“Knock on wood.”

Nicole and I were discussing living arrangements this coming fall. We were talking about someone we dislike and she said, “Just watch, she’s probably going to be living exactly where we are.” And I said, “Nicole! Don’t say that!” She exclaimed, “Sorry! Sorry! Knock on wood!” When she said this, she first knocked on her own head, on her temple, and then proceeded to knock on her presumably wooden dresser.

Lauren, a girl on Nicole’s high school basketball team, taught her this superstition. They were sitting on the basketball court before a game, and one of the girls on the team said something that would jinx the game (Nicole cannot recall exactly what the girl said). Lauren automatically said, “Knock on wood!” She then knocked on her temple and then knocked the wooden basketball court floor. Ever since then, Nicole has performed this superstition. Nicole says she does not really think she is superstitious; it is just a habit now. She does not think the superstition really means anything. However, the fact she does it implies she does believe in the superstition. Knocking on wood is an example of a conversion superstition. One knocks on wood to reverse the bad luck that would come from something she or someone around her said. Psychologically, she does it because it makes her feel better. She figures there is no harm in warding off bad luck by performing this superstition. The reason behind the performance of the superstition has a lot to do with the fact that she feels there are things outside her control. She feels almost helpless against things like bad luck, so she regains some power and control by knocking on wood.

According to page 363 of the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, knocking on wood “expresses a wish that something will or will not occur.” I agree with Nicole and the dictionary’s definitions. Knocking on wood is expressing a wish that bad luck will not occur, or that good luck will occur. It is interesting to note that this “expression alludes to an ancient superstition that literally knocking on or touching wood will ward off evil spirits.” Nowadays, knocking on wood does not have so much to do with evil spirits; it has to do with warding off bad luck.

Nicole’s version of the superstition surprised me because she does not just knock on wood; she also knocks on her temple. I have never heard nor seen anyone knock on his or her temple in addition to knocking on wood. She said that when she is not near wood, she just knocks her temple. She informed me that all of her friends perform the superstition this way. Where I grew up in the Bay Area, California, nobody knocks on their temple, too; people only knock on wood. If someone asked me to describe Nicole’s group of friends from Rancho Palos Verdes, I might mention this superstition because it is so distinct from the superstition I know. I would identify them as “temple-knockers.” Perhaps other people who are not from the Bay Area would identify people from the Bay as “only wood-knockers.” Nicole’s version, to me, shows multiplicity and variation. I had never encountered a different version of the superstition before and now I realize there must be many different ways to carry out this superstition.

Annotation: Ammer, Christine. The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

Smokers Superstition- Long Beach, CA

“Whenever you smoke a fresh pack of cigarettes you have to take the first one and flip it upside down in the box and then smoke it last, otherwise you will have bad luck.”

Bill said he learned about this superstition when he was 17 years old and a senior in high school in Long Beach, CA. He had just gotten into the notion of smoking because of a great number of people in class doing so. From one friend, he could not recall a specific person, he was told to flip the first cigarette upside and save it for last. If he did not it would be bad luck. Bill told me at first that he really did not believe the bad luck aspect of the superstition, but he practiced anyway because that’s what everyone else in his high school did. However, he then mentioned that one day he did not flip the first cigarette over and later that day he returned to his car and saw that he had been hit on the side by another car trying to park. Needless to say he saw this as a direct correlation to him not flipping over the cigarette and therefore he paid the price. This makes absolute sense because usually in the case of odd superstition such as this people are skeptical until they actually disobey the superstition and pay the consequences.

However, it is interesting to note that while I was interviewing my friend another associate of ours, also a smoker, claimed to have never have heard of this superstition before and thought it was absolutely absurd. It is important to note that this other gentleman is from the Midwestern part of the country. This is a prime example of the Historic Geographic method developed by the Kronhes because this piece of folklore is quite avid in one part of the country and noticeably absent in another.

I feel this is a very interesting piece of folklore that reflects an example of occupational folklore, you are not considered part of the smoking crowd unless you know this tradition. Superstition is a natural part of human existence because people have very little control over their life so they often practice superstition to ensure no harm will come their way. I myself do not smoke so would not engage in this superstition, but Bill made an interesting point about doing it simply because his friends were also doing it, a reflection of peer pressure in our society. We all can relate to this feeling of wanting to belong, even if that thing you belong to, such as smoking, is bad for you. We long for acceptance and the opportunity to fit in.