wdstarr@athena.mit.edu (William December Starr) (07/16/90)
From: wdstarr@athena.mit.edu (William December Starr) It being both a Friday the 13th and a slow news day, CBS radio ran a feature on the "Friday the 13th Club" in Philadelphia, a group which exists to debunk/defy common superstitions (on each Ft13th, they get together and walk under ladders, break mirrors, open black umbrellas indoors, etc.). The leader of the organization happened to mention in the brief interview how some currently "silly" superstitions had reasonable origins. Both of the examples he gave have military connections: 1) "Never light three cigarettes from the same match." Explanation: during WWI, German sniper SOP was (or was believed to be by the Yanks, anyway) to pick up the rifle when they saw the match lit to light the first guy's cigarette, sight in on the flame while the second guy lit up, and then fire on the third guy. I guess the real moral is "Don't light up at night when you're within possible sniper range of the enemy, you idiot!" but it came out as the "three on a match" superstition. 2) "It's bad luck for actors to whistle backstage." Explanation: it used to be the case in theater, especially British theater, that a lot of the people who handled the curtain and scenery rigging were current or former sailors (this is from back in the days of wind-powered ships), and they tended to use navy-developed whistling codes to communicate instructions to each other. The introduction of random whistling sounds into their comm net was not appreciated and would occasionally result in a piece of scenery being "accidentally" dropped onto the offending person's head... -- William December Starr <wdstarr@athena.mit.edu>