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Knock on wood

Posted by ESC on August 02, 2000

In Reply to: Expression "knock on wood" posted by DAVID CRAIG on August 02, 2000

: I am most anxious to determine the basis and meaning of the expression: knock on wood and why we actually do it on expecting good luck.

Charles Earle Funk, in Heavens to Betsy! and Other Curious Sayings says: "...No one knows how the superstition arose, but George Stimpson, in 'A Book About a Thousand Things,' which the publishers Harper & Brothers, permit me to quote, presents some of the numerous theories that have been offered. He says:

'...Some attribute it to the old game known as 'touching wood' or 'wood tag,' in which a player who succeeds in touching wood is safe from capture. Others hold that this game and 'knocking on wood' had a common origin in primitive tree worship, when trees were believed to harbor protective spirits. To rap on a tree -- the dwelling place of a friendly spirit -- was to call up the spirit of the tree to protect one against impending misfortune. Later, people would place the hand on a wooden statue of a deity for the same purpose...still others believe the superstition is of Christian origin and that it is in some way associated with the wooden cross upon which Jesus was crucified..."

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