A
penny for your thoughts
Meaning: This phrase is stated
instead of asking what someone is thinking.
Origin: It is believed
that Englishman Thomas More first used the phrase in a 1500s book. At that
time, a penny was a significant amount of money, so offering it was an
important gesture.
Asinine
Meaning: Very stupid.
Origin: This comes from
a Latin word meaning ‘like a donkey or ass’.
Back
to the drawing board
Meaning: The current plan
has failed so a new one must be developed.
Origin: The first use of
this phrase was in this 1941 cartoon by Peter Arno.
It has been popularly used since World War Two.
Jay-walking
Meaning: Illegally
crossing a street away from an intersection, though the act of doing it
responsibly has been de-criminalized in some places, like California.
Origin: In the early
1900s, the slang word ‘jay’ was used for someone who was pretty much clueless.
In this sense, the person could not figure out where to cross a road shortly
after traffic lights became popular.
Put
one’s two cents in
Meaning: Humbly give one’s
opinion even though it wasn’t asked for.
Origin: As far back as
the 1500s, declaring something was worth two pieces of any currency was
insulting, meaning the thing did not have much value. One popular hypothesis as
to how the phrase came into use dates to when postage stamps cost two cents,
rendering that the price to give one’s opinion. The true root of the saying is
unknown.
Safety
net
Meaning: Something
reliable to fall back on in case everything else goes wrong.
Origin: The somewhat
obvious root of this phrase comes from the circus, specifically trapeze artists
who had nets below them if a fall happened. The saying become popular (and
non-circusy) with the 1944 creation of the Bretton Woods system, when delegates
from 44 countries met in New Hampshire to make a new world-wide economic structure.
To read about that, go here.
There’s
more than one way to skin a cat
Meaning: Many paths can lead
to the same outcome.
Origin: Hypotheses
abound as to this violent phrase’s origin. One suggests ‘cat’ is a Southern
American shortening of the word ‘catfish’. Another points to British writer
Charles Kingsley, who wrote in the 1800s that ‘there are more ways of killing a
cat than choking it with cream’. Several sources claim American humorist Seba
Smith first used it slightly earlier than Kingsley, though the reason why (if it
exists) is unknown.
Author’s
opinion:
Killing a cat by any means is always acceptable.
Wall-flower
Meaning: A person at a
social gathering who tends to observe the events rather than participating in
them.
Origin: Curiously, the
slang definition of this word comes from its actual meaning- A plant that grows
best when away from others.
------------------------------------------
A
baker’s dozen
Meaning: Thirteen or,
rarely, fourteen.
Origin: In Medieval
England, a law called the Assize Of Bread & Ale regulated product
weights for bakers and beer brewers based on the price of wheat. Bakers did not
want to be fined or flogged (yes, flogged) so they would frequently add
a roll or loaf to orders just in case the load was a bit short. The phrase was
introduced in a 1500s stage play.
A
few bad apples can spoil the bunch
Meaning: A small amount
of people who act inappropriately might ruin things for everybody else in the
group.
Origin: Over-ripe or
moldy apples emit gas that causes the fruits near it to go bad. The phrase was
first used by English author Geoffrey Chaucer in his book The Canterbury Tales
and became popular when Benjamin Franklin included it in his Farmers’ Almanac.
A
watched pot never boils
Meaning: Concentrating
too much on something usually does not produce the desired result.
Origin: Benjamin
Franklin wrote in a 1785 essay that ‘A watched pot is slow to boil’.
Note: As a kid, I heard
this phrase and decided to prove it wrong. Yes, I stood there and stared at a
pot of water. And yes, it eventually boiled.
A-OK
Meaning: Everything is
great. Used to emphasize ‘OK’.
Origin: Martin van Buren, eighth president of the United States, was
nicknamed Old Kinderhook, from his childhood in Kinderhook, New York. This,
combined with the journalistic joke of writing ‘oll korrect’ instead of ‘all
correct’, led to OK becoming one of the most popular phrases around. The ‘A’
may have been added during a 1960s space flight because that letter was easier to
hear than an ‘O’.
About
face
Meaning: Completely turn
around.
Origin: In the English
army, ‘about’ meant to face the opposite way. As early as 1711, the phrase was ‘right
about face’, which often came after ‘right face’.
Ace
in the hole
Meaning: A secret
advantage with-held until the right time.
Origin: A form of poker
involves facing four cards up and one down, which is known as the “hole” card. An
ace would be the most powerful “hole” card. This comes from the 1800s but the
phrase as it is used today was the title of a popular 1951 film starring Kirk
Douglas involving a scheme his character had an unknown edge in.
Across
the board
Meaning: Applicable to
every person and/or thing within a situation.
Origin: Around 1901, a
person wagering equal amounts of money on a horse in a race to win, place, and
show was said to be betting ‘across the board’. The phrase was used in a
newspaper article and has been popular in and out of the horse-racing world
since.
Adam’s
apple
Meaning: The cartilage that
surrounds the larynx, which is also known as the ‘voice box’ and grows larger
during puberty, resulting in deeper voices in males as well as females. It also aids in breathing
and protects the vocal cords.
Origin: Popular belief
suggests this dates back to the Biblical Garden of Eden, when the first woman
(Eve) was tricked into eating forbidden fruit. Art has led the world to believe
that fruit was an apple, though its true identity is unknown. Eve gave the
fruit to her husband Adam and God punished him for eating it by making a piece
of it stick in Adam’s throat. This origin story, though fanciful, is probably
incorrect. It was likely derived from the combination of medieval Arabs calling
the throat-lump a pomegranate and mistranslations of Hebrew, in which adam
is the word for man.
Aftermath
Meaning: The results of an event, usually a negative one.
Origin: Centuries ago, farmers
would sometimes harvest grass crops (wheat, cereal, etc.) twice in a year (as
opposed to once with most other crops), described by an Anglo-Saxon word
meaning ‘mowing’. That word (mæð) gives us the ‘-math’ ending.
Against
the grain
Meaning: Contrary to the
usual way of doing something.
Origin: The grain within
wood goes in a natural direction. Planing or sanding the other way will damage
it. It is unknown if whoever the coiner of the phrase was referring to wood but
its probable first modern use was by William Shakespeare in his 1607 play Coriolanus.
Ain’t
Meaning: Is not.
Origin: Variation of amn’t, which is a contraction meaning ‘am not’ that is still sometimes used in the UK and Ireland. People- possibly early African Americans learning English- found it difficult to speak, while ain’t was much easier.
Note: Though never technically a proper word, the wide-spread use of ain’t places it in most modern dictionaries.
All
is fair in love and war
Meaning: Sometimes any
strategy is acceptable, even ones that go against typical rules.
Origin: Though the
wording differs, the first known use of this phrase was by English writer John
Lyly in a 1578 novel.
Alma
mater
Meaning: Latin for
‘nourishing mother’, this refers to the school a person attended.
Origin: Ancient Romans reserved
the phrase for certain goddesses. It was then used in Catholicism as a name for
the Virgin Mary. How it came to mean school is unknown but it likely happened
in 1600s England.
Apple
of my eye
Meaning: A person I appreciate
more than anyone else.
Origin: This phrase likely
comes from the Bible, specifically in Psalm 17 when David asks God for
protection, though it appears many times throughout the book. A translation
from Hebrew refers to the eye’s pupil as an ‘apple’, though it possibly meant something
else. There is an alternate theory that a work by King Alfred of Wessex
introduced the saying in 885 and was later “romanticized” by William
Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Note: Thanks to Dr. P.
for suggesting this phrase.
As cute as a button
Meaning: Adorable in a delicate way, like a small child or animal.
Origin: The phrase was first ‘bright as a button’ and referred to the beauty of a flower’s bud, not a shirt’s button. One hypothesis suggests ‘cute’ derived from ‘acute’, meaning ‘clever’, though how it came to describe lovely, dainty things is unknown.
As
snug as a bug in a rug
Meaning: Very comfortable.
Origin: The three
rhyming words of this phrase used to mean different things- ‘snug’ described the
smooth design of a ship, ‘bug’ referred to ghostly spirits, ‘rug’ was another
word for ‘rag’. Eventually, the words came into their current definitions and
the phrase was pieced together, but nobody is sure when nor why.
As
the crow flies
Meaning: The distance to
a place in an unobstructed straight line.
Origin: An out-dated
form of sea navigation involved sending crows from a ship, hoping they would
fly directly to land that could not be seen by the sailors. (This is also how the
top of a mast- where the birds were released from- got the nickname crow’s
nest.)
Meaning: Always ready to obey your orders.
Origin: In Medieval England, nobles would summon servants first by using a gesture, then, if that failed, call them. The word ‘beck’ is a shortened version of ‘beckon’. It is not known when nor why the word was abbreviated.
Average
Joe/Jane
Meaning: An everyday,
common person.
Origin: In the early
1900s, Joe began to replace John as the name for a typical male. (Think Joe
Blow, Joe Schmo, etc.) Jane was added to the phrase for females because sexism
is stupid.
Barking
up the wrong tree
Meaning: Mistakenly pursuing
an incorrect path.
Origin: When hunters
used dogs, they would often chase potential prey into trees. If the tracking
was off or the animal jumped to another tree without the dog seeing, the canine
would literally be barking up the wrong tree. The phrase was first
printed in James Paulding’s 1832 novel Westward Ho!.
Basket
case
Meaning: A person who is
disabled due to extreme mental and/or physical stress.
Origin: During World War
One, the military was accused of concealing records of soldiers who had all
four limbs removed and were carried around in baskets. The phrase was used to
deny these people existed, though nobody knows what they were actually called.
After World War Two, the idea of baskets was gone but the term stuck around and
evolved to mean anybody who was incapacitated.
Meaning: Crazy in a confusing way.
Be
there or be square
Meaning: Attend or be ridiculed
as an uncool, boring person.
Origin: The word ‘square’
comes from an old French word meaning ‘honest’ and/or ‘fair’. (This is why a
square shape has equal sides.) This positive term got its negative twist in
1940s America, when people who did not care for jazz were considered
old-fashioned and un-hip.
Be
there with bells on
Meaning: Attend an event
with enthusiasm.
Origin: The phrase is
probably rooted in 1800s America, when people would often show up adorned with
flashy ornaments, including bells. However, one possible and more-interesting
hypothesis involves the drivers of wooden wagons, who took pride in decorating
their vehicles with bells. Upon getting stuck, helpers of the day would
commonly ask for some bells as payment. If the wagon arrived at its destination
‘with bells on’, the journey was a success.
Origin: Not known for sure but two hypotheses prevail: 1) 1940s baseball slang used ‘bean’ when referring to someone’s head (think bean-ball). 2) At one time, all hats like this had a bean-shaped button on their tops.
Meaning: End a period of conflict with peace.
Origin: Isaiah 2:4 in the Bible discusses doing this as a metaphor, hoping for a future where weapons are turned into useful tools that everybody could benefit from.
Bells
and whistles
Meaning: Additional and often
unnecessary features.
Origin: In the 1800s, anything
people were trying to attract attention to (trains, fire engines, even other people)
were often adorned with bells and/or whistles. The phrase came
into its current meaning from the automobile and computer industries, which
began including more and more elements to go with their products. How the
transition from creating awareness to surplus purchasing happened is not known
but it might have to do with instruments (such as bells and whistles) being
excessively added to organs at fairs.
Beyond
a shadow of a doubt
Meaning: With absolute
certainty.
Origin: A 1772 English
newspaper article describes a person being guilty of a crime with this phrase,
though it is not known exactly why.
Bike-shedding
Meaning: This term refers
to describe British historian Cyril Northcote Parkinson’s 1957 law of
triviality, which states that people and companies tend to give much attention to
small issues while largely ignoring the more-important bigger picture. The current
phrase is mostly used within the software industry.
Origin: When presenting
the idea, Parkinson likened it to development of a nuclear power plant. Instead
of focusing on the logistics and safety of such a place, his fictional committee
constantly argued details about the shed where employees would keep their bicycles
because thinking about such a thing is much easier to understand and criticize.
Note: This was not the
same Parkinson whose name is attached to the famous disease- English doctor James
Parkinson who first defined the ailment in 1817.
Blonde
bombshell
Meaning: A very
attractive woman with blonde hair.
Origin: The word ‘bombshell’
was used in the mid-1800s (if not earlier) and referred to war-time activities.
The term somehow evolved to mean any flamboyant female. In 1933, blonde actress
Jean Harlow starred in a film called Bombshell and its advertising put her hair
color and the title together.
Blow
a gasket/fuse
Meaning: Become very
angry.
Origin: A fuse prevents
household fires from surges of electricity. A gasket is part of an automobile
engine that seals in pressure. If worn out, either of these things can “blow” and
cause harm inside what it was supposed to protect. Both phrases originated in
the first half of the 1900s.
Note: A product being designed
to prevent a specific event but actually triggering it is an example of irony.
Blow off steam
Meaning: Do something such as talk or go for a walk to release a strong emotion and/or energy.
Origin: Steam engines (especially in trains) could explode if too much pressure developed inside them so a valve had to be installed to get rid of excess steam and avoid such a catastrophe.
Blown
to smithereens
Meaning: Blasted or
smashed into tiny pieces.
Origin: The word
‘smithereens’ comes from an Irish Gaelic word meaning ‘small fragments’. The
phrase was likely first used in an Irish book published in 1801.
Note: The singular word 'smithereen' does not exist.
Boob
tube
Meaning: Television set.
Origin: In the 1950s and 60s, it was popular to refer to the television as ‘the
tube’, due to its inner workings and tubular components. Around the same time,
calling someone a ‘boob’ was equal to saying ‘fool’. Television received heavy
criticism, with many using poor programming to insinuate that only fools
watched it. Plus, ‘boob’ and ‘tube’ nicely rhyme.
Booby
trap
Meaning: A harmless-seeming
object intended to trick someone into touching it, sometimes lethally.
