Superstitious speech

The eerie belief behind saying "bless you" after a sneeze

We use phrases like "bless you" or "break a leg" every day, but have you ever stopped to wonder where they actually came from? Many of our favorite figures of speech are rooted in the old superstitions of our ancestors: fears, beliefs, and traditions that haven't quite faded away. Let’s uncover the fascinating, sometimes eerie, backstories behind 10 idioms we use all the time.

When someone sneezes, "bless you" is the automatic response. This tradition began in the 6th century, primarily thanks to Pope Gregory the Great, who ordered the saying of "God bless you" to protect people from the plague, as sneezing was considered an early symptom of sickness.

Some also trace it back to an ancient belief, shared across Europe and Asia, that a sneeze was the body's way of driving out evil spirits, or even the soul briefly trying to escape. According to the legend, saying "God bless you" was a quick, necessary prayer to protect the sneezer’s soul from being snatched by the devil before it settled back in.

"Cross your fingers" is a widely recognized way of wishing for a positive outcome. It originated in the 16th-century Christian practice of physically crossing one's fingers to signify the cross and invoke divine protection.

Over time, the hand gesture evolved from a silent, pious prayer into a casual expression. Now, we use it in everyday conversation to show support for a friend or to signal that we are banking on a specific, desired result during a stressful situation.

We use this expression when we wish someone good luck before they step on stage, or, more broadly, before any high-pressure moment.

The origins are surprisingly murky for such a well-known phrase. The most widely accepted theory traces it back to the competitive world of American vaudeville and Broadway in the early 20th century, where wishing someone good luck directly would actually invite bad luck. Saying the opposite was a way of outsmarting fate.

"Speak of the devil" is one of those phrases we use almost automatically. The moment someone walks into a room right after being mentioned in conversation, someone inevitably says it.

The expression is a shortening of a traditional English proverb, 'speak of the devil, and he shall appear,' which dates back to at least the 1500s-1600s. The original meaning was far less casual: it was a genuine warning rooted in the medieval Christian belief that speaking of evil, even in passing, was thought to invite it into your presence.

Imagine your boss is about to call on you to present a report you completely forgot to prepare, but just as he turns to you, an urgent call comes in, and the meeting gets cancelled. Being saved by the bell means to be rescued from a difficult situation at the very last second.

Due to a 19th-century custom, bells were attached to coffins to alert people in case someone woke up, reflecting the widespread fear at the time of being buried alive. It is a perfect example of a dark, historical anxiety morphing into a lighthearted, everyday piece of office humor.

There's no single definitive origin story or specific text where this expression first appeared. It likely evolved organically from the general cultural association between wind and chaos. Today, the expression means to act recklessly or boldly, ignoring risks.

The phrase draws from a long tradition of wind-related idioms in English that associate wind with unpredictability and lack of control ("gone with the wind," "which way the wind blows," etc.).

In seafaring culture, "throwing caution to the wind" may also connect to the idea of sailing recklessly by putting up too much sail despite dangerous conditions: essentially letting the wind take over rather than navigating carefully.

The phrase "it must be a Friday the 13th" has become an idiomatic way to complain about a day when everything goes wrong. It draws on the combined superstitions surrounding the number 13, often linked to the 13 guests at the Last Supper (1st century AD), and the perceived misfortune of Friday, the day of the Crucifixion. When we use this expression, we aren't necessarily expressing deep fear; we are simply using a culturally shared shorthand to describe a series of unfortunate, coincidental events.

We often use the idiom "like walking through a minefield" to describe a social situation that is incredibly tense and fraught with hidden dangers. While it sounds like a literal warning, it has become a common expression for navigating tricky interpersonal politics. The phrase originated in the early 20th century, specifically around World War I (circa 1915), when the use of landmines became a terrifying new reality of modern warfare. It quickly shifted from a military term to a popular metaphor.

"Find a penny, pick it up, and all day long you’ll have good luck" is an idiomatic rhyme that turns a mundane discovery into a superstitious event. The underlying belief likely traces back to ancient societies across Europe and Asia, who saw metal as a sacred gift from the gods, forged from the earth itself. Finding a piece of it was no accident; it was a sign of divine favor. By the early 20th century, it evolved to include the penny. Today, reciting this idiom acknowledges our enduring, playful hope for a little extra luck.

When we say "knock on wood," we express an idiom to express a desire for continued good fortune or to ward off bad luck after boasting. It’s just a reflexive, superstitious way to keep the bad luck at bay, even if we’re only knocking on a laminated desk.

