{"id":905,"date":"2023-02-06T17:10:08","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T17:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/?p=905"},"modified":"2023-02-06T17:10:08","modified_gmt":"2023-02-06T17:10:08","slug":"why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do We Throw Salt Over the Shoulder?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:104%;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-blend:overlay;--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:0px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-audio fusion-audio-1\" style=\"--awb-progress-color:#ffffff;--awb-border-color:var(--awb-color1);--awb-background-color:#1d242d;--awb-max-width:100%;--awb-border-size:0;--awb-border-top-left-radius:0px;--awb-border-top-right-radius:0px;--awb-border-bottom-right-radius:0px;--awb-border-bottom-left-radius:0px;\"><!--[if lt IE 9]><script>document.createElement('audio');<\/script><![endif]-->\n<audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-905-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Episode-059-Why-Do-We-Throw-Salt-Over-Our-Shoulder.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Episode-059-Why-Do-We-Throw-Salt-Over-Our-Shoulder.mp3\">https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Episode-059-Why-Do-We-Throw-Salt-Over-Our-Shoulder.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><h2>~ Or: When a precious commodity is no longer precious, does the gesture lose its meaning?<\/h2>\n<p>The notion of throwing salt over the shoulder is an interesting one.\u00a0 If you have watched any chefferiffic programming on television, you&#8217;ve probably seen it at least twice.\u00a0 Maybe thrice!\u00a0 A chef throwing salt over the shoulder has some kind of meaning.\u00a0 The average person throwing salt over the shoulder also has some kind of meaning.\u00a0 But what exactly is that meaning?<\/p>\n<p>And no, silly, I&#8217;m not referring to the &#8220;salt of the earth&#8221; kind of salt.\u00a0 When was the last time you saw someone throw a fisherman over their shoulder for any reason unless it was in a bar fight?<\/p>\n<p>No, I&#8217;m referring to a superstition or tradition that dates back <em>entire moons<\/em>.\u00a0 Several of them in fact!\u00a0 When did it start?\u00a0 Who got this hype train running??<\/p>\n<p>This one is going to take a bit of backstory to get to really get to the meat of it.\u00a0 So!\u00a0 Calling all sodium chloride <span class=\"ILfuVd\" lang=\"en\"><span class=\"hgKElc\">\u00e6<\/span><\/span>fficionados!\u00a0 Let&#8217;s figure out what this seeming waste of flavor-savor is all about!<\/p>\n<h2>A Brief History of Salt<\/h2>\n<p>No, seriously. A brief history of <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_salt\">salt<\/a>.\u00a0 It will tie into this.\u00a0 I promise.<\/p>\n<p>Something I learned mere minutes ago is the fact that simple table salt as we know it today was once not even remotely simple.\u00a0 Nor inexpensive, for that matter.\u00a0 Salt carried with it a staggering value for a variety of reasons in the early ages and I&#8217;m going to throw a few of these down in order to build to the context of the superstition that we know today.\u00a0 Eyes and ears open!\u00a0 Incoming thinkin&#8217; words!\u00a0 Pants optional!\u00a0 Here we go!<\/p>\n<h3>Salt as a food preservative<\/h3>\n<p>When I was a wee little thing, I remember vividly my father making lox using fish and rock salt.\u00a0 Pretty simple, really.\u00a0 Take a slab of fish, absolutely pack it to the gills in rock salt (see what i did there?) , wrap it in plastic wrap, then set it on the back porch for a few days.\u00a0 The end.\u00a0 You have cured fish.\u00a0 Lox.<\/p>\n<p><em>and it wasn&#8217;t even sick, really<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The only thing I understood about that process as a child is that I did not like the flavor of the thing that was the end result of his efforts.\u00a0 I wish I was able to appreciate it then!<\/p>\n<p>This is a concept that has gone down generation after generation.\u00a0 The use of salt to cure foods to make them last longer.\u00a0 Meats obviously spoil and grow bacteria if left to their own devices.\u00a0 This spoilage and bacteria will <em>probably kill you<\/em> if not dealt with properly.<\/p>\n<p>Do not eat that rank meat.<\/p>\n<p>It is reported that Egyptians in roughly 2000BC were already doing this to foods to preserve them for longer periods of time.\u00a0 Think about that for a moment.\u00a0 Imagine living in an era and area where it is hot on the regular.\u00a0 You want to, like, you know, eat stuff.\u00a0 Meats and fish will only last so long if kept in a cool place.\u00a0 Cool places are rare at that point.\u00a0 So what next?\u00a0 Sell off everything as fast as possible before it goes bad?\u00a0 Keep that cycle of catch and sell going in some kind of frenzy where you only have a finite amount of time to dispose of product before it&#8217;s no longer useful?