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admin sinfulldude · Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:44 pm Post subject: General English Superstitions 1

General Superstitions

You'll 'cut off' fortune if you use scissors on new years day

Coral beads are said to change color indicating whether the wearer is ill or well.

Nails should be bitten, not cut, for the same time, for that would make them thieves.

If you go to the bathroom in the night with no clothes on, insects will fall on you

An apple a day, keeps the doctor away.

If you want to see a friend again, then don't ever say goodbye to them on a bridge.

Never take a broom with you when moving house - buy a new one.

If you see a chimney sweep then shake his hand so that some of his good luck rubs off onto you.

Seeing a single crow is very unlucky. But 2 mean good luck! 3 means health, 4 means wealth, 5 is sickness & 6 mean death!

If your ear is burning, then someone is talking about you. To determine whether what they are saying is good or bad, remember this rhyme, - Left for love, Right for spite!

If the palm of your right hand is itchy, then it foretells that money is coming to you, but don’t scratch it as that stops the money from coming! If it’s your left palm that is itchy, then scratch away, as that means that you'll soon be paying out money

If you see a magpie, remember this rhyme - One for sorrow, Two for joy, Three for a girl, Four for a boy, Five for silver, Six for gold, Seven for a secret, Never to be told.

How you start the year is how you will end it, so you must ensure that you are wearing new clothes & looking your best, have paid off all your debts & are with your partner (to ensure that you are still with them at the next New year). Also you must open

Dropping a pair of scissors is said to warn that a lover is unfaithful.

Never place shoes on a table as it means bad luck for the remainder of the day.

A bride must sew a swan’s feather into her husband’s pillow to ensure fidelity.

You must knock on wood 3 times after mentioning good fortune or the evil spirits will ruin things for you.

See a penny, pick it up; all day long you’ll have good luck.

Don’t break a mirror, or you’ll have seven years bad luck.

Don’t wash clothes on New Year’s Day, or somebody in your family will pass away.

Don’t walk under a ladder, or somebody will have an accident;

Don’t hit anyone with a broom, or it will make him or her lazy.

IF YOU BELIVE IN A SUPERSTITION, IT WILL ALWAYS FOLLOW YOU!

If the head of a bed is placed towards the north it foretells a short life, towards the south a long life, the east riches, the west travel.

Bad Luck: to leave bellows lying on the table or on the floor, since in such a position they presage domestic quarrels.

One's life is prolonged if, in later years, a visit is made to one's place of birth.

If you burn beef bones by mistake it is a sign of much sorrow to come on account of poverty. To burn fish or poultry bones indicates that scandal will be spread about you.

To cut bread in an uneven manner is a sign that you have been telling lies.

The best time for cutting one's corns is when the Moon is on the wane.

If a front door does not face the street, ill luck will attend the house. You should always close a front door with your face towards it.

To let fall an egg and smash it foretells good news; but if the egg is undamaged or merely cracked, bad luck is to be feared. When you have finished eating an egg it is a safeguard against misfortune if the empty shell is crushed with a spoon. If you burn eggshells, the hens will cease to lay. It is unlucky to take eggs out of, or bring them into, a house during the hours of darkness. Eggs laid on Good Friday never become stale.

When a woman reaches age 31 she may expect some great change to occur. Frequently it consists of an important journey, some unexpected danger, or some great temptation. She should be particularly cautious during this period, and take special care in her b

When eating a fish, you should begin at the tail and work towards the head.

To cross two forks accidentally is a sign that slander will be spread about you. To drop a fork foretells the visit of a woman friend. To stir anything with a fork is to stir up misfortune.

It is a warning of treachery if a person's garter comes undone. If a girl loses a garter, a proposal of marriage at an early date is foretold.

To break uncolored glass in any form but that of a mirror or a bottle is a fortunate omen; but if the glass is red, future trouble and anxiety are implied. If green glass is broken, bitter disappointment will be your lot.

If you knock your hand accidentally against a piece of wood or a wooden article, it is an indication that you are about to have a love affair. If you knock your hand against iron, however, it must be taken as a warning against treachery.

Tying a knot in one's handkerchief is a means of warding off evil.

Finding a horseshoe is an assurance of good luck, but if you give it away or throw it away, your luck will leave you.

If after leaving your house, you turn back to fetch something, you must sit down when you get indoors and count backwards from seven, in order to avoid ill luck. It is unlucky to move into a new house during the months of April, July, and November.

