break a leg

Fracture one or more leg bones, as in She fell down the stairs and broke her leg in two places . [c. a.d. 1000]
Good luck! as in Play well, Rob—break a leg! The origin of this imperative to a performer about to go onstage is unclear; it may have been a translation of the German Hals und Beinbruch (“Break your neck and leg”), also of unknown origin. Equally mysterious is the Italian equivalent, In bocca di lupe , “Into the mouth of the wolf.” [c. 1900]

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Example Sentences

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He moved up into motor racing in 1974, first into Formula Ford and then Formula 3, only to suffer a nasty accident at Mallory Park in 1976 and badly break a leg.

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Last year Intuitive Machines' first spacecraft also landed on its side, breaking a leg.

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After breaking a leg at the age of nine - and fretting about whether she would lose fitness during her recovery - Potter resumed her progress in the pool.

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"Chookas is the Australian way of saying good luck or break a leg and apparently it's slang for chicken," she explained.

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"I think I took it a little too literally when they said, 'Go to Milwaukee and break a leg.'"