\u00a0 So much potential for <em>waste<\/em> on the forefront, not to mention the cost to a business that thrives on it.\u00a0 This was a bit before the advent of the walk-in freezer so: complications.<\/p>\n<p>Salt as a food preservative was a game changer.\u00a0 A boost to civilization.\u00a0 It built and destroyed entire empires.\u00a0 But we&#8217;ll get to that in a minute.<\/p>\n<h3>Salt as a building block of modern civilization<\/h3>\n<p>We credit the Greeks for simple things like, oh, I dunno, inventing modern civilization.\u00a0 Little things like that.\u00a0 You know, construction stuff, columns, umm, sports?\u00a0 Olive appreciation?\u00a0 Geometry (pardon my french)?\u00a0 Maybe even democracy.\u00a0 You know, stuff.\u00a0 Lots of stuff.<\/p>\n<p>But something that is worth considering is what it was that allowed them to flourish in a way that would permit these massive contributions to our existence.\u00a0 Salt trade.<\/p>\n<p>Seriously.<\/p>\n<p>Greek culture absolutely <em>boomed<\/em> as a result of salt trade with Egypt.\u00a0 And salt fish, for that matter.<\/p>\n<p>Whether or not they would have been able to have the luxury of developing many things we know today without a stable supply of preserved foods is debatable, but for the purposes of this writing I like to think that MAYBE JUST MAYBE it had something to do with it.<\/p>\n<p>Ok yeah, that&#8217;s a teensy bit of a stretch.\u00a0 Or &#8230;.. is it?\u00a0 Let&#8217;s look at bit further into some of the things that this simple salt thing did to our Earth human history.<\/p>\n<h3>Salt as the determining factor in the rise and fall of nations<\/h3>\n<p>That&#8217;s right, we&#8217;re going there.\u00a0 Salt trade both built and destroyed entire regions.<\/p>\n<p>Part of Rome&#8217;s ability to grow at the rate that it did was partially due to its proximity to the Adriatic and Tyrrhhenian seas and their sources of salt.\u00a0 Roads were built to accommodate that proximity in order to keep trade flowing faster.<\/p>\n<p>It is rumored that the salt mines of Poland were so plentiful that the Polish empire was built on the backs of that plenty.\u00a0 It is also rumored that the value of that empire crumbled when the Germans showed up with sea salt and a brilliant marketing plan alleging that sea salt was superior to rock salt.\u00a0 True or not, it didn&#8217;t really matter.\u00a0 The marketing efforts worked and the Polish economy suffered at the hands of Germany as a result.<\/p>\n<p>I was going to say something about precursors but that would be silly so we&#8217;re just going to move on.\u00a0 Besides, Poland disappeared from every map for a while anyway.\u00a0 Salt marketing wasn&#8217;t their only historical challenge.\u00a0 And really, I&#8217;m pretty sure the only reason they disappeared for a while was over jealousy about how delicious \u017bubr\u00f3wka is.\u00a0 Don&#8217;t get the stuff pre-made in the store, it&#8217;s gross. Roll your own.\u00a0 You&#8217;ll thank me later.<\/p>\n<p>Munich exists <em>solely<\/em> as an entity grown to tax salt trade running through the region.<\/p>\n<p>Gabelles, French salt taxes, were in place from 1286 through to 1790.\u00a0 An obnoxious tax that was the cause of invasions and wars.<\/p>\n<h3>Salt as a commodity of extremely high value<\/h3>\n<p>Today, we go to the store and we have our pick of all kinds of fancy salts.\u00a0 Pink Himalayan.\u00a0 Red Hawaiian.\u00a0 Kosher.\u00a0 Table.\u00a0 Sea.\u00a0 Rock.\u00a0 Pretty sure someone&#8217;s found a way to market an organic salt at this point.<\/p>\n<p>Once upon a time, salt was not nearly as plentiful.\u00a0 As a result, it was expensive.<\/p>\n<p>The ability to transport salt was complicated.\u00a0 Caravans had to carry it long distances.\u00a0 Boats slogged with it as cargo.\u00a0 It wasn&#8217;t always easy to find and acquire.\u00a0 When you couple its lack of availability with the fact that it was a pain in the booty to transport, you have something that costs a TON.\u00a0 At one point, salt was definitely worth its weight in salt.<\/p>\n<h2>References to the Value of Salt Throughout History<\/h2>\n<p>Once again telling childhood stories here: as a lad I always found one particular part of the Bible absolutely confounding.\u00a0 When Lot&#8217;s wife looks back and turns into a pillar of salt.\u00a0 The keto-compatible fatty computer made of meat in my small child skull was NOT having any part of that.\u00a0 Why turn her into something that I use to add any kind of flavor at all to the potato pancakes that my father made?\u00a0 (he tried, he really tried, but ugh those potato pancakes&#8230;)<\/p>\n<p>Turns out, the rarity and value of salt lent itself to much more significance than my child brain was ready to comprehend at the time.<\/p>\n<p>From a biblical perspective alone, salt as a thing of value is referenced in both old and new testaments.\u00a0 Yes, Lot&#8217;s wife was no more, but she was suddenly much more valuable on the black market.