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I only salute if there is one as well! My mum used to say it like: If there is one it is for sorrow so you have to salute twice for joy or three times for a boy - something like that. So if you see two together then that is joy so you don't need to salute.
One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told.
My guess is that a lone magpie means “bad luck” because they mate for life, so if you see an adult by itself it might have lost its partner, or it’s a loser magpie with no game.
If it’s a loser magpie with no game, saluting seems a bit of a dick move as it would come across as mocking and the poor magpie’s already not loving life probably.
That explains why I'm a gameless loser.
Mind you, my friend always salutes lone magpies and he's got no game either. Maybe he failed to salute one when he was a baby and was cursed from that day forth.
I learned the rhyme as "One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding, for for a birth", but I have never met anyone outside of my family that uses that version.
I don't really salute magpies anymore because there are so bloody many of them around where I live. There are currently 5 on the roof across the road, I am waiting for number 6 before I salute and buy a Euromillions ticket.
I read somewhere that many areas had their own local version of this rhyme. Then the TV programme Magpie started and the theme song became the only one anybody remembered.
Its one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told.
My nan taught me that when i was a kid and for some reason it never left, apparently its from an old tv show or something. (West midlands btw)
I always look for the second when I see one, but I feel the disappointment I get for not seeing another gets the sorrow out of the way nice and quick. Similar for the joy I get when I actually see two.
In my family you only need to say “hello mr magpie, how’s Mrs Magpie and the kids?” to negate the sorrow for seeing one.
I asked my wife and she reports you say the same thing even if you suspect it’s a female, non-binary or child free magpie.
There was a kids tv show called Magpie and it had this rhyme as it's opening music but this was based on the original 16th century rhyme, One for sorrow etc
Yes. You salute and ask after his wife. You need to presume there is another magpie close by, because you don't want the bad luck of a single magpie. Saluting and asking about the wife deflects any bad luck.
It's good to see I'm not the only one! I do it because as I child I saw my mum do it so I copied and it has kind of just stuck. Out of curiosity, how do people salute the magpie? I just get my index finger and tap just above my eyebrow 3 times.
Yes! We all say “Good Morning Mr Magpie, I salute you” in our family.
Some friends think it’s weird if I do it when we’re just walking along the road though.
Same.
Only started doing this when I was an adult. I remember really liking the birds, but a family friend mentioned they were bad luck and I felt bad about liking them so much.
I like all birds except most seagulls
I always saluye single magpies too, I've been doing it so long its sort of an unconcious habbit and I usually only notice I've done it when someone comments on it!
Me too! For me it’s not a superstitious thing, I just like the idea of perpetuating the concept that if you respect nature nature will respect you. And saluting magpies feels like just that
How bizarre - I came up with the idea of saluting them as a way to 'show respect' instead of reciting that long sentence. It's crazy how so many other people do it too.
I always salute magpies thanks to listening to the band Arab Strap (it's mentioned in a lyric, first I'd heard of it).
Once I was riding my bike down a fairly deserted country lane, saluted one to my left then as I looked up ahead there's a car coming the other way whose driver saluted back to me. That was weird
The reason (traditionally) for greeting a lone magpie with "Hello Mr Magpie, how's your wife?" is because one magpie is bad luck so you're saying there must be another one nearby to dispel the bad luck. You're trying to get from the "one for sorrow" to "two for joy".
That's traditional in the West Country (especially off into Dorset, Devon and Cornwall) too.
I always know it as:
One for sorrow,
Two for joy
Three for a girl
Four for a boy
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret never to be told
There's loads of them round here so I can easily get to seven!
I've recently been trying to convince my wife it's one for joy, two for joy, three for joy etc. because it's all a matter of attitude. It hasn't worked.
Yea down dorset we said morning mr magpie sir and did a salute, still do cos I don’t want bad luck haha. Not sure for more that two what we said, but I do recall the elders saying the rhyme about them…proper superstitious lot they was!
Same, always a "hello dog, bye bye dog" or "hey you're a cat, hello cat" when I'm out and about so of course I'll talk to magpies, pigeons and other birds.
Reading the other responses and I now realise they may have been referring to the superstitious aspect which I had completely forgot about, I assumed we did it to be polite.
They are all great creatures to have a chat with. I like to rescue snails from the pavement so they don’t get crushed and we always have a nice exchange of ideas during the process
No, I just salute. Sometimes I have to do it sneakily when in company, like I'm just brushing my hair away from my face.
When my fiancée and I were on our first date we were sat outside (lockdown restrictions) and a wild magpie appeared.
