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SB
miss_s_b
[theyorkshergob]
17 April 2008 @ 10:22 pm
Little Linguistic Oddities  
So we were in town this afternoon, and [info]shrublette was being careful not to tread on the Pavement Cracks, and [info]matgb asked why. Despite having read Hogfather, he still was unaware of the trope that if you tread on the cracks in the pavement, the bears will get you. I found this slightly understandable, as I had heard variations on it (such as the devil), but apparently he had no idea that anything specific might happen if you tread on pavement cracks, just something bad, maybe involving monsters of some kind...

Poll #1172860 Pavement Crack Enforcement Zone
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

What happens if you tread on the cracks in the pavement?

View Answers

the bees won't give you honey
0 (0.0%)

the bears will get you
12 (27.3%)

the devil will get you
2 (4.5%)

Bernard Black will get you*
2 (4.5%)

some unspecified monster will get you
2 (4.5%)

I don't know exactly, it's just unlucky!
9 (20.5%)

Something else.
17 (38.6%)



PS, [info]ginasketch, if everyone votes for #3, that's no excuse to go around leaping hopefully on pavement cracks, K? ;)

PPS, I really must find my "Pavement Crack Enforcement Zone" T-shirt



* why yes, I am watching my Black Books DVD box set, how did you guess!
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Cheeseman Quay: Emily scout[info]ms_ntropy on April 17th, 2008 09:32 pm (UTC)
If you step on cracks you'll break your mother's back.
Mrs. Sam Jones[info]bibliophile1887 on April 17th, 2008 10:03 pm (UTC)
Yup. Didn't step on cracks for years.
boxcarwilly[info]boxcarwilly on April 17th, 2008 11:30 pm (UTC)
That's the way it always goes in my head, too.
veritasema: Blackadder[info]veritasema on April 18th, 2008 01:24 am (UTC)
That was the trope in my 'hood. I was very careful.....
Liz Williams[info]lizw on April 18th, 2008 09:44 am (UTC)
I know it as "step on a crack, break your granny's back". I think I probably heard it in Dublin when we lived there from 1979-81. I'd look it up in Opie, but I have a sleepy kitten on my lap...
too short to be haughty, too nutty to be naughty[info]minnesattva on April 18th, 2008 08:39 pm (UTC)
Yep.
bagfish[info]bagfish on April 17th, 2008 09:39 pm (UTC)
My Dad told me that the bears would get me (if I trod on the cracks) when I was five or six which would have been hmmm, a long time ago (1977 - eeep)
SB[info]miss_s_b on April 17th, 2008 09:41 pm (UTC)
The year I was bornded!
Debi Linton: opinion[info]innerbrat on April 17th, 2008 09:40 pm (UTC)
Mat = fail.
Whenever I walk in a London Street
I'm ever so careful to watch my feet
And I stick to the squares
And the masses of bears
(Who wait round the corner all ready to eat
The sillies who tread on the lines of the street)
Go back to their lairs.
And I say to them, "Bears!
"Just look how I'm walking in all the squares!"
SB: JamesJamesMorrisonMorrisonWGDupree[info]miss_s_b on April 17th, 2008 09:42 pm (UTC)
Re: Mat = fail.
Indeed. Milne is something we all need more of. And Hilaire Belloc too.

(edited for icon)

Edited at 2008-04-17 09:43 pm (UTC)
Mat Bowles: Bitchcakes[info]matgb on April 17th, 2008 09:43 pm (UTC)
Re: Mat = great.
And how often did I walkk in London streets as a kid? 'twas all beaches and woods for me.

Also? Parents never really read me much Milne, no idea why.
Debi Linton: friend[info]innerbrat on April 17th, 2008 09:45 pm (UTC)
Re: Mat = fail.
See that? Ranks as child abuse in my book.
SB: Sci-fi - Star Trek hug[info]miss_s_b on April 17th, 2008 09:46 pm (UTC)
Re: Mat = fail.
I shall remedy this Milnelessness at the earliest opportunity.
a homicide blonde: Bettie omg[info]puddingcat on April 17th, 2008 09:52 pm (UTC)
Re: Mat = fail.
Exactly! How can anyone *not* know that?
The Evil Atheist Your Mother Warned You About: Cthulhu[info]davegodfrey on April 17th, 2008 10:42 pm (UTC)
Re: Mat = fail.
How does anyone not remember this?
William S. Burroughs' Tarzan[info]von_geisterhand on April 17th, 2008 09:58 pm (UTC)
I guess that's one piece of information I can thank my XGF for.

