Some people use Worry Beads as a means of expressing their wish to limit smoking or as an amulet to guard against bad luck. The Greek phrase κομπολόι has its roots in the expression “σε κάθε κόμπο προσευχή λέω”, or “in every knot, I say a prayer.”
Others use Worry Beads as a source of percussion by rubbing the lip of a drinking glass against the worry bead, which is suspended from one button. There are quiet and loud ways of handling the beads to make a noise.