# Old Wives Tales **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 30, 2008, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200 "2008-12-30T11:25:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/41 "2008-12-30T22:56:17Z")
> [@KRC](#): > > If you drop a spoon on the floor a woman is coming to visit you. If you drop a knife on the floor a man is coming to visit. \*\*If you drop a dishrag on the floor a wh–I mean, a woman of ill repute–is coming to visit. \*\* > _snip_ Bolding Mine I think the bolded part might have some scientific accuracy to it so I will be trying it tonight and for the next few days as an experiment. -Killing a crow is bad mojo because it was someones soul. Eating a crew is even worse because you just ate someones soul. ---
**Author:** ![rucciface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ba9def/32.png) [@rucciface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rucciface)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/42 "2008-12-30T23:03:56Z")
If you play with matches, you’ll wet the bed. In all my years, I’ve not heard this anywhere except in my own family…until a few days ago, when a friend mentioned it. Is it a common one, or no? ---
**Author:** ![timbicile59](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@timbicile59](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/timbicile59)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/43 "2008-12-31T00:02:06Z")
> [@rucciface](#): > > If you play with matches, you’ll wet the bed. > > In all my years, I’ve not heard this anywhere except in my own family…until a few days ago, when a friend mentioned it. Is it a common one, or no? I don’t know about common but my childhood friends dad said he could tell when Perry played with fire because he’d pee the bed ---
**Author:** ![jali](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecae2f/32.png) [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/44 "2008-12-31T00:10:47Z")
Don’t buy a man shoes. He’ll walk out on you. Women wearing red are whores. (okay, that was my dad back in the day) ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/45 "2008-12-31T01:04:20Z")
> [@jali](#): > > Don’t buy a man shoes. He’ll walk out on you. And most definitely don’t ever knit him a jumper/sweater/pullover, especially in a complicated pattern. He’ll not only walk out on you, he’ll more than likely toss the thing in the washing machine. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/46 "2008-12-31T01:15:52Z")
I heard the horseshoe thing as a kid but it had to be a horseshoe that you found; buying one got you nothing. Opening an umbrella inside a house is bad luck is basically true because they usually open quickly; they become ever so much larger when opened and no one pays any attention to the consequences attendant on opening one: It is almost a certainty that something will be knocked off a table or something will be broken or a shirt ripped or an eye poked out, etc., etc. While in Korea, I heard the running of a fan in a room will cause death; to my surprise, a Haitian nurse I knew swore it was true; she was astonished to hear that Koreans believed it as well. Another one I used to hear was that moving a used broom to a new house caused bad luck. I think it had something to do with the old saying that a new broom sweeps clean. If you moved and took your cat with you, to ensure the cat wouldn’t try to go back to the old place, you coated the cat’s paws with butter. The theory was that by the time the cat had licked all the butter away, it was comfortable with its new surroundings and would stay. I used to believe that if you killed a snake and tried to touch it before nightfall, it would still be able to bite you. My grandmother used to say that a summer thunderstorm would curdle milk but I never saw any evidence of that one being true. ---
**Author:** ![Floppy\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3bc359/32.png) [@Floppy\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floppy_Joe)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/47 "2008-12-31T01:53:32Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > If you get little bumps on your tongue, that means you lied. > > My mum called them lie bumps My mother told me that one, too. > [@This\_ll\_Do](#): > > Milk and fish consumed in the same meal will make you sick. My grandmother would always tell us that fish and milk at the same meal was poison. ---
**Author:** ![dubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dubs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dubs)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/48 "2008-12-31T01:58:38Z")
If you cut a baby boy’s hair before his first birthday, he’ll go bald earlier. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/49 "2008-12-31T02:08:49Z")
> [@rucciface](#): > > If you play with matches, you’ll wet the bed. > > In all my years, I’ve not heard this anywhere except in my own family…until a few days ago, when a friend mentioned it. Is it a common one, or no? Yeah, I’ve heard this one, as well as the itchy nose = kiss a fool. I don’t know if it’s a geographical thing - I grew up in suburban Baltimore. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/50 "2008-12-31T02:25:36Z")
