Hello everyone!
Welcome to Idiom 100, where we learn 100 commonly used idioms by native English speakers.
All of the explanations are in English, so it might be challenging for you,
but just try to imagine the meanings in your head and study hard and soon you'll be able to use these idioms in your conversations.
Is everyone ready? Let's begin.
Hello everyone!
Today's idiom is: knock on wood.
Knock on wood.
Alright, so let's try to imagine a picture in our heads to help us under the idiom.
So, we have a big tree, it's made of wood, alright?
And we have some bad luck, okay, some bad things we're talking about and we go to the tree and we knock on the tree,
knock on wood and when we knock, the bad luck spirit flies away.
Alright, knock, knock, knock, knock on wood and the bad luck spirit flies away.
Alright, so let's keep this image in our heads as we listen to the examples.
I heard there was a car accident in your neighborhood.
Yeah, I drove by that road today, so I’m knocking on wood!
Alright, so there was some bad luck. There was a car accident and she was worried, so she knocked on wood.
Alright, let's listen to the second example.
I have a bad feeling about the test I took today. I might have failed it!
Don’t say that, knock on wood!
Alright, so in this situation, he said something bad that might happen
and the other person said, 'Oh no! That's bad luck to say it. So, knock on wood.'
Knock on wood is a very interesting idiom that we say when we don't want some bad luck to happen.
Maybe we were talking about something bad and if we don't want it to happen, we have to knock on wood.
Oh, so usually we actually do the gesture, knock on wood and if there's something wooden, a door or a desk, something nearby,
we actually knock on it as we say, 'Knock on wood.'
Alright, so for example, let's see... The Tokyo earthquake.
I heard we are very overdue for the Tokyo earthquake. We should've had it 50 years ago.
Knock on wood! I'm scared, yeah.
I'm talking about the earthquake we might have, but I don't want it to happen, so I have to say knock on wood.
And then, maybe it won't happen.
Alright, so it's a very superstitious idiom, knock on wood.
Alright, so many people might actually believe the bad luck will happen if they don't knock on wood.
And some people just do it out of habit or for fun. Knock on wood.
Alright, so let's try if you want to sound very natural and like a native speaker, you can try using 'knock on wood'
next time you're talking about something negative or bad that might happen and you don't want it to happen.
So, after you talk about it, you say 'knock on wood' and actually knock on something wooden.
Alright, I'll see you next time! That's all for today.