Superstitious French Expression
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| Meaning | knock on wood, touch wood | |
| Literally | touch some wood | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[too shay du bwah] |
| IPA | [tu ʃe dy bwa] | |
Usage notes: Are you superstitious – even just a little? If so, you’ll find the French expression toucher du bois very handy, as it’s the French equivalent of "knock on wood" for Americans and "touch wood" for Brits. Wherever you’re from, there’s a good chance that when talking about how well something is going, you start to feel a little uneasy until you knock on or touch something made of wood.
Par exemple…
| Tout va bien pour le moment, je touche du bois. | Everything is going well at the moment, knock on wood. | |
| – Je viens de me marier, j’ai un emploi intéressant et bien payé … ma vie est parfaite. – Touche du bois ! |
– I just got married, I have an interesting and well-paid job … my life is perfect. – Knock on wood! |
When there’s no wood around, the French say je touche du bois while touching their own heads. Note that une tête de bois = stubborn / hard-headed person.
Synonymous expression
Toucher la peau du singe (literally, "touch the monkey’s skin") is used for exactly the same reason, but you say it while touching a friend’s head.
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