Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share Which Superstitions Are So Ingrained In Society We Do Them Without A Second Thought

People Share Which Superstitions Are So Ingrained In Society We Do Them Without A Second Thought

Everyone is at least a bit superstitious. The particulars might differ depending on where you grew up, but all human cultures have Superstitions of one sort or another.


Reddit user u/Noerdy asked:

"What's a superstition that's so ingrained in society that we don't realize it's a superstition anymore?"

Farmers' Almanac

Giphy

The Farmers' Almanac.

Its never been through peer review. It supposedly uses secret equations and the positions of celestial bodies (astrology anyone?) to predict weather.

"But they're over 80% accurate!"

That number is self reported using standards they establish.

-chartreuse_chimay

God Bless You

Telling someone "God Bless You" when they sneeze.

-LBCClipper1313

Yet, for every other bodily function, the offender says 'excuse me'. Its so weird.

-JonHammsUlna

Umbrella

Giphy

Pretty sure death will come to me if I ever open an umbrella indoors. And when I see someone do it, I automatically wince because I know their life force is about to be taken from them.

-oopsiedaizie

I pissed my mother off to no end because I once asked her if she thought umbrella factories were all outdoors, or if they just had an unusually high turnover due to deaths in the family. She was very superstitious and not at all amused.

-thenextlineis

Nurses

Nurses will murder people who say a shift is quiet. We aren't allowed to say the q word. (I don't believe it, but it's fun to give each other hell about saying it or getting to blame someone when sh*t hits the fan.)

-F**kYouChristmas

Nurses are ridiculously superstitious (generalization, but I've met so many superstitious nurses)

So many believe in ghosts, spirits, deities, luck, ect...

-exiled123x

Due

That if you've had a bad run like at the casino, you're 'due' for a good run. Not how probability or binomial distribution works.

-manlikerealities

The same goes for investing. People won't sell a stock they lost money on because they feel it "owes" them something. But if you look at your portfolio as a point in time, you sell the ones that aren't doing well and buy ones that are a better investment.

-T1Nerd

Christmas colors

Giphy

Just in time for the holidays, Christmas colors are red, green, and white. Blood on snow to bring back the green plants after winter. Pagan tradition of blood sacrifice to ensure spring would come back each year.

-FelixVulgaris

Jinx

Knocking on wood to make sure we don't jinx anything.

-MissVikingQueen

Gum

Not to swallow gum. It's perfectly safe to and passes just as fast as anything else, but instead an old superstition about it being stuck in our digestive tract causes people to litter the stuff everywhere.

-ThatOneRussian

Jinx, again.

Giphy

Telling someone not to just say that something will go well because you don't want to jinx it.

-FrogginBullfish_

Theater kids.

Break a leg!

-Imflex

Spent the entire autumn 2017 rehearsing for a major role. The premiere is a hit, performances come and go, and we retire for the year to continue in January.

What happens on Christmas Eve? Of course I break my bloody leg.

(ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

-Dolfk

Warewolves

That a full moon brings out the crazies. I think this is mostly confirmation bias.

Here's one source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-sc...

-SteamboatMcgee


More from People

Robin Williams and Ethan Hawke
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution

Ethan Hawke Shares Important Lesson He Learned From Robin Williams On Set Of 'Dead Poets Society'

Actor Ethan Hawke has become a Hollywood legend in his own right, but his career started with being a child actor learning from the greats, like Robin Williams.

The two co-starred in Dead Poets Society, one of the greatest films of the 1980s. It was a breakout role for Hawke and one that solidified Williams as a dramatic actor after a career mostly focused on comedy.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump; Screenshot of California's statement
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images; cdss.ca.gov

Blue States Are Taking A Page Out Of Trump's Playbook With Alerts About SNAP Benefits

President Donald Trump and his administration are facing criticism as blue states post alerts about the loss of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as a result of the Trump administration's failure to spend contingency funds to feed people on the program, a decision that is resulting in a nationwide hunger crisis impacting millions of families.

State officials have announced plans to inform visitors that if they’re alarmed by the pause in SNAP benefits beginning November 1 due to the shutdown, they should direct their frustration at the Republican Party.

Keep ReadingShow less
Photo of a female hand holding up a pink paper heart that is on fire.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Signs A Relationship Is Over Even If The Couple Hasn't Broken Up Yet

Love is a many-splendored thing... until it's not.

Not all love stories have a happy ending.

Keep ReadingShow less
Morgan Freeman; Diane Keaton
Arnold Jerocki/WireImage/Getty Images; Pierre Suu/Getty Images

Morgan Freeman Reacts To Learning Diane Keaton Said He Was Her All-Time Favorite On-Screen Kiss

On Thursday, veteran actor Morgan Freeman was a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! and the host had news to share with the Oscar winner.

The late actress Diane Keaton named Freeman as her favorite on-screen kiss. The pair starred as a long-married couple in the 2014 film 5 Flights Up.

Keep ReadingShow less
Ted Cruz; Marjorie Taylor Greene
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images; Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Ted Cruz Slams Marjorie Taylor Greene For Becoming 'Very Liberal'—And People Can Not

Speaking on CNBC's Squawk Box, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz criticized his GOP colleague, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, for being "too liberal" after she criticized their fellow Republicans over wages and healthcare amid the ongoing government shutdown.

Cruz specifically cited Greene’s criticism of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and noted that, back in July, she became the first Republican in Congress to describe the crisis in Gaza as a “genocide.”

Keep ReadingShow less