List of bad luck signs

"Bad luck" redirects here. For other uses, see Bad luck (disambiguation).

Bad luck is harmful, negative, or undesirable luck or fortune. This is a list of signs believed to be bring bad luck according to superstitions:

• A black cat crossing one's path
• Walking under a ladder
• Certain numbers:
  • The number 4 (tetraphobia) in Chinese culture
  • The numbers 4 and 9 in Japanese culture
  • Also in Japanese culture, maternity wards numbered 43, as it can literally mean "still birth"
  • The number 17 in Italian culture
  • The number 13, known as triskaidekaphobia
  • The number 666, known as hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia
• Friday the 13th (In Spain, Italy and Greece: Tuesday the 13th)
• Failing to respond to a chain letter
• Tipping a salt shaker over
• Viewing one's doppelgänger may be considered a harbinger of bad luck
• Hanging a horseshoe with the ends pointing down, as it is believed that the luck will 'fall out'
• Breaking a mirror is said to bring seven years of bad luck
• Shoes on a table
• Opening an umbrella while indoors
• On the Isle of Man, the mention of the word "longtail" (referring to a rat)
• Three on a match (superstition)
• Giving a clock as a gift in Chinese culture, as in Chinese, to give a clock has the same pronunciation as attending their funeral
• Saying the word "Macbeth" while inside a theatre
• Ravens, crows and magpies
• Ouija board
• Thunderstorms
• Greek Orthodox priest in the street. It is considered a bad omen to see a priest walking in the street, and superstitious people whisper "ΣΚΟΡΔΑ" (skorda - "garlic") under their breath.
• Navajo:
  • pointing at a rainbow
  • throwing rocks into the wind
  • a coyote crossing one's path heading north
  • an owl flying over a house.

See also

• List of lucky symbols
• Curse
• Theatrical superstitions
• Faux pas derived from Chinese pronunciation
• Sailors' superstitions#Bad luck