst passing a cemetry
- Lift your feet when driving over cattle grids
- Dont step on a crack in the pavement (that's an old one)
- Ears burning - someone is talking about you
- Necklace fastener at the front - loved one is thinking of you
- If you gift someone a knife they must give you money in return
- Black cockatoos means rain is coming
- Green sky means hail (this one is true!)
- Dont ever cuss an animal, they understand you

I've never heard that! What's the reason behind the superstition? I never held my feet over ours, so I want to know what's supposed to have happened!

 

[GemFever]

Re: superstitions/ old wives tales you inherit from your ...

Fun!

- knock on wood and spit three times over your left shoulder to avoid "bad eyeing" something -- this can be done either if you say out loud some hopes and you don't want to ruin the chances of them coming true, or if you make a bad prediction and you don't want it to come true. With those two possibilities, I'm pretty much knocking on wood and spitting ALL THE TIME. I need to get rid of this habit, but... I'll admit it... I'm afraid to.

- spilled salt thrown over left shoulder (that's the one the devil is supposedly sitting on)
- don't throw out trash at night (I'm guessing this is more a safety thing, since you have to go out on the street to do it)
- don't whistle indoors or you'll whistle away all your money

There are a bunch more I can't remember off the top of my head. Plus some have already been said (paying something for a gifted knife, and others).

 

[gregchang35]

Re: superstitions/ old wives tales you inherit from your ...

My grandmother used to make fun of her mother, who believed that eating cauliflower gave you brain tumors.

I guess cause it looks like brains?

I dunno, the taste was enough to keep away from that stuff. . .

QUESTION!

gregchange35, is this only for inherited old wives' tales, or it is also for crazy stuff we picked up on our own ?

any of them.. i wonder who lives by them still?

 

[hawaiianorangetree]

Re: superstitions/ old wives tales you inherit from your ...

This is a great topic!

OK I have a few:
- Hold you break whilst passing a cemetry
- Lift your feet when driving over cattle grids
- Dont step on a crack in the pavement (that's an old one)
- Ears burning - someone is talking about you
- Necklace fastener at the front - loved one is thinking of you
- If you gift someone a knife they must give you money in return
- Black cockatoos means rain is coming
- Green sky means hail (this one is true!)
- Dont ever cuss an animal, they understand you

I've never heard that! What's the reason behind the superstition? I never held my feet over ours, so I want to know what's supposed to have happened!

If it is anything like lifting your feet over train tracks it's to stop you from getting pregnant! (My husband makes me do this all the time.. )

 

[StacylikesSparkles]

Re: superstitions/ old wives tales you inherit from your ...

My Grandmother always said not to put your purse on the floor because it'll make you go broke. This is one thing I absolutely DO NOT do and if someone moves my bag to the floor, I tend to freak a bit lol...more for the fact that it is dirty, than the broke business, but I'm not trying to jinx anything!

Ha! I never heard that one, but I never EVER put my bag on the floor because it's gross, and when I see other people do it, I freak out inside!

It IS gross! Why in the world would you want to put it on the floor with the shoes and the dirt and germs? Bet hey, I also don't want to risk losing money, so either way, my purse is NOT on the floor!

 

[fabulousfindk]

Re: superstitions/ old wives tales you inherit from your ...

My Gaggie was full of these little gems. Let's see how many I can remember:
Always put butter on a burn
If your necklace clasp is turned around to the front it means someone is thinking of you
She always had hummingbird feeders and said seeing one brings you good luck
Whenever you gift someone a purse, you have to put a penny in it; it will bring them good fortune

She had a lot of sayings more than superstitions.. like if she saw you drooping or tired she'd say "you're like a tree over a blessed well."

 

[qtiekiki]

Re: superstitions/ old wives tales you inherit from your ...

My Grandmother always said not to put your purse on the floor because it'll make you go broke. This is one thing I absolutely DO NOT do and if someone moves my bag to the floor, I tend to freak a bit lol...more for the fact that it is dirty, than the broke business, but I'm not trying to jinx anything!

LOL. No wonder I am broke. I put my purse on my bedroom floor every night.

I know a lot of superstitions since Chinese are full of them, but I don't follow any.