Idiom
break a leg
Meaning
Good luck!; Do your best!; Said to someone wishing they perform well in a theatrical production or comparable endeavor.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Break a leg at your big concert tonight.”
“I know you are nervous about your first big presentation, but you have prepared well, so break a leg.”
“As the curtain rose and the actors took their places, the director whispered for them to break a leg and give the audience a performance to remember.”
Examples
simple
“Break a leg at your big concert tonight.”
contextual
“I know you are nervous about your first big presentation, but you have prepared well, so break a leg.”
complex
“As the curtain rose and the actors took their places, the director whispered for them to break a leg and give the audience a performance to remember.”
Origin
Theatre superstition (early 20th century) that wishing luck directly invites bad luck; possibly from the German/Yiddish good-luck phrase 'Hals- und Beinbruch' (neck and leg break).
Key words
Related idioms
- Level
- B1 · Intermediate
- Updated