What does it mean when your nose itches?

If your nose isn't itching because of allergies or the common cold, superstition says that it means that someone is thinking about you or will give you a present, you will soon become angry, someone has sent you a letter, or you will argue with someone in the future.

This is a popular superstition poem about itchy noses:

If your nose itches
Your mouth is in danger.
You'll kiss a fool,
And meet a stranger.
Rub an itch to wood,
It will come to good.

Other itchy body part superstitions: itchy palms mean that someone will give you money, itchy feet predict an upcoming journey, and itchy ears mean someone is talking about you ("left for love, right for spite").

Speaking of superstitions, a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research revealed that people participate in superstitious behavior when they want to make something happen but don't have the power to do so. For example, right-handed rock-paper-scissors players will continue to play with their left hand if they win more often because they believe using the hand will make them more likely to win in the future.

Updated on Sunday, May 19 2013 at 06:45PM EDT