knock on wood
Meaning: to seek good fortune; to ward off bad luck.
Language: English
Literally: to knock on wood
Category: Nature
Origin: The explanations usually given for this are considerably older than the evidence for the phrase itself. Accounts invoking pagan tree spirits, Celtic reverence for sacred groves, or the wood of the Cross are all repeated confidently, but the expression is only attested in English from around the turn of the twentieth century, with the British form "touch wood" appearing somewhat earlier in the 1800s — far too late to descend directly from ancient practice without a long silent gap nobody can document. A number of folklorists favor a much more mundane source: children's chasing games in which a player was safe from being caught while touching wood, a rule widespread in British schoolyards, which would make the gesture a piece of playground immunity that drifted into adult superstition. American English says "knock," British English says "touch," and the accompanying gesture survives in both regardless of what originally prompted it.
More idioms — Nature
- Auf dem Holzweg sein — To be on completely the wrong track.
- 高嶺の花 (Takane no hana) — Someone or something beautiful but utterly out of reach.
- После дождичка в четверг (Posle dozhdichka v chetverg) — Never — or certainly no time soon.
- Τα έκανε θάλασσα — He made a complete mess of it.
- Je to za vodou — To be out of trouble; home free.
- Spadnout z višně — To be naive and clueless about how things really work.
More English idioms
- pull someone's leg — To joke or tease someone by telling them something untrue.
- Mad as a hatter — Completely eccentric or unhinged.
- To steal someone's thunder — To take credit for another's idea or upstage their big moment.
- To turn a blind eye — To deliberately ignore something you know is wrong.
- Hair of the dog — A morning drink taken to cure a hangover.
- To bite the bullet — To face something painful with gritted courage.