If, before you retire to bed, you chants Matthew, Mark, Luke and John Bless the bed that I lie on, it will keep away evil spirits and ensure your good health.

If someone is lying dangerously ill, a lighted candle should be placed in a shoe, and all other lights in the room turned out. Then the name of the complaint from which the person is suffering must be written on a piece of paper and burned in the candle flame, and at the same time the following rhyme should be said three times: Go away death! Go away death! Life from the flame Give new breath I the candle must then be snuffed with the fingers.

The dropping of a knife foretells the visit of a man friend in the near future.

If someone lends you a pocket-knife, return it in the way in which it was given; that is, with the blade open or shut, pointing away from you or towards you.

Lightning will never strike a person when he is asleep, nor will it visit a house in which a fire is burning.

The days of the week on which it is considered most lucky for women to make any important decision or to undertake any great tasks are Tuesday and Friday. For men the fortunate days are Monday and Thursday

To spill matches is a very lucky sign, and if a girl accidentally upsets an entire box it will not be long before she becomes a bride. Crossing two matches by chance implies that joy and happiness await you.

When you have occasion to turn the mattress of a bed remember that if you turn it from foot to head, you'll never wed, and also that this task should never be performed on a Friday.

An infallible means of influencing one's luck regarding money is as follows: Choose a rainy day, and then to go to a place where there was a holly bush, clasp it round the main stem and chant three times, Holly tree, 0 holly tree, Let much wealth come to me

If a girl's petticoat or slip shows below her dress, she is loved more by her father than by her mother.

Always pick up a pin when you see one lying on the floor, for See a pin and pick it up All the day you'll have good luck; See a pin and let it lie Luck will surely pass you by. To upset a box of pins foretells a surprise, so long as some of them are left

If you give anyone an empty purse he will never be blessed with riches. Place a coin inside it for luck.

Breaking one blade of a pair of scissors is an omen of quarreling and discord; if both blades are broken at once; a calamity is to be feared. . Scissors should always be sold; they should never be given.

A seventh son possesses many talents and is predestined for worldly success. The seventh son of a seventh son is gifted with the art of healing. The seventh daughter of a seventh daughter possesses the power of second sight.

If you do not present a new pair of shoes to a poor person at least once during your life, you will go barefoot in the next world.

If your shoelace persists in coming untied, take it as an omen that you are about to receive a fortunate letter or some kind of good news.

To sneeze to the right is a promise of money, but sneezing to the left means a disappointment will soon come. There is an old rhyme that says: Sneeze on a Monday, sneeze for danger; Sneeze on a Tuesday, kiss a stranger; Sneeze on a Wednesday, sneeze for

If soot bums in a ring at the back of the grate, pleasure and happiness are on their way to you.

Malice and envy are to be feared when sparks jump out of the fire.

Dropping a spoon means that a child or young person is going to call on you. To cross a spoon over fork presages happiness cut short by grief.

To put on your stockings or socks inside out is an omen that you will shortly receive a present. If your stocking comes down, your lover is thinking of you.

If thirteen people sit down to dine, the last to rise will meet with ill fortune.

To wash in water, which has been previously used by someone else means that you will quarrel with him, unless you clasp your hands together over the water when you have finished.

Never pour water into a tumbler which already holds some, for it is an invitation to evil spirits to visit you.

Never pour water into a tumbler which already holds some, for it is an invitation to evil spirits to visit you.

Women should not whistle, for it encourages evil spirits to visit them.

Spilling wine is an auspicious omen, if it is done accidentally; while to drop a glass of wine and break the glass is a token of a happy marriage and enduring affection.

When you are talking to someone, and if you should both happen to say the same word or sentence at the same time, you must each clasp the other's little finger and wish. Then, if you do not disclose your wish, it will be fulfilled.

People once believed the soul could escape from the body when a person sneezed. To stop this from happening, people ask God to bless and so to protect the person who sneezes.

People with hiccups were once thought to be possessed by the devil.

Yawning is caused by the devil so evil spirits enter your body when your mouth is wide open. Covering your mouth stops the evil spirits.

Watching someone else yawn makes you to yawn.

An itchy nose means your going to have a quarrel with someone.

Spit on your hands for strength. This originated from seeing animals lick their wounds, making people think saliva had some magical healing power.

To get rid of a cough, take a hair from the coughing persons head, put it in between two slices of buttered bread, feed it to the dog, and say - eat well you hound. May you be sick and I be sound.