List of unlucky symbols
"Bad luck" redirects here. For other uses, see Bad luck (disambiguation).
This is a list of symbols and signs believed to be unlucky according to superstition:
- Using crutches or a wheelchair when not needed
- A black cat crossing one's path
- Certain numbers:
- The number 4 (tetraphobia) in Chinese culture
- The numbers 4 and 9 in Japanese culture
- Also in Japanese culture, maternity wards numbered 43, as it can literally mean "still birth"
- The number 17 in Italian culture
- The number 13, known as triskaidekaphobia
- Friday the 13th
- Opening an umbrella indoors
- Failing to respond to a chain letter
- Viewing one's doppelgänger may be considered a harbinger of bad luck
- Walking under a ladder
- According to Eastern cultures, spitting in public, as the spit may land on invisible spirits, who in response to the disrespect, may place a curse on the spitter.
- Hanging a horseshoe with the ends pointing down, as it is believed that the luck will 'fall out'[1]
- Breaking a mirror
- Placing chopsticks in a bowl of food sticking upward
- United States two-dollar bill
- Shoes on a table
- On the Isle of Man, the mention of the word "longtail" (referring to a rat)
- Three on a match (superstition)
- Giving a clock as a gift in Chinese culture, as in chinese, to give a clock has the same pronunciation as attending their funeral[2]
- Saying the word "Macbeth" while inside a theatre
- A hanging picture falling from the wall
- Stepping on a grave
- Ravens
- Spilling salt
- Giving pocket knife as a gift
- Closing a pocket knife opened by someone else
- Ouija board
- Pointing at feces
- Navajo: pointing at a rainbow[3][4]
- Navajo: throwing rocks into the wind[3][4]
- Navajo: Coyote crossing your path[3] heading north[4]
See also
- List of lucky symbols
- Belief in luck
- Curse
- Theatrical superstitions
- Faux pas derived from Chinese pronunciation
- Sailors' superstitions#Bad luck
References
- ↑ "Luck and Horseshoes Webpage accessed 22 Aug. 2010". Indepthinfo.com. Retrieved 2011-12-19.
- ↑ "Cutural China - Festivals and Customs - Taboo 2 - Giving a clock". http://traditions.cultural-china.com/en/14T8158T12916.html. External link in
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