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35 Funny And Embarrassing Superstitions People Still Believe In, Shared For Jimmy Fallon’s New Challenge
When Jimmy Fallon yells “It’s Hashtag time!” you know you won’t be bored. This time, the beloved host of The Tonight Show asked people to share their funny and weird superstitions and tag it with #MyWeirdSuperstition. Within minutes, the hashtag was trending on Twitter and you can totally see why.
From eating M&Ms in pairs only to always setting the volume on an even number, no matter if up or down, these are some of the weirdly particular behaviors we all have but don’t really tell anyone.
So let’s see what people shared right below, and don’t forget to add your own superstition in the comment section below! And after you're done reading this one, be sure to check our earlier Jimmy Fallon hashtags, #ThatWasCold, #WeddingFail, #TextFail, and #FitnessFail.
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Bored Panda reached out to one of the top authors of Fallon’s #MyWeirdSuperstition challenge who said her superstition was eating M&Ms in pairs and by color. “First orange, then red, brown, yellow, green, and end with blue. If there isn't an even number, I make a group of 7. I don't know why, but I've always done this,” K. Hellams from Gastonia, NC tweeted.
Hellams told us that she does indeed call herself a superstitious person, “but only with certain superstitions,” and added: “For example, if I am talking about something that hasn't happened to me, I knock on wood afterward.”
That's not superstition - anything outside the borders of the bed IS fair game.
I used to do this until I realized my steak was better when it wasn't cold yet
When asked about her viral M&M superstition, the author told us about its story of origin. “My superstition with the M&Ms started at a football game when I was maybe 5 or 6. I don't recall why it started, but my team won! Now, I firmly believe that it brings me good luck and keeps me balanced in a way.”
At this point, Hellams admits her superstition is somewhat hard to describe but “it has become almost a ritual.” When asked about her tweet being selected for The Tonight Show, she confessed that “I was hoping my tweet would make it onto Jimmy's show, but being in the favorites is amazing!”
This is not superstition. Lightning can travel through plumbing. Wouldn't be the first time.
Oddly, every day I happen to look at the clock at exactly 12:34. I see it every day.
When I was 10 I went to the beach with a friend and her family. She had the superstition that you hold your breath going over a bridge or through a tunnel. We rapidly expanded the superstition to include "when passing cemeteries" and a bunch of other random stuff. Eventually, her increasingly annoyed dad told us we had to hold our breath every time we saw a tree (we were traveling through the mountains of western North Carolina).
A whopping 25% of the people in the US actively avoid anything from the number 13 to black cats, breaking mirrors, or walking under ladders as they consider themselves superstitious. One survey has even indicated that 13% of people would be bothered by staying on the 13th floor of a hotel and 9% said they would ask for a different room. This may explain why so few buildings have a 13th floor.
Incredibly, some renowned airlines like Air France and Lufthansa do not even have a 13th row. On top of that, Lufthansa also doesn’t have a 17th row, since in some countries, like Brazil and Italy, the unlucky number is 17, and not 13.
I used to so do the same and if I felt like I showed too much attention to one then I had to have one on ones with all of them.
So what are the reasons behind so many superstitions out there, even the ones that don’t make that much sense? Well, Don Saucier, associate professor of psychology, suggests that superstitions are the behaviors with which people attempt to affect or control their future.
"People believe in superstitions to try to restore some prediction and control to their world," Saucier said. "Not knowing what will happen to them is discomforting, and performing superstitious behavior can make people feel a little better about the future."
But this is not something new. In fact, superstitions may go back as long as mankind has existed, as scientists believe that some religious and spiritual beliefs, as well as amulets, totems, and charms that were used to ward off evil, were all part of the superstitious behaviors our ancestors followed.
However, on the contrary to today’s concept of superstition, the sacrifices observed in past civilizations may have been performed to intentionally receive good luck.
We did this too except we yelled "Popeye!" We must be a mean family because we punched the other person. Kind of like seeing a Volkswagon bug - anyone else see one and yell "Slug Bug" and slug the other person? We do.
We called them "punch buggies" and hit the other person.
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What about slug bugs (hitting someone in the car if you see a bug first..the car) & accidentally driving through yellow or red lights? Knock on the window?
We did this except we play it more like punch buggy. If you saw 3 pididdles in 1 trip & were the 1st to call them out, you got to punch the other in the arm
In Pittsburgh in the early 60's, if the boy said pididdle first, he got to kiss you. If the girl was first, she got to slug him.
