Hey everyone and welcome back to the Understandable English Podcast.
I'm Oliver and today we will be talking about the topic of superstitions.
So what is a superstition?
A superstition is any belief or practice which is considered by non-practitioners to be irrational or supernatural.
Often this is things that are related to magic or supernatural things such as ghosts or strange beliefs.
This can include things such as astrology like star signs, strange ideas of unlucky numbers and objects, or even stuff like tarot cards predicting the future and all of those things.
So why have I chosen this topic today?
Recently on Netflix I've been watching, I guess, a lot of horror or kind of scary related TV shows and movies.
So I thought I would talk about some of the superstitions in the UK and if I think, British people in general are superstitious.
Superstitious means you believe in a lot of superstitions.
So let's start with some of the most common.
In general, I think British people are not so superstitious anymore.
In the past, there were a lot of old and famous superstitions.
For example, some of these are that black cats are unlucky or that the number 13 is also an unlucky number.
Of course, some people still believe this today, but it's estimated that less than a quarter of the British population are superstitious in some form, so believing these things.
Of course, it's important to note that superstitions and beliefs in these things are different in every culture.
A lot of superstitions have causes, so reasons why people believe them.
These can be simple advices or pieces of advice for safety, such as the British superstition never walk under a ladder.
This makes complete sense because if you walk under a ladder, there is a chance that it might fall and it could hit you, so you could be injured.
But there are a lot of superstitions that don't really make sense, such as the superstition regarding black cats.
As a result, which I think is quite sad, black cats around the world are some of the highest rates of abandoned cats, so cats which are left without a home.
Because when an owner receives one, or they are born, and this owner believes in the superstition, often they can get rid of the cat.
And this superstition about black cats is in many, many cultures all across the world.
So, before I continue to talk about any of these beliefs or superstitions, I want to start by saying that I don't want to offend anyone.
So personally I am not very superstitious in any way, but I understand that some of you out there might believe in some of these things, and that's okay.
Everyone can make up their own mind on what they believe, and I'm not saying at any point in this podcast that these things are not true or that they are false.
This is simply my opinion in some places, and also just to tell you a bit about what people in general in the UK believe.
And it's not always personally what I think either.
So one of the common British superstitions which I do sometimes still hear, but often not in a serious way this is that touching wood is lucky.
So if something bad happens or you say something bad that might come true, people touch wood for luck to try and make sure that it won't happen in the future.
They will often say something such as touch wood and then touch wood.
That could be a table or a chair or something else that is made from wood.
Another superstition is to catch falling leaves in autumn.
So it's considered good luck to catch leaves that are falling from the trees in autumn.
And some people say that for every leaf that you catch it's another month of good luck in the next year.
Of course, in the UK and Ireland and now all around the world.
It is good luck to find a four leaf clover.
So the plant that usually has three leaves and if it has four, that's considered good luck, because it is rare.
There are a few more things that are considered good luck, but we'll move on to some of the list of bad luck superstitions.
And there's a lot more.
So one of the superstitions I mentioned is that it's unlucky to walk under a ladder.
Another is that you get seven years of bad luck if you break a mirror.
A mirror, as I pronounce it.
So this superstition is considered to have originated in ancient times, when mirrors were considered to be the tools or the product of the gods.
So something created by God.
Another superstition is that it is unlucky to spill salt.
So to spill salt perhaps on the floor or on the table.
And if you do, you must throw it over your shoulder to stop the bad luck.
If this one was true, I definitely would have had a lot of bad luck, because there has been a few times, I remember, where I spilt salt.
And of course, another one which is considered very unlucky is the number 13.
So the number in general is just considered an unlucky number.
And Friday the 13th is considered a very unlucky day.
It's considered to be so unlucky because Friday was the day that Jesus was killed or crucified.
So that's why a combination of Friday and 13 is considered to be very unlucky by a lot of people.
So how about things like astrology?
So star signs, horoscopes, and all of those beliefs.
In general, it's quite uncommon in the UK.
People used to believe it in the past, but they don't so much now with the development of science and astronomy.
It's something I've noticed when I've traveled to some other countries, such as Russia is that beliefs in astrology, so star signs and horoscopes, are a lot more common.
And I'm not quite sure for the reasons of this.
Of course every country is different and once again, I'm not saying that it's wrong if you believe it, but in the UK it is not a common belief anymore.
From some quick reading online, I can see that about 8 of British people believe that horoscopes can predict the future.
So it's still higher than I actually would have expected, but quite a small percentage.
Compared to even the US.
For example, about 14 of people believe in horoscopes and 30 of people believe in star signs so that they can tell something about yourself or another person.
By comparison, about 20 of British people believe that star signs can say perhaps something about people.
Of course, this varies from community to community, across demographics and profession.
I know that with astronomers in that field of science, a lot of the research showed that 86 of people are now living under the wrong star sign due to the Earth's wobbly spin.
So to the change and the inconsistency of how long it takes the earth to spin and also rotate around the sun.
But, on the other hand, if we look at the statistics in another area closely linked to this, such as fate,
So believing that things are destined to happen, so that they don't happen by chance, perhaps with two lovers meeting or getting a certain job, or being in a certain place at a certain time.
The statistics and the research show that both the majority of British people so 52 and the majority of Americans 55, say they do believe in fate.
So they have that belief that things happen often for a reason.
So I hope that this podcast was interesting just to even talk about these things.
Once again, I'm not giving my opinion in this.
This is just about which beliefs are common in the UK in these areas.
So I would be interested to hear what you think.
Do you believe in any superstitions?
Do you believe in astrology?
And finally, do you believe in fate?
That things happen for a reason?
So perhaps things are not so random and coincidental after all.
Thank you for listening to this podcast and I hope that I will see you in the next episode.
Have a wonderful morning, afternoon or evening whenever you're listening to this.
Goodbye.
