Tag Archives: luck

“If you hold your breath all the way under a tunnel you make a wish.”

Nationality: Korean-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Anaheim, California
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Korean

The informant, at the age of eight or nine, heard of this belief from her father as the family of four was making a road trip to Las Vegas.  She was a sheltered child who was used to getting her way, so she was complaining about the boring road trip they had to take that had lasted for hours already.  Her father then told her that only if she could hold her breath for the entire time the car was inside the tunnel, then she could make any wish and it would come true.  Coming from her father, a credible source up until then, she believed him and held her breath so that she could wish that the ride would be over soon.  Ever since then she has been holding her breath under tunnels and competing with her younger brother to see who could hold it in through the longest tunnel.  Because it was so much fun when she was younger, she still sometimes holds her breath and makes wishes, although she has outgrown the stage in her childhood when she would believe that her silent wish would somehow come true.  She thinks that it is just a great form of entertainment when one is bored.  Now she likes to tell her younger cousins the same belief, hoping it will bring them as much fun and entertainment as it did her all those times before.

Around Orange County there aren’t many tunnels to drive through.  In fact, the only time I have ever driven under a tunnel was during my own family road trips to Colorado, when we had to drive through mountains.  However, I stumbled upon this same belief in almost the same way the informant did, that you could make a wish if you held your breath for the entire time you went under a tunnel.  This wishmaking does not have to occur during road trips or during a family vacation.  It can occur at any time.  I also believe that this wishmaking is just another form of entertainment for young children, and nothing to take seriously.  I believe it is retold to spread information that is fun and enjoyable for everyone.

“When you toss a penny into a fountain you can make a wish.”

Nationality: Vietnamese-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Orange, California
Performance Date: Mar 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Vietnamese

I first heard this belief from my father, who would always take me to the Placentia Library on Sundays to read books together, when I was in second grade, about seven years old.  Outside, there was a large fountain that was beautiful and I loved to play around it.  One day my father handed me a penny and told me to toss it into the fountain. When I asked him why, he told me that whenever I toss a penny into a fountain of water I can make a wish and it’ll come true.  At the time I believed him, although I soon realized that this wish was much like the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus, and making wishes after blowing away the seeds of a dandelion.  However, making a wish in a way lets me let go of something that I really want.  Now whenever I make a wish it is to release something I’m holding inside, and it feels like I’m lifting a burden off my chest.

This wishmaking is reflective of an optimistic, yet creative society where one can dream whatever one wishes.  It also goes along with the United States’ futuristic worldview, where one can do whatever he or she wants as long as he or she tries hard enough.  Dreaming and wishing is only the first step to achieving those goals.  I believe that this wishmaking is a very useful tool for helping people find out what their true inner desires are.  You know that what you want most is what you wish for, so all you have to do is wish, then work to make that wish come true.  I think this is also why it is appealing to many people as well, because the idea of wishing anything they want and having it granted without the work that goes along with it is a nice feeling, but it also help them figure out what they really do want in life at that moment.  I also think that the idea of wishing with water came from the idea of the wishing well where one could make wishes into a well but it somehow evolved into a fountain.

“Blow out the candles and make a wish.”

Nationality: Japanese-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: La Jolla, California
Performance Date: Jan 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Japanese

This phrase was said to the informant on her birthday in January every year since she could remember speaking.  It is tradition for the family and/or friends to sing “Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear [informant’s name], happy birthday to you.”  Following the Happy Birthday song, the family members and friends are supposed to remind the birthday person to make a silent wish and blow out all of the candles in one blow so that the wish will come true.  For her family especially, they like to blow out the candles, make a wish, and then keep the wish a secret or else it will not come true.  The informant feels that this is not especially symbolic of anything, except that as the birthday girl, she should have something special that sets her apart from the others whose birthday it is not, so she gets a wish.  In turn, she likes to give the same opportunity to everyone else she celebrates birthdays with and the secret wish is always made.

This tradition is a tradition found commonly everywhere around the United States, especially because the Happy Birthday song is in English.  However, there are variations in other languages such as Spanish.  In both cultures, it is traditions to have the same number of candles on the birthday cake as the number of years the birthday girl or boy has lived.  Sometimes this tradition lasts until old age.  As a young person blows out the candles, she is blowing them all in one blow in hopes that her wish may come true.  She usually also blows out the candles herself, without any help, showing the strength and independence of the younger generation.  As the birthday person grows older and is blowing out seventy or eighty candles, blowing out the candles is a symbol of health and strength.  Often if the person is old she will also be helped by the younger generation, often little children younger than five years old, which I believe is symbolic of the young helping out the old.  However, though the people blowing out the candles may change, one thing always remains the same.  The birthday child, teen, parent, or grandparent will always receive one silent wish after the candles have all been blown out.

“It’s 11:11, make a wish.”

Nationality: Vietnamese-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Irvine, California
Performance Date: Mar 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Vietnamese

The informant first heard this phrase at the end of his 8th grade year in school, year 2000, from his female cousin.  It was 11:11 A.M., although this phrase can be said at either 11:11 A.M. or 11:11 P.M., and his cousin told him that if you spontaneously look at the clock and it is 11:11 A.M. or P.M., then you can make a wish inside your mind and then it will come true.  “It’s 11:11,” she said, “make a wish.”  The informant remembers it clearly because he remembered thinking, “What is this? I’ve never heard it before.”  It remained in his mind and he likes to use it whenever he sees 11:11 on the clock because it helps to lighten the mood and he believes deep down that everyone like to make wishes, even though they might not believe that 2 times a day a person can close their eyes and make two wishes that will necessarily come true.

Though being Vietnamese does not really have much to do with the 11:11 saying, the theme of making a wish does seem transcend different cultures.  Similarly, it does show that everyone has a child within them.  Though hardly anyone would admit to believing that making a wish at 11:11 would actually result in the wish coming true, many people still say “make a wish” and silently make a wish themselves, for fun or sometimes just for the sake of seeing whether or not it will come true.  Also, typically this type of saying is between a boy and a girl, though it is not restricted.  Generally, however, girls are more likely to say it to their own sex than are boys.  As in the informant’s case, family relation has nothing to do with the saying, though in some cases this saying can be used flirtatiously between boys and girls, when they can wish that the boy or girl that they like will like them back and maybe ask them out or something similar.

“You have an eyelash on your face, make a wish!”

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Arcadia, California
Performance Date: April 2007
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

My informant learned this superstition when she was very young, so she doesn’t recall when she learned it.  She has been taking part of this superstition ever since she was in elementary school, where she probably learned it from a friend.  Whenever she sees a stray eyelash other people’s faces, she takes the eyelash, puts it on their finger and tells them to make a wish and blow the eyelash off.  She puts the eyelash on her finger if she finds an eyelash on her face and follows the same procedure.
She said that she does not believe in this superstition, yet she does it anyway.  According to her, there is no validity to this superstition, so she doesn’t believe her wishes will come true.  She believes that this eyelash superstition exists because losing an eyelash is more unusual than losing strands of hair.  Wishing with a strand of a hair would definitely not be as special because people lose many strands of hair everyday.
She tells this superstition because it has become a routine if she sees a loose eyelash.  It has become embedded in her that she has an automatic reaction to tell it.
Like the superstition of making a wish at 11:11, I do not necessarily believe that blowing an eyelash off my finger while making a wish will make my wish come true.  The willingness of a person to make his or her wish happen is what makes a wish come true.  Usually people do not rely on an eyelash wish, so they take action and make it happen.  I believe that eyelash wishing does contribute to making a wish become reality, but a person’s actions are what makes it become reality.