The superstition about "three on a match" is still around in my part of the US. A girl won't be the third to light her cigarette from the match for fear of becoming pregnant.

My Irish grandparents never praised a child's good looks for fear he or she would be stolen. When people exclaimed, "Isn't she darling!" my granny would answer, "Who? Her? Ahhh, she's not too bad, I guess."