<\/p>\n<p>A Chinese tax on salt in 2200BC was the first levy on that commodity.\u00a0 Allegedly the very first tax ever.\u00a0 Allegedly.\u00a0 What do all the cool kids say?\u00a0 Ahh yes: &#8220;Citation needed.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The term &#8220;salary&#8221; is supposed to be a derivation of salt in Latin.\u00a0 Every web page you look up will reference something about the fact that Roman soldiers were paid partially in salt but that claim is apparently difficult to verify.\u00a0 Slave trade used salt as a barter currency.\u00a0 Yes, human life was bought and paid for by the thing in the shaker on your table.<\/p>\n<p>No, that doesn&#8217;t make salt evil.\u00a0 People are evil.\u00a0 Salt was just the currency at the time, same as gold or money now.<\/p>\n<p>Sorry, I want off on a tangent there.<\/p>\n<p>But ALL OF THE ABOVE was written in an effort to establish something that I was not aware of until the writing of this post.\u00a0 Salt was VALUABLE once upon a time.\u00a0 Rare and expensive.<\/p>\n<p>Establishing that it was rare and expensive is important in the context of what comes next: the superstition.<\/p>\n<h2>Throwing Salt Over the Shoulder<\/h2>\n<p>Because of the value of salt &#8211; as established above ad nauseam &#8211; it brings us to the bad luck aspect that is associated to salt from early ages.<\/p>\n<p>Spilling it.<\/p>\n<p>Chances are each and every one of us has spilled our fair share of salt for a variety of reasons.\u00a0 Knocking the shaker over.\u00a0 Bumping into it while cleaning.\u00a0 The lid accidentally popping off of a stubborn shaker when attempting to vigorously pour more salt into food being cooked because we like flavor and stuff.<\/p>\n<p>Nowadays, we say &#8220;oops&#8221; and continue on with our day.\u00a0 Once upon a time, the spilling of salt was tantamount to dumping saffron into the garbage disposal.\u00a0 Why would you do that?\u00a0 I don&#8217;t know, don&#8217;t ask me.\u00a0 It was an analogy.\u00a0 I couldn&#8217;t think of anything better.<\/p>\n<p>So back to the spilling of salt.\u00a0 Doing so was not only considered to be a waste of epic proportions, it was ultimately deemed to be back luck.<\/p>\n<p>The next logical step after that was to take a pinch of that salt and flick it over the left shoulder in an effort to ward off any oncoming bad luck.<\/p>\n<p>Why? Because according to a couple millennia of lorish elements, it is upon the left shoulder that evil sits.\u00a0 The devil.\u00a0 Remember the old Tom and Jerry cartoons where the angel cat sits on one of Tom&#8217;s shoulders and the devil cat sits on the other?<\/p>\n<p>The portrayal of good and evil on the shoulders whispering into our ears has been all over pop culture of the centuries.\u00a0 It goes even as far back as Plato&#8217;s Phaedrus from 370BC.\u00a0 Which is a few moons ago.<\/p>\n<p>But here&#8217;s the thing.\u00a0 The pinch of salt thrown over the left shoulder has an origin as being an attempt to cast sodium into the eyes of the little devil thing that resides there in order to make it not do any of the bad luck things that it might be wont to do.<\/p>\n<h3>Side note on Leonardo DaVinci<\/h3>\n<p>Yes, DaVinci&#8217;s Last Supper painting is famous for having a spilled salt cellar in front of Judas, the Iscariot.\u00a0 Did he actually spill a salt bowl?\u00a0 Probably not.\u00a0 Is it referenced in the Bible at any point that a salt bowl was spilled by him as an omen of his betrayal?\u00a0 Nope!\u00a0 Did DaVinci throw it in because spilling salt was already considered to be a bad omen in his time?\u00a0 Probably!<\/p>\n<p>The only reason it hasn&#8217;t come up until now is because it is a cute reference to think about but not actually the reason for this superstition in the first place.\u00a0 The spilling of salt was already a bad omen prior to his painting; this isn&#8217;t something he invented.<\/p>\n<p>Deviating from Christian tradition for a moment: Buddhists also throw salt over their shoulders as part of funeral rituals in order to fend off evil spirits.<\/p>\n<p>If there is one thing to be learned from all of this: salt is clearly something pure, delightful, wonderful, and flavorful and the throwing of it into bad spirits is a perfect way to make them melt like the Wicked Witch of the West under a malfunctioning fire suppressant system.<\/p>\n<p>But as far as we can tell, it&#8217;s NOT a result of that painting.<\/p>\n<h2>Closing Out With Only Half an Answer<\/h2>\n<p>See, here&#8217;s the thing.\u00a0 We figured out a few things.<\/p>\n<p>Salt was a valuable and rare commodity.\u00a0 It was responsible for allowing people to keep feeding themselves without being tied solely to harvest seasons.\u00a0 Kind of a cool idea, really.<\/p>\n<p>It was a pain in the rear to find, dig up, and transport.<\/p>\n<p>There are references to the value of salt throughout our written histories going back pretty darn far.