OPENING THE VAULT | Culture Corner | Superstitions

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In this exclusive episode of The A to Z English Podcast, Xochitl and Jack discuss superstitions that are common in America.

Exclusive You Tube link: https://youtu.be/MH9WlyMngIU

Transcript:

00:00:37

Jack

Headquarter.

00:00:38

Jack

Yours. It's really, really helpful and we appreciate your generosity. So social today we're talking about.

00:00:48

Jack

Americans and whether or not they are superstitious.

00:00:55

Jack

And maybe you could explain what superstitious means first, just for our listeners.

00:00:59

Xochitl

Superstitious is someone who believes in kind of good luck, bad luck and.

00:01:07

Xochitl

Those sorts of things. So let's say uh.

00:01:11

Xochitl

If you do.

00:01:12

Xochitl

XYZ. It will have a consequence of XYZ in the sense that.

00:01:17

Xochitl

They believe in some larger sense of luck and karma and cosmic energy. Yeah. Jack, can you explain any better than nothing because.

00:01:27

Jack

This magic, you know, like. Yeah. Magic or irrational kind of thinking or not non scientific. Let's call it non scientific thinking.

00:01:33

Xochitl

Please.

00:01:37

Xochitl

Yes, non scientific thinking.

00:01:39

Jack

Yeah. So for example, if I flip this coin.

00:01:43

Jack

And it lands on heads. I should accept the the the job, but if I flip this coin and it lands on tails, I should reject this job. And so you're you're basically putting the power of your choice into this coin.

00:01:50

발표자

Right.

00:02:03

Jack

And so that would be considered superstitious. You know you're not using logic and reason and science to make your decision. You're using luck. Like social said, just luck.

00:02:16

Jack

You know.

00:02:17

Xochitl

And there are a bunch of little kind of superstitious sayings. When I was a kid, a popular one was step on a crack as in a crack in the sidewalk or whatever. Break your back. So it's like.

00:02:26

Jack

OK.

00:02:28

Xochitl

You had to.

00:02:28

Jack

OK.

00:02:28

Xochitl

Jump over cracks in the sidewalk because you didn't want your mother's back to break. I don't know why that exists.

00:02:36

Jack

I think because it rhymes, you know, back and and cracks, you know? Yeah.

00:02:36

Xochitl

But.

00:02:40

Xochitl

And back. So there's a lot of little superstitious thinkings, or, for example, Friday the 13th. That's a very popular one in the US. You can go out on Friday the 13th. It's a bad luck day.

00:02:49

Jack

Yeah.

00:02:54

Xochitl

You know, if you have a job interview, don't schedule it for Friday the 13th. If you have a wedding, don't schedule it for Friday the 13th. A little superstition. Things like that are still, I would say, sort of prevailing in US culture, but on the whole, I would say.

00:03:14

Xochitl

We're not a superstitious.

00:03:16

Xochitl

Culture, what would you suggest?

00:03:18

Jack

No, we're we're not. Not compared to like places. I've lived like Thailand, you know, which is very, very much like like instead of car insurance, you'll have like, a, like a Buddhist shrine, you know, in your car on the dashboard, basically set up. And that's. I mean, I'm sure they do have car insurance, but I mean, it's just like that's going to that's going to protect me.

00:03:23

Xochitl

For myself.

00:03:31

Xochitl

Ohh.

00:03:35

Xochitl

So the help, yeah.

00:03:38

Jack

More than like anything. Is this this shrine that I've built on my on my? Yeah. And I'm not. And I'm not trying to malign our our listeners out there, who who believe in in who might be Buddhist or believe in that but.

00:03:45

Xochitl

Car dashboard.

00:03:54

Jack

UMI would I would put that in a kind of superstitious uh basket, whereas like actual car insurance is probably much more useful than some kind of spiritual belief or something like that. That that may or may not protect me.

00:04:05

발표자

Right.

00:04:14

Xochitl

At least in non superstitious thinking, that's your. That's what we subscribe to.

00:04:18

Jack

Right. There you go. Yeah, non superstitious thinking, you know. And I'm. I'm superstitious in some ways. I've got my own like, weird little superstitions. Like, for example, if I break a mirror, you know, I don't. I'm not happy.

00:04:32

Jack

Think about it, you know.

00:04:34

Xochitl

Yeah, those are seven years of bad luck for our listeners.

00:04:36

Jack

I know, I know. I think I'm. I feel like I'm still paying off, like 17 years of old mirrors, you know, like, I've still, I've. I've got, like, a life sentence of of bad mere luck that I'm just gonna be paying off for forever.

00:04:37

Xochitl

You have great compare.

00:04:52

Xochitl

Think my good luck comes back this year? Because the last mirror I broke was when I was like 21. I believe so.

00:04:58

Jack

Ohh good for you. Yeah.

