United States

Entries

• #60

  A child to whom is told any story which he considers remarkable will usually reply by an expression of skepticism, such as: “Really and truly?” “Honestly?” “Earnest, now?” or, “You are fooling.” The first speaker answers by some formula or asseveration, as, “Honor bright” (New England); “Deed, deed, and double deed” (Pennsylvania); “True as I live,” or, “Hope I’ll die if it isn’t so,” or simply, “Hope I’ll die.”

  General in the United States.
• #111

  A well-known children’s rhyme runs:—

  Blue-eye beauty, do your mammy’s duty!
  Black eye, pick a pie,
  Run around and tell a lie!
  Gray-eye greedy gut
  Eat all the world up!

  General in the United States.
• #112

  If the eyebrows meet, one is ill-tempered.

  General in the United States.
• #129

  If you pull out a white hair, two will come in its place.

  Somewhat general in the United States.
• #135

  Hairy arms mean strength.

  General in the United States.
• #156

  A vein across the nose is an omen of short life.

  General in the United States.
• #165

  Throw a whole apple-paring on the floor, after swinging it three times around your head. It will form your true love’s initial letter.

  General in the United States.
• #184

  Put the end of a key in the Bible, on the verse of Solomon’s Song reading, “I am my beloved’s and he is mine;” close the book and bind it round with string or garter, each girl supporting the key with the first finger of the right hand. One of them repeats a verse to each letter as the other girl names it, beginning the alphabet, till it turns at the initial of the future husband or lover.

  General in the United States.
• #213

  To tell the fortune, take an “ox-eye daisy,” and pluck the “petals” one by one, using the same words as have been given above for buttons.

  In Ohio and other Western States where the ox-eye daisy is not common, children use instead the bloom of the despised dog-fennel.

  General in the United States.
• #273

  After drinking tea, turn the cup upside down, whirl it round three times, set it down in the saucer, whirl again, take it up, turn right side up, and look at the grounds. If all are settled in the bottom of the cup, you will be married right off. If they stay on the side, the number of grounds will be the number of years before marriage. The fine dust in the bottom means trouble, a wish, a letter, or a journey.

  Somewhat general in the United States.
• #289

  Pour molten lead on a hearth; the shape the metal assumes in cooling foretells the occupation of one’s future husband.

  General in the United States.
• #313

  On Halloween go down the cellar stairs backward, carrying a mirror into which you look. A face will be seen over your shoulder which will be that of your future husband.

  General in the United States.
• #342

  You will be unhappy if you lose your wedding ring.

  General in the United States.
• #360

  Old slippers or rice must be thrown after a bride for good luck.

  General in the United States.
• #363

  It is a sign of ill luck to take off the wedding ring.

  General in the United States.
• #380

  Dropping hairpins from your hair means that your beau is thinking of you.

  General in the United States.
• #474

  To dream of snakes means enemies.

  In some localities it is said if you kill the snake in your dream you will conquer your enemies.

  Cape Breton. General in the United States.
• #504

  If you dream of the dead, you’ll hear from the living.

  Prince Edward Island; General in the United States.
• #525

  To dream of babies is unlucky or is a sign of trouble.

  General in the United States.
• #581

  What you dream the first night you are in a strange house will come true.

  General in the United States.
• #589

  Relate the dream before breakfast, and it will come true.

  General in the United States.
• #607

  Dreams go by contraries.

  General in the United States.
• #608

  At cards, if your luck is poor, walk round your chair three times, lift it, sit down, and your luck is assured.

  General in the United States.
• #609

  At cards, it is bad luck to play against the grain of the table.

  General in the United States.
• #613

  Never begin a piece of work on Friday; it is bad luck.

  General in the United States.
• #614

  Seafaring men will not sail on Friday.

  Somewhat general in the United States.
• #622

  If you put on any garment wrong side out, as, for example, a pair of stockings, never change it, as to do so brings ill luck. This direction is intuitively followed by many people who are entirely free from conscious superstition.

  General in the United States.
• #631

  It is good luck to find a horseshoe.

  General in the United States and Canada.
• #668

  When two or three people go between different posts, in the entrance of gardens, cemeteries, etc., it is a sign they will be separated or disappointed.

  General in the United States.
• #673

  Opals are unlucky.

  General in the United States.
• #699

  To find a four-leaved clover is lucky; but five-leaved, unlucky.

  General in the United States.
• #700

  When a vessel is launched, break a bottle of wine over her for luck. The bottle is to be broken by a lady.

  General in the United States.
• #705

  The opening of an umbrella in the house is a sign of bad luck.

  General in the United States.
• #710

  Breaking a looking-glass shows that you’ll have seven years of ill luck.

  General in the United States.
• #714

  A group of bubbles on a cup of coffee signifies money.

