Word of the Week – Wishbone

Ever wonder what the deal is with the tradition of pulling apart the turkey’s wishbone? As we enter Thanksgiving month here in the US, I thought it would be fun to look into some of our history for this holiday that you might not already know.

First, the word itself. Wishbone as a word only dates to 1860, but before that, it was wishing-bone, and also called the merrythought. Both names have the same idea behind them–that whoever gets the longer end in that tug-of-war game gets to make a wish or have a merry thought. The tradition, with a fowl’s furcula bone, dates back to the 1600s in England and traveled with colonies to the New World. 

But…why?

Well, that gets interesting. And also, ahem, a little spicy. 😉 Brace yourself. So, according to Roman legends, this ritual actually dates back to the Etruscans, who were the precursors to the Romans in Italy. Like many ancient societies, they practiced divination and reading omens, often using the entrails or other bits and pieces of animals, quite frequently birds. This bone in birds was favored specifically because its shape resembles legs and, ahem, the groin area. Which means it represented fertility, prosperity, the very place from which life springs.

This resemblance is also quite possibly why it earned that merrythought name in English. (Sorry, friends, our ancestors don’t much care if they make us blush, LOL.) Through much of English history, two unwed people would play the game with the bone, to see who would marry next. Or if that wasn’t their wish, then they’d make another instead. Hence the names.

Did you ever pull apart the wishbone after the turkey’s carved?

Word Nerds Merch!