Cutting your hair makes it grow faster.
Shutting all the windows in the house and keeping extra warm when you have a cold will make you get better faster.
If you die in a dream that means you’re dead for real.
If there’s a ring around the moon at night, that means it’ll rain the next day (I’m not sure whether or not this one has any basis in reality, but the rhyme used to go: “Ring around the moon, rain before noon, Red sun in the morn, sailors take warn.”)
Craving spicy food while pregnant means you’ll have a boy.
Carrying low while pregnant means you’ll have a boy; carrying high means you’ll have a girl.
Where I live (Dominican Republic) I observe the local old wives’ tale that says that putting your handbag on the ground will make you lose all your money.
Especially when sitting in an outdoor cafe in the touristy part of town.
If you get little bumps on your tongue, that means you lied.
My mum called them lie bumps
The version I grew up with was: “Red sun at night, sailor’s delight; red sun at morning, sailor take warning.”
Oops - I think I mixed up my sayings. See, this is what happens when you work in Medicare. You get senior moments, no matter how old you are.
In Japan, sneezing is when you know someone’s saying bad things about you.
Heh, that’s amusing : there’s the exact same saying in French, only to keep it rhyming, “delight” is for red sun in the morning and “warning” is for the evening red sky.
Other French superstitions/old wives tales :
Stepping on dogshit is good luck, but only if it’s the left foot. Of someone who’s walked on a steamer, one says “il a marché dans le bonheur”, he stepped in the happy.
Waking up and going out of bed, if your right foot touches the ground first, you’re gonna have a good day. Left foot, crappy day.
It’s horrible bad luck to open an umbrella inside.
“Araignée du matin, chagrin. Araignée du soir, espoir” : Seeing a spider in the morning means sadness is on the way. Seeing a spider in the evening is a good omen.
Keeping a horse shoe nailed next to your house’s door is good luck, but only if the points are upwards (like a U). If the points point downwards, all the luck runs out.
If you have warts, rub them with a half-potato, then bury the tater in your garden at midnight and tie a string around your wrist. When the string breaks off, you have no warts anymore.
Eating soup as a kid will make you grow taller. Carrots will make you nicer. And/or give you nightvision. Eating horse meat makes your blood stronger.
It won’t get better if you pick at it.
Never give someone a knife, or something sharp, since that will cut the friendship bond
Lying will make your tongue go black (which I believed until I made a proper scientific experiment by lying in front of a mirror)
Moms have eyes at the back of their head!
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.
If your right ear rings, someone is saying nice things about you. If your left ear rings, someone is saying bad things about you. (I guess if you have tinnitus in both ears you are the subject of much controversy.)
If a bird flies into your house someone in the household will die.
If you hear an owl hooting outside your window for 3 nights in a row, you will die.
If you see an unfamiliar black dog or a white horse it is an omen of bad luck and possible death.
My mom used that one on me, too. It’s developed a bit of a wave now that I’m living in a more humid climate.
She also told me that eating my carrots would give me good eyesight. I’m the most near-sighted one in the family.
I’m coming to the conclusion that my mom was a compulsive liar!
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.)
Bulgarians believe this too. They also believe (very seriously) that drafts will make you sick, even if it’s a warm day. It’s apparently better to suffer in a stuffy room than to open a window and let in the air. I’ve heard that other Eastern Europeans believe this as well.
Also:
sitting on cold stone or cement will make women barren
sitting at the corner of a table will make…something bad. I think it might also make women barren.
A friend of mine told me that carrying a chestnut around would give one energy. I asked another Bulgarian about this and she told me she’d never heard this one before, so it might just have been my friend’s wacky belief. I’ve still got a chestnut in the pocket of the jacket I was wearing when she told me that, though.
A snapping turtle that bites you won’t let go until it thunders.
Milk and fish consumed in the same meal will make you sick.
Swallowed chewing gum will stay in your stomach for 7 years.
While beating cake batter with a spoon-- if you change direction, the cake will fall.
Unless there’s a specific timeframe involved, that one’s scientifically accurate :).
If a rainbow appears while it’s raining, the Devil is beating his Wife.
Right palm itches = you’re about to meet someone new.
Left hand itches = you’re about to come into money.
Nose itches = you’re about to kiss a fool.
A hawk flying away from you takes your good fortune, one flying toward you brings you good fortune (although I don’t know if it was the good fortune of the last person it flew away from).
A dead fish found on the shore means trouble is coming.
I thought of another one (after seeing the fish/milk old wives’ tale earlier):
My husband is convinced that eating citrus and milk at the same time will cause the milk to curdle in your stomach, thus making you sick. He gripes at me everytime I have an orange with my yogurt or with some hot chocolate because he’s certain I’ll be ill. He got this nugget from his mom, I think.
If you whistle at the dinner table, you’ll marry a crazy person.
A rhyme I heard when I was very young: “Peaches, peaches, my nose eetches; somebody’s got a hole in their breeches!”
No, no, no–it’s bad luck to put new shoes on a table and it’s also bad luck to hang something from a doorknob. With hats it’s putting them on the bed–yeah, I guess especially if it’s not in your own house if you know what I mean;).
Oh yeah, don’t open an umbrella in the house. That’s bad luck too.
And we all know about the broken mirror, right?
And then it’s supposed to be good luck if the first person to enter your house after the New Year begins is male.
More good luck for New Years Eve:
Eat beans.
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.