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Bread and Butter, a walking invocation

Anne just mentioned a few interesting quirky phrases she and her sisters use.

One is "bread and butter", used when two people are walking together and some obstacle comes up that will separate them -- just say "bread and butter" and it will be okay.  This would fall under phrases of superstition.  It's an incantation of sorts.  The idea is that bread and butter cannot be separated easily, so the two people walking will be safe from any misfortune.  In some reports, both people have to say it for it to have the desired effect.

I had never heard of this usage, but I'm sure I have heard similar things, like "step on a crack, break your father's back," meant to keep quirky influences away.

She says she has used it most of her life, and still thinks it in her head sometimes when a lamp post or some other obstacle comes up.  Wikipedia mentions it, without much history.

Hours later: Just now, we took a trip to target to buy some new sizes of luggage for a very confusing trip, and she went on the other side of a pole and said, "bread and butter".  I didn't know that was coming, so I did not join in.  So we're doomed now, because we didn't both beg for protection?  I thought of the cute variation that one person should say "bread" and the other should say "butter".

That should keep us together.

There are a lot of other ways that "bread and butter" are used.  I have future episodes planned ...

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