* why yes, I am watching my Black Books DVD box set, how did you guess!

Should do likewise, really. :-)
A Yorkshire Muffin: sga mckay thinks[info]muffin_nuffin on April 17th, 2008 09:58 pm (UTC)
I never heard a specific story, but it was an unspecified monster.

Me and the Sibling still do it to this day. Same goes for cobblestones, but one has to be pretty awake to cope with them.
Inspired by biology, powered by technology[info]nannyo on April 17th, 2008 09:58 pm (UTC)
you'll break your back! I would have liked to go and live with bears, after all, they had nice beds, and porridge and everything.
SB: Moods - Brain Hurts[info]miss_s_b on April 17th, 2008 10:12 pm (UTC)
The back thing is clearly USian... I don't like porridge :(
sylo_tode: Running[info]sylo_tode on April 17th, 2008 10:05 pm (UTC)
As Devo says,
Step on a crack, break your mama's back
Dr Beren: foot[info]tinuvielberen on April 17th, 2008 10:56 pm (UTC)
If you step on a crack with the gap between your heel and the sole of your shoe (i.e. the shoe never actually makes contact with the crack), then it's okay. Better, actually, than if you just avoid the crack.

Don't ask me why, but it just is.
Earth-bound misfit: are you my mummy?[info]captainlucy on April 17th, 2008 11:57 pm (UTC)
Whereas I have always been of the belief that if you step fully on the crack in the pavement, then there is no chance of you catching your toe on the crack and tripping over it.

I was just far, far too sensible as a nipper. :(
~ Abi[info]curlywhirly on April 18th, 2008 12:00 am (UTC)
Step on a line, you're doing fine.
Step on a crack, you'll break your back.

Something I knew as a UK kid, I think I read it in a book, so its not strictly "US-ian".
gina allnatt: batty 2[info]ginasketch on April 18th, 2008 04:10 am (UTC)
Damn this country is trying to raise a nation of Obsessive-Compulsives :P
hourglass croc[info]gazely on April 18th, 2008 06:34 am (UTC)
Yep, this is the version I have in mind too with the not-stepping-on-cracks thing. :)
caseytalk: black belt[info]caseytalk on April 18th, 2008 02:01 am (UTC)
My first thought is the same as the other uhmurrikins her,


Step on a crack, break your mother's back.

My kids have been known to step on them in front of me and look up, grinning.

I've also been Milne-d and know about bears and all, but my first thought is mom's back.
gina allnatt: secks[info]ginasketch on April 18th, 2008 04:12 am (UTC)
I don't want everyone to vote for 3. i want him ALL TO MYSELF.
SB[info]miss_s_b on April 18th, 2008 09:46 am (UTC)
LMAO I love you!
Eruvadhril Edainwen: roguedemonhunter[info]eruvadhril on April 18th, 2008 10:20 am (UTC)
"Fall and break your back". As kids, we used to have this rule about the black squares on the linoleum at the supermarket, too. The squares were just too wide for a normal stride, so we kids'd get around in a series of half-skipping-half-ballet-jump strides. Until we got tired and grumpy and demanded a Kinder Surprise and an icecream.
Then one day, for no good reason, the rule suddenly became that you had to walk exclusively on lines or cracks, and follow them like a tram line. I don't know why, but I have a feeling that lava was involved at some level.
Paul Alexander Mudie[info]pmoodie on April 18th, 2008 02:11 pm (UTC)
I thought it was "step on a crack, and break your back."

Maybe like many things, it's just more visceral and direct up here in Scotland. :)
I could crush you with my voice: adventure! : magically homosexual[info]strangefrontier on April 18th, 2008 02:47 pm (UTC)
I'm with the back-breaking crew, though I can't remember if it was breaking one's own back or one's mother's back.

At age 26 I still sometimes do the Pavement Dance Of No Crack-Steppage because it is silly and fun.
El Staplador[info]el_staplador on April 19th, 2008 08:54 am (UTC)
What [info]innerbrat said. Also, everyone knows that cybermen come out of manholes.