OPENING THE VAULT | Culture Corner | Superstitions

We're unlocking the vault and inviting listeners to enjoy this exclusive episode.Become a monthly subscriber for just $1.99 per month and receive an additional two to three episodes per week!https://app.redcircle.com/shows/9472af5c-8580-45e1-b0dd-ff211db08a90/exclusive-contentIn 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/MH9WlyMngIUTranscript:00:00:37JackHeadquarter.00:00:38JackYours. It's really, really helpful and we appreciate your generosity. So social today we're talking about.00:00:48JackAmericans and whether or not they are superstitious.00:00:55JackAnd maybe you could explain what superstitious means first, just for our listeners.00:00:59XochitlSuperstitious is someone who believes in kind of good luck, bad luck and.00:01:07XochitlThose sorts of things. So let's say uh.00:01:11XochitlIf you do.00:01:12XochitlXYZ. It will have a consequence of XYZ in the sense that.00:01:17XochitlThey believe in some larger sense of luck and karma and cosmic energy. Yeah. Jack, can you explain any better than nothing because.00:01:27JackThis magic, you know, like. Yeah. Magic or irrational kind of thinking or not non scientific. Let's call it non scientific thinking.00:01:33XochitlPlease.00:01:37XochitlYes, non scientific thinking.00:01:39JackYeah. So for example, if I flip this coin.00:01:43JackAnd 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.00:01:50발표자Right.00:02:03JackAnd 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.00:02:16JackYou know.00:02:17XochitlAnd 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.00:02:26JackOK.00:02:28XochitlYou had to.00:02:28JackOK.00:02:28XochitlJump over cracks in the sidewalk because you didn't want your mother's back to break. I don't know why that exists.00:02:36JackI think because it rhymes, you know, back and and cracks, you know? Yeah.00:02:36XochitlBut.00:02:40XochitlAnd 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.00:02:49JackYeah.00:02:54XochitlYou 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.00:03:14XochitlWe're not a superstitious.00:03:16XochitlCulture, what would you suggest?00:03:18JackNo, 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.00:03:23XochitlFor myself.00:03:31XochitlOhh.00:03:35XochitlSo the help, yeah.00:03:38JackMore 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.00:03:45XochitlCar dashboard.00:03:54JackUMI 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.00:04:05발표자Right.00:04:14XochitlAt least in non superstitious thinking, that's your. That's what we subscribe to.00:04:18JackRight. 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.00:04:32JackThink about it, you know.00:04:34XochitlYeah, those are seven years of bad luck for our listeners.00:04:36JackI 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.00:04:37XochitlYou have great compare.00:04:52XochitlThink my good luck comes back this year? Because the last mirror I broke was when I was like 21. I believe so.00:04:58JackOhh good for you. Yeah.00:04:59XochitlMy luck finally comes back to me once more.00:05:03JackYou'd buy that lottery ticket.00:05:05XochitlYeah. Because supposedly. Yeah. So yeah, there's little superstitious things.00:05:13XochitlBut mostly they.00:05:13XochitlDon't even pay attention. For example, Friday the 13th. I really usually don't even notice when it comes and goes.00:05:20XochitlUM.00:05:21JackIf 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.00:05:33XochitlRight.00:05:38XochitlWhich is a huge part of superstitious thinking.00:05:42XochitlIs 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.00:05:52XochitlBlood.00:05:52XochitlOr 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.00:06:02XochitlBut 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.00:06:03JackYeah.00:06:16XochitlThat you got from carrying that thinking, you do well, that inspired you to actually do well.00:06:18JackOhh great OK.00:06:23JackYeah, 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.00:06:34JackThing or something?00:06:34XochitlYeah, it is a little bit, yeah, because you're.00:06:38XochitlAttributing events to something superstitious, again, either good or bad. So yeah, that's a big thing.00:06:44JackYeah.00:06:47JackBecause 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.00:07:07JackBecause every day is a mixture of like kind of positive and negative things like good things happen, bad things happen.00:07:13JackAnd I mean, that's life, you know.00:07:14XochitlYeah. 