Miscellaneous
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1271. If a child in eating an apple merely girdles it and leaves the apple good at stem and below, it indicates that he will be a poor man; the saying is, a poor man's core. 1272. It is unlucky to turn back after starting to go anywhere. To avert ... Apparel
1376. If you mend your apron or dress while on you, some one will lie about you. Maine and Alabama. 1377. As many stitches as you take (in mending a garment while wearing it), so many lies will be told about you. New Hampshir... Bodily Affections
1340. If the right cheek burns, some one is speaking well of you; if the left, they are speaking ill of you; if both, they speak well and ill at once. Moisten the finger in the mouth and touch it to the cheek, naming those whom you suspect; the one ... Customs
1402. Halloween cabbages are pulled and thrown against the owner's door as a reminder of his laziness. Southern Pennsylvania and Ohio. 1403. Shelled corn is thrown at every one--the significance not known. Southern Pennsylvani... Days
1419. What you do on your birthday, you will do all the year. Salem, Mass. 1420. On cutting the finger-nails:-- Cut them on Monday, cut them for news, Cut them on Tuesday, a pair of new shoes, Cut them on Wednesday,... Domestic Life
1438. It is supposed that a broom placed behind the door will keep off witches. Bruynswick, N.Y. 1439. To burn the stub of a broom or break a sugar-bowl, means a quarrel. Westport, Mass. 1440. A spark seen on a candle or la... Morturary Custom
1240. If salt water pigeons' feathers are in a bed, the sick person on it will not die easily. Newfoundland. 1241. In old colonial burying-grounds--in Plymouth, Concord, Cambridge, and Rutland, Mass.--the graves are so placed that the... Various
1464. A stratum of warm air indicates the presence of the devil. Boston, Mass. (Irish). 1465. If, when a newly-married couple go to housekeeping, she slyly takes her mother's dish-cloth or dish-wiper, she will never be homesick. Old Mrs...