00:04:59

Xochitl

My luck finally comes back to me once more.

00:05:03

Jack

You'd buy that lottery ticket.

00:05:05

Xochitl

Yeah. Because supposedly. Yeah. So yeah, there's little superstitious things.

00:05:13

Xochitl

But mostly they.

00:05:13

Xochitl

Don't even pay attention. For example, Friday the 13th. I really usually don't even notice when it comes and goes.

00:05:20

Xochitl

UM.

00:05:21

Jack

If you don't notice it, I feel like you can. You've almost you win like you. You got if you get through the whole day and you don't even think about it. Like, if you start thinking about it, then you're gonna start making mistakes. You're gonna start screwing up, or you're gonna start noticing things that went wrong. And you're gonna attribute that to the 13th.

00:05:33

Xochitl

Right.

00:05:38

Xochitl

Which is a huge part of superstitious thinking.

00:05:42

Xochitl

Is seeing like a chronology of events, so like a series of events and then attributing it back to something that caused you to have bad.

00:05:52

Xochitl

Blood.

00:05:52

Xochitl

Or seeing things go well and attributing that to something that caused you to have good lucks, for example, another big superstition in the US is carrying a rabbits.

00:06:02

Xochitl

But for good luck, and let's say you took the rabbits foot to your job interview, put it in your pocket and you knocked the interview out of the park, meaning that it went really well. So you're attributing it to that rabbits foot, but it was probably the confidence.

00:06:03

Jack

Yeah.

00:06:16

Xochitl

That you got from carrying that thinking, you do well, that inspired you to actually do well.

00:06:18

Jack

Ohh great OK.

00:06:23

Jack

Yeah, that's interesting. That's interesting that, that, that object actually changed your it's, it's almost like, uh, I don't, I don't know if I'm right here, but like a confirmation bias type of a.

00:06:34

Jack

Thing or something?

00:06:34

Xochitl

Yeah, it is a little bit, yeah, because you're.

00:06:38

Xochitl

Attributing events to something superstitious, again, either good or bad. So yeah, that's a big thing.

00:06:44

Jack

Yeah.

00:06:47

Jack

Because we could go, you could go to the end of the day every day, every single day. You can go to the end of the day and look back and look at all the bad things that happened and say, oh, this is a bad luck day. But if you if you twist your, you're thinking and saying look back at all the good things that happened that day, you could convince yourself today was a lucky day. I mean, it's all about your attitude.

00:07:07

Jack

Because every day is a mixture of like kind of positive and negative things like good things happen, bad things happen.

00:07:13

Jack

And I mean, that's life, you know.

00:07:14

Xochitl

Yeah. The power of positive thinking really. Sometimes I, I I don't subscribe. This is another super serious thing where people think, you know, positive thinking will cure cancer. I don't really subscribe to that. I think you better get into chemo or something, but sometimes for small things it can help. My grandmother, for example, the one who's still living.

00:07:34

Xochitl

Said she accidentally somehow left the sink running in her house and it flooded the she realized it flooded the upstairs bathroom, and so she went down to the kitchen, where it's like the kid. The that upstairs bathroom is above her.

00:07:52

Xochitl

Kitchen and when she went down the first floor, she thought ohh God the ceiling is gonna be on the floor. It's gonna be caved because it flooded and it it didn't. It just left a water stain above that kitchen. And so she said she was jumping for joy because she said anytime the worst thing doesn't happen. It's a good day.

00:07:59

발표자

Yes.

00:08:12

Xochitl

It wasn't like the worst possible outcome, and so I liked that philosophy because.

00:08:16

Jack

Yeah.

00:08:18

Jack

That's a good attitude. That's a good anytime. The worst thing didn't happen. Yeah.

00:08:19

Xochitl

Yeah, it's good. Yeah.

00:08:22

Xochitl

Yeah. Then you better be happy. And I felt that way today. I was yesterday. I fell.

00:08:28

Xochitl

Down on the sidewalk, because the sidewalks are very uneven here and today I slipped and almost fell, but didn't. And my aunt my aunt was like, oh, no. Like, she thought I was gonna fall again, and I was happy because.

00:08:39

Xochitl

Like I didn't fall this time, so.

00:08:40

Jack

Like that was a good day for me. I I didn't fall. I just stumbled and caught myself.

00:08:42

Xochitl

Yeah.

00:08:45

Xochitl

Yeah. Or my mom. And and my aunt were very worried yesterday when I fell. And I was just laughing cause I was so happy that I didn't break my knee. Like I I was completely fine. I just barely scraped my knee. I.

00:08:55

Xochitl

Have no blood.

00:08:56

Xochitl

Or anything. I felt fine. I was happy that I was OK because I fell on a cobblestone. It's cobblestone here and the sidewalks quite elevated.

