OId Wives Tales

[Julie's Haircut]

DW is making cucumber and onion salad for stepdaughter's barbeque later today. When she slices the ends off the cukes, she rubs them together. It's supposed to eliminate bitterness. She learned it from her born-in-Italy parents.

I've never thought cucumbers were bitter. I intentionally made it once without rubbing the ends together but told her I did. She couldn't tell any difference.

Deep down she knows it's a bunch of happy horsesh--, but still does it anyway.

She says it's not necessary with a zucchini (courgette), but I do it to tease her.

By the way, she's not using regular cukes today, but long skinny English cucumbers. Ooh la la.

Anybody else have an unusual OWT?

By the way, the one about going blind after participating in a certain activity is definitely false. Although I did start wearing glasses part time in my mid-20s.

 

[prairie_girl]

Not unusual but I always throw salt over my shoulder if I spill some.

I also say rabbits on the first of every month for good luck...not sure where I picked that one up.

 

[LuvOrlando]

To compliment a person's loved one and not follow with a variation of "God Bless" means you are jealous & wish harm and this would trigger a barrage of protective prayers to protect your family from being cursed.

Birthday person always gets the first slice of cake as protective good luck.

There is a lot about curses, avoiding curses & protection from curses.

 

[Wendy1985]

My mom was convinced I was a boy due to old wives tales but luckily she had a girls named pick out

 

[Kittyblue]

Not one I do, but when my kids were babies there were strangers who would compliment them and they would also touch them. One of them explained in the Hispanic culture it was to ward off the evil eye.

 

[NannyBeBe]

If a bird gets into your house, it's a sign that someone is going to die.
Setting shoes on a table is bad luck.
I do throw salt over my shoulder if I spill some.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Hearing knocking means you’ll hear of a death.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

For fever, cut an onion in half and put it in a clean sock and then wear the sock, making sure that the cut end of the onion rests firmly against the foot. Supposedly my great-grandmother was good for that one. My grandmother and my great-aunts used to swear that within a half-hour the fever would be gone and the onion would be red hot because it drew the fever out.

 

[Micca]

Hearing knocking means you’ll hear of a death.

Good grief, Jehovah's Witness and Girl Scout cookie sales must have been terrifying!

 

[tvguy]

Good grief, Jehovah's Witness and Girl Scout cookie sales must have been terrifying!

"Would you like a copy of Watch Tower with those Thin Mints?"

 

[antmaril]

If a bird gets into your house, it's a sign that someone is going to die.
Setting shoes on a table is bad luck.
I do throw salt over my shoulder if I spill some.

My mother said it was bad luck to put new shoes on a table. She has been gone for almost 40 years and I still cannot do it.

 

[ronandannette]

"Would you like a copy of Watch Tower with those Thin Mints?"

Workin’ smarter, not harder.

 

[maxaroni]

Eating the crusts on bread, your hair will get curly. As a kid, I didn’t like the crusts and had straight hair and gobbled the crusts, my hair remained straight. LOL. She tried it on my son but being a boy, he didn’t want curly hair.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

If someone tries to hand you a pin, never take it, but insist that they stick it into your clothes somewhere for you to retrieve yourself. It's bad luck otherwise.

 

[Heather07438]

Why are my palms hairy?

New shoes not allowed on the table. Of course! Lol

Never open an umbrella inside

Can’t save a cut onion. I only started saving onion halves a few years ago. Took a long time to get over that brainwashing

 

[jen7233]

Don't cross silverware

Eat a spoon of lentils on New Year's for good luck in year

Bad attitude in the morning was bringing mala pata or bad luck to the whole day

Hide a silver coin in first baked good, wrap and hide for year to bring good luck with money

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Good grief, Jehovah's Witness and Girl Scout cookie sales must have been terrifying!

I didn’t say I believed it! Tough crowd.

 

[BlueStarryHat]

Drop a spoon, company soon.

 

[Tinkerbell58]

Burn a bayberry candle on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve for health and wealth.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Put a frozen spoon under the mattress to have a snow day in the morning. It had the opposite affect in my town. School every time. Every time I didn’t do it = snow day