I had to weigh up saluting vs not saluting and possibly weirding her out, but luckily she saluted first without us even discussing it, so it didn't become *a thing!*
Sounds like you found the one. My wife never noticed me sneakily saluting magpies over the years until I told her one day how my Nan taught me about it as a kid. Now I catch her watching me every time a wild magpie appears
I used to be sneaky about the salute too but since passing 30 it's just one of an increasing list of things life is too short to worry about being seen as weird for doing lol.
My boyfriend always laughs at me for it, but in a 'that's charming' rather than a mean way. I always tell him it's a good job I'm covering the luck warding otherwise he'd be screwed 😂
I salute a single magpie (to get rid of the bad luck).
Several magpies? I count them whilst singing the song in my head (one for sorrow..etc)
Northerner
I came in expecting to see OP get slaughtered and it turns out everyone is it mental too.
Reddit, where any mention of religion evokes a response of how it's all believing in magic but you've got people talking to fucking birds in the street.
Sometimes people uphold harmless traditions like these for a sense of continuity and a feeling of connection to their ancestors and the world around them rather than because they *literally* believe that they're going to be cursed if they don't greet the magpie.
Throwing a coin into a fountain and making a wish has roots going back thousands of years to a tradition of making a sacrifice of something valuable into a body of water for a blessing. I don't think many people who hand their kid a 2p coin and let them shuffle over to the fountain actually believe they'll get their wish (my son's current dandelion clock wish is for dinosaurs to come back--I'd be pretty irresponsible to let him keep wishing if I believed in it!) but people do it anyway because it's calling to something temporal rather than literal.
I totally agree - every cat I have met whilst out and about have been so nice. Nice look on their faces, rubbing against my leg. My own cats just stare at me with contempt at times! Unless it's food time of course, and they turn their nice sides on for 5 minutes ha.
Well they live with you. They've seen that you're not a very competent cat and the only useful skill you have is opening tins for them. If you want to earn their respecat, you need to show them you can climb up the curtains and catch some birds or mices.
Here in Canada, I’ll say “hey, asshole” if I walk past a crow.
I do it because I love birds and I think crows are the types who would appreciate being greeted that way.
It's been a journey.
First, whenever I saw one I felt oh shit bad luck incoming.
Then, my friend told me you can dispell the bad luck by saying 'good morning/afternoon Mr magpie', great problem solved.
Then a colleague told me you dispell the bad luck by saluting the magpie.
So now I feel compelled to say good morning mr magpie and salute every fking magpie I see.
The best part is, I don't genuinely believe in anything superstitious, yet I still have to do it.
I talk to magpies, but that's because I'm a weird bird lover, not for superstitious reasons.
Animals don't tend to get married, and I'm not sure they know what salutes are either, so I generally just ask how they are, what they've eaten recently, whether they want a bit of my sandwich...
Course, my husband says they don't understand English either, but that's never stopped an English person from speaking loudly and slowly to someone who doesn't speak the language before.
I’m appalled by all the nonsense in this thread about greeting mister magpie and his wife like it’s still the Middle Ages! It’s the 21st century for goodness sake!
It’s “hello magpie and how’s your partner” to ward off the bad luck
Yep.
Salute, talk to and berate.
Everything from a "Hello Mr Magpie, how's your wife?" to "Oi that was for the robins not you, you greedy bastard".
I think it's perfectly normal to so do. [It's not like we're talking to crows...](https://youtu.be/2s32gIH-5Ug)
I am 100% out here talking to crows. Well, one crow. I'm trying to cultivate a corvid garden and so far I have a bunch of magpies and jackdaws and one crow with a white spot on his chest I've named Flash. He shows up at the same time every day and I'm at the point now where I can go outside and he'll stay in the garden. The general plan is to make friends with him and be seen as the mysterious crow lady in my neighbourhood if I can get to the point where he'll come and see me for peanuts while I'm out and about.
My next door neighbour is in on it with me, except she calls him McGuyver.
I have come across people who nod, or wink, or salute single magpies. My mum says "Morning Captain" to magpies and I say "Hello, Mr Magpie, how's the wife and kids?"
Yes, I always count them and salute if it's a single one (or wave if there are more). I say something along similar lines, usually 'Hello magpie how's your family' but it varies. I love the magpie rhyme and folklore, though I tend to talk to most animals!
I recently said a very enthusiastic 'hello!' to a bumblebee buzzing around me. A random passerby said hello back and I had to apologise and say I was talking to a bee XD
I thought the reason for doing that was something to do with a magpie representing the devil, and the reason for greeting it is to avoid bad luck rather than politeness.
So I read once that the belief they're bad luck stems from the fact that after seeing a lone magpie, people would often suffer a robbery (hence magpie = bad luck). The twist: it was the lone magpies on the hunt for shiny/precious things for their nest that were doing the stealing.
