# 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:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**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, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/41 "2003-06-15T17:47:12Z")
Eight to the Chineses is an extremely luck numbers. The more times it is repeated, the more lucky it is. Hence during Chinese New Year, lucky draws usually have cash prizes like $8,888 or $88,888 The reason for this because in some dialect “8” sounds like “fa”, or prosperity. During Chinese New Years, you could usually find the character for Fortune (fu) being hang upside down. The belief is that fortune (or prosperity) will fall into your lap. ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/42 "2003-06-15T19:14:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Osakadave \* > \*\*For the same reason we don’t make up new words for English homonyms with one negative meaning. \*\* Ever notice how the wife of a countess is an earl? Or how we prefer the words rooster and donkey? Another chopstick superstition I’ve read about is that in Japan, not only shouldn’t you stick your chopsticks up in your food (an idea which in America extends to forks, I’m told), you shouldn’t set them down crossed. I don’t know if I’ve heard this anywhere but in the book I read it in, though. I was quite surprised when I went to Panda Express for some heavily Americanized, pseudo-Chinese fast food and it was served to me with a fork stuck straight up in it. ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/43 "2003-06-15T19:15:16Z")
The HUSBAND. The husband of a countess is an earl. This post brought to you by Starbucks. Remember kiddies, never post before your morning coffee. ---
**Author:** ![lilbtagna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4491bb/32.png) [@lilbtagna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lilbtagna)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/44 "2003-06-15T20:13:25Z")
Thank you for clearing that up **LostCause**. My family burns paper money for our ancestors once a year, and I’ve never really thought of its side effects to be very bad. I see it as no worse than firing up the grill to feed a huge family gathering of dozens of people. Of course I should have realized the situation would be different elsewhere, such as in Signapore. I’m sorry about my attitude. ---
**Author:** ![7\_up\_yours](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/7/919ad9/32.png) [@7\_up\_yours](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/7_up_yours)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/45 "2003-06-15T22:21:37Z")
[slight hijack] My grandmother burns the paper dealies every year. She folds them into shapes that look like gold bars and clothing and the sorts. Every year, we rag on her about burning money. [/slight highjack] :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Tsubaki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@Tsubaki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tsubaki)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/46 "2003-06-15T22:45:27Z")
Some more Japanese ones, courtesy of my MIL (gotta love’em, right, **China Guy**?). - Miso soup is good for producing breastmilk (my counter to this is that ANY liquid ingested is going to help with production) - Breastmilk has no nutritional value after six months. - if your baby isn’t gaining weight as soon as its born, then you aren’t producing enough breastmilk and should switch to formula - when you have a fever, you should lay under heaps of blankets and sweat it out, no matter what. - sick is only sick if you have a fever - Japanese food is better for you than Western food. Period. - chrysanthemums are only for funerals, so don’t give them to mums on Mother’s Day (OK, so some of them may have been a bit off-track from the OP, but I needed to get them off my chest. Please tell me that my MIL is nuts). ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/47 "2003-06-16T01:38:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tsubaki \* > \*\*- Japanese food is better for you than Western food. Period. > > (snip) > > Please tell me that my MIL is nuts. \*\* On the contrary, I think I would get along just fine with her. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sock Munkey \* > **Why don’t they make up new words for four and nine that don’t sound like those unfortunate words?** Actually, there _are_ alternate words for four and seven. The numbers ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyu, ju are of Chinese origin and there is an alternate, native way of counting that goes: hito, futa, mi, yon, itsu, mu, nana, ya, koko, to. So, people usually replace “shi” and “shichi” with “yon” and “nana”. Nine isn’t replaced because it’s usually pronounced “kyu” and not “ku”. The interesting question is why is seven replaced. Even though seven is supposed to be a lucky number, I’ve heard that it was unlucky because “shichi” = pawn and “shichi” = death place. ---
**Author:** ![ricepad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@ricepad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricepad)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/48 "2003-06-17T06:11:53Z")
One more. My dad once admonished me for picking up the teapot with my palm facing up. When I asked him why not, he said, “I dunno… **obachan** always said not to…” ---
**Author:** ![ooga\_booga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b77776/32.png) [@ooga\_booga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ooga_booga)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/49 "2003-06-17T07:19:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LostCause \* > \*\*Eight to the Chineses is an extremely luck numbers. The more times it is repeated, the more lucky it is. Hence during Chinese New Year, lucky draws usually have cash prizes like $8,888 or $88,888 > > The reason for this because in some dialect “8” sounds like “fa”, or prosperity. > \*\* This is true. My girlfriend is Chinese and told me once that people will go to elaborate lengths in China to try and finagle a license plate that has as many 8s as possible in it. If you see one with more than two or three 8 digits, you can rest assured that the person driving is either rich or a government official with clout (or more probably, both). 4, on the other hand, is best avoided in your license plate if at all possible, because as other posters have mentioned, it has connotations with death/bad luck - it’s similar to the way your average Christian might not be thrilled about having a plate ending in 666. I once saw a taxi unlucky enough to have four 4s in its plate number, and my girlfriend remarked (in all seriousness) that he probably gets very few customers. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/50 "2003-06-17T07:50:09Z")
One one the things I found interesting when I was in China, and though was a good example of just how superstitious Chinese can be, was that in many hotels the “presidential suite” was priced at 8888 RMB. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/51 "2013-11-06T21:59:12Z")
The sheer number of food myths aways surprised me in China. Apparently tomato is good for your skin. So is cucumber. So is, as far as I could tell, pretty much everything you could possibly eat. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/52 "2013-11-06T22:40:17Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > Passing food around from chopstick to chopstick is reminiscent of a certain funeral rite and is to be avoided. This specific [post-cremation rite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_funeral#Cremation), in fact: > [@Wikipedia](#): > > The relatives pick the bones out of the ashes and transfer them to the urn using large chopsticks or metal picks, two relatives sometimes holding the same bone at the same time with their chopsticks (or, according to some sources, passing the bones from chopsticks to chopsticks). This is the only time in Japan when it is proper for two people to hold the same item at the same time with chopsticks. At all other times, holding anything with chopsticks by two people at the same time, or passing an item from chopsticks to chopsticks, will remind all bystanders of the funeral of a close relative and is considered to be a major social faux pas. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713/53 "2013-11-06T22:45:16Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > 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? I know my Japanese mother scolded me about it when I was a kid. So that’s a data point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-old-wives-tales-interesting-sayings/181713.md?page=2)