Tag Archives: good luck

Good Luck in Ballet

Age: 21

Context:

My informant is in his twenties and has done ballet since he was young both professionally and competitively.

Text:

“So before going on stage, you say “Merde” to the other people, which means shit in French, and it’s kind of like… break a leg is like negative so you imply a positive. It’s the same thing. It’s meant to be good luck so that everyone has a great performance. 

And even though I don’t speak French, the word merde has a special place in my heart.”

Analysis:

This is an example of performative superstition within a specific folk group, in this case ballet stage performers. It functions like the phrase “break a leg” in theatre among actors, where a negative phrase is used to produce a positive outcome. This reflects a broader belief in the power of language to influence events. While participants may not literally believe that it guarantees success, as my informant seems aware of the fact it is a “superstition,” it also creates a shared understanding of the correct thing to do before a performance and creates a ritual.

This is a sort of verbal folklore where a customary phrase takes on new meaning depending on the specific context. Saying merde to someone on the street will illicit a much different reaction and hold different weight. This phrase is socially reinforced through repetition and performance. This demonstrates how folklore also relies on shared context and specific people rather than “textbook definition.”

It reinforces group identity and belonging as well, I know as a theatre student how I do feel better when someone tells me “break a leg” before a performance. It becomes more of a common courtesy and when someone outside of theatre says it I know that they are somewhat in the group as well. Saying the phrase correctly like “merde” signals membership within the ballet community and years of experience. Additionally it helps create the performance space, it may be the last thing and only thing heard before going onstage and helps signal the start of something more serious that just a rehearsal.

Break a Leg

Age: 17

Text:

“I joined theater in high school because of my sister. She did it. And I learned that you should always say ‘break a leg’ instead of ‘good luck,’ because one time I said ‘good luck,’ and the person in the show got kind of, um, angry, and explained to me how that was actually really bad luck. So now I just make sure to always say good luck I guess.”

Analysis:

This example is a form of verbal folklore, specifically a superstitious/customary phrase tied to the performance settings. It reflects a broader theatrical superstition in which saying something positive (good luck) is believed to produce a negative outcome, while saying something negative (break a leg) will bring a good performance.

The moment of correction highlights how folklore is transmitted through informal social interaction, especially within a specific folk group like theatre performers. The informant’s experience shows how members outside of the folk group are socialized into the group norms, learning not just what to say, but what meanings those phrases carry within that context.

This practice also demonstrates how folklore relies on shared belief systems, even if those beliefs are not taken literally. The rule is maintained through repetition and reinforcement by the group, giving it authority within the performance space.

More broadly, this example shows how folklore helps define group boundaries. Knowing to say “break a leg” signals membership and understanding. In this way, the phrase functions not only as a superstition, but also as a marker of identity and belonging within the theatre community.

Kicking the Lamppost for Good Luck

Age: 58

1. Kicking the same lamppost going to and leaving from a football game at the Coliseum for good luck. 

2. This participant went to the University of Southern California and graduated in 1995. While at USC, the participant remembers the football game days very fondly, including all of the odd good luck rituals that students would perform in order to ensure a win over the visiting team. One such ritual that she remembers is how students would kick a lamppost while exiting campus (through the Exposition Blvd exit) and walking towards the Coliseum, and would have to kick the same one they initially kicked while walking back onto campus. The participant admitted that she didn’t really understand where or when this tradition came from, but she remembers all of her friends – and the students around them – would go out of their way to kick the lampposts for good luck at the game. She admitted that she thought it was hilarious that students at USC today continued the tradition – probably with the same lack of knowledge of the traditions’ origins.

3. Interviewer’s Interpretation: While I myself also do not know specifically where this game-day tradition originated, I can attest to the fact that USC students (myself included) still participate in the ritual to this very day. It could be possible that – much like the idea of a lucky shirt or some other lucky totem/item – one student or a group of students just so happened to kick the lamppost one day on their way to the game, and after winning that game, believed that they had to maintain the exact same routine they went through that day to ensure that they would continue to win games at the Coliseum. Since USC is a school with such a large football culture, it is no surprise that this game-day tradition would therefore spread amongst the students who wanted more than nothing to crush their opponents and uphold their school image through their sense of school spirit.  

Banging Pots and Pans on New Years 

Nationality: Mexican-Filipino American
Age: 22
Occupation: Engineer
Residence: Irvine, CA
Language: English

Text

“Every New Year’s Eve, right when the clock strikes midnight, my family rushes outside and we start banging on pots and pans like our lives depend on it. It’s loud, chaotic, and silly if you are a neighbor watching next door.

We don’t do this tradition just to make noise for fun, we are scaring away bad spirits. My Lola would say, ‘Make it so loud the malas (bad luck) can’t follow us into the New Year.” i feel like this tradition is not about silence and reflection. It’s more about being loud, communal, and kind of joyful. It shakes things up and clears space for something better.

Every year, no matter where I am, I find something to bang. When I’m not at home, I’ll use a cup and spoon if need be. Because for me, the noise is more than just a tradition. It is a way of saying that we made it to a new year and that we should chase bad spirits away and welcome what is to come next.”

Context 

The informant reflects on a recurring family ritual: banging pots and pans at midnight on New Year’s Eve to ward off bad luck. She traces the tradition to her lola (grandmother) and describes how this action has remained central to her family’s New Year’s celebration.

The informant highlighted how rituals passed down through generations become markers of cultural identity even when performed in different settings from where her grandmother originally would do this to where her family does it now.

My interpretation 

From a folklore perspective, banging pots and pans on New Year’s Eve functions as a protective folk belief ritual that’s aligned with what James Frazer termed magic superstitions. In this case it would be conversion magic where action is required to prevent misfortune. The practice is not institutionally religious but it operates within a system of vernacular spirituality and community belief that’s passed down through generations in domestic spaces.

The ritual also fits within a life cycle of belief systems surrounding transitions and thresholds like what Victor Turner would call a liminal moment. The striking of the pots is part of a ritual of noise that marks and manages a cosmic shift. Symbolically, the sound disorients evil, clears spiritual residue from the old year, and prepares the household for prosperity.

This ritual functions as both cultural preservation and performance of identity. It’s an informal act of heritage that resists assimilation by rooting the celebrant in a shared memory and practice.

Chinese New Year Food Practices

Nationality: American
Age: 21
Occupation: College Student
Residence: Brooklyn, NY
Language: English

Text:

Collector: “Do you have any traditional foods that your family makes for any holidays?”

Informant: “For Chinese New Year, we make certain foods based on how they sound in Chinese. For example, we eat something called “fat choy” that sounds similar to “good wealth”. We also make oysters, which is “ho” and also means “abundance”. We always makes either 8 or 9 dishes because 8 in Chinese sounds similar to “good luck” and 9 sounds similar to “longevity”. 

Context:

My informant is Chinese American and lives in proximity to her grandparents who often cook traditional Chinese food, especially for Chinese holidays. Her mother explained to her why they eat certain dishes. 

Analysis:

These traditional food practices for Chinese New Year largely relate to cultivating good luck, wealth, and prosperity for the upcoming year. The foods are symbolic and consuming them is supposed to produce what they symbolize, such as good wealth. It is a form of homeopathic magic, in that consuming a food that sounds like a certain word will evoke that outcome. The number of dishes prepared, either 8 or 9, represent good luck and longevity, respectively. The new year is seen as the fresh start, and individuals do everything they can to cultivate success.