Rabbit, rabbit, everyone! It’s the 1st of the month, and according to a centuries old superstition, it’s imperative that you say that phrase to ensure good luck, good health, and happiness for the month to come. The origins of the phrase are a bit hazy, but the point remains the same: if you don’t say “rabbit, rabbit” the moment you wake up on the 1st, you’re going to be in for a bad month! Learn more about the phrase, where it supposedly came from, and more before the 1st ends:
1. The earliest written reference to “rabbit, rabbit” is from the early 1900s. While the exact origins of the phrase are unknown, the 1909 edition of the scholarly journal Notes and Queries mentions it: “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.” The entry goes on to say that the girls thought it would mean they’d get a gift by the end of the month.
2. The phrase may have had a cheekier meaning, though. During the early 20th century, the word “rabbit” was commonly used in conjunction with swear words. At the time, some people believed that swearing warded off evil, too. Signs point to “rabbit, rabbit” being an innocent phrase, though. Nickelodeon popularized the phrase during its “Nick Days” campaign in the 1990s. The channel celebrated “Rabbit Rabbit Day” on the last day of the month, reminding kids that they should say it the next morning.
3. Former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt believed in the superstition. FDR wholeheartedly subscribed to the superstition, even carrying a rabbit’s foot in his pocket for good luck on the 1932 campaign trail. A news article from 1935 reads, “Even 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.” FDR’s rabbit’s foot is on display at his presidential library and museum in Hyde Park, New York.
4. You can say these phrases instead of just “rabbit, rabbit” for good luck: “white rabbits,” and “rabbits, rabbits, rabbits” will suffice. Saturday Night Live legend Gilda Radner was known for saying “bunny, bunny”, too. In fact, a Gilda memoir written by her friend, SNL writer Alan Zweibel, is called Bunny, Bunny: Gilda Radner: a Sort of Love Story.
5. If you forgot to say it at the beginning of the day on the first of the month, you’re not out of luck. Just remember, at the end of the day, say “black rabbit” right before you go to bed, or “tibbar, tibbar” — rabbit spelled backwards.