Omg, my words were always, "One Eye". Drove my ex-husband crazy lol.
all correct... except it"s bediddle... sorry but you've been getting bad luck for years...
It originated as a car point game but evolved into various other version. One version was type strip game. Another version involved kissing. As I was kid we just played punch bug, Popeye (which was our one light game), if your Popeye car was also a punch bug you win.
Perhaps it was because we were in our late teens, but we always said the person who yelled paddiddle first could choose whether to punch or kiss the other.
I thought it was perdiddle and you have to punch the roof or the car or kiss the person next to you.
We had several pididdle superstitions. If you saw one with family you had to sock someone in the arm, first, to get good luck. If you were with a date, a kiss. Padiddles are great.
A group of my friends in high school had a different word for which light was out - pididdle was like the front driver side, pidoddle was the front passenger, and the back lights were pidonkle and pidinkle or something silly. And I think they used to punch each other in the arm if they were the first one to see it and call it out.
I still touch the ceiling of the car for another car with one headlight, but I don't say the word. As a teenager a friend and I had a joke where we would say Patrick instead of pididdle - in honor of her uncle Patrick who only had one testicle. LOL!
I haven't heard, "pididdle' in a LONG time! My mom didn't do the 'touch the sealing' thing, but she would always say "pididlle"!
We called it pAdOOdle and whomever saw it first had to say it and then got to punch the other person in the arm.
Headlight- padidle,. Foglight- Fodidle, rear light- padunkle, and a cop car with headlight out is a Po-diddle. I had one of these on 30 years.
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Back in the late 70's I learned this from my boyfriend's family when we all went somewhere together. Only they pronounced it "Perdiddle," and I don't remember having to touch the ceiling. I think they just tried to be the first to spot a car with one headlight and the one who got the most won. They were from Indiana and I haven't heard it in Washington state before or since. I just assumed it was a midwest thing.
You have to take your dog out in the morning so it can piddle. Add poop.
We always called that Popeye. Same game though except we kept points.
I tried explaining this one to my husband. We grew up in different parts of the country. I grew up in the Midwest and he grew up in the South. When I told him about this, he looked at me as though I was insane.
I suppose you have to touch the ceiling of your own car, not the one with the missing headlight? 🤔 🤣
I never look ahead on a calender so the picture for the months is a "surprise" if I have to write something for the next month I just slide the page up so I can't peek
This is probably related to "if I keep my feet under the covers, monsters won't be able to grab me"
I just kiss the floor with my gas pedal to ensure I'm through while it's yellow haha
Note: this post originally had 60 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.
IDK who the guy/girl with the userer name of (wait there is no name its just a square) but whoever you are, stop being a d**k and grow up. i cant stand when a person thinks they can make fun of another persons superstitions , and, another thing you did, saying that THERE THING IS WRONG??? that is stupid. why? they are superstitions and none are wrong cuz they are opinons. you cant say if they are wrong or right. you think what you think and they think what they think. you will not change there mind. its like saying that every one should like trump. they dont NEED to, they could like biden, or they can hate them both,like me.(im 11 but i hate them both)
At this point, I'm starting to think they're just a troll seeking attention. Best to just downvote them and move on.
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I don’t think a lot of people know the difference between a superstition and OCD. Anyway, my two superstitions that stuck with me are: never open an umbrella inside because it brings bad luck, and move in place a few times when you see a hearse so it won’t be you in it next time, lol. Oh the crazy things that we have been told. I know they’re crazy, but I still do them.
I was just in Target yesterday and a father was buying his young daughter (4 yrs?) an umbrella and she opened it in the store. Inside. I think I had a look of horror on my face and quickly passed them, I didn't want any of their bad luck!
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My mother, her mother, and so on back a few generations, have handed down the superstition that butterflies bear messages from loved ones who have died, to let you know everything will work out okay.
Lots of odd habits. TBH I have never heard of most of them. Many people were trolled hard by family members!
Totally! These people just do what they were taught.
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There’s a bridge that separates off the outer banks of North Carolina from inland. When you reach the top of the bridge you’ll see people “throwing” something out the window. It’s their worries. When you visit the outer banks, you leave your worries at home.
To me, that's littering. I'd sooner have my worries wash away in the tides! :-)
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When I was about 5 or 6 and was mad at my mother I would cry and tell her I was going to step on the crack on the sidewalk!