Origin: A fun but
likely-untrue hypothesis says that sailors used to set traps to catch boobies
(a type of bird). This phrase probably came from the word ‘booby’ referring to
a foolish or unsuspecting person. Its current use was coined during World War
One.
Boondocks
Meaning: A remote and
mostly uninhabited place.
Origin: The Tagalog
language of the Philippines contains the word bundok, meaning
‘mountain’. When American soldiers occupied the country during the
Philippine-American War (1899-1902), they modified and used the word to
describe any isolated place. The term became known to the non-military public
after the 1956 deaths of six Marines while training on South Carolina’s Parris
Island.
Bought
the farm
Meaning: Died, specifically
while in the military.
Origin: Early-1900s U.S.
Air Force slang introduced the phrase ‘bought it’, meaning a soldier ‘paid with
his life’. A popular theory suggests that ‘farm’ got added because the
government would compensate a farmer if there was a plane crash on the farm’s
property. The pilot, though dead, indirectly paid off the land for the
owner(s).
Origin: Having nothing to do with pugilism (the sport of boxing), high-class English families would give their servants off the day after Christmas and usually give them boxes of gifts, such as money, new clothing, and even food. The tradition is said to have been giving its name in 1833 but the practice probably existed well before then.
Brain-storming
Meaning: Coming up with
ideas to accomplish a goal.
Origin: At first, this
term referred to neurological disorders and/or over-active thinking. Then, in
1953, American advertising executive Alex Osborn used it in a positive way in his
book Applied Imagination, though he first described the method as ‘Think Up’.
It is unclear where the word ‘storm’ came from.
Meaning: Sharing nice times while eating with somebody.
Origin: In the Bible, Jesus broke bread with his disciples because it was too hard for cutting or tearing. The expression appears throughout the book.
Break
the ice
Meaning: Initiate
conversation in a social setting, like at a party or on a date.
Origin: This phrase was used
literally when talking about ice-breaking ships doing just that to ease
naval navigation. Its metaphorical sense initially appeared in a 1579 translation
of a Plutarch work, but that was written around the year 100, making the origin
of its modern usage unclear.
Meaning: Earn enough money to support yourself and any dependents.
Origin: There are a few hypotheses but this phrase was likely introduced in early-1900s America and related to the sport of boxing. A lightweight named Joe Gans received a telegram from his mother before a fight that encouraged him to win and ‘bring home the bacon’. Why she said that is a mystery but the expression caught on and was widely used in the boxing world before referring to all jobs. To note, Gans won his 42-round fight and told his mother that he was not only bringing the bacon home but the gravy as well.
Brownie
points
Meaning: Something
“earned” by doing good deeds in order to get on a person’s favorable side.
Origin: The most probable
root of this phrase relates to the Brownies, which is the entry level of the
Girl Scouts. That name was given by the creator of the Boy Scouts and refers to
‘brownies’ of Scottish folk lore—magical beings that did household chores while
families slept. Brownies (the girls) earn points toward merit badges when they
perform helpful tasks. The phrase likely become popular from its use in the
military, describing colored points used for obtaining meat and other rations.
Burning
the midnight oil
Meaning: Staying awake
late to study or do work.
Origin: Before electric
lighting, lamps were powered by oil, which had to be burned. The first reported
use of the phrase as we know was in a 1635 book by English poet Francis
Quarles.
Burst
one’s bubble
Meaning: Alter the way one
views a person or thing by delivering negative news.
Origin: Unknown but
popular hypotheses point to children blowing bubbles with gum or into the air
with a soapy solution. There is excitement when a large bubble is blown and
disappointment when somebody bursts it.
Note: A less-popular
phrase with the same meaning is ‘Pop one’s bubble’.
Butt of the joke
Meaning: Someone who is the focus of ridicule.
Origin: In the 1200s, an arrow’s target was commonly referred to as a ‘butt’. It is not known how but, over time, the words ‘butt’ and ‘target’ became interchangeable. The transition from archery to comedy is a mystery.
By
hook or by crook
Meaning: Any possible
effort- fair or otherwise- should be made toward achieving a certain goal.
Origin: The root of this
phrase is a huge mystery but it was definitely in use in England by the end of
the 1300s. The most popular and probable theory has to do with kings allowing
peasants to take dead wood from their forests. One could use a billhook (curved machete) or a shepherd’s crook (long stick hooked at the end) to gather the
eventual firewood. It could alternately pertain to surveyors with the last
names Hook and Crook or the taking of an Irish city via the nearby towns of
Hooke and Crooke, but those theories are unlikely due to the phrase already existing during those events.
Cannon
fodder
Meaning: People who are
seen as expendable, especially in war.
Origin: The word ‘fodder’
generally means food for livestock. The first known idea of using “expendable”
people as “food” for a military adversary can be found in William Shakespeare’s
Henry IV, Part 1. The expression ‘cannon fodder’ was introduced by French
writer François-René de Chateaubriand (namesake of the steak serving) in a pamphlet
criticizing Napoleon Buonaparte.
Note: That is the true
spelling of Napoleon’s surname, as he was technically born in Italy.
Cardinal
direction
Meaning: North, south,
east, or west.
Origin: The word ‘cardinal’
comes from the Latin ‘cardinalis’, meaning ‘main’ or ‘principal’.
Carpetbagger
Meaning: Derogatory term
for a Northerner who went south after the U.S. Civil War to profit from
Reconstruction. Today, it refers to any outsider who tries to exploit an area
and/or people for personal gain.
Origin: When the newcomers
described above arrived in a location, they often carried their belongings in luggage
made from carpeting fabric.
Catch-22
Meaning: A situation that
cannot be resolved due to a conflicting aspect within itself.
Origin: American author
Joseph Heller coined the term in his 1961 satirical war novel of the same name.
In the story, the only way a military pilot could be declared insane (and
therefore unfit to fly in battle) is to have himself tested. However, seeking
testing is considered a display of sanity.
Note: The number 22 is
thought to be insignificant and was only added because it sounded better. The
novel’s original title was Catch-18.
Caucasian
Meaning: A person with light skin who has European ancestry.
Origin: The term refers to the Caucasus Mountains of eastern Europe, which itself comes from a local word meaning ‘shining ice’. In 1795, German anthropologist Johann Blumenbach classified humans into five categories and thought Georgians were the “best” example of light-skinned people, hence the group being called Caucasians.
Caught
red-handed
Meaning: To be seen while
committing a bad act.
Origin: 15th-century
Scotland seems to be the place it was first used, likely describing someone
with blood on their hands.
Cesarean
section (also called C-section)
Meaning: Delivering a
baby via surgery through the mother’s stomach because the natural process is
not possible.
Origin: A popular theory
claims Julius Caesar ordered all dangerous births to be handled this way, so
the procedure was named for him. The word could alternately (or in combination)
be derived from a Latin word meaning ‘to cut’. ‘Section’ replaced the term
‘operation’ in 1598, though exactly why is not known. Perhaps it was a
euphemism used to make the process sound less serious. Before the name existed,
however, the practice had been going on for thousands of years.
Check-mate
Meaning: Something stated
when putting one’s opponent into an un-winnable position.
Origin: The Persian phrase
‘shah mat’ means ‘the king is frozen’. The term was first used in Chess and
evolved into the English saying that we know.
Cheesy
Meaning: Of poor quality,
typically in an embarrassing way.
Origin: In the Urdu language
of Pakistan and India, ‘chiz’ refers to something important. Late 1800s slang
used the word ironically to refer to a stupid person and we likely get ‘cheesy’
from that.
Cherry pick
Meaning: Unfairly choose to take the most beneficial items.
Origin: The two most popular hypotheses site British slang for a sailor who picked a ship’s easiest tasks and agriculture, when only ripe cherries were taken from trees. Why cherries instead of other fruit is a mystery.
Close
but no cigar
Meaning: Almost.
Origin: In the first half
of the 1900s, carnival games were targeted at adults and a common prize was a
cigar. Like now, the games were difficult to win, prompting many vendors to
tell unsuccessful participants that they nearly attained the tobacco-filled reward.
Cold feet
Meaning: Loss of confidence before doing something big and potentially life-altering.
Origin: This phrase’s root appears to lay in the gambling world. Some say desperate gamblers would wager their shoes, giving them cold feet upon losing. Alternately, novels and newspaper articles in the 1800s used the expression when a gambler backs out of play before losing even more.
Cost
an arm and a leg
Meaning: Be very
expensive.
Origin: Though it is not
known for sure, this phrase probably began with soldiers in one of the World
Wars losing limbs during battle, thus paying a high price.
Crossing
the Rubicon
Meaning: Committing to a
course of action no matter the consequences.
Origin: In 49 BCE,
Julius Caesar marched toward Rome, intent on becoming its leader. Bringing an
army into Rome was a treasonous crime and Caesar thought hard before doing so. Crossing
the Rubicon River into the Italian peninsula meant there was no turning back. This
brought Rome into a five-year civil war, which ended with Caesar being declared
dictator-for-life and the birth of the Roman Empire.
Note: When Julius
Caesar crossed the Rubicon, he quoted a Greek play with the now-famous saying ‘Let
the die be cast’.
Crunch
time
Meaning: The critical
time when something must be completed, such as a game-winning comeback or school
project deadline.
Origin: Former British
Prime Minister Winston Churchill is credited with first using ‘crunch’ in this
manner in 1939, as a euphemism for World War Two. Journalists all over the
world began to use the term and morphed it into what it is today.
Note: Churchill also coined
the phrase ‘iron curtain’ in a 1946 speech, describing the metaphorical barrier
put in place by the Soviet Union to separate its territories from the rest of
Europe.
Meaning: A charismatic leader (often political or religious) who develops an image of seeming perfection and inspires the people who surround him or her to give unconditional support.
Origin: That type of person has been described for millennia but the phrase itself was made popular by German philosopher Karl Marx when notably used by former Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev in a speech denouncing Josef Stalin’s rule over the country. It is not known for sure where the exact wording began.
Cup
of Joe
Meaning: Cup of coffee.
Origin: A popular theory
claims that, in 1914, Secretary of the Navy Joe Daniels banned alcohol from
ships, which resulted in sailors resentfully referring to their coffee as Joe.
This seems to be untrue, however, since sailors aboard ships had been legally sober
since 1862. The actual root of the phrase is a mystery, though it may have had
to do with coffee’s accessibility and general enjoyment- Anybody could get it,
even the Average Joe.
Meaning: Stop wasting time and state what you want.
Origin: Early US silent films frequently ended with chase scenes, so often that scripts would include the direction ‘Cut to the chase’. In the 1940s, two newspaper articles contained the phrase with its current meaning, though it is not known exactly how they came about it.
Cute
as a button
Meaning: Small and adorable.
Origin: The word ‘cute’
is an abbreviation of ‘acute’, which means small. The definitive origin of the ‘button’
in this phrase is not known but may refer to the bud of a flower or a bird
known as the button quail.
Note: The British expression
‘bright as a button’ actually describes metal buttons made to look shiny.
Deadpan
Meaning: Having no emotional
expression when delivering a message, usually associated with comedy. Leslie
Nielson was known for his deadpan mannerisms.
Origin: In 1920s
America, the word ‘pan’ became a slang term for ‘face’. Meaning ‘expressionless
face’, ‘deadpan’ was likely first used in an article describing silent film
star Buster Keaton. The versatile term is famous in grammatical circles for
being a noun, verb, adjective, and adverb.
Deus
ex machina
Meaning: Latin for “god
from the machine”, this storytelling plot device is when a sudden and unlikely solution
arises during a seemingly-impossible difficulty, such as the Tyrannosaurus rex
attacking the velociraptors to “save” the people at the end of Jurassic Park.
Origin: In ancient
Greece, actors playing gods were held above stages by pulleys (machines). Those
parts would often intervene with plays at crucial times. As storytelling
developed, this method has often been used even when gods and/or machines are
not involved.
Devil’s
advocate
Meaning: Someone who brings
up alternate possibilities for the sake of argument.
Origin: After a "holy" person dies, somebody is appointed Promoter Of
The Faith (a.k.a. devil’s advocate) and must argue against that person being
canonized into sainthood. For the purpose of debate, the Promoter would have to
figure out how to convince others that someone should not be a saint, even if
he or she thinks they should be! This title has been held by religious folks,
atheists, and people in between.
Diamond
in the rough
Meaning: A person who has
good intentions and/or talent but lacks general manners.
Origin: A writing by English
dramatist John Fletcher in 1624. The phrase refers to actual diamonds having
the potential to be wonderful but much work is needed to get them there. Raw
diamonds look like coal and have a rough texture.
Dive
bar
Meaning: A small, un-stylish
bar that often attracts older locals and serves cheap drinks.
Origin: In the 1800s, establishments
like this were located in basements, under other businesses. People entering
were often thought to “dive” into them.
Divine
comedy
Meaning: A series of long,
religious-themed poems including the Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso written
by Italian author Dante Alighieri in the 1300s. The fictional account describes
Dante’s journey through the after-life, starting in Hell and ending in Heaven.
Origin: The word ‘comedy’
is not used as we commonly know it today but signifies that the story told has
a happy or up-lifting ending, as opposed to the sad conclusion of a ‘tragedy’.
The work was first published as The Comedy Of Dante Alighieri but its reception
was so high that the word ‘divine’ was used to describe it and eventually added
to the popular title.
Doesn’t
hold a candle to
Meaning: Cannot compete
with.
Origin: Before
electricity, workers needed apprentices to hold candles near them so they could
see what they were doing. Saying somebody was bad at that job was a vicious insult.
Dog
tags
Meaning: Pieces of identification
worn by military personnel, often as a necklace made of metal.
Origin: Not known for
sure but popular hypotheses are soldiers in World War Two claiming they were
being treated like dogs, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst using the
term to speak against Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s introduction of the social
security program, or, more likely but less romantically, the IDs resembled the
tags on dogs’ collars.
