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 the English town of Melton Mowbray red, 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 hypothesis
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’.
Note: 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 would indicate
that 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.
Pen
pals
Meaning: People who are
typically far apart geographically and correspond regularly through writing
letters or e-mails.
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. The word ‘pal’ likely comes from a Roma word
meaning ‘brother’ or ‘comrade’. The Roma people originated in northern India
and migrated to Europe and 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: Something that
gradually loses 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.
Phillip’s head screwdriver
Meaning: Also called a ‘cross-head’
screwdriver, the screw’s design features two crossed slots with a central
balance, making automated production a lot easier.
Origin: Though the tool was invented by John P. Thompson, the patent for
it was held by Henry F. Phillips, who owned the Oregon Copper Company and bought
the rights to the model in 1933. Thompson’s “cruciform” screw was not the first
of its kind, but it revolutionized manufacturing by making assembly lines much
more efficient.
Piece
of cake
Meaning: A simple task.
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 at 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.
Pigeon-holed
Meaning: Labeled as 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
Chicago newspaper article, describing aviation 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’s 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.
Prodigal
son
Meaning: A person who
acts recklessly then 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.
Pulling
someone’s leg
Meaning: Jokingly trying
to convince a person that something untrue is real.
Origin: Apparently, the
source of this expression is one of the biggest mysteries among idiom
enthusiasts. (Yes, those people exist. No, making a list of idioms does not put
one in that group.) It could refer to common thieves or public hangings in
Victorian England, but it might be a more modern American phrase.
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: This phrase was
(probably) coined in the early 1900s and refers to the practice of putting a
sock into a phonograph to deaden the sound of the music.
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.
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, 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 wagers themselves.
Pyrrhic
victory
Meaning: Winning
something at a substantial cost, making it almost like a defeat.
Origin: In Ancient
Greece, King Pyrrhus led a series of wars against Rome. Greece won the first
two but lost so many 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 and 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.
Raining
cats and dogs
Meaning: Precipitating
heavily.
Origin: There are two
major (unconfirmed) hypotheses: 1) that cats and dogs fighting intensifies
everything, or 2) a version of the Greek phrase cata doxa, which
describes something contrary to usual experiences. Regardless, the phrase is
believed to have been born in Wales in the 1600s.
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.
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, so the term 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 but 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 (real or fictional)
crime stories.
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, but 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,
drivers of stagecoaches would often get attacked and robbed, so 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 a
position to lessen the impact of any hits received.
Rule
of thumb
Meaning: The generally
accepted method of doing something, based on experience rather than strict
practice.
Origin: A common story
holds that husbands were once legally allowed to beat their wives with sticks
no thicker than their thumbs. No evidence supports this idea, though there was
an unpopularly harsh judge in 1700s England who people think would have passed
such a law and is often credited as the “source” of the phrase. The origin is
actually unknown, but experts think it has something to do with a crude system
of basic measurement.
Run
errands
Meaning: Do important but
minor tasks.
Origin: The word
‘errands’ comes from an Old English term meaning ‘missions’. They are said to
be run because the distances to the destinations are commonly short.
Run
like the dickens
Meaning: Run as fast as
possible.
Origin: ‘Dickens’ used
to be an alternative word for ‘devil’ used by superstitious people. William
Shakespeare is credited with coining this phrase in The Merry Wives Of Windsor.
Note: It has nothing
to do with author Charles Dickens.
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