Thursday, September 15, 2005

c urse of the spotted tongue

(thanks to DCveR, who brought up the topic; i got to thinking. i happen to be very superstitious, but it's definitely a cultural thing. i know it's crazy, but at the end of the day, i need as much luck as i can get.)

When I was younger, I remember my ethnic parents arguing and my father warning my mother not to c urse him with her tongue. It sounds ridiculous, but it fits the bill of most superstitions. Somewhere up the line in the motherland it is believed that people who have what looks like freckles on their tongues are capable of cursing people.

Mom doesn't put much stock in it, but she admits to predicting things in the heat of annoyance. Like when my Dad was overly babying his new car, she said, 'Just watch, you're going to get a big dent in that thing.' And soon enough, a runaway grocery cart hit its mark.

I have a spotted tongue, too, as did my grandmother. Once a doctor told me it's a discoloration of tastebuds and completely harmless. I never thought much about it after that until a vacation with friends to a sleepy island off the coast of Italy.

It was a dream trip come true; a friend had hooked us up with a gorgeous villa on the beach and the latest Jaguar to roll around the island in for an obscene deal. On our last night we went to a club to celebrate in style. Only I felt like a pack mule because person number four had asked me to hold gum/cigarettes/wallet/keys in my purse -- the burden that came with taking the wheel of such a fancy car. But by then the ride was over and I was irritated about hauling around all that stuff. I said, 'You'll see. You'll regret making me carry all this crap when someone takes this bag!'

I guess the thieves kept a better eye on it than I did, because that's exactly what happened. who knew that someone could reach under the table you were dancing on and completely gank your stuff?

We spent the entire night scouring the edge of the weedy roadside for possible discarded items, breaking the Jag's window to get our passports from the glovebox, having it towed away because the spare key was on the mainland and spending the night on the curb because we had no key to the villa. I went home with no money, no camera, few souvenirs (most were in the trunk, which we couldn't open without the high-tech key), and a little voice in my head that kept saying, 'you did this to yourself.'

Moral of the story? Don't scoff at superstition. And don't cross me.

18 comments:

DCveR said...

The first bit of your story's moral already comes too late, I've laready scoffed every superstition I've heard of. As for the second bit I'll do my best not to cross you too much... ;)

omar said...

I only believe in superstitions that relate to sports. When I tee off on a golf hole, the ball must be sitting on the tee with the logo upside down (on the side facing the target). When I'm putting, the ball must be placed with the logo facing up. There is no reason for this whatsoever, but I'm afraid of what will happen if I change things.

And I've also made a note to self not to cross cadiz.

Lia said...

ever heard of self-fulfilling prophecies? if you think it will happen, it will - you'll make it happen. and ever notice that you only notice when things fit into the pattern you're trying to prove, but not when they don't? that it's not significant when it's "normal"?

but i'll try to remember not to cross you. while going under a ladder. just in case.

Mike said...

Nope, I still don't buy the superstition. Your spotted tongue doesn't scare me!

;)

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Scientists don't know everything. As you can see by Dcver's post today, la la la.

In Guyana we say the person has a 'black tongue'...and there, on the tip of the person's tongue are the little black dots.

I have it too.

Be afraid Viking, be very afraid :-D

jazz said...

damn girl. that's some threat!

but why would you curse yourself to lose your own purse?!

Unknown said...

OOHHH dont make me tell how it REEEAALLY went down.... hehehe

...btw i thought we broke into the car cus i wanted to get my toy monkey out??

(my special traveling monkey- goes EVERYwhere with me)

Unknown said...

seems like spotted tongue means great kisser! ;)

i'm not giving away any more of the real story.....

Syar said...

I'm more a believer of omens and signs, which I guess makes me superstitious too. but I've never heard of this spotted tongue thing before.

um....*hands you a wad of cash* we're cool right?

Jon said...

I’m a lot like Omar. Superstition is reserved for sports. You don’t even want to know what my Sunday morning routine is like. Lets just say that I, and I alone hold the fate of the St. Louis Rams in the intricacies of my morning routine. One false move and… lets not talk about it…

I find myself in the majority though… no desire whatsoever to test the cursing ability of that tongue… however, certain other comments lead me to believe that you were making out with Ale… Wild times indeed.

glo said...

That's enough to make a person nervous, isn't it?! I grew up the proud great-niece of an astrologer and a palm reader. Every step i made was greeted with much head shaking or nodding...and I'm pretty sure they doomed my love life by telling me that my love line truncates at my life line, which means that while true love will touch my life it will never....ok, I stopped listening there.

So, anyway, if your tongue works the opposite way, I see benefit, even money, in your future.

Anonymous said...

Just to try something out, try saying this: Popeye, you are going to recieve a couple million dollars that will come from a stranger.

Unknown said...

du la nuit- the best part was after person 4 went through the garbage she had time to FLIRT with a certain very cute by stander... i'll never forget it -- as glass was smashing in the beautiful jag- person 4 was like: "so... do you think he is cute... i'm goint to come upt to him...what should i say to him.... he's so hot..."

cadiz12 said...

oh guys, don't be too scared; it only comes out in exasperated moments.

gg, i knew i felt a kinship to you.

ale's like a sister to me; kissing her would be a little incestuous.

oh and about the palm thing, what does it mean when you have no love line at all? i have always found that to be a little troubling...

glo said...

I really don't know. It was always amazing to me how Auntie C could spin it whatever way she wanted. When my mom stood by, my life was all flowers and roses and white picket fences holding in hoards of kids. Mom walked out of the room and I died of dysentery at 22 in a foreign country. Now, as the second is closer to reality than the first, I get a little nervous.

Supposedly, though, having no love line is impossible, but if it truly isn't there, I read somewhere (which means I read it at less than age 12 when Auntie C was still coming over) that it means your experience of love is ethereal...whatever that means.

cadiz12 said...

e·the·re·al

adj.
Characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; intangible.
Highly refined; delicate.
See Synonyms at airy.

Of the celestial spheres; heavenly.
Not of this world; spiritual.
Chemistry. Of or relating to ether.

there are traces of what might be it, very faintly, or it could be part of the superheavy dark line that runs straight across. god only knows. but ethereal makes me think maybe that auntie who said i should join the convent wasn't such a hater afterall.

Anonymous said...

yes i believe you becoz i have the same issue, but for your knowledge you can use for the benefit of others, actually it is more powerful in a negative way but you can use it like little peper and more sugar "example- in this year you will get sick for 6 days and after that you will never get sick in life" if anything else-PUNJABI.KRISHNA@YAHOO.COM
take care not to hurt others, it also has the power to kill.

Unknown said...

People who are commenting, whether you believe it or not. Or you may says stuff to me after read my comment but it really doesn't matter. There are things that has no explanation. I was born a black tongued. And when I say "black", it is full black. Not spotted but full black and its so not a good thing. I'm not happy at all. I'm not gonna say much but do know one thing, my mom and her uncle died cause of my cursed tongue.