# Asian old wives' tales/interesting sayings. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 14, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713 "2003-06-14T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/21 "2003-06-14T11:27:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LostCause \* > \*\*Don’t stick a pair of chopsticks into a bowl of rice; it looks like joss-stick used in funerals… \*\* This is a Taiwanese thing. It’s a very strong superstition in Taiwan but perfectly acceptable here in Shanghai. The number “4” in most common Chinese dialects sounds like “death”. The number “8” is generally lucky because it sounds like “fortune” (facai in Mandarin, or fat choy in Canto) The steam from boiling vinegar will kill off SARS germs and prevent infection. ---
**Author:** ![Kegg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kegg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kegg)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/22 "2003-06-14T11:38:14Z")
Chinese New Year has many superstitons, depending on the day (first day, second day, etc) I remember my mother telling us not to sweep on new years day, and not to wash our hair on the third day(or was it second day) and to go see friend on the fourth day I don’t know why, but she thought it was so. ---
**Author:** ![Space\_Vampire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Space\_Vampire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Space_Vampire)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/23 "2003-06-14T13:02:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Space Vampire \* > \*\* > The subway company sends the cars on one final run after closing, for ghosts only. > > \*\* Minor clarification, the rumor/superstition is that the company does so, they probably don’t. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/24 "2003-06-14T13:04:11Z")
In India they say when you take off your shoes and put them down, if one shoe overlaps the other it means you’re going on a journey. If someone sneezes at the start of a journey it’s inauspicious and you’d better call it off. Monday is inauspicious for shaving, Tuesday is inauspicious for washing hair, Saturday is inauspicious for buying oil. In India, every day of the week has certain auspicious and inauspicious actions associated with it. Remember in _A Passage to India_ where Godbole says “Oh no, this is Tuesday, something bad will happen if we do this today.” When you clip your nails, bury them so a sorcerer won’t find them and use them against you. This is maybe less a superstition than a simple security measure, because there really are sorcerers over there who steal people’s clippings and use them for inimical magic. The ancient version of hackers stealing your passwords and hacking your network. Some things stay the same even as they change. A lot of actions in India are governed by avoidance of “pollution.” In India they say a woman who gives birth is polluting for forty days afterward. So don’t go near her. This is actually beneficial for the new mother because she needs to rest after giving birth, and otherwise lots of relatives and neighbors would be crowding around her to see the new baby, so this superstition makes them leave her alone to get some rest. ---
**Author:** ![MrO](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/50afbb/32.png) [@MrO](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrO)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/25 "2003-06-14T13:04:21Z")
This will be four posts from me in one thread, which may be unlucky, but what the heck. **Kegg** just reminded me of it. An old Korean belief, not much practiced anymore, was that on the day of a big test, students shouldn’t bathe, wash their hair, or trim their nails. I hear that it was because some of the knowledge needed for the test was possibly lodged in the grime, and would be lost if the grime were washed away. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/26 "2003-06-14T13:51:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Space Vampire \* > Don’t give a gambler a book as a present, because it sounds like “lose.” Clocks are no-no for presents, for giving a clock sounds exactly like “keeping you company wheny you die.” > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Space Vampire \* > 8 is a lucky number; I can’t remember why, it might be that it sounds vaguely like “get rich.” So things will often be priced something like $888.88 instead of $889.99. 2, 3, 6, and 9 are also lucky numbers, for various reasons. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Space Vampire \* > 4 has the same problem in Chinese too, but I don’t know how big an impact it has. Hell, I live on the 4th floor. AFAIK, that’s just a Cantonese thing. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Space Vampire \* > We have Friday the 13th here too, called “Black Friday.” Don’t know if it came from the west or what. Western stuff. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Space Vampire \* > The subway company sends the cars on one final run after closing, for ghosts only. Never heard of this before. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Space Vampire \* > Miracle diets and boob-creams actually work. Fortunately, that’s not limited to Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/27 "2003-06-14T14:00:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kegg \* > Chinese New Year has many superstitons, depending on the day (first day, second day, etc) I remember my mother telling us not to sweep on new years day, and not to wash our hair on the third day(or was it second day) and to go see friend on the fourth day You are not supposed to wash your hair for the first seven days, and you shouldn’t visit your friends and relatives on the third day. Also each day, starting on the New Year, is the birthday of one animal or plant. You are not supposed to eat it on that day. Other tidbits: 1. To see a buddhist nun is bad luck for gamblers. 2. If you say something bad, spit and say something good to counter it. 3. Do not open an umbrella in a home, for it attracts ghosts. 4. The blood of a black dog exorcises evil spirits from possessing a person. 5. Don’t walk near walls at night. 6. When you need to pee outdoors at night, say “excuse me” first. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/28 "2003-06-14T14:15:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by China Guy \* > \*\*This is a Taiwanese thing. It’s a very strong superstition in Taiwan but perfectly acceptable here in Shanghai. > \*\* It’s a big, big no-no in Japan too. Without delving into the incredible number of Shinto-related superstitions, I’ll add that: In Japan, eating pork cutlets before an exam brings good luck because pork cutlet = _ton-katsu_ and _katsu_ also means “to win”. There is of course the widespread belief that wearing masks will prevent colds from running around. Sleeping with your head to the north brings bad luck. Passing food around from chopstick to chopstick is reminiscent of a certain funeral rite and is to be avoided. Note of interest for superstitious westerners: avoid living in the Osaka neighborhood of _Jûso_, it’s an alternate reading of _jûsan_ i.e. 13. (It’s a perfectly auspicious number here.) ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/29 "2003-06-14T14:32:20Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by MrO \* > \*\* Dreaming about feces is good too_\* :eek: ---
