Talk:Luck

Suggestions
Isn't the broken mirror bad luck avoided if you don't look in the mirror (and even those who didn't break it get bad luck by looking at it).

Also, perhaps the idea that bad luck can be arbitrarily assigned to objects (e.g. the "spirit stick" in the movie "Bring it on") should also be included.

Finally, when I was growing up, whistling was bad (meant you weren't gonna have money) as was sitting at a corner of a table (meant you weren't gonna get married for some number of years). But that could've been local. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.196.226.219 (talk) 1:03, 2 May 2006 yuliya 01:28, 2 May 2006 (UTC) [Section heading added & authorship of unsigned contrib claimed/acknowledged 25 minutes later.]


 * Another suggestion: I think “*five leaf clovers” (in the unlucky section) should be either also in the good luck section (a Google search gave me a lot more results on the “more luck” than a four-leaf clover, although I know a Google search isn’t an argument). What I remember is that a five leaf clover is unlucky unless given to someone else (case in which it is then good luck for both the finder and the receiver) or specified that it's also sometimes considered lucky. I read this in a book, but remembering what book would be practically impossible. Pro bug catcher 19:55, 6 October 2006 (UTC)

Origins of Luck
Luck has probably been around for ages but origins of the word? I heard it was derived from 'Lucifer' --Cazoodle 06:54, 22 June 2007 (UTC)


 * No Sr. Kalei-tre-Cophe (talk) 02:56, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

Lucifer is completely unrelated, as it means "light bearer" in Greek and Latin. -Bredd13
 * From Wiktionary: "Etymology - Shortened form of Middle Dutch: gheluc (happiness)"

'gheluc' is related to modern-Dutch 'lukken', which is a verb which means something like 'to accomplish' or 'to succeed'. Something is 'gelukt' if it has turned out well, which has its roots in 'gheluc' and the English 'luck'. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.84.82.171 (talk) 19:05, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Edits to introduction
I removed the discussion of so-called "descriptive" and "proscriptive" luck from the introduction. First, the discussion seemed to be nothing more than a needlessly convoluted and jargon-y repetition of the relatively simple and clear statement in the preceding paragraph that some people attribute luck to chance and some attribute it to other forces. Second, I strongly suspect that this terminology -- which does not appear to be derived from any source -- is simply the author's own invention; this is indicated in part by the repeated misuse of "proscriptive" where the author presumably intended "prescriptive". This edit leaves that the statement that the word luck is "pervasive in common speech" hanging on its own. That statement seems obvious and unnecessary, really, and this really stands out when the other material is removed, so I guess it ought to go too.

There are other real problems here but this was the easiest to remedy. Does it really make sense to have an article claiming that something the vast majority of the world's population believes to exist -- luck in the "other forces" sense -- doesn't exist? So far as I know Wikipedia doesn't do this in articles about topics like "God". —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.109.172.64 (talk) 17:32, 15 January 2011 (UTC)


 * I have restored much of this deletion. Although, I have corrected "proscriptive" to "prescriptive." I am a bit perplexed as to respond to this criticism, as I am in complete disagreement about removing that particular part. I would think that for any Wikipedia article about a concept, that we cover all relevant senses in which the term is used. The prescriptive and descriptive senses are the two prevailing senses in which the term is used, and so I am at a loss to understand how their removal helps at all. Greg Bard (talk) 07:27, 17 September 2011 (UTC)

Dubious differentiation between Abrahamic and Meso-american religion
The article suggests that the Abrahamic religions don't believe in luck, but instead only in something like divine intervention, whereas the Meso-American religions believe in luck. The implication that is conveyed is that Abrahamic religions are less primitive.

