People would knock on wood to beseech friendly spirits for helpor to thank them for assistance. Well, there's jinx. The person who ends up with the biggest piece of the wishbone gets a wish. With Danny Kaye, Mai Zetterling, Torin Thatcher, David Burns. She holds a Masters degree in Linguistics and Education, and has also studied Political Science, Ancient History and Literature. So the next time youre worried about tempting fate, dont worry if you dont have any wood around to knock. In this post, we will explore the meaning and origin of knocking on wood. The origin of the expression is related to the druids - a high-ranking class . Superstitions can vary from one to another, and something that might seem ordinary to one person may be the opposite to someone else. Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2012. When a second spy ring learns of the plans, they descend upon the ventriloquist, causing city-wide pandemonium. Thats a memory that is associated with the act which makes us continue this pattern. A: Yes. CAPTION. A: "Touch wood" was noted back in the 1600s and is older than "knock on wood" (which didn't appear until the early 20th century). $1,875. Actions such as knocking on wood, or throwing a ball away from themselves helped the volunteers to believe that they had successfully avoided the bad luck to come. Whenever you and another person say the same thing at the same time, try to say "Jinx" before they do. Play over 265 million tracks for free on SoundCloud. The idea of a rabbit being lucky was taken up by practitioners of Hoodoo in the American South. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/3\/37\/Play-Jinx-Step-1.jpg\/v4-460px-Play-Jinx-Step-1.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/3\/37\/Play-Jinx-Step-1.jpg\/aid927079-v4-728px-Play-Jinx-Step-1.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":728,"bigHeight":546,"licensing":"