**Author:** ![rngadam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/97f17d/32.png) [@rngadam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rngadam)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/30 "2003-06-14T14:35:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by China Guy \* > \*\*This is a Taiwanese thing. It’s a very strong superstition in Taiwan but perfectly acceptable here in Shanghai. > \*\* It is also a Cantonese “thing”. How do you know its acceptable? You tried it? ---
**Author:** ![lilbtagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@lilbtagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilbtagna)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/31 "2003-06-14T15:21:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LostCause \* > \*\*Some times you may find Chineses buring ‘paper money’ or such by the roadside or pavement (an inconsiderate act, no doubt), for their ‘ancestors and loved ones below’. It is supposedly to be bad luck if you step on the ashes, or the dark patches left behind – the ghost may try to get even with you. > > Or so they say. I just think they are polluting the world even more. \*\* There is no need for the condescending attitude **LostCause**. A little bit of understanding for other cultures, please? In Vietnam, 4 is not a bad luck number as far as I know. 13, however, is; this is likely because of the French. Living in house with a 13 in the address is very bad luck. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/32 "2003-06-14T15:35:06Z")
**scr4, OsakaDave and jovan** have beaten me to most of the Japanese ones I know, but there are still a few others. Don’t give a potted plant as a gift to someone in the hospital, as it means they will stay in the hospital for a long time. I just asked my wife for a fwe, and according to her: -if you lie down immediately after eating, you will turn into a cow. -if you waste rice, you’ll go blind (and no, “wasting rice” is not slang for masturbation!) -if a cicada pees in your eyes, you’ll go blind (sounds like possible fact to me) -In an interesting variant of **OsakaDave** ’s thumb/hearse superstition, if you don’t cover your thumbs when you pass a cemetery, they will rot off. -You have to cover your bellybutton when there’s thunder, or the god of thunder will steal it. She also swears the air conditioner superstition is solid scientific fact. ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/33 "2003-06-14T15:51:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rngadam \* > It is also a Cantonese “thing”. How do you know its acceptable? You tried it? No it’s not. Not that I am aware of it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Sock\_Munkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Sock\_Munkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sock_Munkey)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/34 "2003-06-14T18:51:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Osakadave \* > \*\*For the same reason we don’t make up new words for English homonyms with one negative meaning. \*\* And what reason would that be? ---
**Author:** ![Ununnilium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/45deac/32.png) [@Ununnilium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ununnilium)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/35 "2003-06-14T20:07:20Z")
I belive there are actually alternate, non-unlucky versions of four and eight. Don’t know how often they’re used, though. Andrew “NO .SIG MAN” “Juan” Perron, have to get those JP language links back out… ---
**Author:** ![Sinungaling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Sinungaling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sinungaling)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/36 "2003-06-14T20:37:21Z")
Are you only asking about East Asia? In the Philippines, it is unlucky or bad when: 1. It rains while the sun is out. That means two sorcerers or witches are getting married to each other. 2. You go to sleep with wet or damp hair. Supposedly you can get sick doing that. Never happened to me, though my nanny/maid did chide me for doing that. 3. You read or watch tv while sick. That just makes you even sicker. These superstitions are regionally based. My nanny/maid came from a different province and different ethnolinguistic group as me, so she had different superstitions than the people in my home province. There are lots more, but I can’t remember any right now. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/37 "2003-06-14T23:47:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rngadam \* > \*\*It is also a Cantonese “thing”. How do you know its acceptable? You tried it? \*\* This refers to a pair of chopsticks stuck into rice and sticking straight up. Not sure why the Cantonese find it rude, but it is used in the Taiwanese burial rites and is a big taboo in Taiwan. perhaps this is a Japanese influence? However, here in Shanghai, the locals do it all the time. It doesn’t have a negative connotation. I’ve asked many times. It seems wierd to me after living in Taiwan but I’d have to say it does not seem to be a universal Chinese custom. ---
**Author:** ![Kempis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kempis/32/19248_2.png) [@Kempis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kempis)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/38 "2003-06-15T02:23:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sublight \* > -if you waste rice, you’ll go blind (and no, “wasting rice” is not slang for masturbation!) 🙂 It is now! -k ---
**Author:** ![rngadam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/97f17d/32.png) [@rngadam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rngadam)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/39 "2003-06-15T05:12:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Urban Ranger \* > \*\*No it’s not. Not that I am aware of it anyway. \*\* My father is from HK and he always freaked out when we did something like that…! So maybe not ALL Cantonese don’t like chopstick stuck straight up but at least some do. ---
**Author:** ![Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f08c70/32.png) [@Crowbar\_of\_Irony\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crowbar_of_Irony_3)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/40 "2003-06-15T17:43:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lilbtagna \* > \*\*There is no need for the condescending attitude **LostCause**. A little bit of understanding for other cultures, please? > \*\* Yes, in perceptive the statment does sound conescending. So maybe I shall explain why I think “They are just polluting the environment”. (BTW, I am a Chinese myself, so it’s a conclusion coming from observation, but of course that doesn’t make me more right than any other). Singapore (where I come from) is usually being plauged by haze from forest fires in nearby Indonesia. I believe that people who chose to practise the burning of paper money and such during the haze season are only making it worse. Not to mention the scorch burnt marks left behind on the pavements (which are public property), which are unsightly. I am saying that “they are polluting the environment” not because I dis-respect them or nor it is an insult, but because I think they are really causing pollution. Fortunately, the government built fire pits for the Chineses to burn their paper moneys in, but not all are using them. I’m sorry if I have offended anyone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713.md?page=3)