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threemonkeysGot this from Sideswipe so don't know the source. It seems that a survey of Britons found that the 10 most commonly held superstitions are the following:
1. Won't walk under a ladder.
2. Salute a lone magpie.
3. Throw spilt salt over your left shoulder.
4. Put money in a purse or wallet.
5. Don't step on cracks in the pavement.
6. Avoid crossing people on the stairs.
7. Won't put an umbrella up in the house.
8. Won't walk across three drains.
9. Won't put shoes on the table.
10. Say "pinch and a punch for the first of the month".
Now, I should say, that I don't do superstitions like this. Well, I try not to, they are very seductive because they speak to the pattern matching engine that is at the core of our brain mechanism. Nevertheless, it still comes as a surprise that I do not recognise half of them. Really, where do they come from and how come I've not heard of them - I honestly thought that such things fell into the "common knowledge" area. For what its worth, the ones I hadn't heard before are 2, 4, 8, 9 and 10. I'd put them in bold or italics or something in the list above but that would look too much like a meme and I don't do memes either.
1. Won't walk under a ladder.
2. Salute a lone magpie.
3. Throw spilt salt over your left shoulder.
4. Put money in a purse or wallet.
5. Don't step on cracks in the pavement.
6. Avoid crossing people on the stairs.
7. Won't put an umbrella up in the house.
8. Won't walk across three drains.
9. Won't put shoes on the table.
10. Say "pinch and a punch for the first of the month".
Now, I should say, that I don't do superstitions like this. Well, I try not to, they are very seductive because they speak to the pattern matching engine that is at the core of our brain mechanism. Nevertheless, it still comes as a surprise that I do not recognise half of them. Really, where do they come from and how come I've not heard of them - I honestly thought that such things fell into the "common knowledge" area. For what its worth, the ones I hadn't heard before are 2, 4, 8, 9 and 10. I'd put them in bold or italics or something in the list above but that would look too much like a meme and I don't do memes either.