# variants of "Good luck"



## Encolpius

No, no, I don't want to ask you to translate good luck. I noticed in Hungarian, Czech and German there's another way to say good luck. I found out its origin might be Yiddish. 

How about your mother tongue? *Do you say good luck in other way?* English and Spaniards say Break a leg & Mucha mierda but it's used only on stage. 

*Hungarian:* Kéz és lábtörést! (Break your hands & legs)

*Czech:* Zlom vaz! (Break your neck)

*German:* Hals- und Beinbruch! (Break your neck and legs)


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## jazyk

> How about your mother tongue? *Do you say good luck in other way?*


 I can't think of anything different from _Boa sorte _in Portuguese.





> English and Spaniards say Break a leg & Mucha mierda but it's used only on stage.


I've heard that Brazilian actors say Merda.


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## Encolpius

Yes, I am afraid those kind of expressions are used only in Central Europe.


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## martaaa

In Italy, we say "Buona fortuna" ( = Good luck) or "In bocca al lupo" ( = In the mouth of the wolf)


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## DearPrudence

In French, you can also say "*merde*" (shit) which is not reserved to actors. 
It is commonly used for students too (among others).


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## בעל-חלומות

In Hebrew the phrase that literally means "good luck"  - מזל טוב - really means "congratulations", usually at birthdays or weddings. 

To say "good luck" we say בהצלחה, "in success"


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## elroy

בעל-חלומות said:


> To say "good luck" we say בהצלחה, "in with success"


 The preposition -ב can be translated as "in" or with" depending on the context. 

We say something similar in Arabic: بالتوفيق.

In English, actors (and others) say "Break a leg."


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## federicoft

martaaa said:


> In Italy, we say [...] "In bocca al lupo" ( = In the mouth of the wolf)



Yes, and the answer for this is _Crepi! _("may it die!").

Students use a very pictoresque expression too, but I can't write it here.


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## astlanda

Estonian "Kivi kotti!" = "A stone into your sack." (Probably wished to hunters wishing to cheat bad spirits ...)
"Õnn kaasa!" means "(Go) with luck!"


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## Kanes

In Bulgarian we just say luck _(k'smet)_ and success _(uspeh)_


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## mcibor

In Polish it can be *złam nogę* (break a leg),

but before exam it's usually *złamania pióra* (breaking of a pen)

Student's are so superstitious, that if you say Good luck, they answer - no thank you.


*- Powodzenia*
*- Nie dziękuję*


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## Encolpius

mcibor said:


> In Polish it can be *złam nogę* (break a leg)...




Thank you mcibor, but you use złam nogę in general not only like English use it?


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## mcibor

Yes, it's used (though sarcastically) in sports, on any exam. But stage is the most often, though


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## Encolpius

How about other languages, like Persian, etc?  Thanks.


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## Pretty_Gaella

*Filipino: 
*We don't have any other way to say good luck (as far I know)
We usually say *swertehin ka sana* or *bwenasin ka sana *which literally means *hopefully you will get lucky.
*


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## sound shift

"Mazzel!" is one way of saying "Good luck!" in Dutch. It comes from Hebrew via Yiddish.


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## apmoy70

In Greek:

«Καλή επιτυχία»
[ka'li epiti'çi.a]
lit. "good success"

«Φτου να μη σε ματιάσω»
[ftu na mi se ma'tçaso]
 lit. "ptooey (interj. for spitting) to avert the evil eye"

or simply

«Φτου, φτου»
[ptooey ptooey]

«Φτου» [ftu] is the onomatopeic Greek word for imitating the sound of spitting

«Ματιάζω» [ma'tçazo] --> _to bestow the evil eye_; it's a late Byzantine word deriving from the alternative name of eye in Classical Greek, «ὄμμα» 'ŏmmă (PIE base *wer-, _to watch, cover_) > Byz. «ὄμμάτιον» [o'mati.on] (neut. diminutive) > Modern Greek «μάτι» ['mati] (neut.) --> _eye_ & v. «ματιάζω» [ma'tçazo] --> _to bestow the evil eye_


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## rusita preciosa

In Russian we say 
*ни пуха ни пера */ni pukha ni pera/ - none of the down, none of the feathers
*удачи* /udatchi/ - [some] luck [to you/your way]


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## Encolpius

rusita preciosa said:


> In Russian we say *ни пуха ни пера */ni pukha ni pera/ - none of the down, none of the feathers...



Hm...quite inteersting indeed..do you have any idea where it comes from?


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## rusita preciosa

Apparently, originally it was a wish to the hunters when they were going out to hunt. It was similar to "break a leg", when they were wished the opposite as to not to "jinx" them: we wish you catch no animals (down/fur) and no fowl (feathers).


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## mataripis

i remember old folks used to say " sana'y palarin ka" and it means "good luck"!


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## Pretty_Gaella

mataripis said:


> i remember old folks used to say " sana'y palarin ka" and it means "good luck"!



Yeah I agree mataripis!  My grandmother used to tell me that " sana'y palarin ka" I believe that's the formal way to say goodluck. Right?


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## mataripis

yeah! but only old folks from Tagalog region use this expression.The lucky in Tagalog is "Mapalad".  Fortune is "Kapalaran".


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