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Q: Have Chinese people ever been surprised by your superstitions?
I didn't even realise how many superstitions I'd had until my Chinese friends starting questioning why I threw salt over my left shoulder, or I don't put up umbrellas in my house, or why I say bless you... it was just force of habit...it was funny to be on the receiving end of those questions
Since no one else has replied...
Chinese people freak out when I put a stake through a corpse's heart, cut off their head and fill the mouth with garlic. Call me superstitious, but there ain't no way those undead are coming back.
Besides the "bless yous" for sneezing, there's the "somebody must be thinking of you" part...usually the person who is thinking of you is the one you sneezed on and they're thinking, "What kind of mofo disease am I going to get?"
I throw a goat from the top of a church once in a while, to get rid of the bad luck, and prevent the water well to be poisoned. It's not kosher anymore to burn witches, so that's the only other trick I know for this purpose. People are a bit surprised about this, you should see their faces when I climb the church with my goat on the shoulder. They asked me if it's ok to barbecue the goat after it crashed on the ground.
I will never have any superstitions .... <knock wood>
That would be a no, I don't actually have any superstitions, science is my God and my garden of paradise is this planet (which is why I get pissed when people litter, spit, break for black cats etc)
I don't throw salt over my shoulder or anything like that but I think that people here often see the things I do (or don't / wouldn't do) as superstitions, or are freaked out that I don't practice some of their traditions. The child birth thing is a good example but there are plenty more everyday things.
I always get weird looks when I use the soap dispenser for washing hands after using the bathroom. They probably think I piss all over myself every time, might even blame the persistent puddles at the urinals on me.
Do you mean like Looking before crossing the road ? or flushing the toilet paper ?, or driving on the road and not the foot path ? or maybe failing a student because they didn't ever come to class ? ![]()
Sometimes I pour the first splash of freshly opened beer on the ground, as an offering to the ancestors.
Ch. person says, "where did u learn this, it is Chinese traditional".. Actually I think it's originally an old African Hoodoo trick, definitely not Ch. in origin.
I don't like splitting posts. You know, as you walk along with someone, I always try to walk on the same side of any posts sticking up from the ground.
I have no idea what it's all about, so when quizzed about it I just say " It's a Scottish thing. Only Scottish people understand ". ![]()
Scandinavian:
is there a "heavens will fall" tied to it, or do you think it is just common curtsey ? When I walk the dog we don't do that either, the leash enforces it.
ScotsAlan:
I have no idea where it come from Scan. I just remember as a kid I was always being reprimanded if I "split a post".




















