A research game. Kinda fun

**Missy** · 11-11-2006, 02:58 PM

What you do is look up a superstition or phrase and post how it is it came to be. For instance, I'll go first with:

Throwing salt over ones shoulder after spilling it.

Come from midevil times when they still believed in spirits that cause misfortune. THey believe they were always behind you waiting for the opportunity to cause trouble. Salt was very expensive and therefor a costly mistake to knock over a cellar of salt. Such a costly mistake must have been the cause of the spirits, so therefore salt would be thrown to the spirits to appease them and hopefully keep them from causeing such misfortune again.

next??

**JustJoy** · 11-11-2006, 03:55 PM

Knocking on wood

If you mention good luck, you are supposed to knock on wood three times. This will keep your luck from turning bad.

Historians have traced this superstition to ancient times when people believed gods lived in trees. For example, the god of lightning and thunder was thought to live in trees because that’s where lightning often hit during storms. People came to believe that they were touching magic when they touched wood.

**Katybird** · 11-11-2006, 04:36 PM

Bad luck to walk under a ladder...

Walking under a ladder has been considered bad luck for hundreds of years. Logically, we all know how wobbly they are. But that's not the reason. Ladders have been considered the spiritual ascent to heaven. So the rule was "Do Not Disturb the spirits who were using them!" If a ladder is leaning up against a wall that forms a triangle. And in the old days a triangle symbolized "Life." So... if you walked under a ladder leaning against a wall you were breaking the symbol of life. When tested recently in Britain, it was discovered that 70% of people still today refuse to walk under a ladder if there's another option. But, if you really must walk under a ladder then here are the rules: Cross your fingers; Spit over your left shoulder (never the right) or...keep silent until you see your first 4-legged animal. This offsets any evil or danger.

**seadream** · 11-11-2006, 05:30 PM

This superstition was created because a long time ago. When people saw their reflection in a pond or lake, they thought it was part of them and when the lake or pond rippled and shattered the image, he or she was sure to have trouble because it's like breaking (or in this case, wiggling) a part of themselves. In the modern days, people started noticing their reflection in the water less and less. So now, instead of a lake, we use a mirror

**dmvezina** · 11-11-2006, 05:39 PM

God Bless You.

During the sixth century, it was customary to congratulate people who sneezed because they were expelling evil from their bodies. Later, when a great plague took hold of Europe, and people began sneezing violently, the Pope passed a law. Since sneezing meant that the person was going to die of plague, people were required to bless the sneezer.

**miss_thrifty** · 11-11-2006, 07:54 PM

this one most people know of.

**bumplett** · 11-11-2006, 09:47 PM

What Happens When A Black Cat Crosses Your Path?

http://www.petloveshack.com/hallow.html

**TheRootedNomad** · 11-13-2006, 07:14 AM

"starting from scratch"

Today most people relate this phrase to baking that starts with raw ingredients or a project started at the very beginning without pre-fab materials. In fact this phrase came about in Engalnd back in (I think it was the 1780's....don't quote me on the date) when horseracing started as village sport. To make the races more fun and competitive the consistant winners would have to start further back then the pack from a line "scratched" in the dirt. Now we just require the better horses to require more weight but when racing started they simply ran further....so "from scratch" originally started as a racing term before moving into the kitchen.