"Break A Leg!"

Even people who are not in theatre know the time honored tradition of wishing their acting friends "Break A Leg!" on opening night. It was originially believed that to wish good luck to another person was to part with it yourself. Hugget says that "it also means that you are inviting the hostile and rather contemptuous intervention of the gods if you draw attention to your desperate need for fortune. A curious and repulsive tradition sprang out of that to offer gruesome first night wishes like break a leg or fall down backward or give them hell or go and perform an impossible action." He goes on to say that most actors today say pleasant, encouraging things instead, such as "be brilliant or enjoy yourself or have a marvelous time."