# Need examples of old well-known beliefs/superstitions for a song
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 5, 2011, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278 "2011-02-05T13:13:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/21 "2011-02-06T20:17:21Z")
Every time you sigh, your heart skips a beat.
There’s an independent vein leading from the heart to the ring finger of the left hand (which is why it’s the ring finger).
Coffee (tobacco, alcohol, probably comic books…) stunts children’s growth.
Goats eat tin cans.
Toads cause warts.
Excessive reading causes myopia. (Or reading in dim light will “ruin your eyes.”)
Margarine is better for you than butter. (There are tons of back-and-forth food myths like that!)
The pilgrims believed that a child would be born on the same day of the week it was conceived (and woe unto those whose babies arrived on a Sunday).
You can’t get pregnant the first time you have sex.
Considering today’s date, I’m surprised I’m just now remembering that certain so-called “feminists” deliberately promulgated the false notion that more women were beaten on Super Bowl Sunday than on any other day of the year.
I can probably come up with a few more–when’s your deadline? (For that matter, what’s your rhyme scheme? Trying rhymes often generates ideas for me!)
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### Author:  [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/22 "2011-02-06T20:18:30Z")
> [@Moe](#):
>
> I wish someone would have told me this earlier. ::sigh:: OK, so, say you have a cat with evil spirits inside… er… how do you get’em out?
Regular exorcise, of course…
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### Author:  [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/23 "2011-02-06T20:59:37Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#):
>
> This is going to be a short some then.
This is going to be a short song then.
I hate how my hand types replacement words for what I want to type.
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### Author:  [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/24 "2011-02-06T21:16:56Z")
Moon. Green cheese.
(Okay, I don’t think anyone actually believed this, but it’s well known, and very definately wrong).
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### Author:  [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/25 "2011-02-06T22:04:01Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#):
>
> Regular exorcise, of course…
Well, since this is in the spirit against pseudoscience, I think I’d prefer mainstream medicine thank you very much. Perhaps I should take her for a cat scan.
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### Author:  [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/26 "2011-02-06T22:13:50Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#):
>
> I can probably come up with a few more–when’s your deadline? (For that matter, what’s your rhyme scheme? Trying rhymes often generates ideas for me!)
Well, no exact deadline except perhaps a year from now. I took part in a homeopathic suicide demonstration yesterday. Afterwards the organizer suggested I write a song for the next one. Not sure if he was serious but it got me thinking.
Not sure yet of the rhyme scheme of the verses, but the refrain will go something like:
I’m going to the pharmacy
For a homeopathic remedy
to cure whatever’s ailin’ me
a stomach flu and a broken knee
depression and anxiety
insomnia and crooked teeth
just a little bit of sugar [2, 3, 4…
1] and a whole lot of belief.
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### Author:  [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)
#### Post date: [February 6, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/27 "2011-02-06T22:23:19Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#):
>
> Moon. Green cheese.
>
> (Okay, I don’t think anyone actually believed this, but it’s well known, and very definately wrong).
Actually, I think this is more in the spirit of what I’m looking for. I’m interested in beliefs that people might have from relying only on their own senses and biases in the absence of any critical thought. That’s why I like the flat earth example I mention in the OP. In the absence of any evidence, it would be the natural conclusion to make from a walk down the street.
But it’s also light-hearted, and that’s kinda the tone here.
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2011, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/28 "2011-02-07T05:35:53Z")
One I was surprised to learn has a lot more truth in it that most is that all white cats are deaf. While it’s not always true, a disproportionate number of white cats _are_ deaf so it’s not just an old wives tale, and white cats with blue eyes are more likely to be deaf than to have hearing.
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### Author:  [@Double\_Foolscap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Double_Foolscap)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2011, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/29 "2011-02-07T09:35:05Z")
The Doctrine of Signatures - plants that look like parts of the body can cure its afflictions, like liverwort, bloodroot, or … ladies’ fingers? Not sure about that one.
Bad smells keep disease-causing spirits away.
Disease is caused by an imbalance of humours, and hence blood letting.
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### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [February 7, 2011, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/30 "2011-02-07T16:10:21Z")
> [@Double\_Foolscap](#):
>
> The Doctrine of Signatures - plants that look like parts of the body can cure its afflictions, like liverwort, bloodroot, or … ladies’ fingers? Not sure about that one.
>
> **Bad smells keep disease-causing spirits away.**
>
> Disease is caused by an imbalance of humours, and hence blood letting.
I was going to say the parctice of wearing an asafoetida necklace, which was said to keep away illness. (I think I learned this in “The Scarlet Letter”) The one trouble with including this is that it could indirectly work: by keeping other people outside the sneeze zone.
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### Author:  [@Kricket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kricket)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2011, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/31 "2011-02-09T01:53:00Z")
Not sure what you should do about your kitty, except maybe you should sleep with one eye open?
I am loving this thread though!
