Old wives tales!

[Alfiesmom74]

Yesterday was the first time I’ve ever gone out with damp hair after always thinking that if you go out in the cold with wet hair you’ll catch the flu/pneumonia. What old wives tales have you believed in?

Old wives tales!

Eating cheese before bed can cause nightmares.

Waiting an hour after eating before going swimming.

My mum's were - it's bad luck to put a pair of new shoes on the table, also don't walk under a ladder I might still be doing this

‘Oh that bump is so low, you’ve got to be carrying a girl’

Putting butter or oil on a burn! and then adding flour.

This was actually one going round in the late 60s when my mother was nursing and it essentially bakes the skin.

Really dangerous old wife tale especially when regarding infants

The ladder, the shoes.

It's bad luck to gift someone a purse without putting a little money in it. 20p or something normally does.

A rowan tree next to the gate protects the property from the bad things like witches and the like (I don't have a rowen tree)

Saluting magpies. DP is always doing it.

I do the new shoe thing - never put them on a table or work surface.

Vinegar can be used instead of sunscreen.

Wee gets rid of warts and veruccas - apparently this worked for someone I know!

Never give someone something sharp so they must give you a penny for it.

Vinegar can be used instead of sunscreen

I heard a variation on this one, vinegar rubbed into sunburn to take the sting out.

Kill a spider and it’ll rain.

It's bad luck to cross on the stairs.

My 6 year old won't even cross the cat on the stairs just incase haha.

Bloody hell you’d smell like a bag of fish and chips hahaha!!

You’ll be in agony but throw some eggs in there and you’ve got yourself a nice Victoria sponge lol!

Never heard that one before.

If my nan ever dropped cutlery, she’d always say ‘Knife on the floor. Man at the door’.

Nope...not the foggiest!

Every time I see and ambulance I say and do the actions "touch my collar touch my knee thank god it wasn't me" my mums fault

I always salute a single magpie, Howls. So many of these things are ingrained in me from my parents.

My husband always laughs at me for some of the daft things i do, cos he’d never even heard of some of them.
Maybe it’s an East End, thing...i dunno.

Don't put new shoes on the table
Walking under a ladder (though I think that one is common sense)
Rubbing a gold wedding ring on a sty on the eye to get rid of it
Don't open an umbrella indoors
Swinging a wedding ring over a baby bump to tell the sex
Pull out a grey hair and two will grow in its place
Spilling salt brings bad luck
Breaking a mirror brings 7 years bad luck
Bad luck comes in threes

These are all ones my DM used to come out with

DM also used to say "new house, new baby". I think she was desperate for a DGC when we moved house, but it was another 4 years before we obliged!

That's exactly how I'd get a cold: wet hair and going out, so I stopped even going for a swim in winter because getting out after all that warm air from a hair dryer and int the cold used to give me a cold. And cold sores as well. Never flu or pneumonia though.

It must have something to do with getting cold quickly if you have wet hair and, when you are cold, you are more likely to be affected by the germs around. So no, I don't think this one is old wife tale.

It makes sense doesn’t it so I couldn’t believe it when everybody laughed at the suggestion.

Don't put new shoes on the table
Walking under a ladder (though I think that one is common sense)
Rubbing a gold wedding ring on a sty on the eye to get rid of it
Don't open an umbrella indoors
Swinging a wedding ring over a baby bump to tell the sex
Pull out a grey hair and two will grow in its place
Spilling salt brings bad luck - chuck the spilled salt over your left shoulder
Breaking a mirror brings 7 years bad luck
Bad luck comes in threes

All of these plus walking over 3 drains is bad luck, as is walking under a street sign or scaffolding that straddles the pavement. I also say 'Good day Mr Magpie, how's your family?' whenever I see one on its own.