"Break a leg" is a well-known idiom in theatre which means "good luck." It is typically said to actors and musicians before they go on stage to perform. The origin of the phrase is obscure.
The expression reflects a theatrical superstition in which wishing a person "good luck" is considered bad luck. The expression is sometimes used outside the theatre as superstitions and customs travel through other professions and then into common use. Among professional dancers, the traditional saying is not "break a leg", but "merde".
Read more about Break A Leg: Origins, Alternate Terms
Famous quotes containing the words break a, break and/or leg:
“Too many feathers can sink a boat, and too many knick-knacks can break an axle.”
—Chinese proverb.
“An ancient bridge, and a more ancient tower,
A farmhouse that is sheltered by its wall,
An acre of stony ground,
Where the symbolic rose can break in flower,
Old ragged elms, old thorns innumerable....”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“Here’s a wing [laughs]. What do you like, the leg or the wing, Henry, or do you still go for the old hearts and lungs?”
—Nicholas Pileggi, U.S. screenwriter, and Martin Scorsese. Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci)