Feature: 13 Common Superstitions and Their Origins

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Shana Thompson (0:35)

Hi, everybody. My name is Shawna and this is The American English Podcast. My goal here is to teach you the English spoken in the United States. Your common expressions, pronunciation tips, and interesting cultural snippets or stories. I hope to keep this fun, useful, and interesting.

Let's do it.

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Shana Thompson (1:00)

Today we're back with a new episode. Welcome back, everyone. So glad to have you here. Today we're going to be talking about superstitions. Now we live in a day, an age, that is driven by science and technology. Yet people are still superstitious.

According to a study I read by YouGov, nine percent of Americans claim to be superstitious, while another 35 percent admit to not being very superstitious, but somewhat. That makes over 40 percent of individuals in the United States somewhat superstitious. So what does it mean to be superstitious?

According to Cambridge Dictionary, it is to have beliefs that are not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, but are connected with old ideas about magic. Many times superstitious people believe in irrational, unproven signs of good and bad luck. In today's episode, we're going to go through 13 common superstitions in the United States and their origins. By the end of this audio lesson, you'll walk away with more knowledge about American culture and some new vocabulary and phrases. I'll teach those as we go along.

Before we begin, I'd like to give a big shoutout to Helen Dennis, Florent, Ricardo Farias, Arg Grisha, Arturo Godoy, Robert, Issa Correa, Naixing Tan, and the other contributors who didn't write their names, but bought me coffee. A while back, I put a link in the show notes that enables listeners to support this podcast and my work through small donations. Let me just say I appreciate these contributions so much. My daughters and I go on little dates for ice cream and coffee or smoothies. Obviously, they don't drink coffee, but we think about you guys as we indulge. That's just really cool. If you have learned something on this podcast and want to support it, that link is in the show notes. Or it's also really helpful if you share this podcast with your friends. Posting reviews on Apple and Spotify also help out. It helps getting the word out to people that don't know this podcast. And I truly, truly appreciate it. So thank you to everyone who has supported.

As you listen to this lesson today, I want you to think about yourself and the culture of your country. Are you superstitious? What sorts of superstitions exist around you?

In English, there's sort of a negative connotation to the term superstitious. Yet, the truth is superstition is all around us. Before we begin the 13 common superstitions, we have to talk about superstition in US sports. Did you guys know that many American athletes have lucky routines?

Tiger Woods, one of the U.S.'s most famous golfers, always wears red during a final match because it's his power color, lucky red. The professional American tennis player and five-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams has a very funky routine. She always takes a shower with her sandals on, brings those sandals to court with her, ties her shoes in a very specific way, and then bounces her tennis ball five times before starting the match.

Now, the most awarded Olympian in history with 28 medals is Michael Phelps, an American swimmer. And he always starts a race the same way. He takes off his headphones, swings his arms in circles three times, and then jumps off the block. Now, why?

There is a tendency for superstitions to arise in stressful, competitive places, since it gives those involved a sense of control. After all, to get consistent outcomes, you gotta stick to the same routines. The predictability of a routine, no matter how goofy it is, can improve one's confidence and therefore an ability to perform. Many athletes admit to wearing lucky underwear, lucky shirts, or lucky talismans around their necks or wrists or in their pockets as they perform. A talisman is an object, sometimes a ring or a stone, that brings good luck.

Now, what's funny about items like these is the better you perform with your lucky object, the luckier it becomes, right? This is sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy and may be a result of confirmation bias. If you believe in something, you look for evidence to support it. Confirmation bias.