This past Christmas, a California man learned a bleak, but useful, holiday lesson: Sometimes, don't spread good news. Keep it to yourself instead.

It was December 20, and Vacaville, a city of about 100,000 and located midway between Sacramento and San Francisco, was festooned with white lights and toy reindeer. Hoping to get his hands on a bit of extra cash for the holidays, the Vacaville man went to a grocery store and paid $US30 ($42) for a scratch-off lottery ticket that odds said would leave him at a loss.

But the ticket turned out to be a winner, and promised to flood his bank account with $US10,000 ($14,000), or so he thought. The lucky lottery contestant couldn't contain his excitement. He returned home to tell his two roommates of his financial success.

He would rue the day he ignored the warning of Shakespeare's King Lear to, "Mend your speech a little, Lest you may mar your fortunes."