One popular theory traces it to ancient pagan cultures, particularly those that regarded trees as sacred or inhabited by spirits — a belief found across pre-Christian Europe, from Norse to Celtic traditions. By knocking on the trunk, people hoped to awaken these benevolent spirits to request protection, or sometimes to distract malicious ones from spoiling their good fortune. However, folklorists note there is little concrete evidence for this, and the true origin remains uncertain.

Dictionary spotlight

From "Truthiness" to "Bushlips": 10 words of the year through history

Image: Pisit Heng

Each year, dictionaries and linguistic societies worldwide select a "word of the year" to capture a part of the essence of global conversations, trends, or cultural shifts. Often serving as a snapshot of society’s biggest preoccupations or passions at that point in time, these words can be fun, poignant, and sometimes even controversial. Here are ten selected choices from past years, ranging from strange numeronyms like Y2K to whimsical verbs like "to be plutoed."

Image: Roman Kraft

Coined by comedian Stephen Colbert, "truthiness" describes things that feel true, even when they aren’t. The satirical concept highlights how dishonest media often appeals to emotion and "gut feelings" over rational thinking and actual facts.

The term became so popular that it won the American Dialect Society’s "Word of the Year" in 2005 and Merriam-Webster’s in 2006. Interestingly, some linguists noted that a similar word already existed in English literature, although with a meaning closer to "truthfulness" or "faithfulness."

Image: Markus Spiske

The supposed Y2K "millennium bug" caused widespread panic as the year 2000 approached, with predictions of technological catastrophes due to a theoretical software error related to the date change after 1999.

Selected by various language authorities, Y2K captured millennial anxieties. Fortunately, despite intense fears, the Y2K bug resulted in minimal actual disruption.

Image: NASA

After Pluto’s reclassification as a dwarf planet in 2006, the whimsical verb "to be plutoed" emerged, essentially meaning "to be demoted." The American Dialect Society selected it to humorously mark Pluto’s abrupt change in status.

As a unique instance where planetary reclassification and public discourse converged, the term became a metaphor for any reduction in rank. It also captured a bit of the public’s emotional response to Pluto’s unexpected downgrading.

Image: Mohamed Nohassi

What’s worse than a dumpster full of trash? A dumpster full of trash on fire. A descriptor for something disastrously out of control, "dumpster fire" was the American Dialect Society’s choice for 2016.

Originally used in sports, the term "dumpster fire" quickly gained broader popularity that year, becoming a go-to phrase for chaotic situations—a usage that remains popular today.

Image: Liana Mikah

Originating from Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein’s description of the Gulf War as "the mother of all battles," the term quickly became a widely used phrase to emphasize something as the ultimate or most significant of its kind. It was used for all sorts of exaggerated statements.

Technically an idiom, "mother of all –" demonstrates how easily language can adopt new meanings and ideas from almost any source, from global politics to scientific endeavors, leading to expressions that take on a life beyond their original context.

Image: Daria Nepriakhina

Ever had your phone die on you right when you needed it most? You might have experienced a bit of "nomophobia." This curious term, coined in 2009 in the UK, is a shortened form of "no-mobile-phone-phobia."

As smartphone dependence has soared in recent years, the term has gained increasing prominence, reflecting a new anxiety of the digital era.

Image: Hudson Graves

The word "homer" (a baseball term for a home run) became a sensation after appearing in The New York Times' popular Wordle game. Frustrated players had their lucky streaks interrupted when they encountered the word, bringing it into the spotlight.

Worldwide searches for "homer" highlighted not only the influence a game can have on language but also the public's growing interest in exploring the vast depths of our shared vocabulary.

Image: Hugo Clément

As fashion shifted toward more sustainability-focused trends, the term "upcycling" became a buzzword, referring to the process of transforming waste into items of higher value. It is the opposite of downcycling, which is another part of the recycling process.

This intriguing concept encourages people to repurpose materials that would typically go to waste in both creative and useful ways.

Image: Izzy Gerosa

Selected by Collins Dictionary, "photobomb" describes the act of unexpectedly appearing in someone’s photo, often with humorous results.

As selfies and casual photography grew in popularity, photobombing became an art of surprise and comedy, evolving into a topic of conversation and even competition across social media.

Image: Library of Congress

This term, chosen by the American Dialect Society, referred to President George H.W. Bush’s famous "Read my lips: No new taxes" pledge during his 1988 Republican nomination—a promise he later broke, frustrating many of his supporters.

"Bushlips" became popular as it encapsulated public disappointment in political promises and became shorthand for unkept pledges. The term is also a wordplay on a less polite expression that can refer to something untrue.