Column: superstitious Italians

Italians are superstitious. Not a bit like many Dutch people are, no, it's something else. You could call the Dutch superstitious if they put on their right shoe first or the left one every time. With Italians, their whole demeanor is permeated with a kind of superstition.

Friday the 13th?

There are differences per country and so here too there is sometimes something 'different'. Friday the 13th brings good luck instead of bad luck. The 13 is a lucky number and if that day falls on a Friday on the calendar, it is (almost) party time. Just so you know!

But at 17 it's a different story. A miserable number. Accident and death. So Friday the 17th is a day to stay under the covers. Although the question is whether it is safe there. By the way, searching for house number 17 is difficult. So not an impossible job. 16A will probably come after 16 and then 18. In Italian aircraft there is therefore no seat number 17 and no row 17. Just to be sure, they have also omitted row 13.

Do not say

Another superstitious phenomenon is that Italians don't like to say what they want to happen. "We're going to win that game, don't you think?" is almost a prediction of defeat.

Don't say what you think should happen. 'I don't think you will have any problem finding a good job,' is almost the same as wishing someone that they will not find a job. An average Italian will resent such a comment as if you don't wish him or her a job.....

'Non gufare, nonno.' In other words: don't be the wise owl, Grandpa. Because before you know it you have said something in your wisdom that is not going to happen.

knocking

Italians, just like the Dutch, often knock the accident off. Just knock. But not on wood. In the Netherlands it should actually be on unpainted wood, in La Bella Italia it should be on metal. Preferably white.

In the mouth of the wolf

Wishing each other good luck can also seem odd. 'Good luck' is literally: In the mouth of the wolf. It means: good luck. The answer to this must be even more remarkable. Because on this you have to'crepe' answers, which literally means 'crepe!' stands for. The wolf that is. In any case, don't thank them! Saying "grazie" now is just the opposite and seems like you don't want them to be successful or lucky.

Grab your cross

gestures? Too much. Some to us quite lewd. Not for superstitious Italians. If you have to avert the accident in body language, it goes like this.

Women long straighten the bosom from left to right by hand. Men grab their balls just as tight. Fingers down and palm up. Nothing obscene, a simple gesture to avert the accident, even in the presence of ladies.

Anti-Evil sign

The horn gesture or the goat greeting, known in the Netherlands, especially from the metal culture, dates back to the time of the Ancient Greeks and is used as a symbol to avoid evil. You can also avert the danger in Italy by simply installing a red horn in your car. That devil's horn stands for safety and happiness. well.

But the comment 'horned' added with the index finger and little finger of the hand forward is not a nice gesture. There is a lot of venom and anger in that.

Fingers in the wine

Another strange custom? You pour wine with your right hand. With the left hand this brings bad luck. Unless you are indeed unlucky and make a mess. The table companions dip a finger of their right hand in the wine and stroke their necks. Like we throw salt over the (left) shoulder, so.

Clover

But whatever happens: quadrofoglio It is not for nothing that it is on a certain type of Alfo Romeo. The four-leaf clover apparently brings luck everywhere.

'Good luck', when you talk to those superstitious Italians. Maybe it's best to pretend you don't understand it.

Black cat image: YouTube