Based on the data collection in this thread, I compiled a list of superstitions. (The order of the list is more or less the order that they appeared in the other thread, though I grouped a few similar things together. I also added a few things that no one mentioned, but I think we all just forgot. And a couple of things got moved because I was talking on the phone while cutting and pasting the list and I skipped them.)
And I didn’t add the “you forgot” option because y’all had the chance to propose entries in the other thread.
Things like “bless you” and birthdays are socially acceptable routines for most people, and often not superstitions. It is often said that the former is a protection against your soul escaping or some such; these seem to be complete BS folk origins. I say “bless you” after a sneeze because people expect you to, and it beats a socially awkward silence following a sneeze.
I HAVE a black cat, yet last night when I went out late to pick my daughter up from work a black cat ran past the car and I immediately felt nervous about it.
I did not go as far as backing up and turning around though, so I don’t know if it really counts.
The theater ones are for my theatrical friends as they tend to be superstitious.
The bless you is a social nicety and somewhat accepted.
The shoes on table is dirty, I prefer a clean house, thanks.
The Ouija Board is mainly because I do not think it is appropriate to treat spiritualism as a game, I may not believe in it but it should be treated with respect for those who do practice spiritualism.
I really don’t actually believe in superstitions, they are little actions done becasue they are more or less expected =)
I had three lucky clothing items in high school. Two were T shirts and the other was a pair of boxers, and no the boxers weren’t *that *lucky. Being a skeptic, I didn’t really believe it, but it was a semi-subconscious reaction because I thought I looked particularly tough or cool in said T-shirts. They were a confidence booster more than anything, and I wore them mostly as part of my warmups in wrestling and track and under my pads in football. I never got a serious injury in high school, so maybe they were a little lucky.
The boxers were the sort that came in a three pack, but they were a blue and brown plaid that I’d never seen before despite owning dozens of these same boxers. All the others were repeats. So these were dubbed my lucky boxers or sex boxers since clearly their rarity made them irresistible. Ironically, by the time I actually was getting lucky I had outgrown them. I think I kept them in my top drawer for a year or so just for residual luck.
Thinking about all of this, I realize I haven’t had any lucky clothing since I was 19 at the most. I still like blue and brown plaid though.
Cool thread. I checked “knock on wood,” and “no shoes on table,” which is an old stripper’s wives tale. Another one is never putting your purse on the floor/ground.
I still wonder if anyone else has heard of the fortune cookie thing. My mom heard it from one of her friends, and we’ve done it for ages, but everyone I’ve ever told about it (or has watched me try to dig out out the fortune with chopsticks) has told me they’ve never heard of it.
I voted for all the “being nice to bugs” ones, but it’s not superstition, I just like to be nice to bugs.
I always leave my Christmas decorations up until at least Jan 6 (and usually longer cuz I’m lazy like that) not because of superstition, but because that’s the 12th day of Christmas and I love the holiday season so I like to prolong it as much as I can.
I’d never heard of trying to get your fortune out without breaking the cookie before, but my husband and I have a little fortune cookie tradition where we select the cookie that seems “drawn to us” (by randomly grabbing one) and see if the fortune is meaningful.
I do still mindlessly perform a couple of little childhood rituals: twisting off an apple stem to find out the initial of the man I’ll marry (usually A-F, go figure), and kissing my fingertips and touching the car ceiling when I go through a yellow light (to ward off a ticket).
I clicked on “pick up all pennies” but I don’t think it’s a superstition. All money is good money. Picking one or the other, however, is based on the superstition that one side of the penny is luckier than the other.
I also clicked on “release critters found in house” but also not because of any superstitious nonsense. If I am willing to, and can, catch and release, great, but that’s because I don’t want these things in the house. However, some things just need to be killed (palmetto bugs, for instance). Catching, even if I was willing to do so, is an iffy prospect at best (those things will FLY directly at you!) and releasing does no one any good as they’ll just reproduce.
Also, saying “bless you” is absolutely a superstition. Try saying something else if you feel the irresistible urge to acknowledge someone’s sneeze, like “Allergies?” or “Coming down with something?” Or you could just ignore it, which is the acceptable and polite thing to do, like you would a burp, fart or hiccup.
Wow, I have none of these, and haven’t even heard of most of them. I used to think about the breaking a mirror one, the umbrella in the house one, and ‘bless you,’ but where I live now (Japan), none of them are superstitions here, so when I found myself responding in my usual way, it felt out of place. So I stopped doing them.
I’ve never heard of half of those things, but thanks for including saying “god bless you.” I agree that it is a superstition; in fact, it’s one of my pet peeves.
I say “Bless you” only when I feel I have to, like to my boss. I think it’s idiotic. Re fortune cookies, mine is that if you eat the cookie, the fortune won’t come true. I don’t like fortune cookies anyway, so I bring them home and give half to each dog. Breaking them has no effect on the fortune.
Never, ever, mention tha Scottish play on the night of a performance. Even if that’s the play you’re doing. Of course the title character’s name can be said as part of the performance, but never anywhere else.
I was dicussing this with some musicians right before a performance, and we were talking about what a stupid superstition it is, and has absolutely no bearing on the performance. In fact, we openly mocked it. You wouldn’t believe how many things went wrong that night. We never discussed it again.