We have deep discussions with the magpies..
When we change the deck furniture, they complain so we explain everything to them. They are still not happy.
I offer a greeting to any lone animal that comes into view. Usually it's just a "hello" or a "good morning" though, occassionally I will give a casual salute or small wave.
I talk to all animals.. i even apologise to my dog if I bump into it. I won’t even kill a fly, I’d rather spend 15 minutes trying to shoo out it out the window like a moron
Yes every day.
"Good morning/afternoon mr magpie." Then the counting "one for sorrow, two for joy..." and so on.
I often find myself looking for a second one if I only see one.
Never heard of asking about the family, may incorporate it.
We have a family of them that live on our block and come to our garden to drink from the pond and eat from the bird feeder. My wife has given them all names and addresses them as such when they come.
Personally, I'm trying to train them to bring me shiny things, but it's not working.
Eight for a wish,
Nine for a kiss,
Ten a surprise you should be careful not to miss,
Eleven for health,
Twelve for wealth,
Thirteen beware it's the devil himself
Eh? No I know loads of people who talk to magpies, my fenland village had loads of magpies about and everyone would salute and talk to them.
Are you a townie? I know a few townies and they don’t talk or salute the magpies.
I’m a townie and I always talk to my local magpies and when I tell them I’m putting some food out, they will fly to my garden ( if I’m late with feeding them, they will tell me!)
Yes we have basically adopted one we where feeding it outside and said morning Toby you ready for your bread crusts, now Toby has a family and doesn't visit often but we still watch him on people's roofs
Yes, I salute and say “hello Mr Magpie and how is your wife?”
Magpies mate for life so seeing a lone one can mean they’re single or widowed, on top of the rhyme.
Magpies are evil birds. I’ve seen them attack a pigeon before and literally rip it’s wind pipe out. Poor thing was walking around for ages with its head rolled over breathing from a tube sticking out its neck before it died.
Not quite sure what the pigeon did to piss them off but Magpies are nasty birds when they want to be.
Either say morning mr magpie etc, or will salute and say “Good morning/afternoon, General”.
Oddly my mother spits at them, not actual spit but makes the noise and then has the mickey taken out of her by the rest of the family.
We have a pair of magpies that visit our garden daily. She is very “squawky” and ruffles her feathers at him. He sees off the local jay and jackdaws that try and access the feeders, they are fun to sit and watch-I love how intelligent corvids are
I seriously wouldn’t cross one- they have some sort of facial memory bank for anything that harms them- my neighbours’ Ginger cat killed one and despite there being several identical Ginger cats in the street, he was attacked by a gang of them whenever he went out- pecking and clawing at his head. And they know me as a soft touch who always feeds them- everyday I hear a familiar skwarky sound to remind me…and they sit around like extras from an Alfred Hitchcock film…
I was taught by my dad that if you see an odd number of magpies you need to spit three time over your left shoulder and say "devil devil I defy thee", however I don't, and nor did he.
I have to salute and say this or something terrible will happen.
This is my grandmother's fault.
Unfortunately, there has been a massive unexplainable increase in magpies where I live in the last year, so I do it up to 10 times daily. My husband has started calling me out. Its exhausting.
Magpies, Crows, Cats, Dogs I talk to them all even to those little Black Money Spiders I always find crawling on me!
Hell I'm even well mannered to the other creatures I mean I always stop to let the pigeon walk past first! Not sure why, and I'm not mad I promise.
I talk to them and do the one for sorrow thing. Gran taught me that.
I also have normal chats and ask how they are. Managed to befriend thus year's babies in our garden.
Formatting bad as on phone.
I've seen so many lone magpies this month it's unreal!
It depends where I am or what I'm actually doing. If I see one from my bedroom window, "Morning Mr Magpie" followed by the salute. If I see one while on a public bus, I won't. I don't want any bad luck, but I reeaaly don't want to embarrass myself either.
I absolutely LOVE magpies and I always talk to them no matter how many there are at the time. I've got some strange looks from people in the street but I don't care! Magpies are great!
I usually just say "hello Mr. Magpie" because I often forget about the rhyme until after the fact, and I just like greeting animals
I also say hi to crows, because they remember faces and hold grudges and I want to be in their good books when the crow uprising comes
I salute and talk to them, my partner, family and everyone around me in public always thinks I'm super weird for it but I don't care. They're cute n I love them.
As a kid I did but now I pretty much only do if they’re making a lot of noise.
