Knife as a gift - Is it bad luck?

I had never heard of this either, but had a similar experience when I tried to give a Thai friend here in town a nice kitchen knife. He worked in a kitchen at his mom's Thai restaurant, and had to hear about and see all my new knives all the time (he's not a knife guy, so this was a bore to him) but I figured he'd appreciate a good "usable" knife and maybe that'd help him understand. Seconds after I handed it to him his mother (from Bangkok) came running out and handed me a dollar. I tried to tell them it was a gift, etc., but she strongly refused unless I took the dollar, saying it was horrible luck. Apparently they're not the only culture that feels this way.
 
Cool stuff, thank you for sharing.

Based on this, I don't own most of my blades. I can barely remember the last time I cut myself which was with a Kitchen knife.
Does cutting superficial skin (callus) counts? That I do every time I sharpen a knife to check the edge.

aguijonmagico said:
That is one of several superstitions attached to knives that we all know about to some degree or other.

It's associated to what antropologists call "magical thinking".

The kinfe is sharp, so it will cut a friendship. So, to take the things out of the friendship realm, you have to sell the knive. But, because you don't really want to sell it, but to gift it, the whole penny business is devised.

The kriss knife is thought to have a soul, an spirit. And that spirit can be bad or good.
to test what kind of spirit you are dealing with, you are supposed to sleep with the knife below your pillow. If you have good dreams, good spirit. Bad dreams, bad spirit.
similar, katanas in japan.

Also, there is the myth about cutting yourself with the knife to really own the knife.

The knife in arabic culture, if the knife is a weapon, cannot be drawn and sheated again without having tasted blood. People would cut themselves before sheat the knife in order to respect this custom.

there are more...
Click to expand...
 
I grew up with that old wives tale, twice growing up, the older men would make me find a penny and give it to them before they would give the knife, I don't recall them giving me the penny to hand back. They were pretty serious about it. Also, if you let someone use your knife, you take it back the same way you gave it. Can't tell how many times I've been slapped upside the head for not giving a knife back the same way I got it."Boy, I gave that knife to you closed, and by God, that's the way I want it back.", still rings in my head. I practice this still, I guess it's from all the reminders from growing up.
 
Giving friend a knife gift and taking a penny to save the friendship is quite OK.
 
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I completely agree with Auntie on this one. I'm a true believer in don't mess with old people, and don't mess with tradition, superstition or otherwise. Kind of like messing with Mother Nature ya know?

That and I gave my sons each a couple khuks and even if it's just a penny that's 4 cents towards my next HI knife! Every little bit helps.
 
I think of it less as a superstition and more as a custom. I had never heard of this one before I read this thread though.
 
^^^^ What he said. Custom isn't a bad thing. Tradition isn't a bad thing either. Superstition maybe yes, maybe no. I gotta go pet my rabbits foot now and throw some salt over my shoulder. Try not running over cracks in the sidewalk in a wheelchair. Now there's a challenge for ya.
 
Exactly. Why shouldn't we have customs and traditions? Every other culture on earth has 'em. It's fun to participate in stuff that was handed down to us. It connects us to the people who came before us. And if some youngun learns the custom from you and continues it when s/he grows up, then it connects you to the future too.

On the other hand some cultures are way way too suspicious and it seriously interferes with their lives
 
Yet I still wonder. Does the penny on the scabbards has anything to do with this custom?
 
Wish me luck fellas! Im going to a crawdad boil at a friends today to give up the mini Bowie. My friend expressed interest in the Micro but wished it had a larger handle so I got him a mini. I cleaned it all up and put a Pugs Polish on the new wood and it looks great! Should I ask for a penny back? Actually I was going to ask for a Franklin back but since hes such a good friend ill reduce it to a penny:cool: Im also bringing a case of Abita Turbo Dog so maybe ill ask for two cents? I have heard this custom if you bring a case of beer to a party you must bring back a spent cap or you will have misfortune for seven years!
 
Luck be with you! heck the friend is the one being lucky, A nice shiny mini Bowie and a case of Abita Turbo Dog? I think you definately better ask for at least 1 spent cap AND 1 penny. Of course if I followed that spent cap policy I would have needed a bigger dorm room in college just to store all the spent caps. (I had military dependant ID and could buy beer at the class6 store for really cheap) I am guessing you had to polish the mini up so well because you had been leaving your fingerprints all over it while it was in your posession? LOL.

Hope you ate a whole bunch of crawdads. One of my favorite LA customs, stuffing my face with mudbugs and guzzling beer. Making me homesick, well only for that part though.
 
Well complete sucess! My friend loved the knife and yes Shavru it did have fingerprints all over it and a bit of crawdad juice. He showed it to everyone at the party! They also got a good look at my micro and was funny because they were all arguing about Bawannas checker job and how it was done? was it stamped? computer cut? its perfect! Now way that could be cut by hand! I just grinned and sipped my Dogfish IPA (no turbo dog in this town?). We played the blues all night and had a great time then stuffed another spent cap in the back of my guitar amp and went home happy. Man I got a headache! Im too old for this! Ill be young again tomorrow:D
 
We probably should have checkered the friends too huh? Oh wait, that was a mini, not a micro since he wanted a larger handle. Well we could have checkered it anyhow I guess.
 
LOL NDog, I have checkered friends too so I know the type. Late nights and robust beer is a tough combo lately as I get older I find 1 hair of the dog isn't enough some days and I have to drink 2 to mellow out the headache the next morning.
 
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