Screaming when you cut a birthday cake

[Cammel]

I remember me and my friends doing this as kids, but DH doesn't think it's a thing. Was it just my friends or does anyone else remember doing this?

Manchester and Surrey. Never even heard till this thread that it was a thing.

It seems particularly astonishing because normally even if you don’t DO a particular tradition for something like birthdays, you’ve generally heard of it. Like, I know about birthday bumps, but we don’t do it. I know about at Xmas lots of people open all presents first thing, but we tend to save a lot for after lunch. But this thread seems mostly divided in a rather binary distribution between people who are totally familiar with the idea and think it’s normal, and loads of others who have never heard of it before. It’s really surprising!!

Grew up in Home Counties/80s child and, yes I remember this. Don't recall actually doing it myself, but do remember other people doing so at their party. A high-pitched scream at the first "stab" only - just the person cutting the cake/whose birthday it was would scream.

As I very vaguely recall it was something to do with screaming at the demons contained within the cake and stabbing them with the knife/releasing them from the cake, so that you'd have a year of good luck. Or something. Yep. Odd!

Londoner here, brought up in the 80s and went to many a birthday party but have never heard of this, I’m intrigued.

I searched online - could find hardly anything about it. But there is this glorious demonstration! I would definitely remember if I’d ever seen that before…

www.intheknow.com/post/familys-unconventional-birthday-tradition-is-a-real-scream/

Never heard of it. But if people started screaming while I was cutting a cake, I wouldn't be answerable for my actions!! I would absolutely hate that.

[quote Talipesmum]I searched online - could find hardly anything about it. But there is this glorious demonstration! I would definitely remember if I’d ever seen that before…

www.intheknow.com/post/familys-unconventional-birthday-tradition-is-a-real-scream/[/quote]
Ah that link didn’t seem to work - I think I found it on Twitter: twitter.com/itsmaddykelly/status/1306346054871207936?s=21

Never heard of this

Didn't grow up in London but yes I remember some people doing this!

Did you have your parties in the Sistine Chapel? 🤔

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Don’t. I’ll be wheeze laughing until 4am.

Bonkers!

@HaggisBurger

Perhaps MNers can institute making owl noises when they cut cakes now tho 😉😂

Or when plunging a spoon in to yoghurt?

I grew up in the 70s and 80s in East and NW London. I've never heard of this. We were taught to only scream when in danger as kids so probably would have got a clip round the ear if we started doing this!

@Talipesmum omg 😂😂

I’m old (60s) and haven’t come across this ever.

Nope, never heard of such a thing.

Yes! 1980s London childhood here. It was a thing.

80s kid just outside London and never heard of this before. How odd

WTAF??! If I had screamed as a child when my mum cut my birthday cake she would have taken it away and sent me up to bed for screaming and making a racket.

Why? How did this catch on even minimally?

Why?

And why are there random owl comments popping up on MN today? What have I missed this time?

No 🤣

No. Thank god!

No....sounds very odd!

Why is MN obsessed with screaming in distractions that really don’t require any screaming?!

@draramallama

Why?

And why are there random owl comments popping up on MN today? What have I missed this time?

That’s in relation to a thread the other day whereby a poster, in an attempt to shush a colleague, made owl noises. And thought that’s what everybody does when trying to silence someone