Fwd: on ritual spitting (continued)

[Laurence Horn]

I consulted with an expert in the relevant culture (and language),
Ellen Prince, who supplies the following information.  (In my family,
the elders just said "kinnehore" without the spitting, to ward off
the evil eye.)

larry


--- begin forwarded text

>On a different topic, do you know where the evil-eye-warding-off
>function of spitting came from?  Here's one post in a recent thread
>on the topic: ...

I bet this was inspired by the movie _My Big Fat Greek Wedding_ --
my reaction to it was, 'Oh wow, the Greeks spit like the Jews!'

And now to a recap of spitting, as it was done in the subculture
I grew up in.

There are two kinds of ritual spitting (at least):

1. The kind like what they're talking about below -- spit three
times (or, rather, say 'Poo poo poo') to the right, left, and
right of the interlocutor's face. It's done very quickly. The
intent is to ward off an evil eye (a 'nehore' or 'a canary', as
it was called in Brooklyn). So, if you tell me that your child
just ate all the food on his plate, I turn to the child and go
'Poo poo poo! Kinehore!' Or I tell you he's gorgeous and follow
immediately with 'Poo poo poo! Kinehore!'

2. The kind that's more a ritual spitting OUT than spitting tout
court. Suppose I want to refer to a colleague X and mistakenly
say 'Y' (the name of his late wife). Now, given that she's dead and
he isn't, I've said a very bad thing -- who knows what the powers
that be will conclude? -- so, as soon as I realize my error, I spit it out,
or rather, say 'Ptuh!' to the side and down. Note that #1 is
done smiling -- it's an act of joy -- while this one is a
response to a horrible thought. It would also be used if my
interlocuter tells me he'd rather die than eat oatmeal -- I
would acknowledge the horror of what he said (even if it was
intended figuratively) by a forceful 'Ptuh!' On a less PC
note, it was also used when passing a church (tho not in MY
family, she says proudly)...

--- end forwarded text