Wishing for good things in the future is pretty normal, however, in many cultures are you discouraged from sharing your goals. In fact, if you happen to mention something positive that happened or your desire for luck, many say you should knock on wood. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n
When someone says to knock on wood they want you to engage in an act that is said to defer or prevent bad luck. Knocking on wood is supposed to stop the evil eye, or prevent others' bad thoughts from affecting your good fortune. Most people use the phrase when they are speaking in a crowd, or when they think that problems may arise in the future. For example, if someone is working on closing a deal, they may express the anticipated closing date. After speaking about their intention and the date, they will knock on wood in the hopes of preventing bad luck from spoiling the deal.<\/strong><\/p>\n It is also another way of saying that you are hoping for good luck. It can be used to invite good karma in some cultures as well. A lot of people believe in fate, and use knocking on wood to avoid tempting the fates. In most cases, people will actually knock on a piece of wood, or verbally state that they intend to knock on wood.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to be careful about what you put out in the world, knock on wood to avoid bad karma\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI make sure to knock on wood whenever I put negative hypotheticals out in the universe\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t believe there is any truth to the suspicion about knocking on wood\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cSee, I told you to knock on wood, you didn\u2019t and that\u2019s why you missed out on such an amazing opportunity\u201d.<\/p>\n The phrase knock on wood centers around superstitions. Specifically, it comes from the idea that touching or knocking on wood will prevent interference from evil spirits. In most forms of mythology, wood is said to be a kind spirit and able to impart good luck. The activity of touching or knocking on wood alert the good spirits of your presence and thus is meant to trigger a \u201cblessing\u201d.<\/p>\n It is worth noting that this belief predates the age of Christianity. The age of nature spirits and sky gods attributed trees and other aspects of nature with varied magical qualities. Another belief is that the idiom came from a game called Tiggy Touchwood. According to Steve Roud, who is a notable folklore researcher, the game is where players who are touching wood are safe, while those not doing so are available for capture. The earliest written accounts of the phrase can be dated back to the late 1600s.<\/p>\nExample Usage<\/h2>\n
Origin<\/h2>\n