-L. wrote:

>
> sf wrote:
>>
>> I've heard that when you give a knife the recipient should give you a
>> penny - otherwise the knife will "cut" your friendship. I'm unclear
>> on the concept of how money counteracts the "cutting" and why the gift
>> of a knife could end a friendship in the first place.
>>
>> I thought it was just some weird Asian superstition before you brought
>> it up. Now I'm don't know where it comes from because I think most,
>> if not all, of the people participating in this thread are of European
>> extract.
>
> I learned it as anything sharp should be given with a penny. My
> Grandmother taught us this and she was French/Irish/German.
>

The way I learned it was that the giver should accept a penny from the
receiver. The receiver can then see the knife as a gift, but the Fates
don't.

---jkb

--
"I drank what?"
-- Socrates