Current Events > Strange old wives' tales/myths you heard growing up

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When I was a little kid I got at-home haircuts, and when I'd shake the sheet outside afterwards my mom would warn me that if a bird made its nest from my hair it would cause me headaches.

Did anyone else have a childhood with weird old cautionary myths and such?

Something about cellulose, clearly

Also, about your hair........

Spanish moms treat cold wind like some kind of spirit that will get you deathly sick.

<:<

That if you work hard at your job you'll be rewarded for it

The weirdest ones were

Barber/stylist cutting themselves means it's gonna be a good haircut

Upside down broom somewhere to get rid of unwanted guests

Woman on period can't swim, drink cold stuff, or kiss the saints for... reasons? Idk

You can't throw away bread, it's Holy so you have to feed it to something to get rid of it. (I'm a Christian and this one is still weird to me)

Never toast only water

Drinking milk after noon is bad

Drinking milk with pasta is bad for you

Cold drinks are bad for you

Drinking Yoohoo and Mozzarella together will kill you (Italian family, there are a lot of these weird food ones, and just weird ones in general.

If you sleep looking to the west you risk dying somehow.

Spilling salt is a bad omen and you have to throw it over your shoulder.

Ironing is good luck? Or touching it? I don't remember this too much.

Some evil eye stuff vaguely

Don't take a bath when sick

Don't stand near an open window

Air-conditioners are bad for your health

Along with normal stuff like black cats, ladders, standing under air-conditioners, mirrors, 13 and 17? (These are confusing), swimming after eating, Don't cross arms shaking hands, etc

My Nona was really superstitious and my dad kinda was but lost it over time. I think there might be more, but I don't really remember. I think a lot of them were just so we'd do stuff the old Italian way.

itachi15243 posted...

Woman on period can't swim, drink cold stuff, or kiss the saints for... reasons? Idk

Religious horseshit and exclusively religious horseshit.

itachi15243 posted...

Air-conditioners are bad for your health

This one actually has a nugget of truth to it when you consider legionnaire's disease

You can't eat more than one banana in a day, because you'll overdose on potassium.

DrizztLink posted...

Religious horseshit and exclusively religious horseshit.

I still don't quite understand this one. Googling it just says women aren't holy? Makes no fucking sense.

As a kid I always assumed there was like a safety concern. Like swimming would get blood on people, and cold drinks was like a stomach/cramping issue thing.

itachi15243 posted...

I still don't quite understand this one. Googling it just says women aren't holy? Makes no fucking sense.

Essentially, yes.

Because Christianity is a deeply flawed religion.

When your ears itch, someone is talking maliciously about you behind your back.

Xethuminra posted...

Also, about your hair........

?

Getting soaked in rain will give you a cold. Yes, I know there's science behind this idea but it's not as blanket as the myth suggests.

Frogs will give you warts.
Daddy Long Legs are very venomous.
Bubblegum takes years to digest.

the eating spiders while sleeping one

Deej posted...

You can't eat more than one banana in a day, because you'll overdose on potassium.

As someone with a potassium deficiency, fuck the person who started this one.

Kaiser1one posted...

Getting soaked in rain will give you a cold. Yes, I know there's science behind this idea but it's not as blanket as the myth suggests.

Frogs will give you warts.
Daddy Long Legs are very venomous.
Bubblegum takes years to digest.

This reminded me of 2 more

Killing a daddy long legs is bad luck

Eating watermelon and drinking whine will hurt your stomach.

itachi15243 posted...

Killing a daddy long legs is bad luck

It's not bad luck but it's definitely a dick move.

Villain_S_Fiend posted...

?

Always infer the inverse is equally true,

especially when proven otherwise!

Crows or ravens are a sign of impending death

itachi15243 posted...

I still don't quite understand this one. Googling it just says women aren't holy? Makes no fucking sense.

As a kid I always assumed there was like a safety concern. Like swimming would get blood on people, and cold drinks was like a stomach/cramping issue thing.

It's because there is a statistical link between having sex during menstruation and diseases.
For example there is an association between sexual activities leading to orgasm during menstruation and endometriosis (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6642425/) and diseases in general (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8885071/). That doesn't mean that every sexual activity during menstruation is dangerous.

