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Jan 12, 2016 · The Internet says 'Touch wood is an example of a superstition: something that we do in order to have good luck. It is not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, but is connected with old ideas about magic and the supernatural' I am from India and I have heard urban Indians say it whenever they make a favorable observation.
Mar 14, 2012 · There probably is some old English expression for averting evil, but it does not come to mind; "I touch wood," "Bar omen," "Bar ill-luck," seem clumsy. 'Knock on wood' is known from the early 20th century; for example, The Syracuse Herald, February 1905: Neglecting to knock on wood may have been responsible for the weather's unseemly behaviour ...
May 24, 2015 · It isn't clear when 'touch wood' began to be used as a token of good fortune but it must have been by 1850, when the academic correspondence magazine Notes and Queries published this: There probably is some old English expression for averting evil, but it does not come to mind; "I touch wood," "Bar omen," "Bar ill-luck," seem clumsy.
Nov 28, 2014 · The British version of the phrase - 'touch wood', predates the American 'knock on wood' and was itself preceded by a Latin version - 'absit omen', meaning 'far be that omen from us'. This dates from at least the early 17th century, when it is quoted by John Heywood in his collections of proverbs. It isn't clear when 'touch wood' began to be ...
Apr 8, 2018 · "Touch Iron" and "Touch Wood" are frequently called, and when the boys can touch either iron or wood, Touch has no power over them ; but the moment they quit either, they may be “touched;' and sometimes a touch makes prisoners. Likewise, William Hoine, The Every-day Book and Table Book (1827) offers this brief gloss on tag:
Aug 13, 2012 · What is the origin of the phrase 'touch wood'? 4. What was the origin of the phrase "15 minutes of fame"? 1.
Jul 11, 2011 · Touch and go (adj.) is recorded from 1812, apparently from the name of a tag-like game, first recorded 1650s. Another version from Loose Cannons and Red Herrings, by Robert Claiborne states: TOUCH AND GO. Meaning: A risky, precarious situation. Origin: “Dates back to the days of stagecoaches, whose drivers were often intensely competitive ...
Mar 20, 2019 · A Hathi Trust search of the bilingual (Spanish/English) edition of the Cecil Jane translation of The Four Voyages of Columbus: A Documentary History reports 90 instances of the word gente and 50 instances of the word Dios, but 0 instances of the phrase gente in Dios.
May 27, 2014 · How does a phrase such as "Gag me with a spoon" originate? I understand the sentiment as a real concept — gagging oneself with a spoon causes a choking sensation without actually constricting
Jun 7, 2018 · A ten-foot pole as a metaphoric measure of something one would not touch something (or someone) else with is by 1839, American English. The ten-foot pole was a common tool used to set stakes for fences, etc., and the phrase "Can't touch de bottom with a ten foot pole" is in the popular old minstrel show song "Camptown Races." "I saw her eat."
