“Knock on wood”in other languages
Said to keep bad luck away after mentioning good luck.
English
Italian
Turkish
EnglishItalianTurkishSame idea, different pictures
English knocks on wood, and the British touch it. The stories about tree spirits are much older than any record of the phrase, so nobody really knows where it comes from.
Italian makes the horns, fare le corna, an old hand sign against the evil eye. Turkish names that eye directly: nazar değmesin, may the evil eye not touch it.
More sayings in other languages
- Laugh one's head off
- Lay down the law
- Left high and dry
- Let the cat out of the bag
- The life of Riley
- Like a bat out of hell
- Like a bear with a sore head
- Like two peas in a pod
- Look before you leap