Don’t
cry over spilled milk
Meaning: There is no
point to being upset about something that cannot be changed.
Origin: The most common
credit for this phrase points to English writer James Howell, who used it in a
1659 work. The reason he chose milk is unknown but it may have had to do with
folk-lore, particularly fairies who loved milk and saw the spilled beverage as
a nice offering.
Don’t
quit your day job
Meaning: Stick to what
you are already good at instead of trying something new that will likely fail.
Origin: Though it may
not have been the phrase’s first use, it is often credited to comedian Gene
Baylos while roasting Milton Berle.
Don’t
put all your eggs into one basket
Meaning: Do not give all
your resources to one plan, because if it fails you would be left with nothing.
Origin: The phrase was
likely introduced to the world via the 1605 novel Don Quixote, though before
that it may have been a well-known Italian and/or Spanish saying referring to
actual eggs in actual baskets.
Don’t
rain on my parade
Meaning: Do not spoil the
good time I had planned.
Origin: The phrase might
have been first introduced in a 1912 short story in the Schenectady Gazette but
it was definitely made popular in a song of the same name from the 1964 musical
Funny Girl. It is not known why specifically a parade was chosen instead of,
say, a picnic.
Double
dog dare
Meaning: A challenge with
extra seriousness often following a regular dare, commonly used by
schoolchildren.
Origin: A double dare
is used to counter a dare and return the challenge to the original dare-poser. It
is unknown why a dog was brought into this scenario but it could very well have
been due to alliteration (all words starting with the same letter/sound) and
the fact that dogs are tough. The phrase was presented to the public in an 1896
book and became popular again after release of the 1983 film A Christmas Story.
Note: If you want to
retort against a ‘double dog dare’, use the term ‘black dog dare’. However, beware
of the other person imposing a ‘double black dog dare’ on you, rendering you completely
helpless from attempting the challenge.
Double
whammy
Meaning: Two negative
things occurring at the same time.
Origin: In the 1940s, a ‘whammy’
was a kind of evil curse, like what people might say an unlucky sports team was
going through. The ‘double’ part was probably coined by a boxing manager named
Wirt Ross during an interview. He was so eccentric that nobody knows for sure
what he was actually talking about in that statement. The phrase was then used
several times and made popular by the coming strip Li’l Abner.
Dressed to the nines
Meaning: Wearing very fancy clothes.
Origin: According to those who keep such records, the number nine is quite problematic when it comes to phrase origins. (‘Cloud nine’ and ‘the whole nine yards’ are amongst the puzzlers.) A suggestion for this one’s root claims that tailors once used nine yards of fabric to make elaborate clothing, though they would have been ridiculously huge. Its first known use was in an 1835 dictionary, though it is not clear why the author used the phrase.
Dropping
like flies
Meaning: Decreasing
suddenly and in great numbers, such as people losing in a tournament or dying
from a spreading disease.
Origin: Not known but it
was likely brought about in early-1900s Atlanta and referred to actual flies being
fragile and easy to kill.
Dude ranch
Meaning: A vacation place focusing on typical American Western activities, such as horse-back riding and skeet shooting.
Origin: In the 1800s, the slang word ‘dude’ was used by cattle ranchers for city folk. People from urban areas began seeking trips to the West for breaks from their daily routines. Westerners capitalized on the idea and dude ranches were born.
Eat,
drink, and be merry
Meaning: Enjoy life without
worrying.
Origin: This phrase
likely came from Greek philosopher Epicurus, who promoted focusing on pleasure,
often known as Hedonism. Alternately, it is included several times in the Bible,
most famously in the book of Ecclesiastes.
Note: The full phrase
is ‘Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die’.
Eat
crow
Meaning: Embarrassingly
admit to one’s own mistakes.
Origin: One story
suggests that during the War Of 1812, a British soldier forced an American to
eat a crow the latter had accidentally shot. Another notion points to the
phrase’s initial use in an 1850 article about a farmer who was challenged to
eat a crow. If either or neither of these is true, the idea of eating a crow is
largely unappealing since it commonly feasts on dead flesh.
Eaves-dropping
Meaning: Covertly
listening to a conversation that you perhaps should not hear.
Origin: An eave is the
part of a roof that hangs over the side of a building. The space between it and
the ground is known as the ‘eaves-drop’. To hear a private conversation inside
the building, a person would probably have to stand in that area. This phrase
was first used as early as the 800s.
Egg
on your face
Meaning: To be
embarrassed by a contradictory mistake you made, such as saying an object is
very light then being unable to lift it.
Origin: Unclear. One
possible source has to do with unsatisfactory theater actors being pelted with
eggs. Another suggests farmers would find out which dog had been eating eggs
because it would have some on its face. How either root got led to today’s
usage is a mystery.
Elbow
grease
Meaning: Energetic
physical labor.
Origin: Likely first
used in the 1600s and, even then, referred to hard work, though the expression’s
original focus could have been on writing and/or a general term for sweat.
Elbows off the table
Meaning: It is considered rude to have one’s elbows on the table while eating.
Origin: An inventive (though likely false) tale suggests that men with elbows on tables in taverns would be abducted and forced to serve in the military. The idea likely began simply as a means of etiquette to prevent diners from encroaching on their neighbors’ eating space.
Et
cetera
Meaning: Latin for ‘and the rest’ or ‘and others’, this is most often used
at the end of a list and abbreviated ‘etc.’, signifying that there
are further examples.
Origin: Et cetera has been part of the English
language since at least the 1200s. There is an argument that the 1944 book Anna
and the King of Siam and/or its cinematic adaptation, 1956’s The King
and I, boosted the popularity of the phrase.
Every
dark cloud has a silver lining
Meaning: Any situation,
even a very negative one, has a positive aspect to it. Example- If somebody
dies from cancer, the fact that the person no longer has to suffer is the
silver lining.
Origin: The phrase ‘silver
lining’ was introduced in 1634 by English author John Milton, who is most
famous for writing Paradise Lost. The saying as we know it can first be found
in an 1840 novel review.
Everything
but the kitchen sink
Meaning: A very large number
of things, often to the point of excess or non-necessity. An example would be
packing way too much for a short trip.
Origin: Preceded by ‘everything
but the kitchen stove’, this phrase was probably first used in 1911 in a
Winnipeg newspaper and/or a novel called Prince Or Chauffeur? The idiom has
always had the same meaning but why the kitchen stove/sink was included is
unknown. It gained popularity during World War 2 as military slang when describing
an intense battle.
Fairy
tale
Meaning: A fictional
story, usually told to children and involving magical beings. (Can also mean an
imaginative lie.)
Origin: Part of the
larger ‘folk tale’ category, the roots of fairy tales could go back 6,000 years,
when they were told orally and not written. The term ‘fairy tale’ was coined
by French writer Madame d’Aulnoy in the 1600s, since most of her fantastical
stories contained at least one fairy. The phrase stayed within the genre but
was quickly used to describe any tale with magical roots, whether a fairy was a
character or not.
Fall
guy
Meaning: A person set up
to take blame for something who probably had little if anything to do with the
situation.
Origin: In this phrase
from the early-1900s, ‘fall’ was initially a slang term for a period of time spent
in prison. The saying ‘fall money’ was used later but meant an amount of cash
set aside by a guilty person intended for the ‘fall guy’ upon release. The root
of ‘fall’ is disputed but a popular theory suggests a person running away from
a crime often trips and gets arrested as a result.
Note: ‘Fall guy’ is
similar to ‘Scapegoat’, which can be found farther down this page. Also, the
politically-correct term is now ‘fall person’ but ‘guy’ is commonly used
because men are slime.
Fifteen minutes of fame
Meaning: A short amount
of time in which a person becomes famous, usually for a silly reason rather
than actual achievement, then is quickly forgotten by the public.
Origin: The actual coiner
of the expression, “In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes” is
unclear but it has to do with artist Andy Warhol. If he did not say it himself,
it was definitely included in a program for his Swedish exhibit in 1968. The
curator, a photographer, and a painter are among those who have taken credit
for the phrase.
Flash
in the pan
Meaning: A person or
thing that gains sudden popularity but is ultimately disappointing.
Origin: Muskets used to
have small pans for holding gunpowder. When a gun was fired but no bullet came
out, there was an actual flash in the pan. The phrase’s first known modern use
was in a late-1600s critique of a play.
Follow
suit
Meaning: Do something
because another person did it first.
Origin: Playing-card
games such as Bridge require participants to follow the suit of the opening
card. The phrase possibly stems from the early-1800s, when card games were very
popular.
For
all the marbles
Meaning: To win
everything in a competition.
Origin: This is related
to the actual game of Marbles, in which certain shots can result in the shooter
winning every marble on the table.
For the birds
Meaning: Useless and not worth pursuing.
Origin: American slang gave us this phrase, likely stemming from the time of horse-drawn carriages, when the beasts would drop manure and birds would rummage through it for seeds.
Forty
winks
Meaning: A very short period
of sleep.
Origin: English doctor
William Kitchiner first used the phrase in an 1821 book, saying a quick nap was
the best method to prepare for activity, though some relate it to 1500s
England, when prospective clergy had to read a very boring list of rules
before entering the priesthood.
Freudian
slip
Meaning: Intending to say
one thing but mistakenly stating another, which is said to reveal subconscious truths
or desires of the speaker. This phenomenon is often referenced in comedy,
especially in a sexual context, like if a Biologist were to say ‘orgasm’
instead of ‘organism’.
Origin: A kind of parapraxis,
or slip of the tongue, the idea was studied by Austrian psychologist
Sigmund Freud, who supposedly thought of it when consulting with a man who
mis-quoted a phrase from Virgil’s The Aeneid. The man left out a word referencing
blood, which Freud related to the man’s girlfriend’s pregnancy and his negative
emotions while experiencing it.
Note: It is not known
why Freudian or any other verbal slips occur, as they are spontaneous and
therefore difficult to study. Also, Freud did not use his own name while
describing them. It is believed the speaking error was set to honor him around
1951.
Garden-variety
Meaning: Average, common,
ordinary.
Origin: This was a
popular phrase in the early 1900s to describe plants usually found in gardens.
How it extended beyond the plant world is unclear but it was probably due to
its everyday use in garden-variety slang.
Gas-lighting
Meaning: Tricking someone
into questioning their own sanity.
Origin: A 1938 stage play
(and 1944 film based on it) called Gaslight told the story of a man who convinced
his wife she was imagining sights and sound around their house, which he was
actually causing while looking for valuable jewelry. The dimming of gas-powered
lamps that lit their home was a key device in the plot, hence the title.
Get off scot-free
Meaning: To do something without punishment although that should be the result.
Origin: In medieval England, a ‘scot’ was a property tax that some people got out of paying because their land was in an unfavorable area.
Get
off your soapbox
Meaning: Stop preaching
unwanted advice and personal opinions.
Origin: An area of London’s
Hyde Park called Speakers’ Corner has been a spot for people to publicly voice
their views since 1872. At first, speakers would stand on wooden boxes made for
transporting soap in order to be seen by the crowd.
Origin: Though likely untrue, the ancient Romans had a pre-battle ritual of soldiers dipping their feet in water, possibly influenced by the Bible (Joshua 3). The more common (but less interesting) root dates to the 1500s when timid people would test water before getting into it.
Get
the ball rolling
Meaning: Begin an
activity.
Origin: During the American
presidential election of 1840, supporters of William Henry Harrison were
invited to push Victory Balls (actual balls made of tin and leather measuring 10
feet in diameter) between campaign stops. While doing this, spectators would
often shout “Keep the ball rolling”. How this came to mean starting any endeavor
is not known.
Note: Harrison won the
election but died 33 days into the term from pneumonia. His inauguration speech
was about 90 minutes long and given during a snow-storm. He refused to shorten the
address or wear proper clothing while giving it, resulting in the shortest presidency
in American history.
Get the hang of it
Meaning: Learn how to do something after several less-than-successful attempts.
Origin: Unknown but there are two popular hypotheses: 1) It has something to do with an unidentified kind of tool. 2) Some public executioners were so good at their duty that a tongue-in-cheek thing to say was they “got the hang of it”.
Give
110%
Meaning: Make the maximum
amount of effort.
Origin: Unclear but
since the phrase is common in sports, that world may very well be the source,
when a coach or players calculated a plan mathematically.
Note: Giving more than
100% of something with a finite capacity is impossible.
Give
up the ghost
Meaning: Cease working
and die, like a person or machine releasing its spirit.
Origin: Though it may
have been used earlier, this Biblical phrase can be traced back to a 1535 version
by preacher Myles Coverdale, the first person to fully translate the Bible into
English. It rejoined popular culture in 1832, when James Paulding used the
saying in his story, Westward Ho!, and is currently used more often for
machinery than living creatures.
Go
bananas
Meaning: Act wildly
because of excessive anger or excitement.
Origin: This phrase
likely sprouted from another- go ape. In either case, it referred to how
animated gorillas would get when seeing bananas and both expressions were used
to describe passionate activists at American colleges in the 1960s.
Go
down the rabbit hole
Meaning: Descend into
unfamiliar environments that get the pursuer hooked on seeking further information.
Origin: In Lewis
Carroll’s 1865 novel Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland, Alice chases a
strange rabbit into its hole and encounters increasingly-bizarre experiences.
The phrase was frequently used in scholarly papers then gained common popularity
via the 1999 film The Matrix.
Go for broke
Meaning: Risk it all to attain a goal.
Origin: A 1951 war film brought this phrase to popularity but its root probably rests in Hawaiian slang for betting everything on a roll of dice.
Origin: When single-shot guns had to be fully-cocked to fire, one going off before that point meant a mistake had been made. The phrase dates to the 1700s and was also used by writers to mean ‘drunk’.
Go
through the roof
Meaning: 1) Become extremely
angry. 2) Unexpectedly rise to a high level, such as prices or sales.
