Old Wives' Tales

[Bijou]

Hiccups, and it works every time, for me.
Take a full glass of water and take ten little sips, one right after the other, swallowing after each one without taking a breath in between. 

[random numbers]

Hiccups.
Large spoonful of sugar. Something about choking down that much in dry crystals works for me. I've never gotten further than the threat with other people.

[Ohjustlovely]

About seven years bad luck for a broken mirror: to reverse the curse, you must use the mirror. My cockatiel broke the mirror by picking the thing off the wall, so it fell. Mighty strong birdie! So I hung with lots of wire inside his cage. Big 5 feet x 3 feet cage, so it fit.

[MariaE]

Do you have a great trick for hiccups that always works for you?  What else?

I have three methods to cure hiccups. They all have a great success rate and where one fails another will succeed. It's not 100%, but probably around 90%.

1) Lie down flat on my stomach. This stretches my stomach muscles and as hiccups are generally muscle cramps seem to help them relax. Counter-intuitive as what I really want to do when I have bad hiccups is to curl up in a little ball. But it works.

2) Stand up straight. Sitting up doesn't work, I have to actually stand. Raise my head and look up (again stretching the muscles) and count off my breathing. Holding a finger on my lips seem to work also, but I have a feeling that's placebo more than anything else

3) Get my husband to kiss me This seems to be related to 2). My husband is 30cm taller than me, so I automatically stand up straight and raise my head when he kisses me

[oceanus]

Does anyone know some for cleaning?

--If your house smells like fish after cooking, bake a sliced lemon in a pie plate at 200 F for about 20 minutes. The smell is wonderful.

--At your next outdoor party, put a few cans of beer around the yard. Insects will be attracted to the beer and not your guests.

--To clean your tile floor, mix 1 cup mouthwash with a gallon of water for mopping. The floor will get cleaned and the bacteria will disappear.

--If you've burned something while cooking, boil 1 cup vinegar in 2 cups water for about 15 minutes, and the smell will be gone.

[whatsanenigma]

Hiccups, and it works every time, for me.
Take a full glass of water and take ten little sips, one right after the other, swallowing after each one without taking a breath in between.

My cure, that I don't remember where I read about, is almost the same.  Take nine sips of water (or other liquid) as fast as you can.  If you have to catch your breath in the middle, though, that's okay, but if you hiccup before the nine swallows are down, you have to start over.

And for particularly stubborn hiccups, do that but look under the table between swallows.

Works for me, anyway!  And I wish I could remember where I read those things.

[mandycorn]

Hiccups.
Large spoonful of sugar. Something about choking down that much in dry crystals works for me. I've never gotten further than the threat with other people.

Growing up, we always used a large spoon full of peanut butter. I don't remember if it worked all the time, but it was tasty treat nonetheless!

[BarensMom]

My grandmother used to say that if the baby was carried high, it was one gender - if carried low the other.  I can't remember the genders, though.

Grandma could also "witch" warts away.  My father claimed that she once saw a wart on his hand, grabbed it and muttered something over it.  The wart dried up and went away.

My mother told me once that Grandma was able to stop bleeding by muttering a certain Bible verse.  Mom asked which verse, but Grandma said knowledge of the verse could only be passed down from a man to a woman, or a woman to a man.

[twiggy]

If you shave a baby's head, they will have thick hair. If not, they will have thin hair.

I, as the oldest girl, had my head shaved when I was about 1yo. Today it is super thick.
Dad wouldn't let Mom shave Sis's head because I was apparently traumatized when I lost my long, pretty hair. Sis's hair is fine and thin.
Bro's head was shaved (he's a boy, so it was ok) and his hair is also super thick. 

Of our cousins on Mom's side (10 kids including us) the only 2 with fine hair are also the only 2 who didn't have their head shaved at the 12-18mo mark.

[zyrs]

hiccups : Fill a glass with water, place a paper towel or napkin over the top of the glass and hold it taut over the mouth of the glass.  Drink the glass of water through the napkin.  This trick was taught to me by a waitress in San Diego, CA during the 1970s, so I hope it qualifies as old.

[DottyG]

The hiccups cures are making me laugh!   I'm definitely keeping these in mind!

MariaE, I need to know how to get in touch with your husband, though, for those magic kisses.

[Carotte]

the thing that works a 100% of the time when I have hiccups is to hold my breath and press two fingers to my throat, under my chin, on the side. Where you would take your pulse. works for me, my brother and everyone who learned to do it correctly from us

[Sheila Take a Bow]

hiccups : Fill a glass with water, place a paper towel or napkin over the top of the glass and hold it taut over the mouth of the glass.  Drink the glass of water through the napkin.  This trick was taught to me by a waitress in San Diego, CA during the 1970s, so I hope it qualifies as old.

Are you my high school chemistry teacher?  Because he did that in class one day when he had the hiccups.  None of us thought it would work, but it did.

[MariaE]

MariaE, I need to know how to get in touch with your husband, though, for those magic kisses.

Heh, sorry. I don't share

[RebeccainGA]

If you're coughing because you aspirated some liquid, raise your hand in the air. Stops the cough every time.