Wives' Tales/Superstitions

[cjlipps]

The things your parents always told you thread reminded me of this.
Anybody got wives tales or superstitions that seemed plausible at the time but are funny now?
My sisters used to tell me that if I made faces at them too much my face would "freeze" like that forever.

[Benzadmiral]

When my lady friend Miss Linda makes a face at me, I say, "Whaddaya know, a face can freeze like that."

Let's see . . . the old child's rhyme of "Step on a crack/Break your momma's back" (imagine all the orthopedic surgeons who'd be needed!), and the old deal of watching out lest a black cat cross your path. Personally, I count myself lucky when a cat of any color crosses my path, so . . .

I seem to recall my mother telling me about a superstition mentioned by her mother, who was from Eastern Europe (Ruthenia, if it matters). On Christmas Eve -- or maybe it was New Year's Eve -- the fire would be allowed to go out. One of the parents was supposed to smooth out the ashes in the fireplace. If anyone in the household was slated for death in the next year, that person's footprints would appear in the ashes. (Creepy, huh?)
.

[John Doe]

There's that one about master bakers going blind.....

[cjlipps]

Originally Posted by John Doe

There's that one about master bakers going blind.....

Or growing hair on their palms.

[Kuan]

If you eat a steak in the morning for breakfast you'll have energy all day.

[Botnst]

There's the one about oil profits being obscene.

(Sorry, John Doe made me do it).

B