Origin: The root is
unclear but the phrase appears to have been created in the first half of the
1900s and referred to attaining a great speed to actually go through a roof, which
would probably not be expected.
Go
with the flow
Meaning: Adapt to and
embrace whatever is currently happening.
Origin: Roman emperor
Marcus Aurelius and playwright William Shakespeare are both credited with using
the root of this phrase, though it is not known for sure if either or neither
is the true originator. The former described happiness as “flowing” and said
going against it was difficult and often problematic. Shakespeare referred to
tides flowing in his play Julius Caesar. Regardless, the saying itself is
thought to have arisen in the 1900s.
Going
swimmingly
Meaning: Happening
without any problems.
Origin: Unknown but the
phrase is thought to have been introduced in the 1600s and be related to the
smooth, seemingly-effortless act of swimming.
Going to Hell in a handbasket
Meaning: Quickly heading toward something’s demise.
Origin: This phrase is likely an alternative way of saying ‘going to Hell’. The vehicle being a handbasket likely has no significance but begins with H (as Hell does) and has a catchy sound. Despite this, a popular theory suggests that people during the American gold rush were lowered into mines via baskets to set up dynamite. Almost anything could have gone wrong.
Good
Samaritan
Meaning: A person who performs
an act of kindness to someone in need, regardless of the risk, even if the
recipient is unknown to the helper.
Origin: In the Bible’s
book of Luke, a parable (moral story) tells of a traveler to the region of
Samaria in modern-day Israel. The traveler had been robbed, beaten, and
stripped but because he was an outsider, nobody (including a rabbi) stopped to
help him since Samaritans and Jews often conflicted. At last, a Samaritan put
aside his pride to aid the traveler.
Note: In the United
States, a person is legally required to help another who is in imminent danger.
The Good Samaritan Laws protect helpers from being charged if they
unintentionally harm victims, such as breaking a rib while performing life-saving
CPR on a stranger. This was implemented to encourage citizens to help each
other without fear of legal punishment.
Goosebumps
Meaning: Involuntary muscle
contractions at the base of hair follicles which are often caused by cold weather
or strong emotions, such as fear. People also get “the chills” when experiencing
something intense, such as a gripping piece of music or emotional story.
Origin: A human’s
goosebumped skin resembles that of a feather-less bird. The word as we know it
can be traced back to ‘goose-flesh’, probably from the 1600s. Languages other
than English have the same expression but often refer to the skin of a chicken,
turkey, or other avian creature.
Note: Some animals get
goosebumps to guard against the cold and make themselves appear bigger when
near a threat. It is thought that humans were once much hairier and would have
used them in the same way but they are now seen as an unnecessary leftover from
Evolution.
Grandfather clock
Meaning: A clock within a tall wooden case that also contains chimes and a pendulum.
Origin: American song-writer Henry Clay Work released a song in 1876 called My Grandfather’s Clock after hearing a story about a (then-called) long-case clock in a hotel. The tale’s authenticity is doubted, but supposedly the clock stopped working when its former owners died.
Note: There is also a grandmother clock, which is generally the same but shorter, around five feet in height.
Greenhouse
gases
Meaning: Gases that trap
heat in Earth’s atmosphere, leading to a warming climate. The main greenhouse
gas is carbon dioxide and others include methane, nitrous oxide, and human-made
fluorinated gases, such as chlorofluorocarbons in aerosol cans.
Origin: A plant-growing
greenhouse stays warm by converting light into heat energy. Earth’s atmosphere’s “greenhouse effect” absorbs
infrared radiation and re-distributes it. In 1901, Swedish meteorologist Nils
Ekholm wrote a paper comparing Earth’s climate to a greenhouse, though it is
disputed if he was the first to do so.
Habeas
corpus
Meaning: Loosely translated from Latin to ‘you have the body’, this right in
the American Constitution prevents a suspect in a criminal case from being
unlawfully detained, such as holding the person based on a feeling rather than
because of evidence.
Origin: The legal phrase was used in England as
early as the 1200s, when Latin was often used for official proceedings, dating from
the expansion of the Roman Empire. England’s Habeas Corpus Act of 1679 enacted
the process as an official right, which the American “founding fathers” adopted
since most of them were from England.
Hail
Mary
Meaning: A last-minute,
desperate attempt to win.
Origin: In Christianity,
Hail Mary is a prayer honoring the mother of Jesus. In a 1922 college football
game, players from Notre Dame said the prayer while huddling before an
important play- and it worked. The scheme was successful again later in the
game and the phrase (obviously, in a non-religious sense) has been used in the
football world since. In a 1975 interview, quarterback Roger Staubach called
his long pass a Hail Mary, popularizing the term and its eventual use in the
non-sports arena.
Hair of the dog that bit you
Meaning: An alcohol drink that got you drunk, especially when consumed the next morning to get rid of its hangover.
Origin: In medieval England, putting fur from a rabid dog in a victim’s wound was thought to help cure it. As this practice faded, the phrase became used to describe alcohol consumption, though it is not clear how.
Note: The method does not work to cure hangovers nor wounds from animals but taking a drink after being bitten by a creature might help you calm down.
Hanging
chad
Meaning: Paper ballots in
elections have two parts. Typically, when a vote is cast, the spot next to a
candidate’s named is fully pierced and the other part of the ballot falls off.
A ‘hanging chad’ happens when a hole is partially punched and the second part (the
“chad) does not fully separate (“hanging”), resulting in an invalid vote. This
phrase became popular during the Bush/Gore election of 2000.
Origin: The use of
‘chad’ goes back until at least the 1930s but its origin relating to the voting
process is unknown.
Note: A ‘pregnant
chad’ happens when a vote does not pierce the paper but instead leaves a bulge,
also resulting in an invalid vote.
Have
a field day
Meaning: Enjoy something
greatly, especially when it is unfortunate for another person.
Origin: Used by the
English military in the 1700s to describe days spent in actual fields
practicing maneuvers. The phrase eventually referred to any event held in a
field and somehow evolved into its current definition.
Heard
it through the grape-vine
Meaning: Learned about something
via rumor or speculation instead of an official announcement.
Origin: Along the route
of the Underground Railroad, a common method of communication was to hang specifically-colored
clothing. This was often done with rope but grape-vines were used in its stead.
The phrase kept its meaning but came about in a different way after the
telegraph was invented because the wires used resembled grape-vines. The saying
became very popular during the American Civil War and took off in 1968, when Motown
singer Marvin Gaye released his version of ‘I Heard It Through The Grape-vine’,
which was originally recorded by Gladys Knight & The Pips.
Heavy
metal
Meaning: A genre of rock
music often exhibiting fast guitars and pounding drums along with shouting
and/or growling vocals. (This is a general description as there are exceptions
and sub-genres which display alternate or additional qualities.)
Origin: While heavy
metals have been known to Chemistry for centuries, the musical genre is said to
have begun when Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, and Deep Purple were all founded
in 1968 Birmingham, England, then the home of several metal-making factories. ‘Heavy’
was used in the 1950s as another word for ‘deep’ or ‘profound’. The exact root
of ‘heavy metal’ relating to music is uncertain, though popular theories
suggest American writer William S. Burroughs coined the phrase in a 1962 novel while
others credit the band Steppenwolf because of their lyric ‘heavy metal thunder’
in the 1968 song Born To Be Wild.
Hedge
your bets
Meaning: Protect yourself
from loss by supporting more than one outcome, like betting on both sides of a
sporting event.
Origin: An English play
from 1672 in which a character placed one large wager and several smaller
(opposing) ones to cover the expense in case the big one was a loser.
Heir
apparent
Meaning: A person next-in-line
to succeed something whose claim to it cannot be taken away.
Origin: This phrase traces
to 1400s France and the word ‘aparant’, meaning evident or obvious. It sounds
strange to English speakers because it was derived from French, which places adjectives
after nouns.
Note: This differs
from an ‘heir presumptive’, whose right to succession can be removed. For
example, the step-child of a monarch would no longer be next in line if said
ruler had a genetic child during the reign.
High-tailed
it
Meaning: Left very
quickly.
Origin: Some animals,
such as deer and rabbits, raise their tails when running away from something to
warn others of danger.
High
and mighty
Meaning: Describes a
person who thinks and/or acts like they are more important than others.
Origin: In the Middle
Ages, wealthy people commonly rode horses, appearing higher and mightier than those
of less influence. The phrase likely started with sarcasm and has since been
used only with that tone.
Highway
robbery
Meaning: The unfair
profiting of one side from a business transaction, such as a deal gone bad or high
asking prices. It can also be used literally to describe a carjacking.
Origin: In 1500s
England, travelers along main routes were often robbed due to lack of
protection, even though the crime was punishable by death. This practice led to
organized gangs of highwaymen performing the act. The phrase was likely first
used in its current form in the 1890s, though it is unclear how that came to
be.
Hock (or Hawk) a loogie
Meaning: Spit out mucus from the nose and/or throat.
Origin: Unknown but there are hypotheses for both parts of the phrase. Hock or Hawk can both relate to peddling goods. In the 18th century, hockers/hawkers commonly cleared their throats loudly to get the attention of potential customers. ‘Loogie’ may have its roots from the German word ‘luger’ (a type of pistol) or a reference to Lou Gehrig’s habit of spitting while playing baseball or simply a version of the word booger (which itself comes from an old idea that the ‘bogeyman’ would fill one’s nose with mucus).
Hold water
Meaning: Seem valid or reasonable, as with a statement about an unfamiliar topic.
Origin: In the 1600s, a bucket (or other vessel) that was leak-proof was valuable and could be trusted.
Hole in the wall
Meaning: A small, obscure, unassuming establishment.
Origin: This was probably first applied to places that sold alcohol illegally. A popular, though unsubstantiated, hypothesis states poor people had holes in their walls for secretly receiving charitable donations. How it got to its current state from either (or both) of those sources is a mystery.
Note: In the United Kingdom, the phrase is used in reference to an ATM.
Holy
moly
Meaning: An utterance of
surprise.
Origin: This phrase
probably has biblical roots and is an alternate version of ‘Holy Moses’ or ‘Holy
Mary’. It was popularized in the 1940s when comics character Captain Marvel
often used it to express shock.
Holy Toledo!
Meaning: [Used as an exclamation of surprise.]
Origin: The most-popular hypothesis states that the city of Toledo, Spain, was the first official site of Christianity in the country. An alternate claim has it starting because of Robin in the original Batman television series.
Honeymoon
Meaning: A vacation taken by a newly-wedded couple.
Origin: Not known for sure but a popular hypothesis suggests the term comes from 1500s England or Scandinavia. Married partners were commonly given enough mead (sweet liquor made from fermented honey) for a month (roughly one lunar cycle).
Hoof
it
Meaning: Travel by foot,
sometimes quickly and/or because faster transportation is not available.
Origin: Unknown but is
said to have been coined in the 1640s and briefly meant “to dance” in 1920s
slang.
Horsepower
Meaning: A unit of measurement describing how much energy an engine needs to move 33 pounds of something 1,000 feet in one minute (or equivalent variations, such as moving 1,000 pounds 33 feet in one minute).
Origin: The story goes that Scottish engineer James Watt (of light bulb power fame) was watching ponies lift coal in buckets at mining sites and wanted a way to gauge their work. As a fan of Mathematics, he calculated the strength of a pony then of a horse and applied it to his steam engine, which had around 10 horsepower. His result was not exact but close enough for the word to still be used. [To read about how ponies are not horses, go here.]
Note: One horse can produce up to 15 horsepower, though it usually produces roughly one, making the term accurate.
How
do you like them apples?
Meaning: Bragging phrase meant
to taunt an adversary who did not get what they wanted.
Origin: World War One,
when grenades were referred to as ‘apples’. The usage of ‘them’ is disputed but
was likely no more than an improper way of speaking.
I’ll
be a monkey’s uncle
Meaning: I am very
surprised.
Origin: This phrase
probably has to do with Charles Darwin’s scientific theory of Evolution. It was
used sarcastically by Creationists shortly after his work was published to make
fun of the idea that humans were closely-related to apes.
In
a nutshell
Meaning: Summarized with
a few words. (Making a long story short.)
Origin: In the year 77, Roman
writer Pliny The Elder wrote that the content of Homer’s famous story The Iliad
could be condensed to fit within a nut-shell. (It is not known why an educated
person thought a long poem written on clay tablets thought such a thing. A
translation of Pliny’s work explains that many instances were exaggerated, such
as a person being able to see something 135 miles away.) British novelist
William Makepeace Thackeray used the phrase in an 1841 work and that may have
been the root of the saying we know today.
In
the closet
Meaning: Hiding one’s sexual
identity from the world.
Origin: The closet has
been a metaphor for privacy since at least the 1600s. The gay community adopted
the phrase in the 1960s, hence today people “come out of the closet” when announcing
their homosexuality.
In the dog-house
Meaning: Not currently liked by someone.
Origin: Prison slang, first brought to the public by J.J. Finnerty in 1926.
In
the limelight
Meaning: With attention from the public.
Origin: In the 1800s, theater productions were often
lit using quick-lime, a substance made with calcium oxide. Burning it produced
a bright white light that could focus on an actor or section of the stage.
Though effective, it was a fire hazard and was replaced with electric lighting
by Thomas Edison around 1879.
It
ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings
Meaning: If something is
still in progress, do not assume to know what the outcome will be.
Origin: The fourth and
final part of German composer Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle operas ends with a
10-minute solo performed by the actress playing the role of Brunnhilde. This
woman is often large in stature with a powerful voice, making the performance literally
over when the fat lady sings. The phrase became popular in US sports via baseball
legend Yogi Berra and/or various broadcasters.
It
takes two to tango
Meaning: More than one
person or reason is always responsible for a (typically negative) event.
