After Thanksgiving dinner, there is the job of cleaning up all the food. And the matter of breaking the turkey’s wishbone.

      According to Live Science.com, the tradition of breaking a wishbone began with the first-century romans. Before them, the Etruscans believed fowls were lucky and tell the future, and once butchered, kept their neck bones for luck. The romans adopted this idea, believing any wishbone from a bird was lucky. They would fight over who would get to keep the wishbone, making it breaking. This resulted in the idea that if you broke the wishbone, the person with the larger piece received their wish.

      This superstition is popular among families in the United States. A common practice in New Jersey is that the person who pulls the smaller side of the wishing bone has to tell their wish. A less common belief is that the person who pulls the shorter side of the wishbone will be the first to get married, according to Miracles N Magic.

      It is said that the sayings “I need a lucky break,” or “I never get a lucky break” come from the loser of the contest, according to Green Light Write.

       In Italy a similar variation is that the wishbone is dried and kept for a long time, and anytime a person touches the wishbone, their wish will come true.

     The wishbone is also considered the third member of the Euro-American lucky charm triumvirate, along with the horse shoe and 4- leaf clover, according to Lucky Mojo.

      It is commonly considered taboo if one person puts a finger on the head of the bone to give themselves leverage when breaking the bone. If they do that and win, it is considered that their wish is cancelled out.

      Other lucky activities that involve bird bones include soothsayers throwing the bones and reading them to predict the future.