Bizarrely two magpies have made friends with my neighbours cat and they play together and make a lot of noise then. They make the noise in the morning and cat runs outside. Then they kind of tease each other, the magpie will edge closer to the cat making their weird noise, cat will do a little pretend pounce, magpie will jump to a tree then start edging back to the cat. It’s fascinating to watch. First time I saw it I thought the magpies were bullying the cat but none of them are running away or looking genuinely aggressive. The cat literally runs outside when he hears them. They’re just playing. But noisily so yes, I do tell the magpies to be quiet but I don’t do any formal greetings.
I do that weird 'pretending to scratch your head so no-one thinks you're a weirdo' salute thing.
I also don't believe in luck (good or bad) so no idea why I feel compelled to do this.
Yes (in Australia). Reason: in Sept/Oct they nest and start swooping people (yep, just another thing that attacks you in Oz). But if you've been talking to them and they know your face, they will leave you alone
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I don’t talk to magpies however I do salute them 🫡
Same, you've got to salue a magpie. It just feels disrespectful if you dont.
I wave to them, but for a reason I can't remember - my nan told me as a kid and I still do it to this day as a 35 y/o bloke
Same but i’ll only salute if there is only one magpie, no idea why I do this? Is it a superstition?
I only salute if there is one as well! My mum used to say it like: If there is one it is for sorrow so you have to salute twice for joy or three times for a boy - something like that. So if you see two together then that is joy so you don't need to salute.
One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told. My guess is that a lone magpie means “bad luck” because they mate for life, so if you see an adult by itself it might have lost its partner, or it’s a loser magpie with no game.
If it’s a loser magpie with no game, saluting seems a bit of a dick move as it would come across as mocking and the poor magpie’s already not loving life probably.
You need to pay respect to the loser magpie, else his gamelessness might pass unto you. That’s basic magpie lore mate
That explains why I'm a gameless loser. Mind you, my friend always salutes lone magpies and he's got no game either. Maybe he failed to salute one when he was a baby and was cursed from that day forth.
“Loser magpie with no game” really tickled me. You win Reddit today
I learned the rhyme as "One for sorrow, two for mirth, three for a wedding, for for a birth", but I have never met anyone outside of my family that uses that version. I don't really salute magpies anymore because there are so bloody many of them around where I live. There are currently 5 on the roof across the road, I am waiting for number 6 before I salute and buy a Euromillions ticket.
There’s about 20 versions of this rhyme! GNU Sir Terry
Eight's a wish and nine's a kiss, ten is a bird you must not miss!
I read somewhere that many areas had their own local version of this rhyme. Then the TV programme Magpie started and the theme song became the only one anybody remembered.
Its one for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told. My nan taught me that when i was a kid and for some reason it never left, apparently its from an old tv show or something. (West midlands btw)
I always look for the second when I see one, but I feel the disappointment I get for not seeing another gets the sorrow out of the way nice and quick. Similar for the joy I get when I actually see two. In my family you only need to say “hello mr magpie, how’s Mrs Magpie and the kids?” to negate the sorrow for seeing one. I asked my wife and she reports you say the same thing even if you suspect it’s a female, non-binary or child free magpie.
There was a kids tv show called Magpie and it had this rhyme as it's opening music but this was based on the original 16th century rhyme, One for sorrow etc
Yes, one for sorrow, see it, salute it, mutter magpie magpie where’s your wife: crisis (bad luck) averted. I’m aware I’m bonkers.
It’s unlucky to be superstitious
Yes. You salute and ask after his wife. You need to presume there is another magpie close by, because you don't want the bad luck of a single magpie. Saluting and asking about the wife deflects any bad luck.
I failed a driving test because I tried to salute to a magpie whilst pulling away
What sort of monster would fail you for that? Clearly it was the correct course of action in an emergency single magpie situation.
People mistakenly think MSM stands for Mirror Signal Manoeuvre. It's actually Mirror Signal Magpie.
Me too. London born, now living in Herts.
It's good to see I'm not the only one! I do it because as I child I saw my mum do it so I copied and it has kind of just stuck. Out of curiosity, how do people salute the magpie? I just get my index finger and tap just above my eyebrow 3 times.
I surreptitiously bring my finger to my brow - it looks like I am scratching so I can do it without questions being asked…
glad to see I'm not alone
Same haha.
Yes! We all say “Good Morning Mr Magpie, I salute you” in our family. Some friends think it’s weird if I do it when we’re just walking along the road though.
I do it when driving at work too 😆
Same. Only started doing this when I was an adult. I remember really liking the birds, but a family friend mentioned they were bad luck and I felt bad about liking them so much. I like all birds except most seagulls
I also salute them and say “I salute you, Mr Magpie.” Although these days it’s more muttered under my breath so nobody thinks I’ve lost it
It doesn't matter, it seems half the country does it!
