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break a leg

A wish for a successful performance; primarily a valediction to an actor wishing him or her a successful theatrical stage performance.

Etymology:

  • Unknown; many unproven and widely debated theories exist. One of the most plausible is that it comes from Yiddish הצלחה און ברכה through the heavy Ashkenazi Jewish influence in the American theater, via the misinterpretation in German as Hals- und Beinbruch. The Yiddish phrase itself comes from Hebrew הַצְלָחָה וּבְרָכָה.
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Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'break a leg':

break a legTo perform well in a theatrical production or comparable endeavor.
break a leggood luck
Break a LegTo wish good luck for a great performance
See them all »

Translation

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حظا موفقا

go n-éirí go geal leat

quebrar a perna

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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to break a leg

break a butterfly on a wheelbreak coverbreak a leg!break a lawbreak a sweatbig breakarm and a legbreak downbreak downbreak a sweatbreak downbreak downbreak evenbreak back

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