<\/p>\n<p>Spilling salt was obviously a very naughty thing to do.<\/p>\n<p>You know what I was not able to find at all no matter where I dug or what Google Fu I attempted to utilize?<\/p>\n<p>When did throwing it over the shoulder start?<\/p>\n<p>We know a couple of theories of WHY.\u00a0 And that was sorta what I was getting at.\u00a0 But the one component that I am missing that I cannot seem to find and it&#8217;s driving me <em>bonkers<\/em> is <em>when<\/em> it started!<\/p>\n<p>Ok ok ok.\u00a0 We touched on why.\u00a0 That was the header thing that SEO is going to judge me on when all is said and done.<\/p>\n<p>But I&#8217;d REALLY like to know when it started.<\/p>\n<p>If ya&#8217;ll have any ideas, please let me know!\u00a0 I&#8217;d love to get an answer to that one someday.<\/p>\n<p>In the meantime, have a fantastic week full of flavorful foods laced with salt and many words more insightful than this!\u00a0 This <span class=\"ILfuVd\" lang=\"en\"><span class=\"hgKElc\">\u0153<\/span><\/span>ffscour is going to try to find something more interesting to write about.<\/p>\n<p>Until next week!<\/p>\n<p>-= george =-<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":908,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[269,270,268,267,148,265,266],"class_list":["post-905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-idioms","tag-caravans","tag-civilization","tag-commodity","tag-devil","tag-history","tag-salt","tag-shoulder"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why Do We Throw Salt Over the Shoulder? - George Nowik - Voice Actor<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Salt over the shoulder is an old superstition that has ORIGINS. About THINGS. I was curious about it and dove in! Come join me!\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Do We Throw Salt Over the Shoulder? - George Nowik - Voice Actor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Salt over the shoulder is an old superstition that has ORIGINS. About THINGS. I was curious about it and dove in! Come join me!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"George Nowik - Voice Actor\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/george.nowik\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/george.nowik\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-06T17:10:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1341232_sackOfRockSaltA_Standard_GDE-e1675669831295-1024x730.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"730\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"George Nowik\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@nalrog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@nalrog\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"George Nowik\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"George Nowik\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#\/schema\/person\/16eeea56f3397668e0b6f7a39a28ecb0\"},\"headline\":\"Why Do We Throw Salt Over the Shoulder?\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-06T17:10:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/\"},\"wordCount\":2501,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#\/schema\/person\/16eeea56f3397668e0b6f7a39a28ecb0\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1341232_sackOfRockSaltA_Standard_GDE-e1675669831295.png\",\"keywords\":[\"caravans\",\"civilization\",\"commodity\",\"devil\",\"History\",\"salt\",\"shoulder\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Idioms\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/\",\"name\":\"Why Do We Throw Salt Over the Shoulder? - George Nowik - Voice Actor\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1341232_sackOfRockSaltA_Standard_GDE-e1675669831295.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-06T17:10:08+00:00\",\"description\":\"Salt over the shoulder is an old superstition that has ORIGINS. About THINGS. I was curious about it and dove in! Come join me!\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1341232_sackOfRockSaltA_Standard_GDE-e1675669831295.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1341232_sackOfRockSaltA_Standard_GDE-e1675669831295.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":912,\"caption\":\"Salt Bag\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why Do We Throw Salt Over the Shoulder?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/\",\"name\":\"George Nowik - Voice Actors - Fresh New\",\"description\":\"Voiceovers Delivered Fast!\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#\/schema\/person\/16eeea56f3397668e0b6f7a39a28ecb0\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#\/schema\/person\/16eeea56f3397668e0b6f7a39a28ecb0\",\"name\":\"George Nowik\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/388c6d5dda985d94e29b2e594d983057?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/388c6d5dda985d94e29b2e594d983057?