I've heard that when you give a knife the recipient should give you a penny - otherwise the knife will "cut" your friendship. I'm unclear on the concept of how money counteracts the "cutting" and why the gift of a knife could end a friendship in the first place.
I thought it was just some weird Asian superstition before you brought it up. Now I'm don't know where it comes from because I think most, if not all, of the people participating in this thread are of European extract.
I learned it as anything sharp should be given with a penny. My Grandmother taught us this and she was French/Irish/German.
Another superstition is that if you drop a knife, you will have a visitor from the direction in which the tip of the knife is pointing.
If you spill salt, throw some over your shoulder into the eye of the witch who is coming to get you.
I've heard that when you give a knife the recipient should give you a penny - otherwise the knife will "cut" your friendship. I'm unclear on the concept of how money counteracts the "cutting" and why the gift of a knife could end a friendship in the first place.
I thought it was just some weird Asian superstition before you brought it up. Now I'm don't know where it comes from because I think most, if not all, of the people participating in this thread are of European extract.
I learned it as anything sharp should be given with a penny. My Grandmother taught us this and she was French/Irish/German.
Another superstition is that if you drop a knife, you will have a visitor from the direction in which the tip of the knife is pointing.
If you spill salt, throw some over your shoulder into the eye of the witch who is coming to get you.
I've heard that when you give a knife the recipient should give you a penny - otherwise the knife will "cut" your friendship. I'm unclear on the concept of how money counteracts the "cutting" and why the gift of a knife could end a friendship in the first place.
I thought it was just some weird Asian superstition before you brought it up. Now I'm don't know where it comes from because I think most, if not all, of the people participating in this thread are of European extract.
I learned it as anything sharp should be given with a penny. My Grandmother taught us this and she was French/Irish/German.
The way I learned it was that the giver should accept a penny from the receiver. The receiver can then see the knife as a gift, but the Fates don't.
I've heard that when you give a knife the recipient should give you a penny - otherwise the knife will "cut" your friendship. I'm unclear on the concept of how money counteracts the "cutting" and why the gift of a knife could end a friendship in the first place.
I thought it was just some weird Asian superstition before you brought it up. Now I'm don't know where it comes from because I think most, if not all, of the people participating in this thread are of European extract.
I learned it as anything sharp should be given with a penny. My Grandmother taught us this and she was French/Irish/German.
The way I learned it was that the giver should accept a penny from the receiver. The receiver can then see the knife as a gift, but the Fates don't.
"Nancy Young" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
"maxine in ri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
On a mailing list, folks are discussing the superstition or custom of never giving just a knife as a gift. One should always give it along with something else, not knife-related, so that the friendship or relationship will not be severed.
Has anyone ever heard of this custom before? Does anyone know from whence it came?
I gave a couple of Henckles knives to someone as a shower gift (I was in the wedding) ... I had them wrapped by the Macy's gift department, I gave them a penny for each knife and asked them to tape them to the blades. At the shower, the couple had to take the pennies off and return them to me. Created quite a stir. Even the wrapper lady at the store thought it was enchanting.
I've purchased a few knives as gifts at various stores in the Seattle area and the sales person has always taped a penny to the blades if I said it was for a gift.
"Nancy Young" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
"maxine in ri" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]...
Quoted message said:
On a mailing list, folks are discussing the superstition or custom of never giving just a knife as a gift. One should always give it along with something else, not knife-related, so that the friendship or relationship will not be severed.
Has anyone ever heard of this custom before? Does anyone know from whence it came?
I gave a couple of Henckles knives to someone as a shower gift (I was in the wedding) ... I had them wrapped by the Macy's gift department, I gave them a penny for each knife and asked them to tape them to the blades. At the shower, the couple had to take the pennies off and return them to me. Created quite a stir. Even the wrapper lady at the store thought it was enchanting.
I've purchased a few knives as gifts at various stores in the Seattle area and the sales person has always taped a penny to the blades if I said it was for a gift.
I gave a couple of Henckles knives to someone as a shower gift (I was in the wedding) ... I had them wrapped by the Macy's gift department, I gave them a penny for each knife and asked them to tape them to the blades. At the shower, the couple had to take the pennies off and return them to me. Created quite a stir. Even the wrapper lady at the store thought it was enchanting.
I've purchased a few knives as gifts at various stores in the Seattle area and the sales person has always taped a penny to the blades if I said it was for a gift.
Heh, isn't that funny. All the people I ran into had never heard of it. I think if you're going to have superstitions, that's a cute one.
