Before you start reading, put this song on:
Stevie Wonder - Very Superstitious.
Whilst growing up, you are told certain `tales` aimed at discouraging some sort of unwanted behaviour. For example: "If you keep pulling those faces, the winds might change and your face will be stuck like that forever." Needless to saw, my expressions were somewhat subdued in windy weather.
It is interesting to find that these tales are not exclusive to childhood, as they follow you through life. Even if you don`t believe in them, there will always be someone telling another way in which you can cure, prevent or foresee something.
Old Wives Tales are urban legends mixed with superstition. The belief is that this `wisdom` was passed down through generations and goes so far back that they are in fact beyond the reach of scientific evaluation. (Please take note of the sarcasm)
The reason I am writing about this is because I am ill. I`ve been wheezing, sneezing and moaning for over a week now and have heard an array of `cures` for my aliments. This got me thinking... I am not particularly superstitious but there are things that I always think about if I do see a black cat or walk under a ladder.
Below are the old wives tales and common superstitions that I grew up with:
1.) An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
2.) Drinking warm milk, will help you sleep
3.) Chocolate causes acne
4.) Don`t swollen your gum, it will stay in your stomach for 7 years
5.) Eating carrots improves your eyesight... How do you think Bugs Bunny can see underground?
6.) To remove a wart: On a night of a full moon, Rub half a potato on your wart and bury the potato in the ground
7.) Put brandy or whisky on the gums of a teething baby, to sooth pain (pretty sure this is not advisable)
8.) Spilling salt is bad luck... Through some over your left shoulder to counteract this.
9.) Put butter on a burn - probably one of the worst things you could actually do.
10.) Prevent night time leg cramps.... by putting a bar of soap in your bed.... obviously?
11.) Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis
12.) You will get sick if you go out with wet hair
13.) If your ears twitch, someone is talking about you
14.) To stop hiccups: drink a glass of water with your head upside down OR ask someone when they last saw a horse was.
15.) If you make a wish, you can`t tell anyone or else it wont come true.
16.) After eating you should wait a hour before swimming.
17.) Breaking a mirror means 7 years of bad luck.
18.) To prevent watering eyes whilst chopping an onion... Put a matchstick OR spoon in your mouth.
19.) If you get stung by a jelly fish.... allow someone to pee on you.
20.) And the favorite of many of my friends: `Have the hair of the dog that bit you` - meaning the best way to cure a hangover is to have another drink.
Her brave act of defiance on 1 December 1955, started off the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which ended on 20 December 1056 when The United States Supreme Court declared that laws which segregated buses in Montgomery and Alabama was unconstitutional.
