Word of the Day: Merde

As in, “Don’t be ner­vous! You’ll do great! Merde!”

I was just informed by a friend who works for a bal­let, that it is cus­tom­ary to say “Merde!” to bal­let dancers before they go on in lieu of “Good Luck!” or “Break a leg!”

(imag­ine your­self back­stage…)
“Hey, merde.“
”…thanks”