All the time we hear people say 'touch wood' for all their tiny little achievements for securing against some evil force a protection for themselves or for their loved ones.
" My brother topped his exam; Touch wood!" ,
" You look beautiful darling ; Touch wood!" ,
"I have finally recovered ; Touch wood!",
And then we say we have grown out of the superstition era :-|
However, there s a smart analysis of this seemingly baseless trend. You may believe in the 'touch wood' just because everyone does and content yourself that you are now safe, But , in saying 'Touch Wood' , do you not transfer the credit for what you've done to someone else, some unknown person and wash your hands off the credit you deserve??? Do you not pretend that your achievement is not yours but is attributed to some external force and that your usage of touch wood may secure you another good luck charm to get your work done the next time around. Why do you not proudly say that " Yes , I ve done it! and Thank you for the appreciation" ??? Why do you not accept the compliments and the comments and be confident that you will repeat the performance by your own ability???
It therefore seems illogical to me to keep using the phrase , because one must acknowledge completely that his achievement is his own! :)
I guess some people say it because they are superstitious, others say it out of habbit. I think it is a little too much to expect people to stop being superstitious.
ReplyDeleteBut I am not superstitious at all. And I think astrology is pure bunkum
@pmax3: Actually what i mean to say is that people can be as superstitious as is convenient to them .. heheee.. but let them at least accept that they are!! why mask a superstition under "its a trend" kinda statement
ReplyDeletekya baat hai!!.......dagny traggart
ReplyDelete@vaibhav : hehe.. after listening to my so called practical phliosophy , everyone associates me wid some or th other chr of Fountainhead
ReplyDelete:|
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ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you on the point that people essentially transfer the credit from their own efforts to the good spirits in the wood (origin of the phrase touch wood). But there are some things that do not exactly fall in the realm of 'negative superstitions', and touch wood is one of them. By negative superstitions I mean beliefs that hinder the free thought or action of an individual. Touch wood is just a mirthful way of connecting with good omens that a person always believes to be present at the time of his success.Something like 'Thank God'. Touch wood needs to be taken in a light hearted humour, unlike superstitions like birth astrology mapping that may disqualify the most eligible bachelors from consideration ;)
ReplyDeletei met a peculiar person..., he used to say 'touchwood' when mentioning something good and tap his head ... bald on the top floor...as if it was a well varnished mahogany desk... !!!
ReplyDelete@ Red : A good point u ve brought to my notice bout the positive superstition theory :) all i meant to say that people must get over their fears that if they do not give credit to th "spirits in th woods" , they might not get help next time around ;)
ReplyDelete@ Sangeet : Hahaha.. that sounds really entertaining :D its like the Japanese culture of bending their boday all the time to say thanks or sorry :|
ReplyDeleteluckily, i'm not so superstitious...touchwood!
ReplyDeletedun wrry guys thr wld b no touchwood in d near future...thanks 2 deforestation..........(CAT gng online may delay tht......hmmmmmmm iims tryin 2 save ppr...nt bad......)
ReplyDelete@Addy: Dunno what they are trying to save , but I assure you , saving paper wasn't the first and foremost thing on their minds ;)
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