Origin: This idiom was
coined by the composing team of Al Hoffman and Dick Manning, whose 1952 song ‘Takes
Two To Tango’ was famously performed by Louis Armstrong and Pearl Bailey, among
others. The Tango was invented in South America as early as the 1880s.
Note: When
referring to the dance, it indeed does take two to Tango.
Jesus
H. Christ
Meaning: This phrase is used
to emphasize surprise.
Origin: An ancient monogram
used for secretly naming Jesus resembled the initials JHC, though the letters
were the first three in the Greek spelling of his name. In English, it appeared
that H was a middle initial. It is not known how the phrase came to mean often-humorous
exasperation.
Note: Christ was not
Jesus’s surname but a word meaning “anointed one”.
John/Jane
Doe
Meaning: Generic names
used for people whose identities are not known.
Origin: The use of these
names dates to at least the 1700s, when made-up plaintiffs and defendants took
sides in legal cases. (Apparently, this was a way to avoid the legitimate way of
bringing people to trial, which was rather complicated.) There is no official
record of the first case involving these names and the source of them is unknown.
Note: When this first
started, Richard Roe was used as the name for an anonymous defendant. This
explains the woman’s name being hidden in the Supreme Court case of Roe v.
Wade.
Jump
the gun
Meaning: Begin too early.
Origin: Initially ‘beat
the gun’, this phrase comes from early-1900s track and field races. The
competitors would line up and a pistol would signal them to start running. As
participants seemed to leap out of position, anyone who left before the gun was
said to ‘jump’ it.
Jumping
the shark
Meaning: Attempting to
re-gain something’s popularity via an excessive, attention-seeking means.
Origin: In 1977, the
television program Happy Days was very popular and its most beloved
character, The Fonz, accepted a challenge to jump over a pool containing a
tiger shark while wearing water skis. (Fonz wore them; not the shark.) This
phrase was coined in 1987 by a college student in Michigan who saw that event
as the show’s downfall, though it lasted for six more seasons. His roommate
publicized the saying by founding the now-defunct website JumpTheShark.com.
Just
deserts
Meaning: Reward or punishment
rightly fitting what a person has done.
Origin: The phrase above
was not spelled incorrectly. It indeed uses one ‘s’, though the word is
pronounced like the after-dinner treat. In this case, ‘desert’ comes from a 13th-century
word meaning ‘something deserved’ and its current meaning was probably first used
in 1548. Desserts such as cake and fudge were not popular until the 1600s.
Keep
in touch
Meaning: Remain in communicative
contact.
Origin: In the 1700s, soldiers
had to march in close proximity and be able to physically touch those around them.
Keep
me posted
Meaning: Let me know
about that issue’s latest developments.
Origin: The root of this
phrase is unclear but a popular theory suggests it dates to American colonial
times, when current events would be nailed to wooden posts so people could read
about them. It may alternately or additionally relate to letters being mailed
through the ‘post’ office.
Kick
the bucket
Meaning: Die.
Origin: The most
reasonable (and gruesome) theory relates to animal slaughter. In the 1500s, ‘bucket’
also meant a wooden beam or frame used to hang helpless creatures, who would reasonably flail around and ‘kick the bucket’ before and/or after being killed.
Knock
your socks off
Meaning: Will greatly
impress you.
Origin: This phrase first
had a negative connotation, meaning to soundly beat someone in a fight. The timing
of it is disputed but it is thought to have been used in more positive ways
through time while keeping its initial sense of stunning someone.
Meaning: Have a great deal of knowledge about something.
Knucklehead
Meaning: Unintelligent
person. Also, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle engine.
Origin: First used as a
term for a mechanical coupling device, meaning a piece that connects two
straight parts, thus creating a ‘knuckle’. Its modern use stems from R.F.
Knucklehead, a goofy character created by the U.S. military to show new
recruits how not to behave.
Meaning: An organization founded in 1865 primarily to oppose Reconstruction after the U.S. Civil War, specifically policies that promoted equality for African-American people. They are responsible for countless acts of violence in the name of white supremacy.
Origin (of their name, not the group itself): Initially spelled Kuklux Klan, the first part of the name is likely gibberish based on the Greek word ‘kyklos’, meaning ‘circle’. The creator of this is unknown. The ‘C’ in ‘clan’ was changed to a ‘K’ for alliterative purposes.
Meaning: A grossly under-rated film starring Rodney Dangerfield. Also, small beetles often (but not always) with black dots on their red or orange wing-protectors for warning predators not to eat it.
Origin: Called “ladybirds” in the United Kingdom, the insects were first referred to as “lady beetles”, with the Biblical Mary being the ‘lady’ in question. She is said to often have worn a red cloak and was prayed to by farmers whose crops were being eaten by pests. The farmers said Mary sent ladybugs to kill the invaders.
Note: Because nit-picking is fun, ladybugs are not technically bugs but general insects in the beetle family.
Lazy Susan
Meaning: Hand-moved, rotating tray designed for convenience, often used for food.
Origin: Though Thomas Jefferson (whose had a daughter named Susan) and Thomas Edison (whose phonograph resembles the object) are sometimes credited with its invention, it likely began use in 1300s China. It was referred to as a “dumb waiter” and took the place of household servants. As for the name, Susan was a popular generic term for any female servant. Often enough, they did not want to work so the phrase likely evolved from that.
Leave
no stone un-turned
Meaning: Look absolutely
everywhere.
Origin: An ancient Greek
legend tells the story of a Persian general who buried treasure beneath rocks
before he was killed in battle. When the Greeks asked the Oracle of Delphi how
to find it, they were told to look under every stone.
Lemon (automobile)
Meaning: A vehicle sold as properly functional but is actually defective and dangerous to drive.
Origin: Using the word slangily to describe something unpleasant dates to the early-1900s. It was notably utilized in the automobile world in 1923 but really took off in the 1960s when Volkswagen ran an advertisement featuring the term. The popular thought for its source is simply because some people find lemons (the fruit) disagreeable.
Let
the cat out of the bag
Meaning: Talk about something
that should have been kept secret.
Origin: This phrase has
two possible yet unproven roots: 1) A multi-pointed whip called a cat o’ nine
tails was used on disobedient sailors and was kept in a bag to prevent drying
and losing flexibility. 2) At livestock markets, vendors would often sell pigs
to customers but secretly switch them with common cats, which the new owners
would not discover until getting home and letting them out.
Let’s
cross that bridge when we come to it
Meaning: Do not worry
about something that has yet to happen.
Origin: American writer
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow used the expression in an 1851 work called The
Golden Legend, but he referred to it as an old proverb. The root of the
phrase itself is unclear.
Life of Riley
Meaning: An easy existence with few concerns.
Origin: Ireland, though the source is disputed. In 1883, Pat Rooney had a song called Is That Mr. Reilly?, in which he described a man getting everything he wanted. However, the spelling change suggests the root is with Irish immigrants to America, many of which were named Riley. Presumably, one of them found comfort simple to attain.
Like a bull in a china shop
Meaning: Acting recklessly in a potentially harmful situation.
Origin: The first written account of this phrase is in Frederick Marryat’s 1834 novel Jacob Faithful but its root may be in one of Aesop’s fables about a donkey in a pottery shop, which warned against acting too impulsively.
Note: Apparently, there is a dispute as to whether Aesop actually existed or not.
Like
taking candy from a baby
Meaning: Something unfair
that is very easy to do.
Origin: The exact
article where this phrase was first printed is disputed but it was used in the
late-1800s to describe an American sporting event in which one team easily
dominated the other.
Little
white lie
Meaning: An un-truth told
with polite intentions, such as telling a friend you like their new shirt
because they are excited about it, even though you think it is awful.
Origin: The phrase ‘white
lie’ can be traced back to 1300s England, in a letter claiming somebody was not
guilty of crimes except for white lies. The use of ‘white’ has to do with the
ages-old battle of Good versus Evil, in which the Good side is usually
represented by light colors, like in the Chinese Yin Yang.
It is unclear when ‘little’ was added to ‘white lie’ but it was likely done to
emphasize the triviality of the un-truth.
Lock,
stock, and barrel
Meaning: All parts of
something.
Origin: The main parts
of a musket-gun. The phrase was used in an 1803 newspaper but may have
originated earlier.
Lose
one’s shirt
Meaning: Forfeit some or
all of one’s money due to a bad wager or investment.
Origin: This phrase is
thought to have roots in the Great Depression, when many people lost a great
deal of money in the stock market. Some are said to have also lost personal
possessions, including the clothing they were wearing.
Low-key
Meaning: Modest, calm,
easy-going.
Origin: The term’s root
is not known for sure but it was probably introduced in the 1800s in reference
to quiet, mellow music, which tends to be written in a low key, meaning the
piece’s set of pitches or tonality.
Note: Apparently ‘low-key’ has become a popular term on the internet but
the author is not hip to such activities.
Mad as a hatter
Meaning: Crazy and susceptible to unpredictable behavior.
Origin: This phrase likely dates to when people who made hats (hatters) used mercury in the process, thus poisoning themselves and appearing to be mad.
Make a mountain out of a mole-hill
Meaning: To act as if something minor is very important.
Origin: The exact root is not known but the phrase is related to others in various languages, such as ‘comparing a fly and an elephant’. The first-known English use of the expression was in a 1548 translation of an ancient Greek text.
Make ends meet
Meaning: Earn enough money to live with basic necessities.
Origin: This phrase is thought to have been brought into English by a clergyman named Thomas Fuller in 1662 but could be even older. The French saying ‘joindre les deux bouts de l’année’ translates to roughly the same thing and refers to the ‘ends’ as the beginning and conclusion of the calendar year.
Mayday
Meaning: International
distress signal sent via radio.
Origin: In 1923, English
radio officer Frederick Mockford was tasked to coin an unmistakable word that
would be used by ships and airplanes in dire need of assistance. He chose
‘mayday’ because it sounded like the French term ‘m’aider’, which means ‘help
me’.
Mind your Ps and Qs
Meaning: Be on your best behavior.
Origin: Two hypotheses with the most support are: 1) Pints and Quarts, as drinks were once served in English pubs. The bartender (or whomever was tallying) had to keep accurate track of what was being consumed. 2) Children and/or print-shop workers were instructed to do this because the lower-case versions of the letters look similar, though the phrase ‘Mind your Bs and Ds’ has never been heard by this author.
Miranda rights
Meaning: A short list of rights given to suspects by police upon arrest.
Origin: In 1966, the Supreme Court heard Miranda v. Arizona, which was a specific case but also represented three others from around the country. They all involved police interrogations in which suspects were questioned without knowing their legal rights. The ‘Miranda’ in question was the surname of a man who was found guilty of kidnapping and rape but whose case was over-turned because his Fifth Amendment rights were in question. He was given a second trial, without his self-incriminating evidence, but the result was the same.
Note: You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used against you in court. You have the right to talk to a lawyer for advice before we ask you any questions. You have the right to have a lawyer with you during questioning.
Muckraker
Meaning: A person-
especially a journalist- who finds and publicizes scandalous information about
celebrities by using sneaky methods. (The paparazzi comes to mind.)
Origin: An actual
muckraker was a person who made a living by clearing filth, such as mud or
excrement. The current definition was introduced in a 1906 speech by President
Theodore Roosevelt, comparing under-handed reporters to a character in the 1678
novel The Pilgrim’s Progress.
Munchausen
by proxy
Meaning: A mental
disorder that causes a person to invent an illness or injury for a person they
are taking care of.
Origin: In 1700s
Germany, a man named Karl Friedrich Hieronymus was famous for telling
highly-exaggerated stories about his time in the military. His noble title was
the Baron Munchausen (or Münchhausen), though the location of Munchausen is
not known. ‘Proxy’ comes from a Middle English word referring to a person who
acts on behalf of another.
My
cup runneth over
Meaning: I have more than
what is needed.
Origin: Psalm 23 of the
King James Bible states how comfortable King David is knowing that God is
protecting him. He is adequately provided with what he needs and is confident
his faith will guide him to goodness. David thanks God for supplying him with
plenty and describes the situation as an over-flowing cup.
Note: This Psalm also
features the phrase, ‘The lord is my shepherd; I shall not want’.
My
two cents
Meaning: My opinion.
Origin: Throughout
history, the idea of a pair of the smallest currency in a society appears many
times. The phrase’s modern usage likely stems from a British saying regarding
something insignificant being worth two pence.
Note: Saying ‘Here is
my two cents’ instead of ‘Here is my opinion’ is supposed to be self-deprecating,
meaning one’s thoughts on the matter are not worth much.
Neck
of the woods
Meaning: Specific area, usually
where a person lives.
Origin: Early American settlers
(Europeans) used the term ‘neck’ to describe narrow strips of land. How that
passed into modern usage is uncertain but the word definitely comes from Old
German.
Nit-picking
Meaning: Criticizing a
person or thing because of small details, seemingly just to speak badly of
the situation.
Origin: The small eggs of
lice are called nits. A human, gorilla, or other creature must use great
care and attention to detail when removing nits from another’s head.
No spring chicken
Meaning: An often-insulting expression indicating that a person is not young and fit anymore.
Origin: Farmers sell their chickens every Spring. Ones that are not sold will be offered the following year at a lower price, as they are no longer in their prime. The phrase as an insult likely came from a British periodical around 1700.
Noble
gases (also called Inert gases.)
Meaning: Elemental gases
(helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, radon) that have no color or odor,
practice sustained stability, and react poorly with other chemicals. Their
outer-most layers of electrons are full, preventing them from bonding.
Origin: In 1898, German
chemist Hugo Erdmann used the term ‘Edelgas’ to describe these elements. This,
of course, translates to ‘noble gas’, titled as such because people of nobility
are often stubborn and avoid interaction.
Origin: Since the at least the 1800s, people have used cards (Tarot, common playing, or otherwise) to predict the future. In this arena, the phrase ‘in the cards’ means that something was destined to happen. ‘Not in the cards’ is its opposite.
