What are some odd/superstitious things that you were raised with...? (2024)

This is a great question. I thought I didn't really have much to say, but upon reflection, I am astounded that I made it to adulthood with all my faculties intact given all the will nilly weirdness I was subjected to as a child:

1. When slicing into a new cucumber, always rub the end you just cut off onto the end you just cut it from or the whole thing will taste bitter

2. If someone is sitting down holding a baby, never go behind them and look at the baby from over the holders shoulder---the baby will have AT LEAST one of the following afflictions--stuttering, crossed eyes, a lisp, a 'churlish' nature, or be a redhead

3. Sitting on cold cement or rocks will give you hemorrhoids

4. If you have heartburn when you are pregnant your baby will have a head full of hair

5. Step on a crack, break your mothers back (If that were true, the beetch woulda been a paraplegic before I turned 10)

@Furry Guy----"epson salts will cure all that ails you......short of total ankle replacement surgery."

THIS ONE IS TRUE!!! I have plantar fasciitis, achilles tendinitis, a torn achilles tendon, a bone spur on my heel and a hairline fracture on the same heel from "incorrect heel placement" at the gym when running on the tread and too much spin bike. I have P.T. 3x a week and was actually slated for surgery next month--my orthopedist had me soak the foot in Epsom Salt and hot water every night and I am no longer a surgical candidate and have reduced PT to 2x/week. That stuff even works in the garden as fertilizer!

AND---no sarcophagus talk...mostly because my dry cleaner is a moron and wouldn't know what the heck I was talking about. No, seriously, even moron is generous

Fascinating question!

Never sit on cold stone. If anything AT ALL is wrong with your health, you must have been sitting on a cold stone, end of story.

Unwanted houseguests can be urged discreetly on their way by putting saltwater on a broom behind the door.

If you spill salt, toss a pinch over your left shoulder, because that's where the Devil lurks and you must get him in the eye.

Never put your hat on a hotel bed. Don't ask why, just don't.

Never stir your coffee with a knife. Again, don't ask, just don't.

To cure warts, bury a lock of hair when the moon is full. Alternatively, rub a sliced onion on them. You cannot do both as they will cancel each other out!

estimated usages per month of term "sarcophagus" in conversations with dry cleaner: 0

estimated usages per month of term "sarcophagus" in conversations with anyone: 0

I am a lady.

(Try not to be upset if I mention that I am a feminist lady.)

-- just remembered some more. What a superstitious upbringing! Must have been the Catholic country I was raised in; anyway:

breaking a mirror will cause seven years' bad luck

opening an umbrella indoors, ditto

cross yourself when you see an ambulance (this would make my work very difficult)

if you make a face and the wind changes you will be stuck like that

I'm a lady. I can't think of many things besides the typical stuff involving pennies, black cats, ladders, and broken mirrors. I lived in Chinatown for a year though, and the Chinese superstitions are pretty interesting. One I heard is if you cry on the new year, then you will cry all year...so children can be bad and not get in trouble (to avoid making them cry).

Also, in NYC, a lot of buildings don't have a 13th floor and the escalator goes from 12 to 14.

I don't use the term "sarcophagus" with my dry cleaner. Did you know they make dry cleaner packets that you can use at home? I don't know if it's better... but probably not.

Edit: Ok fine, the night before Feb. 2nd I put a white cloth outside for St. Brigit to bless it. I also forgot about kissing your fingers and then touching the roof of your car after you've just made it through a green/yellow light. Also, knocking on wood.

All the usual stuff that's common, plus some Native "Indian" stuff and various things "magical". None of us are Native, I don't know why we did it, and I forget what they mean.

Pretty sweet.

Putting stuff in the freezer, or taking something that seemed to be bad luck and throwing into a natural body of water were the ones I think I used most. And salt, covering things in salt. Salt, freezing and natural bodies of water = energy purifiers.

I think me and Mamma had issues with thinking objects were bad luck. I remember a necklace once that seemed to be bad juju. The salt didn't work, the freezer didn't work, so then I threw it in the lake. In hindsight, I wish I'd just kept it and not worn it =o/

"Kiss a fool", I have no idea where that one came from, but it was if your nose itches, you have to kiss a fool or you'll have bad luck. Luckily my friends weren't tightasses, so they played along and I was safe.

No going around poles either. Like if you're walking and there's a pole, you both have to walk on the same side, or you'll be in a fight. No idea where it comes from, but I still do it, just in case.

I'm less mental than I sound, seriously.

