A goose or a rabbit?

Posted by Tara McAuliff on July 13, 2000

In Reply to: A goose or a rabbit? posted by ESC on July 13, 2000

: : : Does anyone know the origins of the phrase "someone walked over my grave" that people use when they shiver for no reason?

: : It is taboo in my part of the U.S. (mountains of West Virginia) to step on a grave. You walk around it. I'll have to do a little research to get more details.

: So far, I've found two versions of this saying:

: "If you suddenly shudder, it means a rabbit has run across your grave." This is from The Mountain Times, Appalachian Folk Beliefs, online. Another source yielded the belief that shuddering meant a goose was running across your grave.

: I am not exactly sure what this means. A person or animal walks across your grave. Does that mean the site where your grave be located? Or does it mean a trespass on your grave in the future causes a retro effect and makes the "living you," in the present, to shiver?

Thanks. I've never understood that either. I've always wondered if the phrase came from Ireland, which would it might through the Appalachin connection.

• A goose or a rabbit? ESC 07/13/00