Collocation for evil eye?

[Mobin Shabani]

Hi everyone,

Could someone please tell me what verb we use in the following context?

Dan tells Mark “you’re such a good driver that you haven’t had any accidents for 10 years”. Mark knocks on wood to counteract the evil eye.

I am almost sure the word counteract does not sit well in this sentence. Is there a collocation we can use with the evil eye to mean to cancel the effect of.
I have heard the phrasal verb ward off, I don’t know if it works here.

 

[emsr2d2]

In the UK, knocking on wood has nothing to do with the evil eye. It's based on the belief, in pagan times, that spirits lived in trees and knocking on the tree would protect them from bad luck. That seems to be the case in your scenario. Mark's knocking on wood to ensure his continued good luck with his driving. The evil eye doesn't come into it at all.

 

[Skrej]

'Ward off' does however work with 'evil eye'.

I'm unaware what it is one's supposed to do to ward off the evil eye, but it is a correct collocation.

'Counteract' works okay in that context, as does something like 'negate', but I think 'ward off' is a better choice. Other terms like 'repel', 'protect from' and 'get rid of' also work. Choice depends somewhat on whether you're attempting a preventive measure or a corrective measure, I suppose.

In the other direction, I believe one 'casts' an evil eye. I'm only passingly familiar with the concept overall.

 

[BobK]

'Knock on wood' is a collocation I associate with Marvin Gaye. I've only ever heard, in BE. 'Touch wood' - although @emsr2d2's explanation of the idiom supports the more percussive verb.

 

[emsr2d2]

"Touch wood" is certainly more commonly used but comes with a different hand action. With that phrase, you simply have to put your hand on something made of wood or touch it lightly. When people say "Knock on wood", they actually knock, usually at least twice.

 

[stanislaw.masny]

In Poland, if you want something not to come true, they say, "knock on unpainted wood."

 

[Skrej]

Only 'knock on' wood is used in AmE, at least as far as I'm aware.

 

[BobK]

A jocular version that you may come across in BE is 'Touch wood' (with the speaker touching their head).

 

[Biopolitics]

The more or less relevant Austrian provincial rural phrase is, literarily, to press one of your thumbs against the other if you want your hopes to be fulfilled and your fears to be dispelled, though this seems to sound clumsy and foreign in English. I consulted some medieval history books to find out that the practice of knocking on wood had actually existed in the German culture until the church publicly denounced it as heretic. Besides, wood was considered a sacred material because crosses were made of it. Knocking was considered disrespectful