What is Luck, Anyway?

“Luck” can mean different things to different people. But in general, most people believe it to be a fortuitous event, based on chance or mere circumstance. However, it's important to remember that luck can be either “good” or bad.” To get a better understand of the meaning, let's take a closer look at the word itself and where it came from. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “luck” is defined as:

• a force that brings good fortune or adversity
• the events or circumstances that operate for or against an individual

For example, if you won $500 in a lottery, you might say that you had quite a bit of luck! But actually, what you'd be referring to is “good luck.” What if you lost the ticket before cashing it in? What if somebody stole the ticket right after you realized you won? This is luck, too, however, you would consider it “bad luck.”

One of the earliest recordings of the word luck is from the late 15th century with a German origin stemming from the word “gelucke,” or “luk” for short. Etymologists believe it probably entered the English language as a gambling term.

One of the key elements that defines luck is chance. In other words, luck is considered to be beyond a person's control. In that sense, it can also be based on one's faith or superstitions. For example, some people simply do not believe in luck. To them, circumstances are merely the result of other actions – there is nothing lucky or unlucky about them.

However, when you equate luck with chance, you can associate luck with nearly anything in life. Many games are based entirely on luck – not just lotteries, but also dice, dominoes, bingo, or roulette. In these games, there is no skill, other than the ability to know the laws of probability – but even that is luck. On the other hand, a game like chess is not based on luck – unless you factor in a player's mistakes. For example, you don't win chess because of luck unless the opposing player accidentally lost his queen early in the game.

Some cultures put more significance on luck than others, especially in regard to numbers. In the United States, our fascination with luck is evident in the many lotteries and casinos across the nation – however, that luck could also be directly related to greed.

In Asian cultures, a lot of significance is placed on lucky numbers – not just for things like lotteries, but in everyday life. People commonly try to obtain lucky numbers for phone numbers, car license plates and mailing addresses. In some cases, people are willing to spend quite a bit of money to obtain these lucky numbers.

No matter what you believe about luck – we are all affected by chance every day. Whether the circumstances are “good” or “bad” all depends on your perspective.

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