cross one's fingers

Meaning

Verb

• To put the middle finger across the index finger, especially:

Origin

• As a gesture of good luck, from the Christianity notion of inconspicuously making a sign of the cross as an invocation to God.
• As a gesture of lying, probably from the Schwurhand, a gesture used in some European countries when taking an oath. The right hand is raised with the index and middle fingers extended upwards (somewhat similarly to a V sign but with the thumb on the side). By crossing the two fingers, the oath is thus symbolically broken.