This is probably reasonably common in the UK amongst older generations, but my Gran always taught me to count the Magpies to find out what kind of luck was coming my way (1 for sorrow, 2 for joy, 3 for a girl, 4 for a boy etc) and if it was only 1 Magpie you had to tell it very sternly and loudly to go find it's wife. I still do this! GO FIND YOUR WIFE!
Curiously, there are different rhymes for magpies - that one was the theme to the 60's TV show. There's at least half a dozen other versions including "one for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a funeral, four for a birth" - which presumably is in keeping with odd numbers = bad, even numbers = good (like with the TV volume!), until you get to "three for a wedding and four for a birth". Then five and six get complicated with gold, silver, rich, poor, heaven and hell all getting a look in. The rhymes all end with seven though - probably auspicious of something...
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I fully believe in Murphy's Law. 2021 is being controlled by Murphy's Law and no one can convince me otherwise. If you don't know Murphy's Law google it.
Murphy and I are old friends. He has been hanging out with me since i was around 6 years old lol
Load More Replies... I don't know if this is a superstition or not: At meal times My Grandmother would always, Always have an extra place setting nearby, just in case. In my mind, I can still see a plate, napkin etc sitting on the buffet table, just in case. I never asked her why.
This would have been for the "unexpected guest." In some cases, this would have been either Jesus or the "weary traveller."
Load More Replies... "White Rabbits" is a superstition in our family. On the 1st of the month, after waking up and before you say anything else you whisper "white rabbits" three times for good luck in the month. The exception is New Year's Day - there are conflicting good luck wishes, so the rabbits get the month off! I have NO idea where it comes from, it's just something we've always done.
My family and many others believed that saying white rabbits prevented anyone from playing unkind tricks on you.
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About 12 years ago someone told me there is a superstition (I believe he said Irish) that you never go up a staircase when someone goes down (or vise versa) or it's bad luck. I started following this and look very foolish waiting for someone to finish on the stairs but hey I've had enough bad luck so whatever!
Ever since childhood we were told we can't point at a cemetery. If we do we have to bite each finger otherwise they'll all fall off. Up to this day I make sure I don't point and if I do by mistake...I try to subtly bite each finger so no one will notice. Also if I see someone pointing I'll keep looking at them like "bite your fingers!" I have no idea why this stuck but I'm in my 30's and I still do this every single time.
I was taught that if you found money on the floor/ground whatever amount it was indicated how many people loved you that day. Once I found a twenty-dollar bill. Sadly, the real owner found me shortly thereafter and I relinquished the twenty. Guess, I wound up -20 people in love with me for that day.
I never get up at 3:33 am...even if I have to go to the bathroom really bad. Every demon movie I've ever seen, bad things happen at 3:33 am.
I hold my breath driving by a cemetery to make sure the bodies don't get breath and come back as zombies
I do this one too. But not for your reasons, although they do make sense. I do it because if they can no longer breathe, then I shouldn't be showing off in front of them.
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If I spill salt I have to take some of the spilled salt and throw it over my left shoulder, supposedly into the eyes of the devil. I also will not walk under a ladder.
Don't know if this counts as a superstition but recently I got to thinking about how answers to questions pop into your head later. So who/what was doing the searching? You were putting no effort into remembering so why did the the answer suddenly pop into your conscious mind. So what if your subconscious is a full sentient being trapped in your mind with no access to your motor centers? So now whenever an answer pops into my head I always say "Thank you" just in case.
Whenever I find a chip/crisp that is folded onto itself, I call them wishchips and make a wish just before I eat them.
When driving past a cemetery you need to hold your breathe until you see the first White House I have no idea why
IDK who the guy/girl with the userer name of (wait there is no name its just a square) but whoever you are, stop being a d**k and grow up. i cant stand when a person thinks they can make fun of another persons superstitions , and, another thing you did, saying that THERE THING IS WRONG??? that is stupid. why? they are superstitions and none are wrong cuz they are opinons. you cant say if they are wrong or right. you think what you think and they think what they think. you will not change there mind. its like saying that every one should like trump. they dont NEED to, they could like biden, or they can hate them both,like me.(im 11 but i hate them both)
At this point, I'm starting to think they're just a troll seeking attention. Best to just downvote them and move on.
Load More Replies... I don’t think a lot of people know the difference between a superstition and OCD. Anyway, my two superstitions that stuck with me are: never open an umbrella inside because it brings bad luck, and move in place a few times when you see a hearse so it won’t be you in it next time, lol. Oh the crazy things that we have been told. I know they’re crazy, but I still do them.
