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Hiccups superstitions

Hiccups superstitions: someone is thinking or talking about you; naming the right person stops them. First recorded in Antiquity; the being-talked-about version widespread by the 1600s, it is about 426 years old — the 21st oldest of the 40 superstitions we have dated. A diaphragm spasm, usually from eating fast or swallowing air. Hiccups lasting more than 48 hours are a medical sign.

When it actually starts

How old is this one

First recorded Antiquity; the being-talked-about version widespread by the 1600s
That makes it about 426 years old
Rank by age 21 oldest of 40 dated here
Category Body
Searched 480 a month

Same family as sneezing and itching — an involuntary body event with no obvious cause, so it acquired a social one.

Why it stuck. Hiccups stop on their own within minutes, so whatever you did last appears to have worked. This is the clearest self-confirming loop in the set.

What people say

Someone is thinking or talking about you; naming the right person stops them.

What is going on

A diaphragm spasm, usually from eating fast or swallowing air. Hiccups lasting more than 48 hours are a medical sign.

Where it applies. The talked-about interpretation appears independently across Europe, India and East Asia.

Other body superstitions

Itchy palm 2,590/mo Sneezing omens 1,000/mo Ringing in the ears 880/mo Left hand superstitions 2,590/mo Right hand superstitions 2,400/mo Pregnancy superstitions 1,030/mo

Recorded around the same time

Hiccups superstitions is the 21th oldest of the 40 dated superstitions here. Of those, 6 are younger than a century and 5 predate the common era.

Black cat crossing your path 1560 Walking under a ladder 1600 Horseshoe over the door 1600 Cricket superstitions 1600

First-recorded dates are the earliest documented appearance in written sources, not the earliest possible origin — an unrecorded practice can be older. How the dating works and where it is uncertain →