{"id":1180,"date":"2013-09-11T10:18:03","date_gmt":"2013-09-11T14:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/?p=1180"},"modified":"2020-10-02T13:42:51","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T17:42:51","slug":"very-superstitious-concepts-of-luck-around-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/language-news\/2013\/09\/11\/very-superstitious-concepts-of-luck-around-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Very Superstitious: Concepts of Luck Around the World"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Friday the 13th<\/sup> right around the corner, we\u2019re feeling quite superstitious! Most (though not all) of us don\u2019t put a lot of stock in superstitions these days.\u00a0 We might knock on wood when discussing something that\u2019s gone well so far, or avoid walking under a ladder, but not because we think these actions will have far-reaching effects.\u00a0 We don\u2019t really believe that breaking a mirror brings seven years of bad luck (we just don\u2019t like cleaning up the mess of glass bits).\u00a0 Still, superstitions are fascinating, and the common ones you\u2019re used to are just the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n

While you\u2019ll recognize a lot of Brazilian superstitions<\/a> as familiar (black cats, broken mirrors, ladders), what is considered bad luck varies widely from culture to culture.\u00a0 For example, our Italian blogger, Serena, has written about the fact that it\u2019s Friday the 17th<\/sup><\/a> that is considered a day of bad luck in Italy, not Friday the 13th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 It\u2019s all about the Roman numerals for 17\u2026<\/p>\n

And while we\u2019re on the subject of numbers, Chinese culture contains a wealth of interesting superstitions about what brings good luck or bad luck.\u00a0 Four is the unlucky number there, because the pronunciation is similar to the Chinese word for death (Japanese culture takes a dim view of the number four<\/a> as well).\u00a0 And while in English culture seven tends to be considered lucky, Chinese culture favors the number eight.\u00a0 Care to take a guess at the precise minute the Beijing Olympics kicked off?\u00a0 The answer probably makes sense now<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Naturally, the subject of death comes with a great many superstitions.\u00a0 Old Polish folk traditions<\/a> held that animals have the ability to see death, and predict its coming.\u00a0 The horses drawing a coffin were monitored for any signs that they noticed the ghost of the deceased making unscheduled visits to other peoples\u2019 houses.<\/p>\n


\n<\/a>In Thai, the action of putting your hands together in a praying pose is a greeting called the Wai<\/a>.\u00a0 It\u2019s a lot more complicated than it sounds, though; you must take care to never Wai to someone younger than you unless they Wai to you first \u2013 it\u2019s like wishing them bad luck!\u00a0 This is a great example of why learning cultural nuances is a fundamental part of language learning, especially if you ever mean to travel to the foreign country where the language is spoken.<\/p>\n


\n<\/a>While most superstitions are dismissed as the stuff of folklore, we still seem to have a love for coming up with new ones, like a psychic octopus predicting victorious sports teams<\/a>.\u00a0 At the end of the day, while different cultures have very different superstitions, the basic primeval concept of trying to avoid bad twists of fate unites us all under the umbrella of humanity.\u00a0 Which hopefully you didn\u2019t open up inside the house!<\/p>\n


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With Friday the 13th right around the corner, we\u2019re feeling quite superstitious! Most (though not all) of us don\u2019t put a lot of stock in superstitions these days.\u00a0 We might knock on wood when discussing something that\u2019s gone well so far, or avoid walking under a ladder, but not because we think these actions will…<\/p>\n

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