Superstitions

 Canadians, as a whole, are not a very superstitious lot. As children many of us learn memes such as:

Step on a crack and you’ll break your mothers back

Don’t let a black cat cross your path

It's bad luck to walk under a ladder

Breaking a mirror will bring seven years bad luck

Opening an umbrella indoors will bring bad luck

See a penny, pick it up, and all the day you’ll have good luck

The number 13 is unlucky or a bad omen

Knock on wood (for good luck)

Arguably, #3 is just common sense if there’s someone working overhead.

Some canadians lived in WW II and I recall learning “never light three cigarettes on a match” from them. That came from soldiers who risked being spotted by lighting a match — the longer it was lit, the greater the risk.

#6 is a dying meme, as the penny has been eliminated from Canadian currency.

Evidence of #7 can still be found in many older buildings, where the 13th floor is missing. Some older apartments even skip 13.

The list above pertains largely to English Canadians. French Canadians have their own unique set of superstitions. Canadians from other ethnic backgrounds may bring superstitions from that background along with them to Canada.

In general, though, superstitions like these seem to be fading from daily Canadian life. You don’t hear them mentioned much amongst adults. And even when you do, it’s with a laugh or some indication that it’s just a “silly superstition”. In other words, most Canadians don’t actually believe these superstitions — but some will still mention them, thus keeping them alive.

For most English Canadians, in other words, common superstitions have largely devolved into harmless memes.