What was the first thing you said when you opened your eyes this morning? If it wasn’t ‘pinch punch first of the month’, then you’re doing everything wrong. Just kidding.
The first of each month normally stands for new beginnings, a new season or that you’re one step closer to something you’re super excited for.
It also calls for someone to run up to you, shout “a pinch and a punch for the first day of the month” loudly in your face and then run away. Some people follow it up with “white rabbits, no return!”.
SEE.
It has been instilled in us from childhood and it’s rumoured to be unlucky if you dont say it…
So what’s the story behind it all? Is there a story at all or did someone just make it up one day?
Turns out, the saying dates back to medieval times (possibly later) and boils down to our concrete fear of the supernatural.
Many believed in witches back then and would do almost everything in their power to get rid of them. They burnt innocent young women alive, they drowned them to test their ‘magic powers’ and practiced many weird and wonderful rituals to try and get rid of witches.
This is said to be where “pinch punch first of the month” hails from, a ritual practiced on the first day of each month.
Salt was believed to weaken witches so the “pinch” refers to a pinch of salt.
The “punch” is exactly what it is believed to be – a whack to try and get rid of the witch for good.
Saying “white rabbits” afterwards appears from a British folklore published in 1909 titled "Noted and Quries”.
“My two daughters are in the habit of saying ‘Rabbits!’ on the first day of each month.
“The word must be spoken aloud, and be the first word said in the month. It brings luck for that month. Other children, I find, use the same formula.”
So if you say ‘white rabbits’ afterwards, you are immune from people saying the same thing back to you. These days a simple 'No Returns' should suffice.
There is also a theory that George Washington could be behind the saying. When he met local Indian tribes on the first of each month with a gift of fruit punch with a pinch of salt added.
Hmmmm, we much prefer the witch and rabbits one. Don’t you?
We learn something new EVERY DAY.
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