Break a leg??

[elucidate]

I'm just watching 'Staying Alive' (for the very first time). They are about to do their big performance, and the director says "break a leg"

I've never been able to work out why this is said as a way of saying "do your best and have a ball"...I mean, it's amazing more people haven't actually broken a leg during the performance.

Has anyone ever heard of anyone actually breaking their leg on stage during a performance? I'm really curious to know...

If the subconscious doesn't pick up on humour then surely this is akin to cursing someone? Am I over-thinking this?

I mean, I can see that the person saying it does not mean it literally, but it just seems like a silly thing to say to someone before they perform...

[elucidate]

This might be wierd, but that has plagued me for over 20 years

Now that I have finally expressed it and exorcised it from my person...I feel so much better

[alsy]

Originally Posted by elucidate

This might be wierd, but that has plagued me for over 20 years

Now that I have finally expressed it and exorcised it from my person...I feel so much better

on that.

i think one of the modern wonders, is that the seemingly trivial matters are so readily accessible on the www .
There is information in wiki about that phrase .. Break a leg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[elucidate]

Hey, a fellow Melbournian...top of the mornin' to ya

Yes, it really is amazing. You can find ANYTHING on the net.

I never new it was an old theatrical superstition that phrase was based on...now it makes perfect sense. My autistic brain can finally rest in peace...about that one anyway

[alsy]

Originally Posted by elucidate

Hey, a fellow Melbournian...top of the mornin' to ya

ooops, i take it for granted that i am familiar with a lot of the regular posters here, but due to my irregular posting, i am not readily known here. So i will take this opportunity to say hello , and thanks for the friendly greeting.

[Criseyde]

I was in a show once during which someone did indeed break his leg (though he was backstage at the time, climbing up onto the set). I was in another one wherein a girl got a concussion.

It's not really an ill-wish because you don't actually want the person to break a leg when you say it. Talking about Macbeth during a show, though -- that's an ill-wish.

[ssandra]

I think in a IM kinda way the feeling behind the words is more important then the words itself. So if someone tells you "break a leg" but really means you well, IM-wise it would be a good show.