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Ask for help > British Superstitions
British Superstitions
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mushk@
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British Superstitions
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Good evening, dear collegues! I started using this wonderful site not long ago, but I should say I haven �t met so many creative people at one place! Thank you very much for your contributions! And I hope my worksheets will be useful for you too.
The thing is that I am writing a research paper with my students: "British Superstitions and their origin". As there are so many superstitions and I �ve got so much material, I �m a bit confused, the origin of what superstitions we should explain or pay attention to. I �d like it was interesting, so I decided to ask you a question and to choose top10 of the most popular superstitions on the results of this so called questionare.
Would you be so kind to answer: what british superstitions come to you mind (or may be you follow them)?
Thank you in advance for your help. ( I need it so much!)
I forgot to say that it doesn´t matter if your answers will repeat. The more answers the better. My aim is to count the answers (superstitions) and to choose those which are most frequently mentioned.
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27 Feb 2010
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silvia.patti
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BAD LUCK
The number 13
Breaking a mirror
Spilling salt
GOOD LUCK
Horseshoes
Seeing a black cat
Touching wood
WEDDING
BAD LUCK Seeing the bride �s dress before wedding
To marry in May
To see a pig
GOOD LUCK Wearing something blue (for brides)
Catch the bride �s bouquet
To tie shoes to the back of the car
See also http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/superstitions.htm
I hope this will be useful!!! 
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27 Feb 2010
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mjpa
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It�s amazing to see that marrying in May is considered as bad luck because, here, in Spain, lots of couples choose may to marry so may is the month of flowers (of course), of weddings (my brother married in May, and it�s the month when most children receive their holly communion). |
27 Feb 2010
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lshorton99
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I thought marrying in June was the bad luck month in the UK. I remember something about June brides from when I was little!
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27 Feb 2010
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lshorton99
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However I �ve just googled it and apparently my memory is failing me as I can �t find it anywhere!
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27 Feb 2010
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yanogator
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Juno was the Roman goddess of marriage, and June is her month, so marrying in June is good luck, not bad.
Bruce |
27 Feb 2010
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savvinka
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In Russia to marry in May is a bad luck too,as there is a verb маяться (majatjsa) in Russian, that translates �suffer �. it consonants with a name of a month май ( May in English).
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27 Feb 2010
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viccxx
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In Greece getting married in May is bad luck because it is the month when donkeys used to mate!!! So when people get married in May old women snicker and call them donkeys (ha, ha)
English people used to burn the Christmas card they received because it �s supposedly bad luck to have them around for the New Years celebrations (I dont know how this started, but when I was in England I was shocked when my friends tore up the cards i had sent them)
It �s also thought that children born on Sunday will have good luck for the rest of their days:
Mondays child is fair of face,
Tuesdays child is full of grace,
Wednesdays child is full of woe,
Thursdays child has far to go,
Fridays child is loving and giving,
Saturdays child works hard for his living,
And the child that is born on the Sabbath day
Is bonny and blithe, and good and gay.
(gay of course being the old english word for happy) |
27 Feb 2010
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viccxx
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NEW CLOTHES: always slip a small coin into the right-hand pocket of a new suit or dress, to avoid being hard up when you wear that item of clothing. It is lucky to wear a new item of clothing on Easter Day, as everything old and dirty should be renewed at the festival of Eastertide.
An English country superstition says that it is bad luck to throw any water out of the house after nightfall because it has long been regarded as a deterrent to the denizens of the night and by throwing it out you are weakening your protection during the hours of darkness.
from http://www.whimsy.org.uk/superstitions.html
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27 Feb 2010
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rmkovac
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Concerning the fact that I �ve lived in the USA before, I know that in America it �s bad luck to spill salt. If you do you must throw some salt over your shoulder to undo the "curse"- bad luck. I �m not sure if it is a British superstition, though?
One more: if you break a mirror you �ll have 7 years of bad luck!! |
27 Feb 2010
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