<P> Some attribute the line to a performance of Shakespeare's Richard III, where the famed 18th century British actor, David Garrick, became so entranced in the performance that he was unaware of a fracture . </P> <P> In the days of Vaudeville, companies would book more performers than could possibly make it onstage, but would only pay those who performed . Since the Renaissance, stage curtain legs have been used as part of the masking in proscenium theaters, which remain the most popular style of theater to this day . Thus, to make it on stage, one had to enter the line of sight of the audience or "break a leg", to be paid . </P> <P> Professional dancers do not wish each other good luck by saying "break a leg"; instead they say "Merde!", the French word for "shit". In turn, theater people have picked up this usage and may wish each other "merde", alone or in combination with "break a leg". In Spanish, the phrase is "mucha mierda", or "lots of shit". This term refers to the times when carriages would take the audience to the theatre . A quick look to the street in front of the venue would tell if the play was successful: a lot of horse dung would mean many carriages had stopped to leave spectators . </P> <P> Opera singers use "Toi toi toi", an idiom used to ward off a spell or hex, often accompanied by knocking on wood, and onomatopoeic, spitting (or imitating the sound of spitting). Saliva traditionally had demon - banishing powers . From Rotwelsch tof, from Yiddish tov ("good", derived from the Hebrew טוב and with phonetic similarities to the Old German word for "Devil .") One explanation sees "toi toi toi" as the onomatopoeic rendition of spitting three times . Spitting three times over someone's head or shoulder is a gesture to ward off evil spirits . A similar - sounding expression for verbal spitting occurs in modern Hebrew as "Tfu, tfu" (here, only twice), which some say that Hebrew - speakers borrowed from Russian . </P>

Where does the term break a leg originate from