Yep, when I visit my mother, if I don't abide by her rules of... never ....
cross on the stairs
put new shoes on the table
look at a single magpie without bidding it Goodbye (although the toon fans usually hang out in multiples)
open an umbrella in the house
spill salt without throwing some over your shoulder (something which I think, is potentially a dangerous thing to do)
So to me, there's some proof of bad things to come (usually in the form of a hand across the ear!)
Good question, but I doubt that there is any proof as I supect people were too afraid to jinx themselves to find out.
Not an answer to your question but I have a tiny worry doll family made from half a matchstick and material, which, when I'm feeling blue and talk to them, i always wake up bouncing the next morning without fail! X
Some are just down to common sense I believe fms .... like not walking under a ladder. I know that refusing to be the 3rd person to light his ciggy off a match came around during WW1... apparantly it gave a sniper just enough time to take aim& fire.
There may be new superstiton soon .......... Stay at the top of the stairs until the flush ends! Do you catch my drift whiffey bump bump bump! :)
whiffey, why is it that I can picture you whistling the lonely goatheard and contemplating the possibility of putting a beetroot in a shepherds pie whilst scrubbing your elbow in the kitchen sink? :o\
p.s. yep, I thought I had you there for a moment - I had my finger poised ready to point and harangue!