Re: Another Happy Birthday!

Christophe Grandsire scripsit:

> When you want to wish good luck to an actor or a director before the
> beginning of a theater play, you cannot use "good luck" ("bonne chance")
> since
> it brings bad luck :)) (actors are quite superstitious when it comes to
> acting :)) ). You have to say "Merde !" (yes indeed, you read me
> correctly :)) ) and the person who receives the wish mustn't answer to it.
> Are there other languages (nat- and/or con-) that also have insults promoted
> to good wish interjections in some situations?
Yes, indeed.   In English one says "Break a leg!" which is not an
insult per se, but certainly a malediction in normal use.
German says "Hals- un Beinbruch", where "Bein" probably also means
"leg" (as formerly) in this connection.

--
John Cowan <jcowan@...>     http://www.reutershealth.com
I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen,    http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
han mathon ne chae, a han noston ne 'wilith.  --Galadriel, _LOTR:FOTR_