00:08:57

Jack

Yeah.

00:09:04

Xochitl

So I slipped off the side.

00:09:05

Xochitl

Of the sidewalk and fell on.

00:09:06

Xochitl

My hands and knees.

00:09:08

Jack

Now when you fell did.

00:09:09

Jack

You step on a crack.

00:09:11

Xochitl

I think I.

00:09:12

Xochitl

Shut the crack and fell. But I didn't bring him.

00:09:13

Jack

OK, so your mother is the one who's going to suffer for this.

00:09:18

Xochitl

This incident? No, but they got worried and, you know, they really freaking out. And I was very happy because I was actually fine. And I feel fine today. I didn't have any bruising or anything. So I told them it's good to be 27. So.

00:09:29

Jack

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. When you fall my age, especially my height. Bad thing.

00:09:36

Jack

That happened. So just a quick list of like, OK, so like superstitions in America. I would say the number 13 is like, you know, on lucky, I would say Friday the 13th is like really bad. Don't walk under a ladder. That's bad luck.

00:09:38

발표자

OK.

00:09:46

Xochitl

Settlement.

00:09:48

Xochitl

Friday the 13th.

00:09:57

Jack

Uh.

00:09:57

Xochitl

Don't let a black cat cross your path. That's better.

00:09:59

Jack

Don't let a black cat cross your path.

00:10:03

Xochitl

Don't step on the mother on a crack, not a mother's. Crack on a cracker 's back. That's another.

00:10:06

Jack

Yeah, you're right.

00:10:10

Jack

Right.

00:10:12

Jack

Either way, your mother's back will be broken. Let's see. Yeah.

00:10:15

발표자

Same.

00:10:18

Jack

I'll I'll edit that out, sorry, but I don't know what we're talking about anymore.

00:10:21

발표자

No, I think that's the third.

00:10:22

Xochitl

One, I think that, yeah, what's another one?

00:10:26

Jack

Ohh, don't open an umbrella inside of a house.

00:10:29

Xochitl

Ohh yeah, don't open an umbrella inside your house. Don't break a mirror or you'll have bad.

00:10:33

Xochitl

Luck for seven years.

00:10:34

Jack

Yep, Yep.

00:10:36

Xochitl

Any other ones you can think of? What about some good, like omens? I would say carrying a rabbit's foot.

00:10:42

Jack

Yep, carrying a rabbits wood 4 leaf Clover.

00:10:44

Xochitl

Jumping the broom and.

00:10:47

Xochitl

Poorly Clover, I think. In African American culture, jumping the broom, which is something they did when they got married, was supposed.

00:10:52

Xochitl

To bring good luck.

00:10:53

Jack

Oh, OK.

00:10:55

Xochitl

In Jewish culture, stepping on the glass that's wrapped at that fate, of course. Yeah. I think that really, it's it's good culture. Good luck. I mean, what are some other good luck omens?

00:10:58

Jack

Yeah, yeah, yeah. They they stop on the glass at the beginning at the.

00:11:04

Jack

Weddings, yeah.

00:11:11

Jack

Well, everybody has like a lot of people will have their own ohh numbers. Lucky number seven. Yeah, the people will have like a lucky charm too sometimes.

00:11:13

Xochitl

#7 lucky number 7.

00:11:19

Xochitl

Yeah, a lucky charm or a lucky number. A lot of players have lucky numbers. And Speaking of subcultures that really believe in superstition, I would say a lot of sports teams and people who follow sports are very superstitious baseball players, football players, basketball players, all those.

00:11:23

Jack

What's your number?

00:11:24

발표자

Yeah.

00:11:35

Jack

Yeah, they won't wash their socks for, like, during the whole playoffs or something. They won't shave their beard. They will.

00:11:45

Jack

You know where.

00:11:46

Xochitl

They have lucky number assigned to them in their jersey is like their lucky number usually.

00:11:50

Jack

Yep.

00:11:51

Jack

They'll sometimes put their hats inside out, you know, until someone gets a hit and they'll they'll do all kinds of. They're very superstitious baseball players, yeah.

00:12:01

Xochitl

Yeah. All right, listeners. Well, let us know what some superstitions are in your country. I'm actually really interested to hear about this, because I know there's got to be all kinds of different superstitions and different cultures. And let us know if your culture tends to be superstitious or not.

00:12:18

Xochitl

And and whether you're superstitious or not. And we'd love to hear your opinions. So let us know. Leave a comment on below at A-Z, englishpodcast.com, shoot us an e-mail at AZ [e-mail]. Don't forget to do that as Jack likes to read out these emails sometimes in the episodes and also comment on our WeChat or WhatsApp groups and we'll see you guys next time.

00:12:38

Xochitl

Bye.

00:12:40

Jack

Bye bye.

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