By Eddie Deezen
The term, of course, means do well or have a great show and is typically used before a stage performance, a show, or an audition. (I have never heard it used before filming a movie on any of the movies Ive been involved with, but I guess it can be used in that sense too). But Im sure youre more interested in the origin of break a leg.
Like many popular sayings and terms, the origin of break a leg is nebulous and disputed. The term break a leg was used originally, many say, to discourage evil spirits from deliberately causing ones performance to suffer. According to this theory, wishing someone good luck would be invoking the evil eye. So good luck would actually cause bad luck for the actor. Thus, break a leg, by this logic, would be a wish for good luck.
This is in line with the first documented instance of someone saying break a leg in terms of wishing them luck. In an October 1, 1921 edition of the New Statesman, Robert Wilson Lynd is talking about it being unlucky in horse racing to wish someone luck so you should say something insulting such as, May you break your leg! He also mentions that theater people are the second most superstitious group next to those involved in horse racing.
Another of the early documented references of break a leg, this time directly referring to theater, was in the 1939 A Peculiar Treasure by Edna Ferber, where she implies a different motive, and all the understudies sitting in the back row politely wishing the various principals would break a leg. Thus, they say it hoping the principal actors will break their leg so the understudies can possibly take the lead.
Another possible construction is the German phrase Hals und beinbruch. The sentiment here is Happy landings in English. Both English and German pilots use the term, but the literal translation is breaking all ones bones. It is possible actors adopted this phrase, as it was just after WWI that the break a leg sentiment seems to have gained widespread popularity.
The term break a leg may be traced back to the Elizabethan language. To break a leg, in Shakespeares time, meant, literally, to bow- by bending at the knee. Since a successful actor would break a leg onstage and receive applause, the phrase would, in effect, be a wish for good luck. However, in the 16th century break a leg also meant to give birth to an illegitimate child, which is hard to connect to the theatrical world.
Others trace break a leg to the tradition of audiences in Ancient Greece. Instead of applauding actors, audiences would stomp their feet. Stomping to the point of actually breaking a leg is unlikely- but still, the phrase may be figurative and not literal.
An interesting historical theory attributes break a leg to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. This theory traces the term to the great 19th century actor, John Wilkes Booth, who, of course, shot President Lincoln at Fords Theater in 1865. After Booth shot the President, he jumped from Lincolns upper box seat onto the stage, where he literally broke his leg. (Some also present this as a possibly origin of the popular phrase comedians and comics use for a successful show: I killed them. / I killed the audience.)
Landing a role in show business is called getting a break and being newly successful is called breaking into the business. These also may be where the break a leg term evolves from.
So as you can see here, the exact origin of break a leg for wishing someone luck is murky at best. But whatever first spawned the exact phrase, it seems plausible enough that it either grew in popularity from the idea of wishing bad luck on someone so that theyll in turn be given good luck, as the early documented references of the phrase imply, or in sarcastically wishing them bad luck so that the understudy could perhaps take over the role of one of the principals if the principal actually broke their leg.
Bonus Fact:
- Ballet dancers have their own version of break a leg which connects to the superstitious concept of not wishing other dancers good luck. They will say Merde! This translates in English to a well-known four-letter word that describes human waste. This term seems more expressive of not evoking ill or bad luck, but as well may imply feelings related to stage fright or anxiety before a performance.