OK, what was your initial reaction when you first saw this picture?
"It's a magpie" (fair comment)
"Oh ****, bad luck" (hope I'm not tempting fate)
"What a fit looking bird" (it's Friday, go out tonight)
or like me did you suddenly get an uncontrollable urge to salute?
I have my mate Gary's wife Julie to thank for this ridiculous habit (both of whom incidentally have since left the country). The three of us used to share a lift into work every day and one morning she suddenly yelped "Magpie" and saluted out of the window.
"What the hell is all that about", I asked.
"It's bad luck if you don't", she replied
Unfortunately I am a sucker for superstition and became certain that I whenever I neglected to fulfil this duty, having witnessed several of these chaps most mornings on my journey into work, I could guarantee that I would endure a crap day. Unsatisfied, I did a bit of research on the internet and it appears they are abound with superstition, largely due to their evil sounding cackle and their notorious thieving habits. For the full routine you are apparently not only supposed to salute, but also say "Good Morning Mr Magpie, how are the wife and children today", or something equally ridiculous. Even my gullibility has it's limitations.
Strangely though, in Chinese mythology, they are seen as a symbol of good luck. Make of that whatever you will.
Collective noun? Could be a tiding, gulp, charm or murder depending on who you believe. Come to think of it, if these are evil cackling, robbing little bleeders, I have to wonder how we ever ended up giving the collective noun of "parliament" to the wise old owls...
4 comments:
I don't mind a Magpie so long as the crust isn't burnt.
[This has been an service of the "Give and old pun a good home" self-help group]
I'm still trying to understand the whole black cat thing - are they good luck or bad luck and do you have to cross their path or do they cross yours?...and, if there is any white on them, does that make the whole thing null and void?...and, if you drop and crack a mirror at the shock of one crossing your path, does that cancel each superstition out?
Valerie - more to follow!
Woja - a burnt crust isnt too bad, but I hate it when the staples get stuck in your teeth
Steph - what if a black cat eats a magpie? I guess it's obviously bad luck for at least one of them.
Seany - I hate it when the staples get stuck in my teeth, but it's quite funny when they get stuck in yours.
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