I was thinking about the phrase ‘The pot calling the kettle black’. It comes from a time where cooking was done over open fires and cookware would become visibly ashy. (Fun fact: It first appears and was perhaps coined by Cervantes in Don Quixote!)
What are some other idioms that have lost their literal connection to time? What would be a good modern replacement?
Doesn’t that one come from the German idiom “Hals- und Beinbruch” (break your neck and legs) to wish someone good luck? Which in turns comes from a very butcherdly spoken jiddish phrase meaning (have success and be blessed).
Don’t remember where I heard it, but I thought the origin was related to actors and performers. It was a superstitious thing that if you wished someone good luck on stage you would jinx it so instead they did the opposite and wished for the worst. I could be very wrong!
And isn’t that somehow attached to a specific Shakespeare play, but then became universal?
Edit: maybe not. See comments below.
There’s a superstition among actors about speaking the word “Macbeth” outside of the play, but I don’t think telling people to “break a leg” is specifically linked with it. Two separate actor superstitions.
One thing is certain… Actors are weird.