See a pin and pick it up, all the day you will have good luck; See a pin and let it lay, bad luck you will have all day
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “See a pin and pick it up, all the day you will have good luck; See a pin and let it lay, bad luck you will have all day” mean?
Picking up a found pin brings good luck Literally: bending to pick up a pin
Is “See a pin and pick it up, all the day you will have good luck; See a pin and let it lay, bad luck you will have all day” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.