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stranger
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stranger
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"Break a leg!" One says this to actors (and other performers) before they go on stage, by way of wishing them success, especially on opening nights. But where does the expression come from and why is it used in this way? There may be some connection with the Dutch phrase "hals en been breken" (break a neck and a leg) and with a similar one in German, but this still doesn't explain anything. I've also heard it mooted that this colorful figure of speech derives from John Wilkes Booth having leapt from the presidential box and broken his leg after assassinating Lincoln. But why? Because he succeeded in his appointed task, at a play?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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old hand
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old hand
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While we're on the subject, is it true that the French wish each other good luck by saying 'Merde!' to each other?
Further digression: Just recently I saw the comic 'Boeing, Boeing', a French show in which one of the lead girls had a cast on her leg - it made the show all the more funny, if slower. Do you think anyone wished her well by saying 'Break a leg!' though?
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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While waiting for our resident actors, WO'N aka Juan and Fiberbabe (and any closet actors in the wings) to opine, I can say that yes, it's true the French say merde, and, BTW, Brazilians say merda.
This may be a YART but I don't care
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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And if someone says 'Merde' to you, you are not supposed to say 'Merci' - the appropriate response is no response at all. Not sure why. In English, when someone says 'Break a leg', it is okay to say thanks.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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If you want a euphemism for "Merde"
, Le mot de General Cambronne is Merde. That means "shit" in English. This is the
word which made him immortal. Today in France when a Frenchman wants to insult you elegantly, he
says, "Je voux donne le mot de General Cambronne." "I give you the word of General Cambronne."
General Cambronne was made immortal by only one thing, that one word he used at Waterloo.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Amazing that, with all the years I've been involved with the theatre I've never delved into the etymology of this pharse (although I have wondered about it, and discussed it with fellow thespians, but never actually researched it). I will be going on a Google excavation! I have also done extensive research on the character and life of John Wilkes Booth (whom I sometimes portray at Civil War reenactments), and I have never seen one mention alluding to his breaking his leg at the time of Lincoln's assasination as having given rise to this phrase. And, by the way...NEVER say "break a leg" to a dancer!  I studied tap for many years, so I know.
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enthusiast
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enthusiast
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I was told (at a drunken cast party long ago, so the details haven't stuck, I'm afraid) that leg doesn't refer to the body part. Rather, the expression supposedly refers to making a profit on the show or breaking through the curtain (or something -- man, I wish I could remember). Unless, of course, someone was pulling my leg!
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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a drunken cast party What's that like? I don't remember any of those. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Found this -- from Wilton's Word and Phrase Origins http://www.wordorigins.org/thelist.htm (Book it, Maxo! )...this is the list page, not the home page. "Break a Leg"
Superstition against wishing an actor Good Luck! has led to the adoption of this phrase
in its place. Popular etymology derives the phrase from the 1865 assassination of
Abraham Lincoln. John Wilkes Booth, the actor turned assassin, leapt to the stage of
Ford's Theater after the murder, breaking his leg in the process. The logical connection
with good luck is none too clear, but such is folklore.
There is no evidence, however, to suggest that this is the true derivation, and since the
earliest usage of the phrase dates to the 1920s, there is much to suggest that it is not. The
best that can be said is that the origin is unknown.
In the theatrical community it is commonly told that the phrase refers to bending the
knee, an old style of bowing. To break a leg was to bow a lot, meaning a successful
performance. But there is no evidence to support this explanation and the fact that it only
dates to the 1920s mitigates against it. Much more likely is that the phrase arose from a
simple superstition against wishing someone good luck.
Partridge's A Dictionary of Catch Phrases suggests that there may be a connection with
the German phrase Hals und Beinbruch, an invitation to break your neck and bones. The
German phrase is used by aviators and is equivalent to the English phrase Happy
Landings!. Both phrases arose about the same time, the early twentieth century, but the
connection between the German aviation community and American theater is unclear,
so they may be unrelated.
Partridge's A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, published some eight
years before the other source, does not list the theatrical meaning. Instead, it lists an
obsolete meaning of "to give birth to a bastard child," from circa 1670.
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