What people say
Said after tempting fate, to cancel it.Speech · 590 searches a month
Knocking on wood
Knocking on wood: said after tempting fate, to cancel it. First recorded in 19th century in its current form, it is about 176 years old — the 32nd oldest of the 40 superstitions we have dated. One of the few superstitions performed openly by people who describe themselves as sceptics, which makes it more a verbal reflex than a belief.
When it actually starts
How old is this one
First recorded
19th century in its current form
That makes it
about 176 years old
Rank by age
32 oldest of 40 dated here
Category
Speech
Searched
590 a month
Usually traced to pre-Christian belief in spirits living in trees, but the documented trail is much shorter — the phrase and the gesture appear together only from the 1800s, possibly from a children's chasing game called Tiggy Touchwood.
What is going on
One of the few superstitions performed openly by people who describe themselves as sceptics, which makes it more a verbal reflex than a belief.Where it applies. Almost universal in Europe; in some countries the phrase exists without the knock.
Other speech superstitions
Recorded around the same time
Knocking on wood is the 32th oldest of the 40 dated superstitions here. Of those, 6 are younger than a century and 5 predate the common era.
First-recorded dates are the earliest documented appearance in written sources, not the earliest possible origin — an unrecorded practice can be older. How the dating works and where it is uncertain →