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Polterabend (Polish: pultrować) is a German and to a lesser extent Polish, Austrian and Swiss wedding custom in which, on the night before the wedding, the guests break porcelain to bring luck to the couple's marriage. The belief in the effectiveness of this custom is expressed by the old adage: "Shards bring luck" (German: Scherben bringen ...
) is the traditional German miners' greeting. It describes the hope of the miners : "es mögen sich Erzgänge auftun" ("may lodes [of ore] be opened") which is short for "Ich wünsche Dir Glück, tu einen neuen Gang auf" ("I wish you luck, open a new lode"), because, when mining for ore, without prospecting, no-one could predict with certainty ...
A good luck charm is an amulet or other item that is believed to bring good luck. Almost any object can be used as a charm. Coins, horseshoes and buttons are examples, as are small objects given as gifts, due to the favorable associations they make. Many souvenir shops have a range of tiny items that may be used as good luck charms.
From carp scales that are collected in Poland to Japan's Maneki-Neko figurines, take a look at some of the most fascinating good luck symbols from around the globe. BI_Graphic_15 Good Luck Charms ...
An alternate operatic good luck charm originating from Italy is the phrase In bocca al lupo! (In the mouth of the wolf) with the response Crepi! or Crepi il lupo! (May it [the wolf] die!). Amongst actors "Break a leg" is the usual phrase, while for professional dancers the traditional saying is merde (French, meaning "shit").
The origin of the German phrase is also mysterious, possibly a pun or borrowing from the Yiddish theatre. [13] Yiddish contains a phonetically similar phrase that more literally wishes the listener good luck (Yiddish: הצלחה און ברכה, romanized: hatsloche un broche, lit. 'success and blessing', itself from Hebrew: hatzlacha u-bracha).
The word mazel was lent to a number of European languages, meaning "luck", such as: German, as Massel; Hungarian, as mázli; Dutch, as mazzel and the verb mazzelen ("to be lucky"). [4] The word tov also entered Dutch as tof or toffe ("nice" or "great") [ 5 ] and German as töfte or dufte .
The verb brauche means "to use, to employ, to make use of, to need," (brauchen or gebrauchen in modern High German) while Braucherei implies a collection of traditional ways, related to "Breiche – of customs, traditions, rituals, ceremonies." [9] In modern High German, Brauch means "tradition" or "folklore".