In fifth grade I was enrolled into an actual school, after being homeschooled by entire life. From fifth to eighth grade, I was in the school play every year. As my confidence and love for acting grew, I auditioned for bigger roles. In my experience, the “extras” aren’t frequently granted a “congratulations” or “good luck”. However, last year, as I was about to go on stage playing a fairly large part in the musical Grease, I heard, “break a leg, Kalli!”
At the time, I was preoccupied with listening for my cue and I’m not entirely sure that I thanked the person. I have since then thought about why people say that to performers, anyway. If I had never heard the phrase “break a leg before,” I would be slightly taken aback and my response would most likely not have been thank you. Since when, I thought, had wishing someone to break a bone become good fortune? I can now answer my own question. So this is for eighth grade meL the earliest known example in print was in Edna Ferber’s 1939 A Peculiar Treasure.#
But, really, where are the origins of the notable phrase. The answer is: all over the world, literally. In Greece, during Elizabethan times, smacking their chairs on the ground was the audience’s form of applause. If crashed hard enough, the legs of the chairs would break.# In Ancient Rome, for a form of entertainment, gladiators would fight to the death in coliseums. By wishing the gladiators good luck, they were wishing that their opponent would only cripple them, but not take their lives.#
People all over the world, for centuries, have been using “break a leg” as a saying of good luck. Have people for centuries been superstitious, not wanting to jinx a performer by wishing them success? I don’t know that for sure. But what I do know for sure is that every time I hear “break a leg,” I won’t have to wonder where the phrase originated.
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