What perhaps is the origin of the phrase or expression 'to thank one's stars'?
Question #136097. Asked by richie_007.
Last updated Jun 05 2014.
Originally posted Jun 05 2014 1:12 AM.
Walneto
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Walneto 13 year member
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Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable-
"The stars were said by the old astrologers to have an almost omnipotent influence on the lives and destinies of man and to this belief is due a number of phrases as: Bless my stars ; You may thank your lucky stars ; star-crossed (not favoured by the stars, unfortunate) ; to be born under an unlucky star, etc."
Be grateful for good fortune, as in I thank my lucky stars that I wasn't on that plane that crashed. This phrase, which reflects the ancient belief in the influence of stars over human destinies, appeared in slightly different form in Ben Jonson's play Every Man Out of His Humour (1599): "I thank my Stars for it." The exact locution dates from the 1800s and is more a general expression of relief than of belief in the stars' protection.