more on "break a leg"

[Douglas G. Wilson]

It has been speculated that "Hals- und Beinbruch" = "Good luck" is based
on a Yiddish good-luck expression.

 >From earlier discussion on this list:

http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0212a&L=ads-l&P=8865

Here is the German-from-Yiddish etymological conjecture in a modern book:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/c4evcy

Seems likely enough to me.

As for why "Hals- und Beinbruch" instead of some other mondegreen, I
speculate that "Hals- und Beinbruch" was already an established
collocation, meaning [figuratively] "disaster" or "disastrous misstep"
(although the meaning is irrelevant). On quick Google Books search I
find such an expression a few times from the early 19th century, the
"good-luck" interjection only from the late 19th (but my German is even
worse than my English, so some scholar might like to check this).

Now we have "Break a leg!" from 1925 or so and German exact-equivalent
(I think) from 1908 suggesting the English interjection was simply a
literal translation of the German one, so the specific superstitions of
actors (German or US) may not be germane since the basic meaning is in
fact "Good luck" if it's from "Hals- und Beinbruch".

Now one may ask whether "Hals- und Beinbruch" > "Beinbruch" > "Brechen
Sie ein Bein" or so is simply a matter of shortening or whether it
involves a deliberate weakening ("Besser ein Bein brechen, als den Hals").

-- Doug Wilson

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