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.00:07:34XochitlSaid 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.00:07:52XochitlKitchen 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.00:07:59발표자Yes.00:08:12XochitlIt wasn't like the worst possible outcome, and so I liked that philosophy because.00:08:16JackYeah.00:08:18JackThat's a good attitude. That's a good anytime. The worst thing didn't happen. Yeah.00:08:19XochitlYeah, it's good. Yeah.00:08:22XochitlYeah. Then you better be happy. And I felt that way today. I was yesterday. I fell.00:08:28XochitlDown 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.00:08:39XochitlLike I didn't fall this time, so.00:08:40JackLike that was a good day for me. I I didn't fall. I just stumbled and caught myself.00:08:42XochitlYeah.00:08:45XochitlYeah. 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.00:08:55XochitlHave no blood.00:08:56XochitlOr 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.00:08:57JackYeah.00:09:04XochitlSo I slipped off the side.00:09:05XochitlOf the sidewalk and fell on.00:09:06XochitlMy hands and knees.00:09:08JackNow when you fell did.00:09:09JackYou step on a crack.00:09:11XochitlI think I.00:09:12XochitlShut the crack and fell. But I didn't bring him.00:09:13JackOK, so your mother is the one who's going to suffer for this.00:09:18XochitlThis 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.00:09:29JackYeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. When you fall my age, especially my height. Bad thing.00:09:36JackThat 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.00:09:38발표자OK.00:09:46XochitlSettlement.00:09:48XochitlFriday the 13th.00:09:57JackUh.00:09:57XochitlDon't let a black cat cross your path. That's better.00:09:59JackDon't let a black cat cross your path.00:10:03XochitlDon't step on the mother on a crack, not a mother's. Crack on a cracker 's back. That's another.00:10:06JackYeah, you're right.00:10:10JackRight.00:10:12JackEither way, your mother's back will be broken. Let's see. Yeah.00:10:15발표자Same.00:10:18JackI'll I'll edit that out, sorry, but I don't know what we're talking about anymore.00:10:21발표자No, I think that's the third.00:10:22XochitlOne, I think that, yeah, what's another one?00:10:26JackOhh, don't open an umbrella inside of a house.00:10:29XochitlOhh yeah, don't open an umbrella inside your house. Don't break a mirror or you'll have bad.00:10:33XochitlLuck for seven years.00:10:34JackYep, Yep.00:10:36XochitlAny other ones you can think of? What about some good, like omens? I would say carrying a rabbit's foot.00:10:42JackYep, carrying a rabbits wood 4 leaf Clover.00:10:44XochitlJumping the broom and.00:10:47XochitlPoorly Clover, I think. In African American culture, jumping the broom, which is something they did when they got married, was supposed.00:10:52XochitlTo bring good luck.00:10:53JackOh, OK.00:10:55XochitlIn 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?00:10:58JackYeah, yeah, yeah. They they stop on the glass at the beginning at the.00:11:04JackWeddings, yeah.00:11:11JackWell, 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.00:11:13Xochitl#7 lucky number 7.00:11:19XochitlYeah, 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.00:11:23JackWhat's your number?00:11:24발표자Yeah.00:11:35JackYeah, they won't wash their socks for, like, during the whole playoffs or something. They won't shave their beard. They will.00:11:45JackYou know where.00:11:46XochitlThey have lucky number assigned to them in their jersey is like their lucky number usually.00:11:50JackYep.00:11:51JackThey'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.00:12:01XochitlYeah. 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.00:12:18XochitlAnd 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 [email protected]. 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.00:12:38XochitlBye.00:12:40JackBye bye.Social Media:WeChat: atozenglishpodcastFacebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/671098974684413/Tik Tok: @atozenglish1Instagram: @atozenglish22Twitter: @atozenglish22A to Z Facebook Page:https://www.facebook.com/theatozenglishpodcastCheck out our You Tube Channel:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCds7JR-5dbarBfas4Ve4h8ABecome a member of Podchaser and leave a positive review!https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/the-a-to-z-english-podcast-4779670Join our Whatsapp group: https://forms.gle/zKCS8y1t9jwv2KTn7Intro/Outro Music: Daybird by Broke for Freehttps://freemusicarchive.org/music/Broke_For_Free/Directionless_EP/Broke_For_Free_-_Directionless_EP_-_03_Day_Bird/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/legalcodeSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-a-to-z-english-podcast/donationsAdvertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy