Nobody Asked Me…

One can only ‘wonder’ where some of these came from…

-You must get out of bed on the same side that you get in or you will have bad luck.
-Many people believe that washing dishes and doing laundry on New Year day will lead to a death in the family. And most of them even do not wash their hair thinking it unlucky.
-Hold your breath while going past a cemetery otherwise you will breathe in the spirit of someone who has recently died.
-It’s bad luck to let someone rest their foot on your chair while gambling. If anyone tries, it’s customary to challenge them to a gunfight
-It’s good luck to wear an article of dirty clothing when sitting down to gamble.
-Seeing an ambulance is very unlucky unless you pinch your nose or hold your breath until you see a black or a brown dog.
-It is said that if you are out fishing and stop to count the number of fish you have caught at any time you will not catch anymore that day.
-The ancient Greeks used to believe that if you had sex while a North wind was blowing you would produce a male child. A Southern wind would produce a female child.
-It is bad luck to light three cigarettes with the same match.
-After the famous Battle of Waterloo many people were afraid to wear or grow violets because they had been Napoleon’s favourite flower.
-If you bite your tongue while eating it is said to mean that you recently told a lie.
-If your right nostril is itching a female visitor is coming to see you or if it is left nostril a male visitor.
-It’s bad luck to walk under a ladder. This superstition came from an early Christian belief that a leaning ladder formed a triangle with the wall and the ground. By walking through a triangle it is said that you violate the Holy Trinity.
-A knife placed under the bed during the childbirth will ease the labour pains.
-In some parts of Britain it is said that eating the tongue of a dog will cure your ulcers.
-The settling down of swarm of bees on the roof indicates that the house will burn soon.
-It is believed that kissing at midnight on New Year’s Day increases the affections and attachments that will continue throughout the year.
-If you catch a falling leaf on the first day of autumn you will not catch a cold all winter.
-To wear new clothes on the Easter Sunday brings good luck.
-If a dead person’s eyes are left open he or she will find someone to take along with him.
-Evil spirits can’t harm you when you stand inside a circle.
-If a pregnant woman steps over a grave this ensures an early death for her child.
-In sports there is something called the playoff beard which means that players on a team will not shave until there team is either eliminated or they win.
-Pick a dandelion that has gone to seed. Take a deep breath and blow the seeds into the wind. Count the seeds that remain on the stem. That is the number of children you will have.
-If you keep a spider in a walnut shell and place it around your neck it will act as a repellent against a plague.
-A horseshoe hung in the bedroom will keep nightmares away.
-In baseball you should never talk about a no hitter game that is currently going on because it could jinx it.
-It is said that if you don’t cover your mouth when you yawn then you may be letting evil spirits into your body.
-If a mirror in the house falls and breaks by itself, someone in the house will die soon.
-In England it was once a custom to pass a newly born baby through the rind of a cheese.
-Cutting of fingernails on Friday or Sunday bring bad luck.
-It is believed that the direction of wind during the sunrise on New Year’s Day decides the luck for the coming year. Wind from east predicts natural calamities and wind from west predicts wealth but death of a person of great national importance. Wind from south predicts prosperity and wind from north predicts bad weather. No wind means prosperity and joy throughout the year.
-There is an old tradition in England that bread which is baked on Christmas Eve will never go mouldy.
-Many Native American tribes considered owls to be symbols of good luck, prosperity, and long life.
-A British superstition says that if you carry an acorn somewhere on yourself it will prevent you from growing old.
-To dream of a lizard is a sign that you have a secret enemy.
-It is said that if another woman is having problems conceiving then all she had to do to ensure success was to hug a pregnant woman.
-Finding a Cricket in your house brings good luck.
-Twitching of left eye signifies a death in the family.
-A wedding ring should absolutely never be dropped during the ceremony because this will bring bad luck, and whichever of the couple dropped the ring will be the first to die.it is equally important that neither of the couple picks up a dropped ring. The person preforming the ceremony should do it.
-Hold your breath when you pass by a graveyard or you may breathe in the spirit of someone recently buried.
-If a broken clock suddenly chimes in the house there will be a death in the family.
-Don’t bury a woman in black or she will return to haunt the household.
-If you dream of a birth, someone in the family will die.
-It is still common belief that the wedding ring shouldn’t be removed once it is put on.
-A bird in the house is a sign of a death.
-At slot machines, touch the seat to see if it’s still warm, and only play if it is.
-Dropping an umbrella on the floor means that there will be a murder in the house.
-Pictures of an elephant bring luck, but only if they face a door.
-If you spill salt throw some over your left shoulder to hit evil spirits in the eye.
-If a ferret, stoat or weasel jumps over the tummy of a pregnant woman then the child will be born with a birthmark.
-Breaking a mirror brings bad luck for seven years. To prevent it, you should run the pieces in a stream.
-If a robin flies into room through a window, death will shortly follow.
-A dog howling at night when someone in the house is sick is a bad omen.
-If cows lift their tails it is an indication of the coming rain.
-If the buried person was good, flowers will grow on his/her grave. If the person was bad or evil, weeds will grow.
-Wear a blue bead to protect yourself against witches.
-If you pull out a white hair, ten more will grow in its place.
-If you are not getting married, never wear white to a wedding or you will bring bad luck to the bride.
-Wearing blue is bad luck for actors, though it’s okay if it’s worn with silver.
-In the theatre, a yellow clarinet in an orchestra will bring disaster.
-Don’t walk over someone why they are laying on the ground because it will stop them from growing taller.
-You should spit on the new baseball bat before use to make it lucky.
-If a black cat walks towards you it will bring good luck. If it walks away from you it takes away your good luck.
-Never take a broom along when you move. Throw it out and buy a new one.
-If three people are photographed, the middle person will die first.
-The sudden falling of a comb while combing your hair is an indication of coming disappointment.
-A loaf of bread should never be turned upside down after a slice has been cut from it.
-It was once thought that if a woman wanted her child to be fair skinned she should look at a corpse.
-If 13 people sit down to eat together, one of them will die before the year is over.
-“Ladybug ladybug fly away home” was said to the ladybugs instead of killing them because they represented the Virgin Mary.
-Rub a penny on a wart and it will disappear.
-Use white cotton thread to tie a knot for each wart. Bury it, and when the string rots, so too will your wart.
-In Europe they say that if you have small ears it means you are a mean person, but if you have large ears you will have a generous nature.
-Leaving your shoes upside down or upon the table is considered as bad luck.
-Many people believe that if they wear new clothes on New Year Day they will receive more new garments during the year.
-People wear red coloured clothes as they believe red is symbolic to happiness and bright future.
-If you see three butterflies together they will bring good luck.
-Before slicing a new loaf of bread, make the sign of the cross on it.
-A person who dies on Good Friday or midnight on Christmas Eve will go straight to heaven.
-If a friend gives you a knife, you should give him a coin, or your friendship will be severed.
-They say if you drop a scissors on the floor you lover is being unfaithful.
-People believe that loud noise scares the devil which is why New Year’s is celebrated with as much noise as possible. In many countries church bells rung at mid night for this reason.
-If the first butterfly you see in the year is white, you will have good luck all year.
-Welsh coal miners used to believe that if they washed the coaldust from their backs it would weaken their spines.
-Babies born on 1st January is considered to be the luckiest persons throughout their lives.
-In Damascus yo-yo’s were once banned because the people thought that they were causing a drought.
-When travelling it’s a good idea to wear a St Christopher Medal. It is supposed to keep you safe.
-All windows should be opened at the moment of death so that the soul can leave.
-Scottish lore says to keep a knife under your pillow to avoid having fairies carry you off while you sleep.
-Step on a crack, break your mothers back.
-Think of a list of names of people you would consider marrying, then take an apple and twist the stem while reciting the names. Whoever’s name you call out when the stem breaks is the one you will marry.
-Eat some cherries and keep the pips. Count the pips while calling out the following – tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar-man, thief, doctor, lawyer, Indian Chief- when you reach the last pip, you’ll know the occupation of your future husband.
-Cut an apple in half and count the seeds to find out how many children you will have.
-If a young girl sees a sparrow on Valentine’s Day she will marry a poor man and she will be very happy. If she sees a goldfinch, she will marry a millionaire.
-If you ever drop a black ace on the floor while playing cards, quit the game. If you happen to drop the black ace and it falls on a mirror and breaks it, buy life insurance.
-If a clock which has not been working suddenly chimes, there will be a death in the family.
-It is said that the luckiest things for you to find are horseshoes, four-leaf clovers and teeth.
-If you kill the bee which is trying to enter into your home, you will have bad luck.
-If you mention something terrible or that you wouldn’t want to happen, knock on wood.
-An acorn at the window will keep lightning out
-You should never start a trip on Friday or you will meet misfortune.
-If you dream of running there will be a big change in your life.
-If an unborn child kicks on the left-hand side of the womb it is a boy and if on the right-hand side, it is a girl.
-Parsley should be picked and never cut and it should be grown from seed and not transplanted… and under no circumstances should you give it away or bad luck will fall upon you.
-Sage will grow well in the garden of a woman who dominates her husband.
-Hold a buttercup under your chin and if there’s a yellow reflection on your skin, it means you like butter.
-Sandalwood, ylang ylang, jasmine, and vanilla are very effective for attracting males.
-Garlic wards off vampires.
-The number of X’s in the palm of your right hand denotes the number of children you would have.
-Do not buy your husband shoes or he will walk right out of your life.
-If a rat runs around the feet of a pregnant woman this is very bad luck.
-The Indians from Peru, South America used to wash their babies in llama urine to ward off evil spirits.
-It’s bad luck to leave a house through a different door than the one used to come into it.
-Pointing at a funeral procession will cause you to die within a month.
-If your hand itches it means that you are going to run into some money.
-If your ear itched in the inside, someone was talking about you.
-Keeping a hat on the bed causes bad luck.

h/t Frito, Weird Neil