Toi, toi, toi

"Toi toi toi" (English pronunciation: /ˈtɔɪ ˈtɔɪ ˈtɔɪ/) is an expression used in the performing arts to wish an artist success in an imminent performance. It is similar to "break a leg" and reflects a superstition that wishing someone "good luck" is in fact bad luck.

Toi toi toi was an idiom used to ward off a spell or hex, often accompanied by knocking on wood or spitting. The origin is a threefold warning of the devil (Teufel, pr. toi-fell) in German dialect:

No’ kommt mer in’s Teu-Teu-Teufelskuchen bey ihm. Now we come into the De-De-Devil's Kitchen!

Also from Rotwelsch tof and from Yiddish tov ("good", derived from the Hebrew טוב and with phonetic similarities to the Old German tiuvel "Devil.")

A separate explanation sees "toi toi toi" as the onomatopoeic rendition of spitting three times. Doing so over someone's head or shoulder allegedly warded off evil spirits. Saliva traditionally had demon-banishing powers. A similar-sounding expression for verbal spitting occurs in modern Hebrew as "Tfu, tfu" (here, only twice), which some say that Hebrew-speakers borrowed from Russian.

An alternate operatic good luck charm, originating from Italy, is the phrase "" ("In the mouth of the wolf") with the response "Crepi!" ("May he [the wolf] die"). Amongst actors "Break a leg" is the usual phrase, while for professional dancers the traditional saying is "merde". In Spanish, the phrase is "mucha mierda", or "lots of shit".

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