Where'd That Come From?
As a writer, I'm fascinated by words; the proper use of them, the correct pronunciation of them, as well as sentence structure, of course. When I hear a word I don't know the meaning of, I run to a dictionary or pull it up on Google. If I don't, the lack of knowing nags at me until I stop what I'm doing and look it up. Another thing that fascinates me are expressions or idioms. We use them everyday, and most of us have little to no idea where they came from.
Oftentimes, there are more explanations than one as to where an expression was born, but here are some that I found pretty interesting. Warning: A few are pretty ghoulish. It just goes to show you how little we know about those wacky, wonderful words we use to express ourselves everyday. Enjoy!
1). Armed to the teeth
Origin: A possible origin is 17th-century pirates who wanted to make sure they never ran out of ammunition held a gun in each hand and a knife in their teeth.
2. Pay the piper
Origin: The phrase comes from the fable of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, who was hired to clear out the rats from the village of Hamelin. He did so by playing a song on his flute that lured them away. But, after the piper wasn’t paid, he lured all of the town’s children away by playing his magical flute, and they were never seen again. Thus, you must pay the piper and keep up your half of the bargain or risk losing that which is important to you.
3. Basket case
Origin: The phrase initially referred to soldiers who lost their limbs, and rumors circulated that limbs of decapitated soldiers arrived in baskets at a hospital. Major General M.W. Ireland was the first to refer to these as “basket cases” in his bulletin to express that they had not seen the said baskets.
4. Bite the bullet
Origin: During a war or in times when doctors did not have anesthesia, they would distract the patient from pain by asking them to bite hard down on a bullet. The first recorded written use of this phrase was in The Light that Failed in 1891.
5. Break the ice
Origin: During the winter, ships that were used for trade or transportation might get stuck in ice that formed on lakes and other bodies of water. The receiving country would then send smaller ships and help the trade ships by breaking the ice for them. This gesture has come to mean an invitation of friendship between the sending and receiving countries.
6. Bury the hatchet
Origin: Long ago, when the Puritans were fighting with the Native Americans, the Native Americans had a tradition of burying their hatchets, clubs, tomahawks, and knives during peace negotiations. The act of burying weapons and making them inaccessible was their sign for peace.
7. Butter him up
Origin: In ancient India, a customary religious act involved devotees throwing balls of butter at the statues of their gods. This was meant to ask for the gods’ forgiveness and favor.
8. Cat got your tongue?
Origin: One of the possible sources for this phrase is the cat-o’-nine-tails, a whip used for flogging in the English Navy. Being whipped caused severe pain rendering the victim mute for an extended time. A second possible origin is ancient Egypt, when people would cut out blasphemers’ and liars’ tongues and feed them to the cats.
9. Caught red-handed
Origin: An old English law stipulated that anyone who butchered another person’s animal would be punished. The accused would be found guilty if the accusers had caught him while he still had the blood of the slain animal on his hands.
10. Fly off the handle
Origin: The phrase comes from the 1800s, when some axes were so poorly made that when swung, the ax heads would fly off the handle.
11. Giving someone the cold shoulder
Origin: Back in medieval times, whenever someone had a guest over, it was considered impolite to ask the guest outright to leave. Instead, when the host gave the guest a piece of meat from the shoulder of pork, beef, or mutton that head grown cold, it signaled that the dinner was over and the guest should leave shortly.
12. Go the whole nine yards
Origin: Fighter pilots during World War II had nine yards’ worth of ammunition. When they gave their all in battle, they would run out of this whole nine yards of ammunition.
13. Kick the bucket
Origin: During the 16th century, butchers would slaughter animals by hanging them on a wooden beam, which was called a “bucket” at that time. When the animals were killed, many of them would have a sudden convulsion, causing them to kick violently into the “bucket.”
14. Let the cat out of the bag
Origin: Around the 1700s, sellers would trick buyers by putting pigs, considered valuable, in bags together with cats, which were not. If a cat got out of the bag, their fraud would be discovered.
15. Let your hair down
Origin: During medieval times, women in the aristocracy were required to appear in public with their hair done up in elegant buns. Once home, they could relax and literately let their hair down.
16. Mad as a hatter
Origin: This phrase goes back to the 17th and 18th centuries. In 17th century France, hat makers used mercury on the hat felt, which resulted in poisoning. The poisoning resulted in irritability, shyness, and tremors, all of which reminded observers of a person going mad; hence, it was called the “Mad Hatter Disease.”
17. Red herring
Origin: During the 17th century, hunters would train their dogs to follow the correct scent. They would do this by placing pungent smoked fish in trees to distract the dogs, so they would become used to ignoring the wrong smell.
18. Riding shotgun
Origin: When driving a coach in the Wild West, whoever sat next to the driver on the front seat often needed to have a shotgun in order to deter anyone who attempted to rob them.
19. Rub someone the wrong way
Origin: During colonial times, some Americans would have their servants rub the floorboards in a specific way. Rubbing the oak slabs the wrong way would result in the formation of streaks, which ruined the floorboards and angered the homeowner.
20. Skeleton in the closet
Origin: Grave robbers used to illegally supply skeletons for medical schools. When a raid occurred, the teachers hid these skeletons in the closet so they wouldn't be confiscated.
21. Straight from the horse’s mouth
Origin: During the 1900s, in order to determine the age of a horse, a buyer would examine its teeth. This would decide if the age that the seller claimed was truthful.
So, now you know!