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"George Nowik\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\"},\"description\":\"Straddling the line between the arts - voiceover, music composition, session performer, album mixing - and the world of durable medical equipment. Probably should have spent more time playing on the balance beam as a kid instead of obsessing over Commodore 64 games.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/george.nowik\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/georgenowik\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/nalrog\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCMJg5VrdyKSNHqnwsycbDtw\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why Do We Throw Salt Over the Shoulder? - George Nowik - Voice Actor","description":"Salt over the shoulder is an old superstition that has ORIGINS. About THINGS. I was curious about it and dove in! Come join me!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why Do We Throw Salt Over the Shoulder? - George Nowik - Voice Actor","og_description":"Salt over the shoulder is an old superstition that has ORIGINS. About THINGS. I was curious about it and dove in! Come join me!","og_url":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/","og_site_name":"George Nowik - Voice Actor","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/george.nowik","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/george.nowik","article_published_time":"2023-02-06T17:10:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":730,"url":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1341232_sackOfRockSaltA_Standard_GDE-e1675669831295-1024x730.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"George Nowik","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@nalrog","twitter_site":"@nalrog","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"George Nowik","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/"},"author":{"name":"George Nowik","@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#\/schema\/person\/16eeea56f3397668e0b6f7a39a28ecb0"},"headline":"Why Do We Throw Salt Over the Shoulder?","datePublished":"2023-02-06T17:10:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/"},"wordCount":2501,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#\/schema\/person\/16eeea56f3397668e0b6f7a39a28ecb0"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1341232_sackOfRockSaltA_Standard_GDE-e1675669831295.png","keywords":["caravans","civilization","commodity","devil","History","salt","shoulder"],"articleSection":["Idioms"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/","url":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/","name":"Why Do We Throw Salt Over the Shoulder? - George Nowik - Voice Actor","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1341232_sackOfRockSaltA_Standard_GDE-e1675669831295.png","datePublished":"2023-02-06T17:10:08+00:00","description":"Salt over the shoulder is an old superstition that has ORIGINS. About THINGS. I was curious about it and dove in! Come join me!","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1341232_sackOfRockSaltA_Standard_GDE-e1675669831295.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/1341232_sackOfRockSaltA_Standard_GDE-e1675669831295.png","width":1280,"height":912,"caption":"Salt Bag"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/2023\/02\/06\/why-do-we-throw-salt-over-the-shoulder\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why Do We Throw Salt Over the Shoulder?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/","name":"George Nowik - Voice Actors - Fresh New","description":"Voiceovers Delivered Fast!","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#\/schema\/person\/16eeea56f3397668e0b6f7a39a28ecb0"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#\/schema\/person\/16eeea56f3397668e0b6f7a39a28ecb0","name":"George Nowik","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/388c6d5dda985d94e29b2e594d983057?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/388c6d5dda985d94e29b2e594d983057?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"George Nowik"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/"},"description":"Straddling the line between the arts - voiceover, music composition, session performer, album mixing - and the world of durable medical equipment. Probably should have spent more time playing on the balance beam as a kid instead of obsessing over Commodore 64 games.","sameAs":["https:\/\/georgenowik.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/george.nowik","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/georgenowik\/","https:\/\/x.com\/nalrog","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCMJg5VrdyKSNHqnwsycbDtw"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=905"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":914,"href":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/905\/revisions\/914"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/georgenowik.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}