Have you ever heard the idiomatic expression 'break a leg'? As in: "Hey George, good luck with your performance tonight. Break a leg!"
Native English speakers use this idiom to wish good luck, especially among theatre performers just before walking onstage. Although it likely began among actors, its usage has since spilled over into mainstream vernacular to generally mean good luck in any situation. Its definite origins are unclear and heavily debated, but here are a few of the more popular theories that I have found.
The first suggests that 'break a leg' was fashioned from superstition. It was once common for people to believe in sprites or spirits. They were renowned to be mischievous creatures, gaining immense enjoyment from wreaking havoc and causing trouble. If the sprites happened to overhear a request for something, they would do their best to ensure the opposite would happen. In an attempt to outsmart the spirits, a speaker would resort to basic reverse psychology. By telling a person to 'break a leg' you would really be wishing them luck.
If "good luck" causes bad luck, then the perceived bad luck of breaking one's leg causes good. Tricky, tricky.
Another theory states that the idiom came from an old style of tipping. It was common at one point for an audience to tip actors at the end of a successful stage performance by throwing money, typically coins, onstage. The performers would then have to kneel down to pick up the coins. A joke developed between actors about having to bend down often to pick up the huge amount of tips, therefore breaking a leg. Good luck indeed.
A third source suggests the idiom simply describes 'breaking the legline' ie: bending the knee, when an actor would kneel to pick up coins.
If you are interested in reading more theories on this idiom visit: Answers.com.
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