What Does That Mean? STU

What Does That Mean?

STU

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. This pattern was first used in 1909 off the coast of North Carolina.

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 in case of a fall. 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.

Saved by the bell
Meaning: Getting out of a situation because of a last-minute interference. Also, an awful but great TV show that ran from 1989-1993, though longer if you count Good Morning, Miss Bliss and The New Class, which apparently had seven seasons.
Origin: This expression was likely born from pugilism (boxing), when a round ends just before a boxer would have lost the bout.

Saving grace
Meaning: A positive quality that prevents a person or thing from being completely awful.
Origin: Initially religious, this phrase meant 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 involves two goats- one being sacrificed while the other was set free, though symbolically burdened with the sins of humanity.

School of hard knocks
Meaning: Learning from 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: The 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 1,000 years. The exact root of the phrase in not known, 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: The phrase’s current usage is unknown, but it 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: 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: The quick arranging of a heterosexual wedding, 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.

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.
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.

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. However, 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.

Soap opera
Meaning: A television or radio series 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 the creature is well-liked. 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 hypotheses 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 the most popular idea holds that 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 one gave birth and the child’s father was uncertain, it was officially logged as a ‘son of a gun’.

Soup to nuts
Meaning: Fully detailed.
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 didn’t want a job after bombing the interview.
Origin: Greek writer Aesop wrote a fable called The Fox & The Grapes, in which the title fox deemed certain grapes sour and unripe simply because he could not reach them.

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.

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 come to be 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 then “conveniently” shown up.
Note: The full idiom is ‘Speak of the Devil and he shall appear’.

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’, describing 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.

Spill the beans
Meaning: Give out secret information.
Origin: One hypothesis points to an ancient Greek system of voting but it is more likely an American expression. The specific use of ‘beans’ is unclear, though other similar phrases (such as ‘spill the soup’) use different foods but mean the same thing.

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’, et cetera…)
Meaning: Begin something completely anew.
Origin: ‘Scratch’ was first used as a sporting term 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 raw 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 pressed on the ground before 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, though it may stem from the French word ‘estale’ or is related to the practice of tying decoys to tree stumps, also called ‘stoales’. Another hypothesis suggests it stems from police being informed by people in bars, who often sat on stools while listening to local gossip. The expression first appeared in the 1800s and described criminals.

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 respoken as ‘Stop and smell the roses’ 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 thought 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 but offer to do it at a later 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.

Take that with a grain of salt
Meaning: Accept the idea but do research before fully believing it.
Origin: First-century Roman writer Pliny The Elder claimed ingesting something with an actual grain of salt would nullify any negative effects, including poison. The modern definition probably came from early-1900s America and is slightly older than the British phrase ‘pinch of salt’.

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 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 isn’t 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 have knees between their (six) femurs and tibiae.

The birds and the bees
Meaning: A euphemism for sexual intercourse, commonly used when talking to children.
Origin: Unknown, but possibly from a poem or writing about Nature that got romanticized along its way to confusing kids.

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 hypothesis 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 (unofficially) referred to as the Fourth Estate, a term coined by Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle in the 1800s, because they cover the branches (or “estates”) of democratic government- executive, legislative, and judicial.

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: An Arabic proverb for when camels were loaded with so much straw 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 table games, or ‘tables’ for short. In the 1600s, a tradition of the players switching positions became popular to give those who have fallen behind a chance to win.

The whole nine yards
Meaning: Everything that is possible or available.
Origin: Highly disputed but here are some hypotheses: 1) An American athlete who broke a world record by jumping 27 feet (nine yards), 2) An article in an Indiana newspaper referring to a baseball team, 3) Combat planes that used all 27 feet of their bullet chains at one time were said to go the full nine yards. Regardless, there is no evidence of the phrase being used before 1907.

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.

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.
Opinion: Killing a cat by any means is always acceptable.

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.) 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 a common folk belief that three is a lucky number, a popular alternate points to an old English law that stated three failed hanging attempts 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 they all 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: Blame another person so one can gain an advantage.
Origin: The root of this phrase is unknown but its first uses were by the 1980s British politicians Elinor Goodman and Julian Critchly, in speeches accusing people of deferring responsibility for the state of the Conservative (a.k.a. Tory) party. Other hypotheses involving minor league 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, couples tied their wrists together to represent the union. This tradition commonly, but not always, occurs in outdoor ceremonies. 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 either 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.
Note: Shave and a haircut, two bits.

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 it an actual unit of measurement. The phrase has likely been around for a long time, but its first published appearance was in an 1840 book by Englishman Richard Barham, though its original meaning has likely been lost.

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 got nauseous 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.