  United States.
• #744

  If you have company on Monday, you will have company every day in the week.

  General in the United States.
• #745

  If you drop the dish-cloth, it is a sign you will have company.

  General in the United States.
• #756

  If you drop a fork, and it sticks in the floor and remains in a standing position, it is a sign that a gentleman will call; but if a knife, a lady will call.

  General in the United States.
• #781

  The nose itching signifies visitors.

  General in the United States.
• #869

  A sore throat may be cured by binding about the neck on going to bed one of the stockings which the patient has been wearing (no other one will do).

  Somewhat general in the United States.
• #874

  To count another person’s warts will cause them to appear on you.

  General in the United States.
• #882

  The handling of a toad will cause warts to appear.

  General in the United States.
• #898

  Rub a wart with a stolen dish-cloth, and then hide or bury the latter. As it decays, the wart will disappear.

  General in the United States.
• #930

  As the days begin to lengthen,
  So the cold begins to strengthen.

  Northeastern United States and Canada.
• #932

  If the fire burns well, it is coming cold weather.

  General in the United States.
• #948

  If March comes in like a lamb, it goes out like a lion, and vice versa.

  General in the United States.
• #951

  It rains often on July fourth. That is due to the firing of cannon, etc.

  General in the United States.
• #954

  A green Christmas makes a full churchyard, or
  A green Christmas makes a fat graveyard.

  General in the United States.
• #970

  Cobwebs on the grass are a sign of fair weather.

  General in the United States.
• #975

  Rainbow in the morning,
  Sailors take warning;
  Rainbow at night,
  Sailor’s delight.

  General in Canada and the United States.
• #979

  Rain falling while the sun is shining means that the devil is beating his wife with a codfish.

  General in the United States.
• #996

  A circle round the moon means rain. In some localities the number of stars inside the circle denotes the number of days until it will rain.

  Prince Edward Island; general in the United States.
• #1009

  If there is no dew on the grass at night, it will rain the next day.

  General in the United States.
• #1038

  The sun drawing water means rain.

  General in the United States.
• #1042

  Water boiling away quickly from the kettle is a sign of rain.

  Newfoundland; general in the United States.
• #1091

  Wish the first time you see the moon, and your wish will come true.

  General in the United States and Canada.
• #1094

  The moon seen over the right shoulder brings good luck; over the left shoulder, ill luck.

  General in the United States.
• #1105

  If you see the new moon through trees or brush, you will have trouble that month.

  General in the United States.
• #1116

  Be careful as to the phase of the moon when felling timber.

  General in the United States.
• #1127

  Kill any animal for meat on the increase of the moon, and it will increase in the pot. Kill it on the wane of the moon, and it will shrink in the pot.

  General in the United States.
• #1132

  Cut hair the first Friday in the new moon, if you wish it to grow.

  General in the United States.
• #1158

  To raise an umbrella in a house is a sign of an approaching death.

  Pennsylvania; somewhat general in the United States.
• #1179

  The hearing, in the wall, of the “death-watch,” or “death-tick,” betokens a death in the house.

  General in the United States.
• #1204

  To break a looking-glass is a sign of death in the family before the year closes.

  General in the United States.
• #1205

  To break a looking-glass is a sign of death, or of bad luck or seven years. This is quite a general belief. Domestic servants, and particularly superstitious persons, are often thrown into a panic by accidents of this sort.

  General in the United States and Canada.
• #1229

  When you shiver, it means that some one is walking over the place where your grave is to be.

  General in the United States.
• #1248

  It is usual, after the conclusion of the funeral service, for the persons present at the ceremony to pass in front of the dead, and look on the face. Not to perform this token of respect is felt as a lack of propriety. It is not uncommon for the undertaker, or some person in charge of the proceedings, to say in a loud voice: “An opportunity is now offered to those who desire to look on the face of the corpse,” or words to that effect.

  General in the United States.
• #1258

  It is unlucky to pass through a funeral procession, either between the carriages or the files of mourners on foot.

  This is a general superstition. The custom, which has become instinctive with many persons, is usually set down to the score of decency and propriety.

  General in the United States.
• #1304

  Never look after a friend who is leaving you till he is quite out of sight, or you will never see him or her again; but turn your eyes away while he is still visible, that he or she may return.

  General in the United States.
• #1308

  If you sleep with your head towards the north, it will prevent sickness.

  General in the United States.
• #1335

  Whistling girls and crowing hens
  Always come to some bad ends.

  General in the United States.
• #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.
• #1414

  A present of pins breaks friendship.

  General in the United States.
• #1416

  After sneezing, it is customary to say, “God bless you.”

  General in the United States.
• #1454

  Food dropped on the floor by one signifies that some one grudges you it.

  Common in the United States.