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Why do Americans say ‘rabbit rabbit’ on the 1st of the month?
Are you wondering why Americans say ‘rabbit rabbit’ on the 1st of the month? Then in this article, we will enlighten…
Are you wondering why Americans say ‘rabbit rabbit’ on the 1st of the month? Then in this article, we will enlighten you on all you need to know about the funny phrase.
No doubt, around the world, people have their own traditions about the first of a new month.
The one you might have heard before is people saying the phrase “rabbit, rabbit” or “white rabbit”. But where does this tradition really comes from, and is the phrase really meant to bring good luck?
Why do Americans say ‘rabbit rabbit’?
It is a common tradition for Americans on the 1st of each month to say “rabbit rabbit” first thing in the morning, before saying anything else.
The phrase is supposed to bring good luck for the rest of the month. Alternatively, you might say the phrase “white rabbit”.
Both phrases are thought to bring luck since rabbits are considered lucky creatures.
For example, in Europe, China, Africa, and North and South America, a rabbit’s foot is considered a token of good luck.
There are a few reasons rabbits are considered lucky, including the animal’s fertility, which is often associated with renewal and new beginnings.
Rabbit’s feet were also marketed as lucky by U.S companies to sell them to consumers in the early 20th century.
How does the phrase come to be?
In an episode of NPR, Martha Barnette, an author who has written books about etymology, explains that the phrase dates back to at least the early 1900s.
She explains that Franklin Delano Roosevelt took part in the “rabbit rabbit” superstition, and he was also known to carry a rabbit’s foot.
In a 1909 issue of the British journal Notes and Queries, a parent observed that some children said “rabbits” on the first of every month for good luck, according to the History Channel.
After this point, references to this superstitious act occurred occasionally.
In 1935, the Nottingham Evening Post reported: “Mr. Roosevelt, the President of the United States, has confessed to a friend that he says, ’Rabbits’ on the first of every month – and, what is more, he would not think of omitting the utterance on any account.”
There doesn’t appear to be any clear answer for where the tradition of saying ‘rabbit rabbit’ appeared from – but if you forget to say it at the beginning of the first of the month, then worry not.
Barnette explains that if you forget to say ‘rabbit rabbit’ at the start of the day on the first day of a new month, then there are ways to reverse any bad luck effects you might experience.
Right before you go to bed, you can either say black rabbit, or “tibbar, tibbar”, which is “rabbit, rabbit” backward.