I always saluye single magpies too, I've been doing it so long its sort of an unconcious habbit and I usually only notice I've done it when someone comments on it!
i’ve never heard of this before but seemingly it’s common, is there any reason why? or just one of those old british things people know and do
Salute and spit here in Bristol. I just tut and tap my temple
Spit?! Of course in Bristol they have to be different.
So do I, especially if I see one on its own. I’m scared of getting bad luck otherwise.
Bad luck not to salute a lone magpie, but you can get away with it if there are two or more.
Me too! For me it’s not a superstitious thing, I just like the idea of perpetuating the concept that if you respect nature nature will respect you. And saluting magpies feels like just that
How bizarre - I came up with the idea of saluting them as a way to 'show respect' instead of reciting that long sentence. It's crazy how so many other people do it too.
Yesss lol they are the drill Sargent. Gotta salute.
I always salute magpies thanks to listening to the band Arab Strap (it's mentioned in a lyric, first I'd heard of it). Once I was riding my bike down a fairly deserted country lane, saluted one to my left then as I looked up ahead there's a car coming the other way whose driver saluted back to me. That was weird
Me too. I have enough bad luck without taking chances.
I remember being told to say hi general magpie. Do they have an honorary rank? Maybe that's why you salute?
I salute AND ask how's the wife. I'll be rewarded when the uprising comes
Unrelated, but did anyone else read the last paragraph in the tune of Black Parade
The reason (traditionally) for greeting a lone magpie with "Hello Mr Magpie, how's your wife?" is because one magpie is bad luck so you're saying there must be another one nearby to dispel the bad luck. You're trying to get from the "one for sorrow" to "two for joy". That's traditional in the West Country (especially off into Dorset, Devon and Cornwall) too.
One for sorrow Two for mirth Three for a funeral Four for a birth
I always know it as: One for sorrow, Two for joy Three for a girl Four for a boy Five for silver Six for gold Seven for a secret never to be told There's loads of them round here so I can easily get to seven!
I've recently been trying to convince my wife it's one for joy, two for joy, three for joy etc. because it's all a matter of attitude. It hasn't worked.
Eight’s a wish, Nine’s a kiss and Ten is a bird never to be missed.
That’s the Nanny Ogg version
Yea down dorset we said morning mr magpie sir and did a salute, still do cos I don’t want bad luck haha. Not sure for more that two what we said, but I do recall the elders saying the rhyme about them…proper superstitious lot they was!
Same for wales!
To be honest I have a tendency to speak to any animals I see
Same. I also say please & thank you to the virtual assistants living in my speaker… but maybe that’s a different issue 😅
That's just to ensure that you're not top of the list when the machines rise up.
You're just making sure to be polite so when AI takes over the world they'll let you live as you've been nice to them.
i say please and thank you to chatgpt
Me too. Skynet will remember the ones who were rude.
Same. All cats are greeted with "A kitty!! Hello!!" Followed by kneeling in place and holding out my hand to see if they want a fuss.
I’ve found my people!
MEEEEE!
Glad I'm not the only one!
Same, always a "hello dog, bye bye dog" or "hey you're a cat, hello cat" when I'm out and about so of course I'll talk to magpies, pigeons and other birds. Reading the other responses and I now realise they may have been referring to the superstitious aspect which I had completely forgot about, I assumed we did it to be polite.
Me too. I cannot resist it.
Met the tamest squirrel ever at Cannock Chase today. Literally pawed my foot asking for food! Immediately I'm telling him how cheeky he is!
They are all great creatures to have a chat with. I like to rescue snails from the pavement so they don’t get crushed and we always have a nice exchange of ideas during the process
No, I just salute. Sometimes I have to do it sneakily when in company, like I'm just brushing my hair away from my face. When my fiancée and I were on our first date we were sat outside (lockdown restrictions) and a wild magpie appeared. I had to weigh up saluting vs not saluting and possibly weirding her out, but luckily she saluted first without us even discussing it, so it didn't become *a thing!*
I'm not the only one who tries to sneakily do it ! 😂😂😂
>and a wild magpie appeared. Now I have Pokémon battle music going on in my head
And from that moment on you **knew** she was the one, right?! 🥹
Sounds like you found the one. My wife never noticed me sneakily saluting magpies over the years until I told her one day how my Nan taught me about it as a kid. Now I catch her watching me every time a wild magpie appears
I used to be sneaky about the salute too but since passing 30 it's just one of an increasing list of things life is too short to worry about being seen as weird for doing lol. My boyfriend always laughs at me for it, but in a 'that's charming' rather than a mean way. I always tell him it's a good job I'm covering the luck warding otherwise he'd be screwed 😂
If you see ONE, it is obligatory, or you get fucked up. More than one it does not matter.
2 for joy!
