about gifts, I read that italians do not like to be given knifes or scissors as

I know that in Scotland when we gave a gift of a knife we had to give a penny with it.

I dont know about the Italians being like this but I remember that it was superstitious back years ago for any bride and groom to recieve knives or scissors as wedding gifts in our part of the US. If you did receive these as gifts it was custom to givr person who gave them you to a penny so they were not a gift. It was said that it was bad luck.

I have not heard of this actually being true as I have some italian friends who accept anything as a gift. I personally would not want to receive knives or scissors as gifts, unless I was in dire need of them. I think people may not accept them as gifts because they consider these to be dangerous or have very little value to the person. I think that there are better and more special things to give people as gifts.

Knives, scissors and all other types of utensils that are used for cutting things are not traditionally considered a good gift idea. Basically the idea of cutting or slicing things is does not promote good luck, or good karma. In fact, to the Chinese or in Latin America the gift of a knife as a gift would be interpreted as "cutting off a friendship (or relationship)." As you see it is not only about Italians.

Yes, it is considered to be bad luck but I don't know if it is true. My family never give gloves as gifts, as it is supposed to break up a friendship. If we want to break the risk of having bad luck we have to put money inside the glove. Here is a link to some omens and their meanings: http://www.ang-sites.co.uk/wisewitches/wisdom/omens.html

I believe there's an old tradition in England (although most people don't know about it or bother with it) that if you receive a knife or blade as a gift, the recipient should pay the giver (just as a symbol, a penny - nothing more), otherwise the knife will come between them. I didn't know it was the same in Italy though...

I don't think it's just Italians who think this, apparently it's a sign of cutting friendship! My mum is a strong believer of this and will not give anyone something that cuts because it will 'cut' or 'sever' the relationship. So she gets around it by getting the receiver to give her coins for the knife for example. It's a superstition I know and I can understand why.

I never heard of that. Some members or my family have married them, and they never said a thing about that. So, I don't know if it is a superstition with some, or not.