Fwd: on ritual spitting (continued)

[Gerald Cohen]

   My thanks to Larry Horn for checking. The response below from Ellen Prince is
interesting, but an important question remains: Why was spitting
believed to bring good luck (e.g., to the bride and later the
grandson in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding")? Or more specifically, why
was it believed to drive away devils?


Gerald Cohen

P.S. (Btw):  So "kinnehore" sometimes become "canary" in Brooklyn?
That's funny. ("Kinnehore"--kinn = German kein "no", "e" from Hebrew
'ayin "eye"; "ho" from Hebrew  ha "the", here functions as "of"; "re"
from Hebrew ra' "bad, evil", i.e. "No eye of evil," i.e. "No evil
eye," i.e. The evil eye should stay away.)




>At 10:54 AM -0500 3/9/03, Laurence Horn wrote:
>
>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