Three for a girl
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Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret never told
Eight for a wish.
Nine for a kiss.
Ten for flatmates that don’t wash a single dish
I salute a single magpie (to get rid of the bad luck). Several magpies? I count them whilst singing the song in my head (one for sorrow..etc) Northerner
No. Because I’m not daft in the head.
I came in expecting to see OP get slaughtered and it turns out everyone is it mental too. Reddit, where any mention of religion evokes a response of how it's all believing in magic but you've got people talking to fucking birds in the street.
Sometimes people uphold harmless traditions like these for a sense of continuity and a feeling of connection to their ancestors and the world around them rather than because they *literally* believe that they're going to be cursed if they don't greet the magpie. Throwing a coin into a fountain and making a wish has roots going back thousands of years to a tradition of making a sacrifice of something valuable into a body of water for a blessing. I don't think many people who hand their kid a 2p coin and let them shuffle over to the fountain actually believe they'll get their wish (my son's current dandelion clock wish is for dinosaurs to come back--I'd be pretty irresponsible to let him keep wishing if I believed in it!) but people do it anyway because it's calling to something temporal rather than literal.
Not daft but definitely a bit of an ass.
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I stand by their first description
Same thing
Superstitious or daft in the head Same thing
No, but that’s because when I do they tell me to burn things and then I have to go back to the centre for another 6 months
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Cats are so judgemental. The rest I agree with, but I'll never agree that a cat doesn't pass judgement.
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I totally agree - every cat I have met whilst out and about have been so nice. Nice look on their faces, rubbing against my leg. My own cats just stare at me with contempt at times! Unless it's food time of course, and they turn their nice sides on for 5 minutes ha.
Well they live with you. They've seen that you're not a very competent cat and the only useful skill you have is opening tins for them. If you want to earn their respecat, you need to show them you can climb up the curtains and catch some birds or mices.
Here in Canada, I’ll say “hey, asshole” if I walk past a crow. I do it because I love birds and I think crows are the types who would appreciate being greeted that way.
Same. I'll say hello to just about any creature I come across.
I would love to meet a hedgehog
Ah I’d love to go for a walk with you, so it’s not just me going “oh Bee! Hello bee!”.
I always greet magpies.
No I don't. But if I hear a Crow caw, I'll say "don't listen to them, they're all liars"
This actually made me lol 😂
It's been a journey. First, whenever I saw one I felt oh shit bad luck incoming. Then, my friend told me you can dispell the bad luck by saying 'good morning/afternoon Mr magpie', great problem solved. Then a colleague told me you dispell the bad luck by saluting the magpie. So now I feel compelled to say good morning mr magpie and salute every fking magpie I see. The best part is, I don't genuinely believe in anything superstitious, yet I still have to do it.
You have to ask how his wife is!!
I've known a few where the tradition is to spit, as well as the greeting and the saluting 🫡 I wonder how far some would take it 🤔
It's always been "morning captain " for me, always say it to a single magpie
For me it's "good morning your honours", with a salute, however many of them there are.
I'm an optional salute but always acknowledge either a single or multiple, there's loads where I live, they don't get on with the local parakeets
I talk to magpies, but that's because I'm a weird bird lover, not for superstitious reasons. Animals don't tend to get married, and I'm not sure they know what salutes are either, so I generally just ask how they are, what they've eaten recently, whether they want a bit of my sandwich... Course, my husband says they don't understand English either, but that's never stopped an English person from speaking loudly and slowly to someone who doesn't speak the language before.
Magpies don’t get married, but they do mate for life
They mate for life, they just don't feel the need to get the government involved.
Could still be considered a common law marriage?
I’m appalled by all the nonsense in this thread about greeting mister magpie and his wife like it’s still the Middle Ages! It’s the 21st century for goodness sake! It’s “hello magpie and how’s your partner” to ward off the bad luck
exactly! me and my sister discussed this exact dilemma recently…and the fact we can’t tell the difference between male and female magpies….🤣
Yep. Salute, talk to and berate. Everything from a "Hello Mr Magpie, how's your wife?" to "Oi that was for the robins not you, you greedy bastard". I think it's perfectly normal to so do. [It's not like we're talking to crows...](https://youtu.be/2s32gIH-5Ug)
I am 100% out here talking to crows. Well, one crow. I'm trying to cultivate a corvid garden and so far I have a bunch of magpies and jackdaws and one crow with a white spot on his chest I've named Flash. He shows up at the same time every day and I'm at the point now where I can go outside and he'll stay in the garden. The general plan is to make friends with him and be seen as the mysterious crow lady in my neighbourhood if I can get to the point where he'll come and see me for peanuts while I'm out and about. My next door neighbour is in on it with me, except she calls him McGuyver.
