Die Daumen drücken
Meaning: To wish someone good luck (like crossing fingers).
Language: German
Literally: To press the thumbs
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Two rival explanations compete, from very different eras. One reaches for ancient Roman gladiatorial combat, where a judge's thumb gesture decided a defeated fighter's fate: pollice compresso, a thumb held down or tucked into the fist, signaled mercy, while pollice verso, a thumb turned outward, signaled death. On this theory, today's gesture of pressing the thumb into a closed fist directly preserves that ancient signal for a merciful, favorable outcome. A second, older theory reaches instead for Germanic folk belief, in which the thumb was considered the hand's most powerful digit, a natural "lucky finger" capable of warding off bad dreams and evil spirits; pressing it into the closed fist was thought to physically trap a hostile spirit or demon inside, rendering it unable to interfere with the outcome being wished for.
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From our untranslatable words
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