Break a leg
Encyclopedia
"Break a leg" is a well-known idiom
in theatre
which means "good luck
." It is typically said to actor
s and musician
s before they go on stage to perform. The origin of the phrase is obscure.
The expression reflects a theatrical superstition in which wishing a person "good luck" is considered bad luck. The expression is sometimes used outside the theatre as superstitions and customs travel through other professions and then into common use. Among professional dancers
, the phrase "break a leg" is replaced with "merde".
's 1939 A Peculiar Treasure in which she writes about the fascination of the theater, "...and all the understudies sitting in the back row politely wishing the various principals would break a leg". In Bernard Sobel
's 1948 The Theatre Handbook and Digest of Plays, he writes about theatrical superstitions: "...before a performance actors never wish each other good luck, but say 'I hope you break a leg. There is anecdotal evidence from theatrical memoirs and personal letters as early as the 1920s.
There are several theories behind the origin of the phrase. Few are supported by contemporary writings. The theories listed below are some of the more popular explanations.
On October 1, 1921 in the New Statesman
, a British liberal political and cultural magazine, an article was published, "A Defense of Superstition", written by urbane Irish nationalist Robert Wilson Lynd
. Lynd said that the theatre was the second-most superstitious institution in England, after horse racing. In horse racing, Lynd asserted, to wish a man luck is considered unlucky, so "You should say something insulting such as, 'May you break your leg!
s, bowing to the audience.
, people didn't applaud. Instead, they stomped for their appreciation and if they stomped long enough, they would break a leg. Or, some would have it that the term originated during Elizabethan times when, instead of applause the audience would bang their chairs on the ground—and if they liked it enough, the leg of the chair would break.
, gladiator
s would fight to the death as a form of popular entertainment in the colosseum
. Spectators would sometimes shout "quasso cruris," the Latin equivalent of "break a leg." This essentially would be wishing them "good luck" by requesting they keep their lives and only cripple the other opponent by breaking his leg.
translation into German
. The phrase "Hatsloche un Broche" (הצלחה און ברכה) ("success and blessing") had been calqued from the German phrase "Hals- und Beinbruch" ("neck and leg fracture"), because of near similar pronunciation.
as "połamania nóg," "breaking of legs," with the word "połamanie," meaning fracturing, "połamania" being the genitive case. In Polish, "życzyć" "to wish," governs the genitive case, thus the underlying structure is "życzę ci połamania nóg," roughly translated as "I wish you a fracture of the legs." Both in German and Polish, the phrase is most typically used to wish an actor good luck before a performance, or a student good luck before an exam.
Pilots of the German Air Force in the First World War are recorded in the autobiography of Manfred von Richthofen as using the phrase "Hals- und Beinbruch" (breaking of the neck and leg) to wish each other luck before a flight.
. The story goes that John Wilkes Booth
, the actor turned assassin, claimed in his diary that he broke his leg leaping to the stage of Ford's Theatre
after murdering the President. While Booth's roles as an actor are not well remembered, wishing an actor to "break a leg" is to wish them a performance worthy of remembrance. However, the fact that actors did not start wishing each other to "break a leg" until the 1920s (more than 50 years later) makes this an unlikely source. Furthermore the phrase has distinct origins in other languages that well predate the late 19th century. Also, some historians contend that he broke his leg when he fell from his horse trying to escape. They also cite that Booth often exaggerated and falsified his diary entries to make them more dramatic.
, where the famed 18th century British
actor, David Garrick
, became so entranced in the performance that he was unaware of a fracture.
Opera singers use "Toi Toi Toi," an idiom used to ward off a spell or hex, often accompanied by knocking on wood, and onomatopoeic, spitting (or imitating the sound of spitting). It was said that saliva had demon-banishing powers. From Rotwelsch
tof, from Yiddish tov ("good", derived from the Hebrew טוב and with phonetic similarities to the Old German word for "Devil.")