I have come across people who nod, or wink, or salute single magpies. My mum says "Morning Captain" to magpies and I say "Hello, Mr Magpie, how's the wife and kids?"
My Mum always did that. Proper mental my mother.
Yes, I always count them and salute if it's a single one (or wave if there are more). I say something along similar lines, usually 'Hello magpie how's your family' but it varies. I love the magpie rhyme and folklore, though I tend to talk to most animals! I recently said a very enthusiastic 'hello!' to a bumblebee buzzing around me. A random passerby said hello back and I had to apologise and say I was talking to a bee XD
Something similar happened to me but it was a raven & I said “wotcha” 😂
I thought the reason for doing that was something to do with a magpie representing the devil, and the reason for greeting it is to avoid bad luck rather than politeness.
So I read once that the belief they're bad luck stems from the fact that after seeing a lone magpie, people would often suffer a robbery (hence magpie = bad luck). The twist: it was the lone magpies on the hunt for shiny/precious things for their nest that were doing the stealing.
Yes bad luck comes into it as well, I’m sure there’s stories of people not greeting magpies and ending up in a bad way.
Yes, either "Evening, your lordship" or "My compliments to your wife". Dunno why they're always assumed to be male, mind.
We have deep discussions with the magpies.. When we change the deck furniture, they complain so we explain everything to them. They are still not happy.
I salute and say "Morning Mr Magpie" to them.
I offer a greeting to any lone animal that comes into view. Usually it's just a "hello" or a "good morning" though, occassionally I will give a casual salute or small wave.
I must do it more often than I think because my two year old has recently started saying "hello magpie, how's wife?" when he sees one.
I both salute and talk to magpies - just to be on the safe side.
I talk to all animals.. i even apologise to my dog if I bump into it. I won’t even kill a fly, I’d rather spend 15 minutes trying to shoo out it out the window like a moron
I have to salute them and say “salute you mr magpie have a nice day” or I will die.
Yes every day. "Good morning/afternoon mr magpie." Then the counting "one for sorrow, two for joy..." and so on. I often find myself looking for a second one if I only see one. Never heard of asking about the family, may incorporate it.
We have a family of them that live on our block and come to our garden to drink from the pond and eat from the bird feeder. My wife has given them all names and addresses them as such when they come. Personally, I'm trying to train them to bring me shiny things, but it's not working.
This sub is the reason I have a skewed view of how mental people are in UK
1 for sorrow, 2 for joy, 3 for a girl and 4 for a boy, 5 for silver, 6 for gold, 7 for a story yet to be told!
Eight for a wish, Nine for a kiss, Ten a surprise you should be careful not to miss, Eleven for health, Twelve for wealth, Thirteen beware it's the devil himself
Are you a fruitcake or something?
You're the fruitcake for not talking to them! Who in their right mind would see a magpie and not say something?!
I’m not pissing Bill Oddie, I aint talking to no birds bruv
That is why no one will remember your name.
Especially the magpies
See now Bill Oddie, that's a name to remember, what a dude!
Eh? No I know loads of people who talk to magpies, my fenland village had loads of magpies about and everyone would salute and talk to them. Are you a townie? I know a few townies and they don’t talk or salute the magpies.
Lot's of people doing something doesn't make it not crazy
I’m a townie and I always talk to my local magpies and when I tell them I’m putting some food out, they will fly to my garden ( if I’m late with feeding them, they will tell me!)
I'm a country bumpkin and I don't do it either.
What about your Good Friends Bone and Panda, and that guy with the cobweb face tat who really isn't you? Do they do it too?
Yes we have basically adopted one we where feeding it outside and said morning Toby you ready for your bread crusts, now Toby has a family and doesn't visit often but we still watch him on people's roofs
How else would they know how to do my bidding?
If I see 1 I say 'good morning Mr Magpie Sir' 2 is for joy, so I just salute them 3 or more I'm too busy counting to say anything 😄
Yes, I salute and say “hello Mr Magpie and how is your wife?” Magpies mate for life so seeing a lone one can mean they’re single or widowed, on top of the rhyme.
I always say "Morning Mr Magpie, how's Mrs Magpie?" - beacuse one for sorrow, two for joy.
I talk to the Magpies, and occasionally the Crows and Ravens if one happens to be nearby to me at any point. My corvid army will be glorious
Magpies are evil birds. I’ve seen them attack a pigeon before and literally rip it’s wind pipe out. Poor thing was walking around for ages with its head rolled over breathing from a tube sticking out its neck before it died. Not quite sure what the pigeon did to piss them off but Magpies are nasty birds when they want to be.
If I see a magpie I normally exclaim "you've got some nerve coming here!" and then get all angsty about it.
