BODILY AFFECTIONS

Entries

• #1340

  If the right cheek burns, some one is speaking well of you; if the left, they are speaking ill of you; if both, they speak well and ill at once. Moisten the finger in the mouth and touch it to the cheek, naming those whom you suspect; the one at whose name it grows cool was speaking of you.

  New Brunswick.
• #1341

  If your right ear burns, some one is talking well of you; if your left, he is talking ill.

  General in the United States.
• #1342

  If you bite the corner of your apron, you will make back-biters bite their tongues.

  Pennsylvania.
• #1343

  Pinch your ear, and the person talking of you will bite his own tongue.

• #1344

  If the right ear burns, it is a sign that some one is thinking well of you; if the left ear burns, it is a sign that some one is thinking unkindly of you; but if both ears burn, friend and foe are fighting about you.

  Pennsylvania.
• #1345

  If your ears burn, people are talking well of you; if your ears are cold, the contrary.

  New Hampshire.
• #1346

  If your right ear burns, a lady is speaking of you; if the left, a man.

  Maine and Pennsylvania.
• #1347

  If your left ear itches, some one is saying unpleasant things about you; but if your right ear, pleasant things. Some say,—

  Both left and right
  Are good at night.

  Cambridge, Mass.
• #1348

  If the right eye itches, it is a sign you will cry; if the left, you will laugh, because R stands for “roar” and L for “laugh.”

  Baldwinsville, N. Y.
• #1349

  If the right eye itches, you’ll laugh; if the left eye, you’ll cry.

  Boston, Mass.
• #1350

  If your eye itches, some one wants to see you and can’t.

  Peabody, Mass.
• #1351

  If you look at one who has inflamed eyes, you’ll catch the disease.

  Maine and Ohio.
• #1352

  If your elbow itches, you will sleep with a stranger.

  Boston, Mass.
• #1353

  If the right foot itches, it is a sign you will go where you will be welcome; if the left foot itches, it is a sign you will go where you are unwelcome.

  Baldwinsville, N. Y.
• #1354

  If while going to see any one your left foot itches, you are not welcome.

  Alabama.
• #1355

  The nose itching is a sign you are going to “get mad.”

  Peabody, Mass.
• #1356

  If your nose itches, it is a sign of a present.

• #1357

  If your nose itches, some one will be provoked with you.

• #1358

  If your nose itches, it is a sign that

  You’ll be mad,
  See a stranger,
  Kiss a fool,
  Or be in danger.

  Prince Edward Island.
• #1359

  If your nose itches, you will

  See a stranger,
  Kiss a fool,
  Or be in danger.

  Peabody, Mass.
• #1360

  If your nose itches, it is a sign you will be kissed, cussed, or vexed.

  Somerville, Mass.
• #1361

  If the nose itches, some say you will receive a letter; others declare it is a sign your lover is thinking of you.

  Baldwinsville, N. Y.
• #1362

  If the palm of the hand itches, it is a good sign that you will kill something.

  Labrador.
• #1363

  Itching in the palm is a sign of a fight, or of seeing a stranger.

• #1364

  An unexpected scratch denotes surprise.

• #1365

  A long scratch across the palm denotes a sleigh-ride.

  Pennsylvania (negro).
• #1366

  A scratch on the hand denotes a ride; the length of the scratch indicates the length of the ride.

  New England.
• #1367

  A scratch on the right hand is a sign of a ride to come; on the left, a disappointment.

  Baldwinsville, N. Y.
• #1368

  If your knee itches, you are jealous.

  Boston, Mass.
• #1369

  Being lousy is an indication that the lousy person is in good health.

  Newfoundland.
• #1370

  Some hold that the white spots that one has on the finger-nails represent the lies you have told.

  Maine and Baldwinsville, N. Y.
• #1371

  If you shudder without apparent cause, some one has stepped over or upon your grave.

  Gilsum, N. H.
• #1372

  If you shudder, it is a sign that a rabbit is running across, or a goose is eating grass from your grave.

  Chestertown, Md.
• #1373

  There is an old superstition that every sigh causes a drop of blood to flaw from the heart.

  Exeter, N. H.
• #1374

  “Smooches” made on the face by soiled fingers (called beauty spots in Ohio) mean a present.

  New Brunswick.
• #1375

  A lump on the tongue means that you have told a lie.

  Prince Edward Island, New York, and Northern Ohio.