While those two theories are probably the ones that make the most sense, there are others such as when bowing, that would mean 'breaking a leg' because the knees bent, so it was wishing an actor have a good performance so that multiple bows or curtsies be given. In either theory, it means that the actor passed the 'leg line' or passed the curtains in the wings known as 'legs.' Thus, the actor broke a leg, as the leg-line was crossed. It can also come from wishing that people might have to go out for a curtain call at the end of the show. This comes from when those who got to perform were the people who were paid and the people who didn't perform were not paid. The order is not certain.Īnother theory is that the phrase 'break a leg' comes from wishing somebody the chance to perform. It is thought that theatre people may have adopted the idea from this article or that Lynd got the idea from theatre people and put it in the article. In the same article, Lynd said that theatre people were the second most superstitious. He said that the most superstitious people were those who bet on horse racing and it was bad luck to wish them good luck, so instead people should say something like, 'May you break you leg!' Lynd did not give a source for this. One thought is that the tradition came from a writing by Robert Wilson Lynd called 'A Defence of Superstition.' This was published in the Octoedition of the New Statesmen.

The phrase started being used in the theatre in the 1920s.

Origin of break a leg