You don’t have to be in showbiz to know the right thing to say to actors before they go out on stage. Have a good show? Hardly. Good luck? Never! No, we always tell performers to “break a leg.” You probably know what this common saying means, but where does break a leg come from?
As a longtime copy editor, I’m something of a word sleuth. So naturally, I was curious about break a leg’s meaning and evolution. I spoke to two language historians to get the details on this frequently used idiom. Read on to learn everything from the etymology of break a leg to why we use it in a theater setting.
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What does break a leg mean?
According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), break a leg is “originally and chiefly theatre slang used to wish a person (especially an actor) well before he or she gives a performance.”
Despite sounding negative, the phrase is meant as an encouragement, particularly in theater, music and other performing arts. When you use this slang phrase, you’re wishing someone good luck—without speaking those words.
What is the history of break a leg?
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Apparently, actors are a superstitious lot, and saying “good luck” in the theater is considered bad luck. So where does the phrase break a leg come from? Well, as early as 1925 (per the OED), break a leg became a suitable workaround to avoid bad fortune.
What perplexes linguists isn’t so much where this phrase originated as why. What made performers start wishing one another physical harm? “This saying is obscure [and] impenetrable, both in its meaning and its origin,” says Michael Adams, PhD, a professor of English and linguistics at Indiana University. “Why would you tell somebody going on stage to break a leg? You obviously don’t mean it literally; that would be terrible.”
Where does break a leg come from?
“There is an expression in German, Hals- und Beinbruch, which means ‘break your neck and your leg,'” says Laurel Brinton, PhD, professor emerita at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Although the OED doesn’t draw a direct line from that phrase to break a leg, she points out that the first example the dictionary gives is “You say, I hope you break a leg, or your neck, or some other such hope of calamity.”
“So there may be some connection with this German expression,” says Brinton. More reason to suspect there’s a link: The German saying was used as a well-wishing phrase in hunting and then in theater.
Break a leg’s origin may go back even further: Some experts believe that the German phrase may be derived from the Hebrew blessing hatzlakha u-brakha, which means “success and blessing.”
What are the theories behind its use?
“There are a lot of myths about how idioms arise, and that’s the case here,” Brinton says. Sure, linguists may have plenty of guesses as to the history of break a leg, but she notes that “they’re just theories.” Here are a few:
- Audience members in ancient Greece would stomp their feet to show appreciation; if they stomped too hard, they might break their leg.
- If an actor performed well, he’d bend (or break) his leg to take a bow at the end of the show.
- In appreciation of a good performance, audience members in Elizabethan England would throw money onto the stage, and the actor would have to bend (or break) his leg to pick it up.
- In theaters, the side curtains framing the stage are known as legs. A performer would step past these curtains, or “break a leg,” for a curtain call.
- John Wilkes Booth broke his leg when he killed Abraham Lincoln—though, as Brinton adds, that wasn’t good luck “for either one of them.”
Regardless of the etymology of break a leg, this slang phrase that originated in the theater has gone mainstream. “Slang, at one time, was less a matter of public expressive language and more a matter of underground or veiled expressive language of marginalized people,” says Adams. “And what’s interesting about [a phrase like break a leg] is that it’s a reminder—we often forget this in American celebrity culture today—that actors were lowlifes, and the theater was a marginal enterprise.”
Can you use break a leg for all types of performances?
Since break a leg comes from the theater world, the phrase is mainly for performers like actors, singers and dancers. You can use the phrase in other contexts—say, to an athlete before a big game or to your kid before an exam—but you have other options outside the theater.
The phrase good luck is considered bad luck only in theaters, so go ahead and use it everywhere else.
What is the proper response to “break a leg”?
Even though telling an actor to break a leg doesn’t seem like a good thing, it is. Proper response to these well wishes are “Thank you” and “I hope so.” But you could be extra playful and say something like “Fingers crossed” or “I’ll try not to break both.”
What are some synonyms for break a leg?
Don’t want to use the theater world’s go-to slang phrase? Here are a dozen other ways to wish someone good luck onstage—or off.
- Bring the house down!
- Crush it!
- Do great out there!
- Do your thing!
- Give it your all.
- Go for it!
- Knock ’em dead.
- Make them cheer!
- Own the moment.
- Shine bright!
- Steal the show!
- You’ve got this!
What happens if you say “good luck” in the theater?
The important thing is to not jinx a performer with good-luck wishes on opening night. But what happens if someone utters that unlucky “good luck” phrase? Apparently, to counteract the bad juju, the speaker must leave the theater, turn around three times, spit, curse and then knock on the door to be let back into the building.
What are some other theatrical superstitions?
The theater world is full of superstitions beyond just saying “break a leg” instead of “good luck.” Here are a few others:
- Don’t whistle backstage.
- Never say “Macbeth” in a theater (unless it’s during a performance of that play); call it the Scottish Play instead.
- Avoid peacock feathers (and their “evil eye” pattern) onstage.
- Don’t use mirrors onstage—they can attract bad spirits.
- Always leave a light on when the theater is empty to ward off ghosts.
- Never give a performer flowers before a show—wait until it’s over.
Do the performers in your life a favor and commit those theater faux pas to memory. And the next time someone tells you to “break a leg,” take it as a sign that they’re rooting for your success—and try to avoid literally doing it!
About the experts
- Michael Adams, PhD, is a professor of English and linguistics at Indiana University Bloomington, where he served as chair of the Department of English for four years. He specializes in the history, theory and practice of lexicography and has contributed to dictionaries and several books, including Word Mysteries and Histories: From Abracadabra to Zeus.
- Laurel Brinton, PhD, is professor emerita in the Department of English Language and Literatures at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She specializes in English historical and contemporary linguistics and has written several books, including The English Language: A Linguistic History.
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Sources:
- Michael Adams, professor of English and linguistics at Indiana University Bloomington; phone interview, Jan. 31, 2025
- Laurel Brinton, professor emerita at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada; phone interview, Jan. 31, 2025
- Oxford English Dictionary: “Leg”
- Phrase Finder: “Break a leg”
- Lamar University Department of Theatre & Dance: “Top Five Superstitions in the Theatre”
- Broadway Direct: “13 Theater Superstitions”
