Break a leg, “Merda”, Goodbye

The other day I was thinking about some expressions and their translations from English to Portuguese, especially because it's the end of the year and a lot of people are putting on shows. The expression that I'm talking about is what to wish someone who's going to step on a stage. You can't say good luck because then they believe that that will bring them bad luck. However, I looked up the expression and break a leg which means good luck does not mean that we want anybody to break a leg, but it is rooted to the theater community which is known to be superstitious so if you wish somebody good luck actually, you're wishing them bad luck so by wishing them to break a leg you're wishing them a flawless performance. It was around 1939 that people started using the expression break a leg.

Now, in Brazil, we wish people Merda which is translated to feces. It originally comes from French merde which in the 19th century people used to either go to the theater in wagons or on their horses. Therefore, if you saw a lot of horse manure in front of the theater, it meant that there were a lot of people in the theater watching the show, considered to be very successful one.

I have also read an account about man who to perform his first play and on the way to the theater stepped on poop. Getting there he didn't have to time to clean his shoes or change them, so he went directly on the stage and performed an incredible character, therefore you also have the superstition stepping on poop is good luck.

Another expression that I read about or heard about was the word goodbye written good-by, good-bye, good by, goodbye, believe it or not, all the forms of spelling are accepted. But the most popular is goodbye. Goodbye is actually a contraction of God be with you which is what people used to say in 1573 and it was registered as Godbwye short for God be with ye. Throughout the years this has changed and because of the influence of for such expressions as good day or good evening, people started saying goodbye. W also have this expression here in Brazil and it could be Adeus, Deus te acompanhe, the latter one still is used nowadays which literally means God be with you, but it is mostly used by religious people. The most common expression for goodbye in Portuguese is tchau pronounced chow.

Written: November 25, 2022

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