The phrase “may you live in interesting times” is the lowest in a trilogy of Chinese curses that continue “may you come to the attention of those in authority” and finish with “may the gods give you everything you ask for.” I have no idea about its authenticity.
It’s been around a while; as evidenced by the Wikipedia article the other commenter provided, at least since 1936, with unsubstantiated claims of it being an older Chinese saying / curse.
I’ve pretty much only heard it from Pratchett books or fellow Pratchett fans, though.
One of the worst thing you can curse someone with: “may you live in interesting times”
Yeah, Star Trek reference, still fits
Its also a curse on the discworld
Reminded me of Terry Pratchett, personally.
Yeah, the Star Trek claim doesn’t sit well with me. Rightly so it turns out:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_times
But Terry Pratchett made it a trilogy:
Interesting, I thought it was something the Voyager writes made up
It’s been around a while; as evidenced by the Wikipedia article the other commenter provided, at least since 1936, with unsubstantiated claims of it being an older Chinese saying / curse.
I’ve pretty much only heard it from Pratchett books or fellow Pratchett fans, though.