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=== Folklore and superstition === [[File:Skull Watch 160824001.jpg|thumb|A seventeenth century watch in the shape of a skull]] In the [[United Kingdom]], clocks are associated with various beliefs, many involving death or bad luck. In legends, clocks have reportedly stopped of their own accord upon a nearby person's death, especially those of monarchs. The clock in the [[House of Lords]] supposedly stopped at "nearly" the hour of [[George III]]'s death in 1820, the one at [[Balmoral Castle]] stopped during the hour of [[Queen Victoria]]'s death, and similar legends are related about clocks associated with [[William IV]] and [[Elizabeth I]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Opie |first1=Iona |title=A Dictionary of Superstitions |last2=Tatem |first2=Moira |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1989 |isbn=9780760714829 |publication-date=1990 |pages=84โ5}}</ref> Many superstitions exist about clocks. One stopping before a person has died may foretell coming death.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Opie |first1=Iona |title=A Dictionary of Superstitions |last2=Tatem |first2=Moira |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1989 |isbn=9780760714829 |publication-date=1990 |pages=85}}</ref> Similarly, if a clock strikes during a church hymn or a marriage ceremony, death or calamity is prefigured for the parishioners or a spouse, respectively.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Opie |first1=Iona |title=A Dictionary of Superstitions |last2=Tatem |first2=Moira |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1989 |isbn=9780760714829 |publication-date=1990 |pages=85โ6}}</ref> Death or ill events are foreshadowed if a clock strikes the wrong time. It may also be unlucky to have a clock face a fire or to speak while a clock is striking.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Opie |first1=Iona |title=A Dictionary of Superstitions |last2=Tatem |first2=Moira |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1989 |isbn=9780760714829 |publication-date=1990 |pages=84โ6}}</ref> In Chinese culture, [[Homophonic puns in Mandarin Chinese#Gifts|giving a clock]] ({{zh|t=้้|s=้้|first=t|p=sรฒng zhลng}}) is often taboo, especially to the elderly, as it [[Faux pas derived from Chinese pronunciation#Clock|is a homophone]] of the act of attending another's funeral ({{zh|t={{linktext|้็ต}}|s={{linktext|้็ป}}|first=t|p=sรฒngzhลng}}).<ref>{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Ju|title=China, Japan, Korea Culture and Customs|year=2006|page=57}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Seligman|first=Scott D.|title=Chinese business etiquette:: a guide to protocol, manners, and culture in the People's Republic of China|year=1999|publisher=Hachette Digital, Inc.}}</ref><ref>http://www.sohu.com/a/160882715_578225 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105233649/http://www.sohu.com/a/160882715_578225 |date=January 5, 2018 }} ๅซไบบ่ฟ่ๅๅบ็ๆถๅ, ไธ้้่กจ.้็ปๅ้้่ฐ้ณ.</ref>
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