> [@rucciface](#): > > If you play with matches, you’ll wet the bed. > > In all my years, I’ve not heard this anywhere except in my own family…until a few days ago, when a friend mentioned it. Is it a common one, or no? Yes, I’ve heard this one too. That doesn’t mean it is common though. ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/51 "2008-12-31T02:29:28Z")
> [@Skara\_Brae](#): > > You should never give a wallet or a purse without putting at least a penny in it. This is so it will never be empty of money (I only heard this from a friend a little while ago). Chocolate/fries and gravy will give you boils on the butt or zits on your face. Dropping cutlery means you will soon have visitors (what sort doesn’t correlate to what gender will arrive, just visitors..). If you sing at the supper table you’ll go crazy. (I think Grandma just wanted us to stop singing..) ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/52 "2008-12-31T02:43:03Z")
Tickling a baby will make him or her stutter when s/he starts talking. Hot water freezes faster than cold water If you see a thousand-legger (centipede), close your mouth quick, or it will count your teeth which will either cause them all to fall out or else kill you outright. Copperheads smell like sour pickles. Blacksnakes are aggressive and will chase and bite you if they get a chance. You can “wool” a puppy or kitten to death by petting or holding it too much. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/53 "2008-12-31T02:58:57Z")
> [@jali](#): > > Don’t buy a man shoes. He’ll walk out on you. And then he’ll be a mile away and he’ll have your shoes! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/54 "2008-12-31T02:59:27Z")
> [@burundi](#): > > If there’s a thunderstorm during the winter, you’ll get snow within the next 10 days. (This seems to be true more often than not.) Around here, if you wait 10 days in the winter, you’ll get snow, regardless of whether there was a thunderstorm or not! > [@WormTheRed](#): > > Never give someone a knife, or something sharp, since that will cut the friendship bond My SO’s family was raised to “believe” that giving a knife (or knife set) was bad luck, so the receiver had to “buy” them by giving money to the giver. A penny would do, as long as it wasn’t a gift. > [@Flutterby](#): > > […]fries and gravy will give you … zits on your face. Explains most of the population of Québec… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/55 "2008-12-31T03:58:15Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Around here, if you wait 10 days in the winter, you’ll get snow, regardless of whether there was a thunderstorm or not! 😃 Fair enough. I heard this one in North Carolina, where we don’t typically get a lot of snow. And in the spirit of **luv2draw** ’s post, you have to eat black-eyed peas and greens on New Years Day. The peas are for luck and the greens (collard, turnip, mustard, whatever) are for money. ---
**Author:** ![Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f08c70/32.png) [@Uncle\_Brother\_Walker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncle_Brother_Walker)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/56 "2008-12-31T04:28:19Z")
> [@luv2draw](#): > > More good luck for New Years Eve: > > Eat one grape (for a total of 12) for each strike of the clock at midnight. You have to be finished with the grapes by the 12th stroke. Just be careful not to freakin’ choke. Somebody I know hosts a NYE party every year. He does this as well. But I don’t understand. If you can only eat one grape on each strike, doesn’t that mean that you basically have to inhale the last one in like, what, a half second? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Carlyjay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Carlyjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlyjay)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/57 "2008-12-31T04:41:58Z")
My mother is a fan of Bingo, and she has about a thousand superstitions to go along with it: - Don’t rest your purse on the table, it’s bad luck. - Don’t leave your dabber cap on the table face down: leave it face up so money can pour in. And about a zillion kapskillion others, which is only one reason why I can’t understand the appeal of Bingo… ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/58 "2008-12-31T05:34:41Z")
> [@Stauderhorse](#): > > When your nose is itchy, it means someone is talking about you. My grandmother from Wales rhymed, “Nose itches, nose itches, someone’s coming with a hole in his britches.” My grandfather wouldn’t let us eat cherries with milk. The combo was sure to cause ulcers. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/59 "2008-12-31T12:03:32Z")
> [@luv2draw](#): > > And then it’s supposed to be good luck if the first person to enter your house after the New Year begins is male. But he must be carrying a lump of coal and some salt. If you see a single magpie you must salute it or it’s bad luck all day. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200/60 "2008-12-31T13:53:02Z")
> [@rucciface](#): > > If you play with matches, you’ll wet the bed. > > In all my years, I’ve not heard this anywhere except in my own family…until a few days ago, when a friend mentioned it. Is it a common one, or no? It might be a reference to the [Macdonald triad](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macdonald_triad), which says that someone who wets the bed, plays with fire, and is cruel to animals is more likely than others to be a sociopath. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-wives-tales/479200.md?page=4)