Rabbit is a bad word in the the Isle of Portland.
An innocent word, is it not? Not for the people of the Isle of Portland, in Dorset, for whom it is taboo, as they think that uttering it will give them bad luck. The Weymouth and Portland website tells us why: "The fear of rabbits is based on the fact that quarry men would often see rabbits emerging from their barrows immediately before a rock fall. Such rock falls often injured and even killed quarry workers; therefore, it is understandable why rabbits became associated with bad luck."
http://www.nakedtranslations.com/en/2005/10/000508.phpRabbits are evil. Rabbits cause rock falls. Rabbits used rock avalanches to kill ptarmigans in the Great Ptarmigan/Rabbit War.
