Category Archives: Signs

Prognostications, fortune-telling, etc.

Fan Death

Text: “In Korea you cannot sleep with the fan on in a closed room. You will die. My mom would come into my room at night and turn the fan off, and if she found me sleeping with it on, she would wake me up and get mad.” IW explained that some say the fan creates a vacuum and you suffocate, some say it lowers your body temperature too much and you get hypothermia and die. The fans they sell in Korea come with a built-in timer for this reason.

Context: IO is a Korean American student whose parents are first-generation immigrants from Korea. She heard the belief from her mother growing up. Within South Korea the belief is widespread enough that mainstream Korean newspapers have historically reported “death by electric fan” as a cause of overnight death, that the Korean Consumer Protection Board has issued formal warnings. IO does not really believe the fan can kill her, but she will not sleep with one running and still uses one that features a timer. 

Analysis: Fan death is one of the cleanest cases of a modern technological folk belief. Electric fans are 20th-century technology, so the belief cannot be ancient, yet it has matured remarkably quickly. Already a namesake of parent-to-child transmission at bedtime, multiple proposed mechanisms (of death) that vary by account, and a thick web of social and material reinforcement, from newspaper death reports to government warnings to the physical timers built into the fans sold in Korea. 

Don’t Give an Umbrella as a Gift

Text: I had mentioned to KH that I had gotten someone an umbrella as a gift, and she stopped me. “You’re like not supposed to do that, right?” she said. The word for umbrella, 伞 (sǎn), sounds nearly identical to 散 (sàn), which means to scatter. To give someone an umbrella is to wish the two of you scattered, dispersed. There is a workaround: if the recipient gives the giver a coin, even a penny, in return, the umbrella becomes a transaction rather than a gift, and the negative implications no longer apply.

Context: Told to me by my friend KH, a Chinese American student, after I mentioned that I had bought an umbrella as a gift. She had heard the rule from her parents, who emigrated from China. The homophone pair is 伞 / 散: 伞 (sǎn, umbrella) and 散 (sàn, to scatter) differ only by tone. 

Analysis: This same homophonic logic shows up commonly in Chinese culture, where a linguistic sign is read as a small contagion that invokes the outcome it names. The umbrella case is a good example because the prohibition attaches to one ordinary household object and to one specific verb. An exchanged coin transforms the gift into a purchase, and the relabeling alone is held to neutralize the linguistic risk. It’s not always the case that these homophonic folklores have such convenient workarounds. The changing “gift” to “purchase” suffices to break the spell.

Broken Mirrors

Text:

If you break a mirror, you are guaranteed 7 years of bad luck.

Context:

This superstition is said to originate from Ancient Greek and Roman beliefs that reflections hold parts of the soul. Therefore, if a reflection is broken, the soul too is broken, and requires seven years to heal. This informant heard this belief all throughout life, from family, friends, adults, etc.

Analysis:

This superstition is an example of a belief standing the test of time. It is rooted in fear and dark themes (bad luck, etc.), but has persisted and been passed down through time and generations.

HAUNTED HAUS

Text:

Supposedly, the current Men’s Swim Haus at USC used to be occupied by the Women’s Swim Team years ago. Apparently, one night, one of the women in the house got locked out of her room on the top floor. She decided to crawl out of a different window on the top floor and maneuver to her room window to get in that way. However, she slipped and died. Now, it is said that her old room is haunted, and to this day, the door to that bedroom is painted red. Lights will strangely flicker rapidly without the power on, and other strange instances occur in the room.

Context:

This tale apparently gets told to residents of the house, and the strange events like flickering lights have been reported by firsthand accounts. The details are a bit vague, but the general story is as written.

Analysis:

This ghost story is specific to not only USC or the Swim team but to the current and former residents of the Swim Haus off campus. While most of the people in the house appear more amused than frightened of the tale, it is an orally told story that has been passed down and told for fun amongst members of the house and their friends.

Birds Spell Death

Text:

Apparently, if a bird flies into your home, it means death is near.

Context:

Informant was told this as a child, but was not given much reason as to why. It simply was a sign of death.

Analysis:

This superstition was passed down without much information, but it stuck. It, like many other superstitions, takes a strange occurrence and equates it with tragedy.