I was just in Target yesterday and a father was buying his young daughter (4 yrs?) an umbrella and she opened it in the store. Inside. I think I had a look of horror on my face and quickly passed them, I didn't want any of their bad luck!
Load More Replies... My mother, her mother, and so on back a few generations, have handed down the superstition that butterflies bear messages from loved ones who have died, to let you know everything will work out okay.
Lots of odd habits. TBH I have never heard of most of them. Many people were trolled hard by family members!
Totally! These people just do what they were taught.
Load More Replies... There’s a bridge that separates off the outer banks of North Carolina from inland. When you reach the top of the bridge you’ll see people “throwing” something out the window. It’s their worries. When you visit the outer banks, you leave your worries at home.
To me, that's littering. I'd sooner have my worries wash away in the tides! :-)
Load More Replies... When I was about 5 or 6 and was mad at my mother I would cry and tell her I was going to step on the crack on the sidewalk!
This is probably reasonably common in the UK amongst older generations, but my Gran always taught me to count the Magpies to find out what kind of luck was coming my way (1 for sorrow, 2 for joy, 3 for a girl, 4 for a boy etc) and if it was only 1 Magpie you had to tell it very sternly and loudly to go find it's wife. I still do this! GO FIND YOUR WIFE!
Curiously, there are different rhymes for magpies - that one was the theme to the 60's TV show. There's at least half a dozen other versions including "one for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a funeral, four for a birth" - which presumably is in keeping with odd numbers = bad, even numbers = good (like with the TV volume!), until you get to "three for a wedding and four for a birth". Then five and six get complicated with gold, silver, rich, poor, heaven and hell all getting a look in. The rhymes all end with seven though - probably auspicious of something...
Load More Replies... I fully believe in Murphy's Law. 2021 is being controlled by Murphy's Law and no one can convince me otherwise. If you don't know Murphy's Law google it.
Murphy and I are old friends. He has been hanging out with me since i was around 6 years old lol
Load More Replies... I don't know if this is a superstition or not: At meal times My Grandmother would always, Always have an extra place setting nearby, just in case. In my mind, I can still see a plate, napkin etc sitting on the buffet table, just in case. I never asked her why.
This would have been for the "unexpected guest." In some cases, this would have been either Jesus or the "weary traveller."
Load More Replies... "White Rabbits" is a superstition in our family. On the 1st of the month, after waking up and before you say anything else you whisper "white rabbits" three times for good luck in the month. The exception is New Year's Day - there are conflicting good luck wishes, so the rabbits get the month off! I have NO idea where it comes from, it's just something we've always done.
My family and many others believed that saying white rabbits prevented anyone from playing unkind tricks on you.
Load More Replies... About 12 years ago someone told me there is a superstition (I believe he said Irish) that you never go up a staircase when someone goes down (or vise versa) or it's bad luck. I started following this and look very foolish waiting for someone to finish on the stairs but hey I've had enough bad luck so whatever!
Ever since childhood we were told we can't point at a cemetery. If we do we have to bite each finger otherwise they'll all fall off. Up to this day I make sure I don't point and if I do by mistake...I try to subtly bite each finger so no one will notice. Also if I see someone pointing I'll keep looking at them like "bite your fingers!" I have no idea why this stuck but I'm in my 30's and I still do this every single time.
I was taught that if you found money on the floor/ground whatever amount it was indicated how many people loved you that day. Once I found a twenty-dollar bill. Sadly, the real owner found me shortly thereafter and I relinquished the twenty. Guess, I wound up -20 people in love with me for that day.
I never get up at 3:33 am...even if I have to go to the bathroom really bad. Every demon movie I've ever seen, bad things happen at 3:33 am.
I hold my breath driving by a cemetery to make sure the bodies don't get breath and come back as zombies
I do this one too. But not for your reasons, although they do make sense. I do it because if they can no longer breathe, then I shouldn't be showing off in front of them.
Load More Replies... If I spill salt I have to take some of the spilled salt and throw it over my left shoulder, supposedly into the eyes of the devil. I also will not walk under a ladder.
Don't know if this counts as a superstition but recently I got to thinking about how answers to questions pop into your head later. So who/what was doing the searching? You were putting no effort into remembering so why did the the answer suddenly pop into your conscious mind. So what if your subconscious is a full sentient being trapped in your mind with no access to your motor centers? So now whenever an answer pops into my head I always say "Thank you" just in case.
Whenever I find a chip/crisp that is folded onto itself, I call them wishchips and make a wish just before I eat them.
When driving past a cemetery you need to hold your breathe until you see the first White House I have no idea why