The end of the bread is the best part! And here parents tell you if you sit on cold surfaces you'll get a bladder or kidney infection =o/ We all did it anyhow, we're fine. In Canada if you don't sit on cold things, you'll stand for most of your life. Worth the risk.

I'd doubt I've used that word more than 3 times in my life.

Lady.

yeah, my grandmother always insisted that the coolil of the bread gets thrown right in the garbage. she considered the coolil of the bread the food of the devil.

if you go outside without a jacket when its any less than 65 degrees F outside.....you will indeed get the swine flu.

epson salts will cure all that ails you......short of total ankle replacement surgery.

duct tape is the one item you must never be without. and it has to be pronounced "duck tape".

if you eat more than 2 slices of bread per day......you will become a fat boy. but go ahead and eat a pound of bacon if you wish. which leads, ironically to my next superstition......

eat more than 3 eggs per week and you are guaranteed to fail a cholesterol test.

if you are warm and need to turn on the air conditioner......it must mean only one thing......you have high blood pressure.

if you make food after 11pm, you are a bad man and must be punished accordingly.

if you leave the home to purchase food after 11pm, the same rule applies.

I would never use the word sarcophagus. Not in this lifetime. I do not use those high tech "college talk" words.

I am a fellar.

Not to cross on the stairs and not to cross knives. The crossing of knives one was the one that got my mum in a tizz! "UNCROSS THOSE KNIVES NOW!"

I only have a few things that need dry cleaning, and the place I take it to the people there can barely speak English, so trying to ask how much it will cost is hard enough, never mind dropping the word sarcophagus into it. Maybe if they were Egyptian I could think of some way I could.

and I am a woman, sometimes I am a lady ;)

I honest to God saw ghosts as a child. My parents told me there was no such thing though, but my mom is a BIG believer in astrology and raised me with that, and everytime I meet someone I cant help but think what sign are they?

I'm a woman, but I'm no lady!

Not from my parents per se, but a girlfriend of mine in high school tried to convince me that if I ever let my purse touch the ground then I'd find myself without money. Not that I have money now, but she's bankrupt and I'm not.

My drycleaner barely speaks English. All she understands is "hem" and "you pick up Friday?"

If I stepped on a crack, it would break my mother's back.

1*

Male

*does it count if my dry cleaner said it, not me? He wanted to know why I was being so fussy about funeral linens, since they were just going to end up inside a sarcophagus anyway.

My grandmother use to tell me that mistletoe in the house protects it from thunder and lightning. I think that is the silliest thing I have ever heard of, but she believed there was something about it that would detour thunder and lightning.

I don't use dry cleaners.

I am a woman.

My parents are superstitous, but they don't think they are.

We always had hamsas (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamsa) and beads pinned to our clothes and on necklaces and bracelets to throw off the jealousy/ evil eye.

Now, being their child, my own children have hamsas and blue beads pinned to their clothing, and on necklaces and bracelets, to throw off jealousy and evil intentions

Actually, I just had a long talk with my drycleaner, and we used the word 'sarcophagus' probably 60 times in that one conversation. But normally, I'd say 30 times a month. (We have a lot of drycleaning)

That it's a woman's fault if her husband leaves her. Somehow she failed to keep him.

I can safely say I have used the words: paint, new coat, and help tomy dry cleaner. I have never used any word appertaining to a tomb.

I'm no lady.

Sarcophogus means flesh eater since they were originally made out of lime. Good thing they don't make bed pans out of that material, right "doc", wink wink,nudge nudge

I am a lady through and through.

Yeah, when I was in Italy, they used to freak out about 13 people sitting at a table, and one of them getting up. We all had to stand up together, when one of them was going to stand up, or they would die first, or something.

Then I had pointed at the moon once, and my cousin freaked out, said I was going to get warts on my finger!

They also warned us not to talk to the gypsies in the street, or they would put a curse on you.

I don't remember anymore, but there were alot of them.

Black cats

Ladders

salt over soldiers

never used the word

man

i believed the pink panther doll i had in my room was evil cause its eyes followed me everywhere. i also feared that if i sat on the toilet with the lights off a snake would come out and bite me on the butt!

We had this crazy "give a hoot don't pollute" campaign.

Hey hippies my garbage goes wherever it wants. Don't oppress me!

I never use that term: so 0 times per month.

I'm a male.

That if I was a good girl, I'd go to heaven, play a harp and have a halo and wings.

If I was a bad girl, I'd go to hell and be tortured and my soul would suffer eternal damnation.

Odd, simply....odd.

I'm female.