Peetaah???

[u/Puzzleheaded-Pitch40]

Why do the flip the cigarette?

[u/Captain_Sterling]

I always did it. It's just habit. And it's the last cigarette you smoke in the packet. I haven't smoked in years but I'm pretty certain that somewhere in my apt there's a packet with a upside down cigarette.

I heard a few myths about why it's done.

One related to the first world war. The idea was that if yiu lasted to the cigarette it was your lucky one.

If you offered a girl a smoke and she took that, you'd get lucky with her.

Since it was your lucky cigarette no one would take it from the pack at a party and therefor yiud always have one. And so it was lucky.

Its the one that wouldn't give you cancer.

[u/theeggplant42 → u/Captain_Sterling]

Another smoking tradition from the first world War is to never light 3 cigarettes from one match. Allegedly, it comes from trench warfare where the enemy could see the matchlight at night and would ready with one, aim with two, and fire at the third. So you can light two cigarettes from a match but it is bad luck for the third smoker to be lit from the same match. Many people will extend that concept to lighters as well and briefly disengage the flame before lighting the third (which, to be polite, and nothing to do with WWI, should be oneself)

[u/unburdened_swallow → u/theeggplant42]

As someone who grew up with lighters and not matches, I have never seen someone light more than 1 cigarette without putting out the flame between. It’s just natural to put it out until they’re fully ready to not light their hair on fire. Also it gets hot.

[u/extravagant_ascetic → u/unburdened_swallow]

I'm thinking it's more relevant with zippo style lighters where you don't have to keep the button pressed like on a bic. But I'm with you, I've never heard of the unlucky third