<Li> In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia there is also the habit of knocking on wood when saying something positive or affirmative about someone or something and not wanting that to change . Frequently the movement of knocking on nearby wood is followed by "Da pokucam u drvo" (да куцнем у дрво) (I will knock on wood), or sometimes by "Da ne ureknem" (да не урекнем) (I don't want to jinx it). </Li> <Li> In Poland, as well as in Russia, there is a habit of knocking on (unpainted) wood (which may be preceded by saying odpukać w niemalowane drewno or simply odpukać, literally meaning to knock on unpainted wood) when saying something negative - to prevent it from happening - or, more rarely, something positive - in order not to "spoil it". In Czech Republic, this is often accompanied for stronger effect by knocking on one's teeth, a piece of building stone, or metal, reasoning that these (as opposed to wood) survive even fire . </Li> <Li> In Turkey, when someone hears about a bad experience someone else had, he / she may gently pull one earlobe, and knock on a wood twice, which means "God save me from that thing ." </Li> <Li> In the United States in the eighteenth century, men used to knock on the wood stock of their muzzle - loading rifles to settle the black powder charge, ensuring the weapon would fire cleanly . </Li>

Where did the saying touch wood come from