T he expression "bad things (or bad luck) always come in threes" is similar to the expression "misfortunes never come singly". It means if one bad thing happens to you, two other bad things will also happen to you. For example, Malaysian-owned airlines had bad luck three times. First, Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 disappeared over the Indian Ocean in March of last year. Then in July of last year Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot down in Ukraine. In December of last year AirAsia flight 8501 crashed in the Java Sea. AirAsia is also Malaysian-owned. Three bad things happened to Malaysian-owned airlines one after another. That's why superstitious people believe bad things always come in threes.
Superstitious people also believe in the expression "third time lucky". It means if you've tried to do something twice and failed both times, you will succeed if you try it for the third time. For example, if you tried twice to ask your girlfriend to marry you and she refused both times, she will agree to marry you if you ask her for a third time. Do you believe in superstition? I think it's a load of bunk. The expression "a load of bunk" is an American slang expression that means nonsense.
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我在上一篇專欄中寫到習語misfortunes never come singly，意即禍不單行，又以自身的狀況作為例子。大除夕那天，亞視告訴我，因為財困問題，我在中文頻道的電視節目Hot Topic要停播了。同日傍晚，亞視又告訴我，我不用再為中文頻道節目ATV焦點撰稿。元旦日，亞視再跟我說，我在英語頻道的《時事縱橫》也得停播。三樣壞事同時發生在我身上。因此迷信的（superstitious，形容詞）人會相信禍不單行（misfortunes never come singly），但我並不相信迷信（superstition，名詞）。正如我在上一篇專欄中解釋過，superstition 就是認為某些事物會帶來好運或厄運，並不依據事實或邏輯的迷信。
習語 bad things (or bad luck) always come in threes跟misfortunes never come singly 的意思相近，解作壞事總是一不離二、二不離三地發生在你身上。譬如，馬來西亞的航空公司就三度遭逢厄運。首先是馬航MH370客機上年三月於印度洋上空失縱。續在上年七月，馬航MH17客機在烏克蘭被擊落。上年十二月，亞航8501號班機又在爪哇海墮毀。亞航亦同屬馬來西亞的公司。三件壞事接二連三發生在馬來西亞的航空公司，因此迷信的（superstitious）人深信禍不單行（bad things always come in threes）。
迷信的（superstitious）人也會相信習語 third time lucky，意思是，若你已經嘗試但又失敗了兩次，你嘗試第三次準會成功。譬如，若你已經向女友求過兩次婚，她兩次都拒絕，那若你問她第三次，她準會答應。你相信迷信（superstition）嗎？我認為是 a load of bunk，此美式俚語的意思是「一派胡言」。
mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
Source: http://news.stheadline.com/dailynews/headline_news_detail_columnist.asp?id=316151§ion_name=wtt&kw=126