[fr theater; perhaps fr German Hals und Bein brechen, ''break your neck and leg,'' a similar good-luck formula; the same grim warding-off spell is expressed in Italian in bocca al lupo, ''good luck!'']
Idioms and Phrases with break a leg
break a leg
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Fracture one or more leg bones, as in She fell down the stairs and broke her leg in two places. [ c. a.d. 1000 ]
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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 ]