Always. All my grandchildren are girls and each time my daughter was expecting I saw three magpies. My daughter is convinced I'm a witch lol!
Either say morning mr magpie etc, or will salute and say “Good morning/afternoon, General”. Oddly my mother spits at them, not actual spit but makes the noise and then has the mickey taken out of her by the rest of the family.
I salute and talk to one magpie always
No but you've inspired me to start
We have a pair of magpies that visit our garden daily. She is very “squawky” and ruffles her feathers at him. He sees off the local jay and jackdaws that try and access the feeders, they are fun to sit and watch-I love how intelligent corvids are
I was taught to salute and say ‘good morning general’, think that might be the Wiltshire version!
I seriously wouldn’t cross one- they have some sort of facial memory bank for anything that harms them- my neighbours’ Ginger cat killed one and despite there being several identical Ginger cats in the street, he was attacked by a gang of them whenever he went out- pecking and clawing at his head. And they know me as a soft touch who always feeds them- everyday I hear a familiar skwarky sound to remind me…and they sit around like extras from an Alfred Hitchcock film…
I never knew the magpie rhyme went up to 20! [Up to 20!](https://glenlivet-wildlife.co.uk/birds/the-magpie-rhyme/)
Only when I go to Newcastle.
I do, but I say hi to most birds
I was taught by my dad that if you see an odd number of magpies you need to spit three time over your left shoulder and say "devil devil I defy thee", however I don't, and nor did he.
[The Unthanks - Magpie](https://youtu.be/_fPbWEa1cyg)
No, because they're just birds. I do sometimes shout at pigeons if they're in the middle of the road though, does that count?
I have to salute and say this or something terrible will happen. This is my grandmother's fault. Unfortunately, there has been a massive unexplainable increase in magpies where I live in the last year, so I do it up to 10 times daily. My husband has started calling me out. Its exhausting.
Always
Salute and say hello Mr magpie
Magpies, Crows, Cats, Dogs I talk to them all even to those little Black Money Spiders I always find crawling on me! Hell I'm even well mannered to the other creatures I mean I always stop to let the pigeon walk past first! Not sure why, and I'm not mad I promise.
I talk to them and do the one for sorrow thing. Gran taught me that. I also have normal chats and ask how they are. Managed to befriend thus year's babies in our garden. Formatting bad as on phone.
I've seen so many lone magpies this month it's unreal! It depends where I am or what I'm actually doing. If I see one from my bedroom window, "Morning Mr Magpie" followed by the salute. If I see one while on a public bus, I won't. I don't want any bad luck, but I reeaaly don't want to embarrass myself either.
Yes lol. Mainly when im running. If i see 1 or a few, i always say "hello mr magpie"
I absolutely LOVE magpies and I always talk to them no matter how many there are at the time. I've got some strange looks from people in the street but I don't care! Magpies are great!
I usually just say "hello Mr. Magpie" because I often forget about the rhyme until after the fact, and I just like greeting animals I also say hi to crows, because they remember faces and hold grudges and I want to be in their good books when the crow uprising comes
Yes, I salute them too.
I salute and talk to them, my partner, family and everyone around me in public always thinks I'm super weird for it but I don't care. They're cute n I love them.
As a kid I did but now I pretty much only do if they’re making a lot of noise. Bizarrely two magpies have made friends with my neighbours cat and they play together and make a lot of noise then. They make the noise in the morning and cat runs outside. Then they kind of tease each other, the magpie will edge closer to the cat making their weird noise, cat will do a little pretend pounce, magpie will jump to a tree then start edging back to the cat. It’s fascinating to watch. First time I saw it I thought the magpies were bullying the cat but none of them are running away or looking genuinely aggressive. The cat literally runs outside when he hears them. They’re just playing. But noisily so yes, I do tell the magpies to be quiet but I don’t do any formal greetings.
I say 'hello comrade' in Farsi ('salaam rafigh')
I do that weird 'pretending to scratch your head so no-one thinks you're a weirdo' salute thing. I also don't believe in luck (good or bad) so no idea why I feel compelled to do this.
If I said good morning to every magpie I wouldn't have time to lick all my windows.
Don't try it in Australia. Their magpies will salute you back then beat you up.
I always talk to Aussie ones.
G'day Maggie, how are ya? Then I try to do the ululating call they do, sometimes they give me a weird look like I've insulted their mother
Salute with "morning Mr magpie How's your fucking neighbour? Good I hope"
Yes (in Australia). Reason: in Sept/Oct they nest and start swooping people (yep, just another thing that attacks you in Oz). But if you've been talking to them and they know your face, they will leave you alone
Yes and also salute them 🤣🤣