Knocking on wood

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Knocking on wood, or to touch wood refers to the apotropaic tradition in western folklore of literally touching/knocking on wood, or merely stating that you are, in order to avoid "tempting fate" after making a favourable observation, a boast, or speaking of one's own death.

• In some countries, such as Spain, it is traditional to literally touch wood after an event occurs that is considered to bring bad luck, such as crossing paths with a black cat or walking under a ladder or noticing it's Friday the 13th. This is usually done when there's no salt nearby to spill over your shoulder, which is considered the "traditional" way of avoiding the bad luck caused by those situations.^{[citation needed]}
• In Italy, "tocca ferro" (touch iron) is used, especially after seeing an undertaker or something related to death.^{[unreliable source?][1]}

In old English folklore, "knocking on wood" also referred to when people spoke of secrets - they went into the isolated woods to talk privately and "knocked" on the trees when they were talking to hide their communication from evil spirits who would be unable to hear when they knocked.

See also

• Crossed fingers
• Evil eye
• Jinx

References