In Australia, the term "chookas" can be used instead. According to one oral tradition, one of the performers would check audience numbers. If there were not many in the seats, the performers would have bread to eat following the performance. If the theatre was full they could then have "chooks" — Australian slang for chicken
— for dinner. Therefore, if it was a full house, the performer would call out "Chookas!" It is now used by performers prior to a show regardless of the number of patrons; and may be a wish for a successful turnout.
Idiom
Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...
in theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
which means "good luck
Luck
Luck or fortuity is good fortune which occurs beyond one's control, without regard to one's will, intention, or desired result. There are at least two senses people usually mean when they use the term, the prescriptive sense and the descriptive sense...
." It is typically said to actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
s and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
s before they go on stage to perform. The origin of the phrase is obscure.
The expression reflects a theatrical superstition in which wishing a person "good luck" is considered bad luck. The expression is sometimes used outside the theatre as superstitions and customs travel through other professions and then into common use. Among professional dancers
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
, the phrase "break a leg" is replaced with "merde".
Origins
The earliest known example in print is from Edna FerberEdna Ferber
Edna Ferber was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels were especially popular and included the Pulitzer Prize-winning So Big , Show Boat , and Giant .-Early years:Ferber was born August 15, 1885, in Kalamazoo, Michigan,...
's 1939 A Peculiar Treasure in which she writes about the fascination of the theater, "...and all the understudies sitting in the back row politely wishing the various principals would break a leg". In Bernard Sobel
Bernard Sobel
Bernard Sobel was an American playwright, a drama critic for the New York Mirror, an author of a number of books on theatre and theatre history, and a publicist. Among his clients were Florenz Ziegfeld, Charles Dillingham, A. L...
's 1948 The Theatre Handbook and Digest of Plays, he writes about theatrical superstitions: "...before a performance actors never wish each other good luck, but say 'I hope you break a leg. There is anecdotal evidence from theatrical memoirs and personal letters as early as the 1920s.
There are several theories behind the origin of the phrase. Few are supported by contemporary writings. The theories listed below are some of the more popular explanations.
Opposite meaning
People in theatre consider it bad luck to wish an actor good luck, so instead they wish the opposite, by saying "break a leg!".On October 1, 1921 in the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
, a British liberal political and cultural magazine, an article was published, "A Defense of Superstition", written by urbane Irish nationalist Robert Wilson Lynd
Robert Wilson Lynd
Robert Wilson Lynd was an Irish writer, an urbane literary essayist and strong Irish nationalist.-Life and career:He was born in Belfast and educated at Royal Belfast Academical Institution, studying at Queen's University...
. Lynd said that the theatre was the second-most superstitious institution in England, after horse racing. In horse racing, Lynd asserted, to wish a man luck is considered unlucky, so "You should say something insulting such as, 'May you break your leg!
Bowing
To "break the leg" or "break a leg" is archaic slang for bowing or curtsying; placing one foot behind the other and bending at the knee "breaks" the line of the leg. In theatre, pleased audiences may applaud for an extended time allowing the cast to take multiple curtain callCurtain call
A curtain call occurs at the end of a performance when individuals return to the stage to be recognized by the audience for their performance. In musical theater, the performers typically recognize the orchestra and its conductor at the end of the curtain call...
s, bowing to the audience.
Greek origin
In the time of Ancient GreeceAncient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
, people didn't applaud. Instead, they stomped for their appreciation and if they stomped long enough, they would break a leg. Or, some would have it that the term originated during Elizabethan times when, instead of applause the audience would bang their chairs on the ground—and if they liked it enough, the leg of the chair would break.
Roman origin
In the time of Ancient RomeAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
, gladiator
Gladiator
A gladiator was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gladiators were volunteers who risked their legal and social standing and their lives by appearing in the...
s would fight to the death as a form of popular entertainment in the colosseum
Colosseum
The Colosseum, or the Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre , is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, the largest ever built in the Roman Empire...
. Spectators would sometimes shout "quasso cruris," the Latin equivalent of "break a leg." This essentially would be wishing them "good luck" by requesting they keep their lives and only cripple the other opponent by breaking his leg.
Yiddish origin
Some etymologists believe it to be an adaptation from the YiddishYiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
translation into German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
. The phrase "Hatsloche un Broche" (הצלחה און ברכה) ("success and blessing") had been calqued from the German phrase "Hals- und Beinbruch" ("neck and leg fracture"), because of near similar pronunciation.