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### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2011, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/32 "2011-02-09T10:55:43Z")
The ones that pop in my head are all on Snopes. For instance: [New Year’s Superstitions](http://www.snopes.com/holidays/newyears/beliefs.asp). The black-eyed peas one is one that my family still even keeps, even if was more just an excuse to get us to eat them.
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### Author:  [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/33 "2011-02-09T13:58:24Z")
[Thirteen month old baby, broke the looking glass, seven years of bad luck, good things in the past…](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE)
[Warning: don’t follow the link if you’re easily intimidated as a songwriter]
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### Author:  [@AndyPolley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndyPolley)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2011, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/34 "2011-02-09T14:37:43Z")
> [@TruCelt](#):
>
> Tomatoes are poisonous.
Do you know about **Moe** ’s tomato allergy?
If it’s a lighthearted homeopathic remedy you’re after, how’s St. John’s Wort strike ya?
While speaking of bloodletting, don’t forget leeches. It also has the added benefit of rhyming with ‘peaches,’ which any fan of the Presidents of the United States of America will tell you is a great thing to write a song about.
How about a reference to the famous ‘lime in the coconut?’ The Doctor did say to take it for your belly-ache.
While not a remedy you would take, lots of attention has been paid to moon cycles & astrology effecting well being. You may be able to mine a line or verse from that fun little subject…I’ve been to many a pharmacy that sells horocope scrolls on the counters right there next to lip balm & hand sanitizer.
Now, what pray tell is a “homeopathic suicide demonstration?” Actually, “Homeopathic Suicide” sounds like a great name for a song.
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### Author:  [@Dioptre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dioptre)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/35 "2011-02-09T14:49:55Z")
Moe - good work on the 10-23. Where did you take part?
Beliefs _generally_ held to be wacky
- magic runes
- tinfoil hats
- pyramids on Mars
- snake oil
- rhino horn
- patent medicines
- industrial bleach
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### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2011, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/36 "2011-02-09T15:20:11Z")
industrial bleach? 😕
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### Author:  [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/37 "2011-02-09T15:33:24Z")
You have to greet a single magpie (“good morning, Mr Magpie”) to ward off ill fortune.
Never run anti-clockwise (“widdershins”) around a church or the faeries will take you away.
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### Author:  [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/38 "2011-02-09T23:28:25Z")
> [@Quercus](#):
>
> [Thirteen month old baby, broke the looking glass, seven years of bad luck, good things in the past..](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ul7X5js1vE)
>
> [Warning: don’t follow the link if you’re easily intimidated as a songwriter]
Dude, don’t link me to Stevie when I’m trying to pretend to write songs! (of course as a skeptical model he leaves a lot to be desired. “if you feel your life’s too hard, go and have a talk with god”. Love that album, just hate some of the lyrics).
> [@AndyPolley](#):
>
> Do you know about **Moe** ’s tomato allergy?
>
> If it’s a lighthearted homeopathic remedy you’re after, how’s St. John’s Wort strike ya?
>
> While speaking of bloodletting, don’t forget leeches. It also has the added benefit of rhyming with ‘peaches,’ which any fan of the Presidents of the United States of America will tell you is a great thing to write a song about.
>
> How about a reference to the famous ‘lime in the coconut?’ The Doctor did say to take it for your belly-ache.
>
> While not a remedy you would take, lots of attention has been paid to moon cycles & astrology effecting well being. You may be able to mine a line or verse from that fun little subject…I’ve been to many a pharmacy that sells horocope scrolls on the counters right there next to lip balm & hand sanitizer.
>
> Now, what pray tell is a “homeopathic suicide demonstration?” Actually, “Homeopathic Suicide” sounds like a great name for a song.
Ha! I heard it as “tomatoes cause you to make funny throat noises” [/inside joke]
As Dioptre mentions, the demonstration was part of [the 10-23 project](http://www.ecso.org/topics/altmed/36-2011-overdose-events). (“10-23” is a reference to avogadro’s number). Basically, we all swallowed at the same time a whole bottle of sugar, which some people call “medicine”.
> [@Dioptre](#):
>
> Moe - good work on the 10-23. Where did you take part?
In Berlin. Our video hasn’t made it on that link above but [here I am, waving goodbye to the world.](http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=190228341002532&set=t.1054124103)
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### Author:  [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)
#### Post date: [February 10, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/39 "2011-02-10T00:13:47Z")
Not a superstition but a belief I’ve heard many times:
“A dog’s mouth is cleaner than a human’s.”
Truth: not even close.
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### Author:  [@Moe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moe)
#### Post date: [February 11, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-examples-of-old-well-known-beliefs-superstitions-for-a-song/570278/40 "2011-02-11T00:41:31Z")
> [@AndyPolley](#):
>
> If it’s a lighthearted homeopathic remedy you’re after, how’s St. John’s Wort strike ya?
BTW my friend, if you’ll forgive me a little pedantry, St. John’s Wort is NOT homeopathic. In fact, I believe it actually has some science-based evidence supporting it, though I’m not 100% sure what its current status is as far as mainstream science goes.
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