The following is © 2007 Wikipedia.
*Origins of
"Break a leg!"
There are
several theories for
the expression's origins. All are heavily debated. The below are some
of the
most popular origins for the expression.
The earliest
known example in
print refers to the title of a play from 1957. Naturally the saying is
much
older for it to have been borrowed for a title and there is anecdotal
evidence
from theatrical memoirs and personal letters as early as the 1920s.
Traditional
Theory
In the U.K.,
the most common
idea of origin for the expression comes from tradition. Historians know
from
the time of King James I and Shakespeare's King's Men that actors would on
occasion receive tips on top of their salaries. Rather than receiving
tips
directly from the company or theatre, tipping was left to the audience.
During
the final bows or curtain call, audiences would throw money, usually
coins,
onto the stage depending on how well they enjoyed the performance. In
some bad
performances they would throw rotten vegetables, but in the good cases,
money.
Actors would then 'take a knee,' effectively breaking their leg line,
on stage
and pick up the money. As a result when you wish someone to "break a
leg" it
refers to wishing them success in their performance so in end they
would have
to kneel down and collect a welcoming tip. Theatre evolved and the
tradition of
tipping changed. This tradition led to the tradition of throwing
flowers on
stage, as well as presenting flowers.
Antonym
Theory
Breaking
one's leg is not a
good thing to hope for -- therefore by some superstition, if "good
luck" causes bad luck, then the perceived bad luck of breaking one's
leg
causes good.
Peasant
Theory
A
very whimsical theory is the
Groundling or Peasant Theory. In the times of Shakespeare, theatres
such as the
Globe Theatre were open-air amphitheaters. People who could afford to,
sat in
the covered balcony seats while those unable to afford the balcony
seating
prices had crowd the front of the theatre in the open. Mockingly, these
audience members were referred to as Groundlings (today's nosebleed
audience
status). Transfixed by well-done performances, the Groundlings would
drool.
Actors would wish each other good luck by saying, "may you give such a
stirring performance that you fall on the ensuing spot of the drooling
Groundlings, and break a leg."
Bowing
This theory
is thought to be
an extension of the Traditional Theory. For the curtain call, when
actors bow
or curtsy, they place one foot behind the other and bend at the knee,
"breaking" the line of the leg. In theatre, pleased audiences may
applaud in
which time encore bows sometimes occur. On Broadway this is considered
the
highest compliment to an actor. In wishing someone to "break a leg" you
are
ultimately wishing them to bow many times effectively causing them to
break
their leg line. A continuation of this theory is a joke where you wish
someone
to bow too many times that they "break a leg."
Greek Origin
In the time
of Ancient Greece,
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 stomp their chairs -– and if they liked it enough, the leg of the
chair
would break.
Roman Origin
In the time
of Ancient Rome, gladiators
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.
Lincoln
Theory
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 Theatre after the
murder,
breaking his leg in the process. 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 1920's (more than 50
years later)
makes this an unlikely source.
German
Origin
A translation
from the German
phrase "Hals- und Beinbruch" ("neck and leg fracture"),
which comes from the Yiddish phrase "Hasloche un Broche"
("success and blessing"). The phrase has also been adopted
from German into Polish language 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 a student
good
luck before an exam.
Non-literal
There are
many non-literal
references this expression could be referring to.
- In
traditional curtains, the legs of the curtain were constructed from
long wooden rods. In the case of many encores, curtains would be lifted
and dropped numerous times causing them to break.
- 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.
- The term
"break a leg" may be an abbreviation for the phrase 'break a legend'
which roughly means "go get yourself out there" or related to meaning
"break" (example this is your big break).
- The term
"break a leg" may also be related to the members of a play/performance
since they are known as the "cast."
Alternate
Terms
In
some areas, the phrase "break a leg" itself has fallen into bad
superstitious repute. In Australia, the term "chookas" can be used
instead, and in the UK, "fall down backwards" may also be used. The
origins of these terms are as unknown to us as is the origin of "break
a
leg".
© 2007 Wikipedia.
