Superstition as told by informant: My best friend’s mom growing up said to never write someones first and last name in red because that meant you were writing their name in blood and you wanted harm to come to them. She said it was a Korean superstition, I believed her since she was Korean. I don’t know if that was just her making up stuff up or if that really is true, but I’ve never written anybody’s name in red ink since.

In many Asian countries the color red is usually associated with death in various ways. One of them is because simply red is the color of blood. Another association is when someone passes away their name is written in red on the funeral registry and on the funeral banners. It’s believed that this practice wards off evil spirits.

Growing up in a Korean household I have never heard of this because my parents are strict Christians so they were never really into superstitions like this so it is interesting to hear other people’s experience with this growing up.

For more on this superstition see http://www.gwangjunewsgic.com/online/behind-the-myth-the-red-pen/