“The thing about quotes on the internet is that you cannot confirm their validity.”
~ Plato
The beauty and danger of the internet is that everything is there – right and wrong, fact-checked and flight of fancy.
I thought I knew the origin of “break a leg”: a superstition developed by actors concerned that wishing someone “good luck” would have the opposite effect. A quick internet check confirmed that was indeed where the phrase originated.
Except for all the other citations that revealed different genesis stories – from actors’ bows to audiences’ cheering, or, later on, actors getting paid for performing. At least all the explanations agreed the origin was the theatre. Except for the Yiddish/German possibility. And the horse racing one.
In a way, it doesn’t matter which theory one prefers regarding the origin of “break a leg”; all the meanings are the same: good luck.
You are neither a figure of speech nor the internet. When inquiring into the origins and meaning of the life you are living (and perhaps the one you are not living), there are reliable methods of inquiry and ways to test for validity. At the same time, however, there is no search engine. This inquiry takes a bit more effort.
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