Not
my cup of tea
Meaning: Something I do
not like.
Origin: The British, who
love drinking tea, began referring to favorable things as their ‘cups of tea’ in
the 1930s, specifically meaning flavors of tea and not simply tea in general. The
opposite phrase came about in similar fashion later in the decade.
Not
out of the woods yet
Meaning: Having difficulties
that prevent the intended result from completion.
Origin: The root of this
phrase is disputed but may have begun in ancient Rome, with a late-1700s
English author, or from a letter between First Lady Abigail Adams and Benjamin
Franklin. Regardless, its original meaning was literal, describing a
person who was lost in a forest but emerged safely.
Note: The initial
phrase had to do with not shouting until you were out of the woods, implying
that you should not celebrate a victory until you are sure of it.
Oedipus
complex
Meaning: Austrian
psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud coined the phrase to mean a boy’s unconscious desire
to be with his mother.
Origin: In Greek
mythology, the baby Oedipus was left to die after an oracle predicted he would
kill his father and marry his mother. Found and adopted by a neighboring city’s
rulers, Oedipus learned of the prophecy and fled, believing those who raised
him were his biological parents. On his journey, Oedipus encountered his biological
father and killed him after an argument. He then ventured to the city of his
birth, which he rid of the brutal Sphinx that guarded it. As a reward, Oedipus
was set to marry the queen, who was, of course, his genetic mother. They had
four children until discovering the truth, when she hanged herself and Oedipus
gouged his eyes out. The prophecy had been fulfilled.
Note: The female
equivalent of this is the Elektra Complex, after the mythological Greek figure
who plotted to murder her mother and step-father for killing her father.
Off
the top of my head
Meaning: At first
thought, without consideration.
Origin: An early use was
in a 1939 by an advisor to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, though the
phrase likely began in 1920s London. The exact source of the phrasing is not
known.
Old
wives’ tale
Meaning: A story
presented as true but actually based on superstition and/or nonsense, such as
swallowed chewing gum will stay in one’s body for seven years.
Origin: The idea of passing
word-of-mouth information through generations has been active for a long time. This
phrase’s middle word comes from an Old English term meaning ‘woman’, married or
not.
Note: Many modern
fairy tales have their roots in old wives’ tales.
On
a wing and a prayer
Meaning: With little
chance of success.
Origin: This phrase is
likely American and came about during World War Two. One theory
suggests it was said in the 1942 film Flying Tigers while another claims
it was written for a patriotic 1943 song. Regardless of its source, the idiom
refers to a badly-damaged airplane returning to base with just enough fuel,
wings, prayers, and whatever else to get there.
On/Off
the wagon
Meaning: On = abstaining
from alcohol; Off = drinking alcohol after giving it up for a period.
Origin: Before
Prohibition in the United States (1920-1933), water wagons were commonly used
to clean streets. The story goes that people would climb onto these and swear
they would rather drink the water inside than alcohol ever again. This is unconfirmed
but seems to be the most likely root of the phrase.
One-horse
town
Meaning: A small,
seemingly-unimportant place.
Origin: It is not known
who first used this phrase but it likely happened in 1850s America, referring
to a town so unimpressive that one horse could serve the transportation and
agricultural needs of all who lived there.
One-trick
pony
Meaning: A person who is
skilled at only one thing.
Origin: The circus gave
us this term. A story says that in 1800s Oregon a traveling circus, slangily called
a ‘dog and pony show’, featured a pony whose only trick was playing dead. The
bored audience was furious and somehow popularized the saying. Though it is not
known for sure if the tale is actually true, something like it is probable.
Open
a can of worms
Meaning: Create a series
of troubles because of one act. (Similar to 'open Pandora's box')
Origin: This phrase
dates to at least the 1950s, when fisher-people would get live bait in actual
cans. Leaving the container open would result in worms escaping and therefore producing
the messy situation of trying to get them back into the can. It is unclear how
the saying came to mean any cause of problems but it was definitely used in
print by 1951.
Open
Pandora’s box
Meaning: Initiate a
series of problems. (Similar to ‘Open a can of worms’)
Origin: In Greek
mythology, Zeus (king of the gods) created the beautiful Pandora (the first
mortal woman) as a wife for the Titan Epimetheus. For their wedding, Zeus
gifted Pandora a jar (later translated as ‘box’) but instructed her to never
open it. (Some wedding present, huh?) Being curious, as humans tend to
be, the bride opened the jar anyway and all the world’s evils (greed, disease,
death, etc.) escaped from it. Zeus knew Pandora would do this and it served as
a punishment for Epimetheus’s brother, Prometheus, who disobeyed the god by
giving the knowledge of fire to humans.
Out
of the blue
Meaning: Unexpectedly.
Origin: The complete
saying is a bolt out of the blue, referring to lightning suddenly coming
from a clear, blue sky. The earliest recorded use of it was in an 1837 history
of the French Revolution by Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle.
Over the hill
Meaning: Elderly.
Origin: Though it is not known why, people in the 1950s often referred to life as a hill, with the acme being a person’s best and most-desirable condition.
Oxymoron
Meaning: A word or phrase
which seems to contradict itself if taken at face value, such as ‘pretty ugly’,
‘jumbo shrimp’, or ‘seriously funny’.
Origin: Greek words
meaning ‘sharply’ or ‘pointedly' foolish, claiming that a
purposeful mistake was made. The word’s first known use was in a 1657 writing
by English author John Smith.
Paint the town red
Meaning: Cause a large amount of mischief.
Origin: A popular and romantic (but possibly untrue) root points to a mischievous Marquis and his friends painting an English town called Melton Mowbray red one night, just for fun, in 1837. The event definitely happened but it is unknown if that was the source of the phrase.
Paparazzi
Meaning: Photographers
who take and sell candid pictures of celebrities, sometimes by intrusive or
illegal methods.
Origin: Paparazzo was the surname of a character in Federico Fellini’s
1960 film La Dolce Vita (The Sweet Life), which is about
photojournalists in Rome. ‘Paparazzi’ is the plural form of that and is related
to an Italian word meaning ‘mosquitoes’.
Note: A singular
member of the Paparazzi is called a Paparazzo, like how one long strand of thin
pasta is called a spaghetto.
Pardon
my French
Meaning: Excuse my foul
language.
Origin: Believed to come
from early-1800s England when people would use unfamiliar French words in
conversations, causing the speaker to apologize to the listener. When this
usage was established, French was often used to insult others, resulting in
ironic pleas for forgiveness.
Note: One theory
speculates that French-into-English began happening as early as 1066, when
William of Normandy conquered England and gave his countrymen positions of authority.
Pass
the buck
Meaning: Putting something
that is your responsibility on another person or group.
Origin: 19th-century
poker players did not trust others, so the dealer changed every hand and a
knife was often used to indicate which person was next. Handles of those knives
were commonly made from deer antlers, also called buckhorns. The word
was shortened to ‘buck’. President Harry Truman utilized the same definition
with his famous phrase, ‘The buck stops here’.
Pass
with flying colors
Meaning: Excel during
some kind of test, academic or otherwise.
Origin: This phrase
comes from the 1500s, when the national flags of country’s ships were referred
to as their ‘colors’. A ship going by while its flags were not obscured in any
way was said to be ‘passing with flying colors’. This also became a saying for
victory because hoisted flags on ships returning from battle indicated they had
won.
Peanut
gallery
Meaning: People who unhelpfully
comment on a situation that does not involve them.
Origin: In the days of
Vaudeville shows (1870s – 1930s), the cheapest seats in theaters were often
occupied by rowdy people who would throw peanuts and other items at performers
they did not like. The phrase may have racist roots, as black patrons were
commonly sent to the cheapest seats regardless of status, but this is in doubt
since all kinds of people sat high-up in the “peanut gallery”.
Pen
pals
Meaning: People who are
typically far apart geographically and correspond regularly through writing
letters.
Origin: Formerly known as
‘pen friends’, the practice goes back millennia but the current term became
popular in the 1930s when the Student Letter Exchange was formed to connect
students from various countries, using pens, of course. The word ‘pal’ likely
comes from a Roma word meaning ‘brother’ or ‘comrade’.
Note: The Roma people
originated in northern India and migrated to Europe. Their tribe has nothing to
do with Rome or Romania.
Pet
peeve
Meaning: Something largely
insignificant that a person finds particularly annoying, such as gum on a
sidewalk or a guy who brings his guitar to a non-musical party.
Origin: ‘Peeve’ comes from
the Middle English word ‘peevish’, which meant ‘easily irritated’. The ‘pet’
part of the phrase has to do with an old use of the word meaning that something
was important to a person. Though ‘pet’ has come to mean a domesticated animal or
the act of brushing one’s hand along its fur, the older definition is still
relevant in phrases like ‘pet project’.
Peter
out
Meaning: For something to
gradually lose strength or power until it ends.
Origin: This phrase can
be traced back to mid-1800s American miners. There are several uses of it but the
actual origin is unclear. It could be a Biblical reference, associated with
saltpeter (an ingredient in gunpowder), and/or the French word péter
which is often used to mean fizzle.
Piece
of cake
Meaning: A simple task; sometimes
a response to being thanked.
Origin: The term ‘cakewalk’
pre-dates ‘piece of cake’ but both meant the same thing. The idioms are
American and might date back to a time when cakes were common prizes in dance
contests.
Pig
in a blanket
Meaning: A small sausage
wrapped in a pastry, commonly served as an appetizer and at cocktail parties.
Origin: There is a
debate as to when and where these treats came from, though some credit the 1800s
United States, when the phrase referred to pickled oysters. Seafood aside, the
name itself is fairly self-explanatory: Sausage is commonly made of meat from
pigs while the ‘blanket’ covering keeps it warm.
Note: At Christmas-time
in the United Kingdom, small sausages are wrapped with bacon and are referred
to as “pigs in blankets”. As this article discusses, the food varies around
the world.
Pigeon-holed
Meaning: Put into a category for only being good at one thing, such as an actor who plays a similar role in multiple films.
Origin: In the 1500s, domesticated pigeons roosted in compartments that were designated for them. Shortly after, the term referred to any part of a piece of furniture with a small hole. By the 1800s, anything put into a specific category was described being ‘pigeon-holed’.
Pin-point
accuracy
Meaning: Exact precision.
Origin: This phrase began
as military aviation slang, specifically to describe how well bombs hit their
targets.
Pipe
dream
Meaning: An unrealistic hope.
Origin: English people,
especially writers, were known to smoke opium in the 17th and 18th
centuries. Opium’s ‘high’ is said to be euphoric, leading many users to dream while
on the drug. Curiously, the phrase’s first public use was in an 1890 article in a
Chicago newspaper, describing aerial navigation as nothing but a ‘pipe-dream’.
Play
it by ear
Meaning: Proceed without
a set plan.
Origin: When a musician
plays a piece by ear, it is done without looking at sheet music. The performer
listens to what is being played to ensure it is good.
Pony
up
Meaning: Pay money that
is owed.
Origin: The Hebrew Bible’s
longest Psalm, number 119, contains the phrase ‘legem pone’ and discusses a day
in which debts are paid. It is not known for sure if this is the actual source
of ‘pony up’ but it is the theory that makes the most sense.
Prodigal son
Meaning: A person who acts recklessly and returns home.
Origin: Though sometimes (mistakenly) used favorably, ‘prodigal’ means ‘wasteful’. In the Bible’s book of Luke, Jesus tells a story about a man irresponsibly spending all his money and shamefully going back to his parents, who forgive and accept their son even though he expects them not to. The story is a metaphor for how God will always love and forgive, no matter what a person does.
Pulling out all the stops
Meaning: Trying anything.
Origin: On a pipe organ, pushing in a knob (or ‘stop’) mutes that particular note. When it is pulled out, the music can be as loud as the player wishes. Pulling out all the stops creates a magnificent (if ear-piercing) sound.
Pushing
the envelope
Meaning: Testing
conventional boundaries and/or taking risks, relating from morals to legal
issues.
Origin: Nothing to do
with postal stationery, ‘envelope’ is also an aviation term meaning ‘the limit of
what has been tested’, namely speed and altitude. It supposedly originated in
the 1940s and was popularized by Tom Wolfe in his 1979 book The Right Stuff.
Put
a sock in it
Meaning: Stop talking.
Origin: Unknown but one
hypothesis points to actually putting a sock into a phonograph to deaden the
sound of the music. The phrase was probably coined in the early 1900s.
Put
your money where your mouth is
Meaning: Follow your
statement with action to achieve it.
Origin: Though the
phrase’s coiner is unknown, it stems from a 1913 political article and gained
popularity during the 1930s or ‘40s, used mostly when discussing gambling at a
race-track. People would try to convince others to bet on certain horses but
were challenged to place the same wager themselves.
Note: This is similar
to “put up or shut up”.
Pyrrhic
victory
Meaning: Winning
something at a substantial cost, making it almost like a defeat. (D-Day during
World War Two is a good example.)
Origin: In Ancient
Greece, King Pyrrhus led a series of wars against Rome. Greece won the first
two but lost so many great soldiers to the Roman army (which suffered heavy
losses but was much bigger) that the historian Plutarch said, “If we are
victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined.”
Quantum
leap
Meaning: Sudden,
significant advance or increase.
Origin: The word ‘quantum’
means ‘having an amount’ and comes from the same root as ‘quantity’. The term
entered the scientific lexicon in the late 1800s but got popularized by the Quantum
Theory (later called Quantum Mechanics), which described very small particles,
like atoms. A ‘quantum jump’, as it was then known, refers to an electron
changing its energy level. ‘Jump’ was replaced with ‘leap’ a few years later and
still has the same meaning but now is used to discuss any kind of situation,
whether related to Physics or not.
Quitting
cold turkey
Meaning: Abruptly
stopping something instead of gradually getting rid of it, such as a smoker
giving up the habit without a reduction of cigarettes or using patches.
