The article lays bare the peculiarities of the functioning of folkloric signs, presages and beliefs connected with meeting with an ethnic stranger or a person of another faith, in the naive consciousness of the Eastern Slavic and English linguoculture representatives. The urgency and novelty of the research is determined by the lack of knowledge of this topic both in Russian and foreign folk life studies. Based on the involvement of a wide range of sources and field research materials, the author comes to the conclusion that the analyzed signs are a linguistic declaration of taboos, permissions, warnings, advice, etc. in situations used by the tradition-bearers to establish proper relationship with their foreign neighbors.