Pete Granzeau wrote: > I was taught that a gift of a knife could cut a friendship; > thus, in my family, such a gift was always paid for with a > token sum (a dime or a postage stamp or something). > > Has anyone else ever run across that? Yup. Along with the one where you never give someone an empty purse/wallet/change purse. It's gotta be seeded with a low denomination coin or bill or else you're inviting poverty for the recipient. Can't say I've ever held much with either of these, but I've heard both of them. Casey