Origin: Before it was
primarily used to describe ending addictions, ‘cold turkey’ referred to
something that happened right away, such as losing a bunch of money at once. Why
that specific bird was brought to the conversation is unknown but its first use
related to drug withdrawal was in a 1921 Canadian newspaper article.
Rap
sheet
Meaning: Criminal record.
Origin: Some say the
sound of a judge’s gavel is a ‘rap’ and not proving one’s innocence before it
is struck means the rap was not beaten. Others claim that RAP is an acronym for
Record of Arrests and Prosecutions. The true meaning is not known for sure.
Rat
fink
Meaning: An unpleasant,
sometimes treasonous, person.
Origin: In the 1960s, Ed
Roth’s character Rat Fink became popular for being a counter-culture response
to Mickey Mouse. The term quickly entered the slang of the time. The word
‘fink’ likely came from ‘finch’, a bird with quirky and unconventional
behavior.
Rat
race
Meaning: A busy, often
competitive and unfulfilling way of life, commonly focused on money and power.
Origin: Initially ‘rat
run’, this phrase was used for laboratory rats who ran against each other in
mazes, often with great exhaustion and little reward. In the 1940s, the saying
was adopted by the aviation industry to describe training involving ‘follow the
leader’ exercises.
Red
flag
Meaning: Regarding
relationships, something that warns you a potential partner may be a bad match.
Origin: Since at least
the 1700s, red flags have been raised during battle to show the other side that
the fighting is not yet over, because of bravery and/or stubborn-ness. A red flag
has also been used in various arenas (such as auto racing) as a warning that
something negative has happened.
Red
herring
Meaning: A clue
specifically intended to mislead or distract, common in detective/crime stories
and in real life. An example would be someone telling you about being so busy
that responding to your text message was not an option. The irrelevant excuses
form a red herring to distract you from the truth- that the person is
inconsiderate.
Origin: An article in a 1686 men’s magazine described the benefits of using
an actual red herring to distract hound-dogs to prolong fox hunts.
Note: A red
herring is not an actual fish. Silver ones turn a reddish color when smoked.
Ride
shotgun
Meaning: Sit in the seat
next to the driver of a vehicle.
Origin: In the 1800s-
before motorized vehicles- there were stagecoaches. Often, the drivers of these
would get attacked and robbed. A new job was created for protection, which
involved sitting next to them with a shotgun during their journeys. Western
films of the mid-1900s brought the phrase into popular use.
Robber
baron
Meaning: A derogatory
term mostly used in the 1800s for a person who became wealthy due to unethical
business practices, namely a focus on earning money while ignoring workers’
needs.
Origin: In medieval
Europe, upper-class people (such as barons) would rob ships along rivers and/or
charge travelers unwarranted tolls to amass even more fortune. The phrase was
first used in the United States in 1859 to describe Cornelius Vanderbilt.
Roll
with the punches
Meaning: Accept and deal
with hardship.
Origin: In the boxing
world, ‘rolling with the punches’ means that an athlete will get into position
to lessen the impact of any hits received.
Meaning: Do important but minor tasks, such as going to a market or hardware store.
Origin: The word ‘errands’ comes from an Old English term meaning ‘missions’. They are said to be run because the distance(s) to the destination(s) is commonly short.
S.O.S.
Meaning: A request for
help, especially by ships at sea.
Origin: These letters do
not stand for anything. Using Morse code, three dots followed by three dashes
then three dots again was decided upon as a distinctive yet easy-to-convey
method for symbolizing distress. These patterns happen to spell the letters S,
O, and S. It was first used in 1909 off the coast of North Carolina.
Meaning: A positive quality that prevents a person or thing from being completely awful.
Origin: Initially religious, this phrase meant that God had saved someone from eternal damnation. This definition remains but, over time, the non-religious connotation has developed.
Scapegoat
Meaning: A person unfairly
blamed for something by others who wish to avoid responsibility.
Origin: This combination
of the archaic word ‘scape’ (meaning ‘escape’) and an actual goat came about in
a 1530 translation of the Bible. In Leviticus, a Yom Kippur atonement ritual is
described that involved two goats- one sacrificed while the other was set
free, though symbolically burdened with the sins of humanity.
School of hard knocks
Meaning: Learning done by life experience as opposed to formal education.
Origin: The likely first use of this phrase was in an 1870 book about advertising by George Rowell, though it is not known why the author used those exact words.
Note: In the UK, Australia, and New Zealand, a popular phrase meaning the same thing is ‘University of Life’.
Scorched
Earth policy
Meaning: Military
strategy of destroying an enemy’s assets, such as weapons, vehicles, and crops.
The term may also be used in law, politics, and various other fields.
Origin: Its first
English reference was in 1937 about a war between China and Japan, but the
tactic itself has been employed for at least a thousand years. I could not find the
exact root of the phrase but ‘scorch’ means to severely burn the surface of
something.
Selling
like hotcakes
Meaning: A popular item
that is bought quickly and in large quantities.
Origin: In the 1800s, pancakes were often cooked in bear grease or pig lard and served very hot. Their
popularity at public functions eventually brought the phrase to life.
Served
on a silver platter
Meaning: Attained with
little effort.
Origin: Implies how
wealthy people get things. It is not known how the phrase got its current usage
but may relate to the Biblical story of Herodias asking King Herod for John the
Baptist’s head to be brought to her on a platter.
Shindig
Meaning: A party or
celebration, especially a large and/or lively one.
Origin: Unknown for sure
but probably from late-1800s Scotland, when ‘shinty’ or ‘shindy’, was the name
of a spirited game similar to hockey. Alternatively, it could have come from an
1850s American dance known as the ‘shin-scraper’.
Shotgun
wedding
Meaning: A wedding that
is arranged quickly, often because the bride is pregnant.
Origin: This phrase
comes from the 1800s but the idea was likely in place much earlier. Stereotypically,
the father of a pregnant single woman would “coerce” the lover into marrying
her via threat from a shotgun.
Shut your pie hole
Meaning: Stop speaking immediately.
Origin: ‘Pie hole’ refers to someone’s mouth. First called a ‘cake hole’, this term was used in the United Kingdom’s air force beginning in 1943, if not earlier. ‘Shut your pie hole’ was introduced to America in the 1980s, possibly by Stephen King in his 1983 novel Christine, though it is unclear if he invented the phrase.
Sideburns
Meaning: Facial hair
extending from the ears down the cheeks but stopping before the chin.
Origin: Ambrose
Burnside, Civil War general and governor of Rhode Island, popularized the look.
Initially called ‘burnsides’, it is not known how the words got reversed to
make ‘sideburns’.
Note: The fashion was
in-style long before Burnside’s time. It has been suggested that Alexander the
Great sported the look in the 300s BCE.
Sit
tight
Meaning: Patiently remain
in one place.
Origin: Unknown but one
hypothesis points to the game of Poker, in which players would sit perfectly
still to not give away their hands. It may alternately/additionally have to do
with the older phrase ‘sit close’, which referred to people sitting with their
body parts as closely together as possible.
Sleep
tight
Meaning: Have an
excellent slumber.
Origin: Introduced in
the mid-1800s, this phrase uses the word ‘tight’ to mean ‘well’, as was popular
at the time. The hypothesis that it has to do with pulling sheets or ropes (used
before box springs) is likely incorrect. Regardless, the saying gained
popularity when The Beatles used it in their 1968 song Good Night.
Snake
oil salesman
Meaning: A person who scams
others by selling false or worthless products, such as medicinal “cures” that
actually do nothing and are not based on scientific research.
Origin: In 1800s America, Chinese people immigrated to get work on the
Trans-continental Railroad. Many brought oil made from the Chinese water snake,
which had been used for centuries to cure inflammation. Americans quickly began
to make their own oil, instead using rattlesnakes, which were far less
effective due to having less Omega-3 fatty acids, which produce cells and provide energy to keep bodies healthy. The first major advertisement
was from a man named Clark Stanley, whose oil was found to contain nothing from
any kind of snake. The phrase then became a popular insult in a 1927 poem by
Stephen Benet and in Eugene O’Neill’s 1956 play The Iceman Cometh.
Snug as a bug in a rug
Meaning: Very warm and comfortable.
Origin: A cricket was likely the first ‘bug’ referred to in this phrase, since they tend to hide in places near heat sources. The saying first appeared in a 1769 work by English theater producer David Garrick and was popularized a few years later by Benjamin Franklin.
Soap
opera
Meaning: A television or
radio series often known for overly dramatic, cheesy acting and story-lines.
Origin: For whatever
reason, soap companies mainly sponsored early versions of these. The ‘opera’
part has to do with similarities to staged operatic performances, which commonly
featured larger-than-life acting and realistic but tacky story-lines.
Social
butterfly
Meaning: A person who is friendly,
charming, and outgoing in social situations. It can also describe someone who
is usually busy with various gatherings.
Origin: One translation
of the Latin word ‘socius’ is ‘friend’. Butterflies tend to flit among many
flowers, possibly giving the impression that they all like the creature. The first
use of the phrase seems to be in an 1837 issue of the scholarly periodical
American Quarterly Review, referencing a poem by Alexander Pope a hundred years
earlier.
Note: Here are a few
theories as to why butterflies are called such: 1) Common ones are colored like
raw cream. 2) People in the Middle Ages believed witches turned into the
insects and stole butter. 3) Dutch scientists were studying the then-unnamed
creatures and noticed their poop resembled butter. The first one is probably
accurate but the others are way more fun.
Son of a gun
Meaning: A term used in several ways- to negatively refer to a person (he is one ugly son of a gun), to sarcastically talk about someone you like (that son of a gun did an awesome thing), an expression of surprise (well I’ll be a son of a gun). The phrase is also uttered when someone does not wish to say ‘son of a bitch’.
Origin: Not known for sure but here is the most popular idea: Women used to be allowed on British Navy ships, not as sailors but as “comfort” to the soldiers, who were often referred to as ‘guns’. When a child’s father was uncertain, it was officially logged as a ‘son of a gun’.
Soup
to nuts
Meaning: Fully detailed.
Example- The speech provided an explanation of Astrophysics from soup to nuts.
Origin: In the 1800s, high-class
dinners were served in numerous courses, often beginning with soup and ending with
nuts accompanied by dessert wine. An ancient Latin phrase translating to ‘eggs
to apples’ is much older but means the same thing.
Sour
grapes
Meaning: Belittling
something after failing to achieve it to make oneself feel better. Example- Claiming
you did not want a job anyway after bombing an interview.
Origin: Greek writer
Aesop wrote a fable called The Fox & The Grapes in which the title fox
could not reach certain grapes on a vine so he deemed them sour and unripe.
South-paw
Meaning: Left-handed
person.
Origin: Not known for
sure but a popular hypothesis suggests it referred to baseball’s left-handed
pitchers, who faced south when on the mound, although not all stadia (stadiums)
were oriented the same way. Others claim the term came from Philadelphia, where
it was used to describe a boxing match and (separately) in an 1848 political
cartoon.
Sow
your wild oats
Meaning: Engage in
irresponsible behavior at a young age, particularly involving casual sex and/or
drugs.
Origin: This phrase is
over 2,000 years old and, unsurprisingly, had to do with agriculture. Wild oats
are often invasive plants that can have negative effects when allowed to
spread. Over time, “sowing” (planting) them was adapted to mean any useless and
potentially-hazardous activity, usually done by a naïve person.
Spaghetti
western
Meaning: A film shot in
Italy depicting the Old West of America.
Origin: In the 1960s, it
was more financially appealing for film studios to shoot ‘westerns’ in Italy than
in the U.S. The genre was pioneered by Sergio Leone, director of The Man With
No Name trilogy, which includes The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. The use
of ‘spaghetti’ was initially derogatory but Leone (and others) made such good
films the phrase has become positive.
Speak
of the Devil
Meaning: Expression used
when a person being discussed suddenly appears.
Origin: This phrase is
thought to have been born in England of the Middle Ages and was used as an omen,
warning people about the dangers of uttering Satan’s name. By the 1900s, it
became a playful way of referring to anybody who may have been listening to a
conversation about themself.
Note: The full idiom
is ‘Speak of the Devil and he shall appear’.
Speed demon
Meaning: A person who moves fast and recklessly.
Origin: Unknown but an interesting story is that Michael Jackson wrote his song Speed Demon after being issued a speeding ticket on his way to the recording studio.
Spelling
bee
Meaning: A competition in
which contestants figure out how to spell words.
Origin: ‘Bee’
has nothing to do with the insect but is derived from an Old English word
meaning ‘prayer’ or ‘favor’. It was used to describe a community getting together
to work on a single project. The official origin is uncertain but it is widely
accepted that the term was introduced in 1875 America, though other ‘bees’
(such as quilting and spinning) go back to at least 1769.
Spitting
image
Meaning: A person or
thing with a striking resemblance to another, such as a child looking very much
like a parent.
Origin: This expression’s
mysterious etymology likely comes from discussing people and figuratively
suggesting the saliva from one directly created the other. Its first use may
have been in a 1698 play called Love And A Bottle, describing a character as the
‘spit out of his [father’s] mouth’. Similarly, the phrase ‘spittin’ image of
him’ has been found in a 1901 novel called Mrs. Wiggs Of The Cabbage Patch
and is likely the first documented use of the today's familiar idiom.
Start
from scratch (also ‘Cook from scratch’, ‘Make from scratch’)
Meaning: Begin something
completely anew.
Origin: ‘Scratch’ was
first used as a sporting term- probably from Cricket- to describe the act of
scratching lines into the playing ground. The word was printed in an 1883
Cricket manual, though it may have been quoting an earlier work. ‘Starting’
from scratch meant certain race runners would begin at the starting line
instead of ahead of it because of a handicap. Today, it is used mostly in the
cooking world to describe preparing food using real ingredients instead of
packaged ones.
