saying

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Oct 24, 2008, at 11:08 AM, Charlie Doyle wrote:

> ---- Original message ----
>> Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:34:20 -0700
>> From: "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
>>
>> a friend asked me yesterday if i'd heard the following saying:
>>
>>  If I thank you for a living plant, it will die.
>

> Yes, my (Georgia) folklore students not infrequently will report
> that superstition--suggested by a discussion of old standbys like
> the taboo against returning an dish empty in which a gift of food
> was presented--though I have no knowledge (or intuitions) about the
> age or geographical distribution of the belief.  (I would term it a
> folk belief or superstition rather than a saying.)

yes, "folk belief"/"superstition" is more appropriate, since the exact
wording isn't important.

arnold

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