Now in the distant past they didn't have such evidence, but they probably saw that people who regularly had sex during menstruation on the whole had more complications than those who did not.

Also, to add to the complications, prostitutes in the distant past would have often have sex during menstruation and this probably skewed not only the results that those who had sex during menstruation had more complications than those who did not (life as a prostitute in antiquity was not a clean profession), but also that sex during menstruation was something to be "ashamed of".

However, they (in the past) now have "evidence" that "Period=bad", also add in that the period is often quoted as being a sign of "original sin", and suddenly being "unclean" becomes a "real" and a tangible thing.
So, it gets exaggerated -- and suddenly any communal practice during the "unclean" time is forbidden, or should be avoided. Also, the old testament has a massive thing about blood, like for example (Leviticus 17 11-16)
"For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.
Therefore I say to the Israelites, "None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood."
Any Israelite or any alien living among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth,
because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, "You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off."
"`Anyone, whether native-born or alien, who eats anything found dead or torn by wild animals must wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he will be ceremonially unclean till evening; then he will be clean. But if he does not wash his clothes and bathe himself, he will be held responsible.'"

Step on a crack, break your mothers back.

Cuticles pealing were because you weren't eating enough oranges

No shoes on in the house

CRON posted...

When your ears itch, someone is talking maliciously about you behind your back.

I was always told that if you start sneezing someone's talking about you.

Big fan of the "you can't take a shower or bath while it's thundering out or you'll get electrocuted" play.

I'm not sure if it counts but my family also swears by pretzels and ginger ale as the go to pick me ups for when you're sick and need sustenance (in addition to water of course).

Eating while standing will give you cancer.

If you take a bath during a storm, you risk being struck by lightening.

BlazinBlue88 posted...

Eating while standing will give you cancer

Da fuck

BlazinBlue88 posted...

If you take a bath during a storm, you risk being struck by lightening

My mom still believes in this to this day.

Don't swim for at least an hour after you eat or you'll get a cramp and drown

Swallowing food that's still in your mouth when you go the bathroom will come out of your dick if you're peeing. I believed that shit for years.

BlazinBlue88 posted...

If you take a bath during a storm, you risk being struck by lightening.

itachi15243 posted...

My mom still believes in this to this day.

Mythbusters gave this one a Plausible. It may not be very likely, and probably even less likely if you don't have copper pipes, but it's not a complete load.

Circumcision is good.

"Study hard or you'd end up stacking shelves at supermarkets."

Meanwhile my local supermarket is full of postgraduate students working to pay off rent.

and there's absolutely nothing wrong with minimum wage jobs. Schools were teaching you to look down on custodians, food service, taxi drivers, waste management, customer service, etc when these people are important metal gears in the system.

Beveren_Rabbit posted...

and there's absolutely nothing wrong with minimum wage jobs. Schools were teaching you to look down on custodians, food service, taxi drivers, waste management, customer service, etc when these people are important metal gears in the system.

The minimum wage is the wrong part.

Deej posted...

You can't eat more than one banana in a day, because you'll overdose on potassium.

I ate 4 or 5 a day for years.

Don't put hats on the bed.

Don't put your hands behind your head.

Your first visitor each year should be a man.

On News Years yet Greens and beans.

If you shave your facial hair, it'll grow back thicker

cjsdowg posted...

On News Years yet Greens and beans.

Eating black eyed peas (keep in mind this was the early 90s so it's obviously the legume, and nothing related to the band) for good luck on New Year's Day was the tradition in my family

If the wind or someone blows into your eyes while you're cross-eyed, your eyes will stay that way

Giacomo_Hawkins posted...

Eating black eyed peas (keep in mind this was the early 90s so it's obviously the legume, and nothing related to the band) for good luck on New Year's Day was the tradition in my family

Thats right I am eating the wrong thing.

Speaking of new years

Having cash/coins in your pocket during new years midnight will grant you lots of money for that coming year

Also jumping up and down during the same time will make you grow taller

Nirvanas_Nox posted...

I was always told that if you start sneezing someone's talking about you.

Sneeze, achoo! Someones thinking of you!

First time I heard that was on Yu Yu Hakusho lol

Touching a baby bird will make the mother reject it

If your ears start getting warm it's because someone is talking about you