Why Do People Say "Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit"? Here's What to Know About the Superstition

Publish date: 2024-05-21

Why do people say "rabbit rabbit rabbit"? The word exists in certain parts of the world, but what that means does it in fact have? Details.

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It's the first of the month again; the promise of a new flip of the calendar and the chances that it will bring are engaging. For some, alternatively, the alternate of the month also comes coupled with a longstanding superstition that might seem a little bit strange in case you've by no means heard of it before.

The superstition in question is uttering the words "rabbit rabbit rabbit" to start the month off. Confusing, right? Don't worry, we've got unpacked details surrounding why people say the word, in addition to information relating to its foundation. Keep studying to in finding out!

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Why do people say "rabbit rabbit rabbit"? The tradition has seemingly existed for greater than 100 years.

To put it it seems that, "rabbit rabbit rabbit" is a superstitious word recurrently mentioned throughout Britain and North America, in keeping with Wikipedia.

And there are permutations to the phrase; some say or repeat "rabbit," "rabbits" or "white rabbits," according to A Dictionary of English Folklore.

When those that practice the custom get up on the first day of each and every month, the first thing they do is say these words to be certain that just right good fortune for the coming four weeks.

Tomorrow, April starts to bloom. We’ve been looking forward to this. Enjoy! And don’t put out of your mind to Rabbit Rabbit! #rabbitrabbit pic.twitter.com/T33kDFzaS7

— Rabbit Rabbit (@ShpRabbitRabbit) March 31, 2022

How did "rabbit rabbit rabbit" originate? It's complicated.

Okay, fair, odder traditions exist in all places the international, but where did this one come from? Sadly, the true starting place of "rabbit rabbit rabbit" seems to have been misplaced to history. However, we do have some contextual data on how it has been used over the last hundred years or in order that paints a better image of how it has played an element in the tradition all the way through that point.

Not to point out, the rabbit has been associated with luck (both just right and unhealthy) for more than 2,000 years, as shared on NPR.

Source: Getty Images

Per A Dictionary of English Folklore, the tradition used to be first recorded in the long-running scholarly journal Notes & Queries in 1909. The precise quote from that newsletter reads:

"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."

In reaction to the quote, another contributor informed Notes & Queries around that point that their daughter believed that uttering the phrase supposed that she would obtain items and that the best way to do it used to be to say it up into the chimney, in line with Wikipedia.

Rabbit Rabbit! So apparently I’ve been posting these reminders for four years now. Four years! So I assumed I’d take it back to basics this month with a poem about the superstition. Feel loose to proportion and unfold the success! #rabbitrabbit pic.twitter.com/2i1s4Hmsw0

— Rabbit Rabbit (@ShpRabbitRabbit) September 1, 2020

Over the coming a long time, an identical retellings of the superstition gave the impression in a lot of other publications. Perhaps the most prominent point out in popular culture was once in the Nineties when Nickelodeon promoted "Rabbit Rabbit Day" throughout its "Nick Days" shows.

The network reminded audience on the closing day of every month to get up the subsequent day and say "rabbit rabbit." instructing an entire new generation the superstition that many lift on to this day.

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