Stockholm
syndrome
Meaning: The condition of
a victim having positive feelings toward their abuser or captor.
Origin: A failed bank
robbery in 1973 Stockholm, Sweden, resulted in four employees being held
hostage for six days. At the end of the ordeal, the captives defended the robbers
and even refused to testify against them. Strong internal relationships were
suggested but some (including hostages) claim they sided with the assailants simply
because the police mismanaged the situation.
Stomping
ground
Meaning: A place where
someone usually likes to spend time.
Origin: Introduced in early-1800s
England as ‘stamping ground’, the phrase described a place where animals
depressed the ground for sleeping. Americans changed it to ‘stomping ground’
around 1850. Both versions are acceptable.
Stool
pigeon
Meaning: Police
informant.
Origin: Decoy birds,
which commonly look like pigeons, are often used in hunting. The phrase is
thought to be derived from this, however no tangible proof of that exists,
though it may stem from the French word ‘estale’ or the practice of tying
decoys to tree stumps, also called ‘stoales’. The printed expression first appeared
in the 1800s and described criminals. Another hypothesis suggests it stems from
police being informed by people in bars, who often sat on stools while listening
to local gossip.
Stop
and smell the roses
Meaning: Take time to
appreciate the small things instead of rushing or working too much.
Origin: Professional
golfer Walter Hagen wrote in his autobiography to not hurry and smell the
flowers along the way. The idea was re-addressed as ‘Stop and smell the roses’, and then
made into a popular song of that name by country music artist Mac Davis.
Straight
and narrow
Meaning: Moral and
honest.
Origin: In Matthew 7:13
of the King James Bible, ‘strait is the gate and narrow is the way’ toward a
good life and the kingdom of Heaven. The ‘gate’ refers to a small one that must
be walked through while avoiding the wider gate, which leads to destruction.
Sugar-coat
Meaning: Make something seem more pleasant than it truly is.
Origin: Circa the 1870s, common practice was to coat unpleasant-tasting medicine with sugar.
Sugar
daddy/momma
Meaning: A person who
dates someone younger and provides them with money and/or gifts.
Origin: This probably
came from the word ‘sugar’ being a slang word for ‘money’. Since the exact root
is unknown, an entertaining- if inaccurate- story tells of a man named Adolph
Spreckels, the heir to a sugar fortune, who married a woman 23 years younger
than him in 1908. She allegedly referred to him as Sugar Daddy.
Sweating
bullets
Meaning: Very nervous.
Origin: This is
surprisingly murky. One theory suggests a metal-altering process called ‘sweating',
which can be used to make bullets. Another idea recalls the 1800s practice of
dropping molten lead from towers to make bullets. The person climbing the tower
would have been perspiring a lot upon reaching the top.
Take
a rain check
Meaning: Decline
something at the moment but offer to do it at another time.
Origin: In the late-1800s,
a “rain check” was a voucher given to attendees of baseball games that were
post-poned because of bad weather. Other sporting events and common stores adopted
the system, calling their tickets or coupons by the same name.
Talk
turkey
Meaning: Speak in a direct
and honest manner.
Origin: Unknown but likely
early-1800s America. The phrase first meant to speak in a pleasant way, perhaps
over a neo-traditional Thanksgiving dinner. One popular suggestion is that
Native Americans would ask Pilgrims if they wanted to ‘talk turkey’ before trading
goods (including turkeys), hoping each side would be treated fairly.
That’s
the way the cookie crumbles
Meaning: What happened
must be accepted, even if it is not fair.
Origin: Unknown but a
surprising amount of research has been put into figuring out why cookies
crumble. Check out one such story here. The
phrase has been in use since at least the 1950s, though the first newspaper
article to mention it did so as if it was already an established saying.
The
bee’s knees
Meaning: An exceptional
person or thing.
Origin: In the 1800s,
this phrase (and others such as the cat’s pajamas, the snake’s hips,
and the monkey’s eyebrows) referred to something insignificant or even
non-existent. In 1920s America, these sayings were reattributed by that era’s
hipsters as terms of excellence. The phrases themselves have no specific definitions.
Note: Bees indeed have knees between their (six) femurs and tibiae.
The
elephant in the room
Meaning: An obvious topic
that must be discussed but is being avoided because it would be uncomfortable to
talk about.
Origin: Not known for
sure but one theory credits Russian writer Ivan Krylov, who published a story
in 1814 about a man who goes to a museum and comically notices all the animals
on display except for the elephant. Another possibility cites the 1935 musical
Jumbo, when a police officer asks why the main character is walking with an
elephant only to receive the reply, “What elephant?” Regardless of where the
phrase came from, its current meaning was solidified by the title of a 1984
book for helping children of alcoholics.
The
jury is still out
Meaning: The issue has
not been decided yet.
Origin: Though long-used
in actual court cases, this phrase likely started its non-legal usage around
1949, when an Indiana newspaper wrote it in a head-line to express uncertainty if
a White Sox rookie named Orestes Miñoso would be a good player or not.
The
press
Meaning: News media,
encompassing print and televised journalism.
Origin: The ‘press’ in
questions indicates the printing press, which was invented by Johannes
Gutenberg in the 1400s.
Note: The press is
sometimes referred to as the Fourth Estate, a term coined by Scottish writer
Thomas Carlyle in the 1800s. Within this, the first three estates refer to the
branches of democratic government- executive, legislative, and judicial. Since
journalists cover all of these, they are unofficially labeled as the fourth.
The
straw that broke the camel’s back
Meaning: The last thing
in a series of negative events that causes an extreme, unpleasant reaction.
Origin: This phrase
comes from an old Arabic proverb for when camels were loaded with so much straw
that they would collapse, though it may have initially described a horse.
The
tables have turned
Meaning: The roles are
reversed from how they began.
Origin: Board games such
as Backgammon and Chess are sometimes referred to as ‘tables’. In the 1600s, a
tradition of the players switching positions became popular to give those who
have fallen behind a chance to win.
The
world is your oyster
Meaning: Your situation
permits the chance to explore anything life has to offer.
Origin: William
Shakespeare first used the phrase in The Merry Wives Of Windsor, referring to the
way pearls can be found inside oyster shells.
Think
outside the box
Meaning: Use an
unconventional method to come up with an idea.
Origin: The 1914 ‘Nine
Dots Puzzle’ challenged people to connect nine dots in a square with only four
strokes of a pen. Try the puzzle on this page that has the solution at the
bottom. You will definitely have to ‘think outside the box’ of the square. As
for the phrase, several people claim to have brought it into use in the 1960s
via that very puzzle.
Third time’s a charm
Meaning: The tertiary attempt will undoubtedly succeed.
Origin: Though the root of this phrase likely stems from the common folk belief that three is a lucky number, a popular alternate hypothesis points to English law, which stated three failed hanging tries would entitle a guilty person to freedom. Convicted murderer John Lee benefitted from this rule in 1885.
Three
sheets to the wind
Meaning: Very drunk.
Origin: A ‘sheet’ is a
line on a ship that secures a sail to a mast. If one sheet gets loose, the ship
begins to swerve and lose momentum. If there are three masts and all three
sheets come loose, the ship is completely out of control. A person could be so
drunk that it would take more than three sheets to describe them. And that
would be a very big ship.
Throw
someone under the bus
Meaning: Make another
person suffer for your own gain, especially when blaming that person for
something to an authority figure.
Origin: The root of this
phrase is unknown but its first uses were in 1980s British politics. Other
theories involving baseball and singer Cyndi Lauper are more interesting but
very likely incorrect.
Tie
the knot
Meaning: Get married.
Origin: Though many
cultures practice this procedure (also called handfasting), the medieval
Pagan Celts of Scotland are credited with first using it. During a marriage
ceremony, cloth actually tied the couple’s wrists together, representing their union.
This tradition commonly, but not always, occurs in outdoor ceremonies which are
surrounded by Nature. Some customs tie one knot for each vow, resulting in a
keepsake for the couple.
Tomfoolery
Meaning: Silly, mischievous behavior.
Origin: During the Middle Ages, the name Tom Fool (often spelled Thome Fole) was used to describe a man of low intelligence. Some sources alternatively point to a castle’s jester named Thomas Skelton and his post-mortem hauntings of the place as the term’s root.
Tongue-in-cheek
Meaning: An insincere way
of speaking.
Origin: Saying something
this way would not be doing so with “a straight face”. The tactic may have been
first used to prevent the speaker from laughing. The phrase itself was coined
by Scottish author Sir Walter Scott or religious leader and writer Richard
Barham.
Trick
or treat?
Meaning: A question asked
by children who go door-to-door on Halloween looking for candy.
Origin: The ancient
Celts of western Europe celebrated Samhain (pronounced SAH-wann), when they
believed the dead returned to Earth. Some people dressed in costumes so unwelcomed
visitors would not recognize them. By the year 1,000, a common practice on this
day was for poor people to go to houses of wealthy families and ask for goods
in exchange for prayer. (This was called ‘souling’.) Children took up the
custom, often singing a song or performing another “trick” to get a “treat”. Descendants
of these people brought the tradition to America in the 1800s, though the “trick”
of an entertaining act was somehow replaced by threats, mischief, or worse. Today,
dangerous tricks are largely unheard of, the treats are mostly small bits of
packaged candy, and most kids have no idea they are actually expected to do
something to earn the treat.
Two-bit
hack
Meaning: A person with a
low level of skill.
Origin: In 1600s and
1700s England, the word ‘bit’ was used for any small amount of money. When the
term arrived in what would become the United States, it was used derogatorily for
Spanish coins, which were valued at 12 ½ cents. Two bits equaled a quarter,
which was not a respected amount of money.
Two
shakes of a lamb’s tail
Meaning: Very quickly.
Origin: One shake of a
lamb’s tail literally takes about ten nanoseconds, which was an
important duration of time to people who planned and built the first nuclear bombs,
thus making shake an actual unit of measurement. The phrase has been around for a long time but the first published appearance was in an 1840
book by Englishman Richard Barham, though its original meaning has likely been
lost to time.
Umpteen
Meaning: An imaginary
number used to express an unknown but large amount.
Origin: The obscure English
word ‘umpty’ comes from Morse code slang in the days of telegraphs. It meant an
uncertain number and went in line with ‘twenty’, ‘thirty’, etc. Why ‘teen’ was
added is unclear but it probably had to do with emphasizing the term.
Under the weather
Meaning: Sick and/or sad.
Origin: This expression likely has roots in sailing, when someone aboard a ship had sea-sickness and was sent below the main deck to recover, thus becoming under the weather.
Until the cows come home
Meaning: For a really long time, if ever.
Origin: It is not known how this phrase came about but it is popularly thought to have begun in 1500s Scotland, when cows would be let out to graze then return to their pens whenever they felt like doing so.
Vanish into thin air
Meaning Disappear without a trace.
Origin: William Shakespeare is credited with coining the phrase, though he did not use the exact wording. A line from Othello is ‘vanish into air’ while one from The Tempest says ‘into thin air’. A Scottish journalist is believed to have combined the two in an article regarding the feud between Russia and Turkey.
Vice
versa (never ‘vice-a versa’)
Meaning: The reverse of
something that was recently stated. Example: Fish cannot ride bicycles and vice
versa, meaning bicycles cannot ride fish.
Origin: This phrase’s Latin
words are translated to ‘order’ and ‘change’ or ‘turn’. The first recorded incorporation
of it into the English language was in a 1601 writing by English poet Anthony
Copley.
Walking
on egg-shells
Meaning: Proceeding
carefully in order to not add unrest to an already-upsetting situation.
Origin: It is thought
this phrase began in the 1800s, when people gathered eggs from hen houses and
would take care to not step on broken shells, which would unsettle the animals.
Watershed
moment
Meaning: A memorable point
that marks significant change in a situation.
Origin: ‘Watershed’ is a
geographical term describing an area where water from various sources combines
into one body, such as a lake. It is unclear how the term got its current use
but it probably happened in the late 1800s.
Whatever floats your boat
Meaning: Something that makes you happy, even if it is unconventional.
Origin: Not known for sure but sources vary in suggesting an actual old-time boating phrase to a ‘boat’ being slang for a woman’s clitoris.
Origin: Telephone-inventor Alexander Graham Bell is often credited with coining this phrase but he was probably quoting a 1500s Spanish writing called La Celestina. It was later used in the 1600s English translation of Don Quixote.
Meaning: Never.
Origin: The actual age of this phrase is uncertain but it at least traces back to 1600s Scotland, where it was a popular saying meaning the same thing as now.
Whistleblower
Meaning: A person within
an organization who publicly exposes a negative aspect of it.
Origin: During the
1800s, police officers would blow whistles to attract attention to criminals. This
practice eventually spread into the world of sports (referees) and ultimately
to its modern usage. The term was popularized in the 1960s by journalists covering
the My Lai massacre in Vietnam, when three soldiers spoke against the killings
of over 500 unarmed civilians by American troops.
Wiggle room
Meaning: Something that is not definitively set and can still be negotiated is said to have ‘wiggle room’.
Origin: The root of this phrase is thought to lay in the shoe business, specifically saying the idea that giving toes ‘wiggle room’ was a good thing. The path to its current use is not known.
SOURCES: Google, The Phrase Finder, Mental Floss, Etymonline, idiomorigins.org, Grammarist, Wikipedia.org, wordhistories.net, spellingbee.com, Reader’s Digest, Take Our Word For It, The Conversation, Collins Dictionary, Inverse.com, HistoryNewsNetwork.org, VeryWellMind.com, Grammarphobia.com, Urban Dictionary, Say Why Do I, Greek Boston, GreekMythology.com, Insider.com, Snopes.com, Almanac.com, US Dairy, WritingExplained.com, Bored Panda, The Hindu, U.S. Department Of Defense, Social Security Administration, MirandaRights.org, USCourts.gov, Calemon Law
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