In reality, the act of placating gods in order to be rewarded with a prosperous fate is well attested in both religious forms in more or less equal measure. — Harburg (talk • contribs) 19:47, 6 April 2011 (UTC)

Belief in luck
Merge? Anna Frodesiak (talk) 02:11, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

Luck in poker
In the subsection Games, which is under §Social aspects, this sentence
 * Players who consistently get the best hand, which either wins or a worse hand which draws to better, is said to "run good".

is a real mess. I'm changing it to what I think it's trying to say—
 * Players who consistently get either the best hand, which wins, or a worse hand which draws to a better one, are said to "run good".

—but I don't know poker terminology. I'm going to write to a prominent poker player I know for advice. --Thnidu (talk) 04:15, 11 April 2014 (UTC)


 * No Sr. Kalei-tre-Cophe (talk) 02:57, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

The expert (Steven Brust, who plays poker a lot; quoted by permission) says (personal email exchange even as I type this):
 * "Running good" is a real thing, as is "running bad," but decent poker players know that either one is a temporary state; that luck evens out in the end.  So you get, "How you've been doing lately?"  "Sucking at tournaments, but I've been running good in cash games for the last month and a half, so I'm not complaining." --Thnidu (talk) 05:33, 11 April 2014 (UTC)

"Misfortune"
The usage and primary topic of misfortune is under discussion, see talk:Misfortune (disambiguation) -- 70.51.46.39 (talk) 05:35, 12 March 2016 (UTC)
 * I actually think that there should be a section in this article on "Bad Luck" and how it is used to blame negative chance-based outcomes, based on sources such as, just as a couple of examples.  InsertCleverPhraseHere  22:27, 13 March 2016 (UTC)

What a horrible talk page!
I don't recall how i wandered onto this discussion, but this striking early ... uh, ... contribution highlights my chagrin, et c. I'm going to further experiment with rescuing this tk pg from the malpractice of wiki-discussion it has sustained; perhaps i will find myself called to attempt improvements to the article, if i find any clarity abt what kind of process got us to wherever the article is. --Jerzy•t 11:04, 6 September 2016 (UTC)

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Etimology of 'luck'
I have been of the view that the word luck may have it's origin from the Sanskrit word Lakshmi also written as Luxmi the Goddess of wealth in Hindu mythology or religion.In Sanskrit language and other Indian languages it is used in the context of good luck or bad luck.For instance the famous Carnatic Lyricist/musician calls Ganesha the Lord of obstacles 'Lakshmi' lakumikara' meaning O Ganesha -the giver of luck There are many such references in Indian languages.we may therefore say the word 'luck' might have it's origin from the Sanskrit word Lakshmi Ramamurthy Kamakolanu (talk) 02:16, 22 July 2017 (UTC)

The famous Carnatic Lyricist/ musician is Thyagaraja.He sings"Lambodara lakumikara' in one of his keerthans. Ramamurthy Kamakolanu (talk) 02:22, 22 July 2017 (UTC)


 * No Sr. Kalei-tre-Cophe (talk) 02:57, 13 July 2024 (UTC)

The lyric /keerthans 'Lambodara lakumikara' was written by Saint musician Purandara dasa and d not Thyagaraja Ramamurthy Kamakolanu (talk) 02:36, 22 July 2017 (UTC)

Use of the word Frisian
Under the heading Etymology and Definition, the word Frisian is used. This is too general, as the articles are West Frisian language and Frisian languages. Sarcelles (talk) 11:10, 26 August 2017 (UTC)

頑張って
While the Japanese word 頑張って is often used in similar situations to "good luck", it means "Do your best", and from typically has nothing to do with the concept of luck. Should it be removed? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.80.194.55 (talk) 04:59, 21 November 2017 (UTC)

Translations

 * Greek: καλοτυχία (which means "good luck", because τύχη is a generic term) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 62.1.141.108 (talk) 14:59, 23 June 2018 (UTC)

Islam
On one hand, There is no concept of luck in Islam other than actions determined by Allah; but it is also forbidden to believe in luck as this is to commit the sin of shirk (placing other gods or semidivine powers alongside God). So, which is it?

Nuttyskin (talk) 02:22, 19 October 2019 (UTC)