German origin
The phrase has been adopted from German into Polish languagePolish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
as "połamania nóg," "breaking of legs," with the word "połamanie," meaning fracturing, "połamania" being the genitive case. In Polish, "życzyć" "to wish," governs the genitive case, thus the underlying structure is "życzę ci połamania nóg," roughly translated as "I wish you a fracture of the legs." Both in German and Polish, the phrase is most typically used to wish an actor good luck before a performance, or a student good luck before an exam.
Pilots of the German Air Force in the First World War are recorded in the autobiography of Manfred von Richthofen as using the phrase "Hals- und Beinbruch" (breaking of the neck and leg) to wish each other luck before a flight.
Lincoln theory
One popular, but false, etymology derives the phrase from the 1865 assassination of Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln assassination
The assassination of United States President Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close. The assassination occurred five days after the commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, and his battered Army of...
. The story goes that John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...
, the actor turned assassin, claimed in his diary that he broke his leg leaping to the stage of Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre
Ford's Theatre is a historic theater in Washington, D.C., used for various stage performances beginning in the 1860s. It is also the site of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865...
after murdering the President. While Booth's roles as an actor are not well remembered, wishing an actor to "break a leg" is to wish them a performance worthy of remembrance. However, the fact that actors did not start wishing each other to "break a leg" until the 1920s (more than 50 years later) makes this an unlikely source. Furthermore the phrase has distinct origins in other languages that well predate the late 19th century. Also, some historians contend that he broke his leg when he fell from his horse trying to escape. They also cite that Booth often exaggerated and falsified his diary entries to make them more dramatic.
Non-literal
There are many non-literal references this expression could be referring to.- Another popular alternative theory concerning the physical "legs," or side curtains, of the theatre proposes that the company of actors should rush onstage through the curtains to take a considerable amount of bows, thus "breaking a leg (side curtain)" in the process.
- To get a leg up, and catch your big / lucky break.
Richard III theory
Some attribute the line to a performance of Shakespeare's Richard IIIRichard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
, where the famed 18th century British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
actor, David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
, became so entranced in the performance that he was unaware of a fracture.
Alternate terms
Professional dancers do not wish each other good luck by saying "break a leg"; instead they say "Merde!", the French word for "shit". In turn, theater people have picked up this usage and may wish each other "merde", alone or in combination with "break a leg".Opera singers use "Toi Toi Toi," an idiom used to ward off a spell or hex, often accompanied by knocking on wood, and onomatopoeic, spitting (or imitating the sound of spitting). It was said that saliva had demon-banishing powers. From Rotwelsch
Rotwelsch
Rotwelsch or Gaunersprache is a secret language, a cant or thieves' argot, spoken by covert groups primarily in southern Germany and Switzerland.-Origin and development:...
tof, from Yiddish tov ("good", derived from the Hebrew טוב and with phonetic similarities to the Old German word for "Devil.")
In Australia, the term "chookas" can be used instead. According to one oral tradition, one of the performers would check audience numbers. If there were not many in the seats, the performers would have bread to eat following the performance. If the theatre was full they could then have "chooks" — Australian slang for chicken
Chicken (food)
Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world, and is prepared as food in a wide variety of ways, varying by region and culture.- History :...
— for dinner. Therefore, if it was a full house, the performer would call out "Chookas!" It is now used by performers prior to a show regardless of the number of patrons; and may be a wish for a successful turnout.
External links
- Break a Leg - Glossary of Technical Theatre Terms (With many explanations as to the origins of the term)
- Ask Yahoo - "Where did the expression "break a leg" come from?"
- Break a Leg, and Other Good Wishes, by Matthew Alice, in the San Diego ReaderSan Diego ReaderThe San Diego Reader is the largest alternative press paper in the county of San Diego, distributed free in stands and private businesses throughout the county, funded by advertisements...
. - Break a Leg by Gary Martin, phrases.org.uk, 1996 - 2006.
- Resource on Ortaoyunu