Well… I have…
I recently heard the words “raining cats and dogs” fall out of a friends mouth and it got me wondering, what the heck do cats and dogs have to do with heavy rain? No for reals though… It sounds ridiculous if you think about it. So I did what any sane person living in this day and age would do… I asked Google.
Though I found way too many explanations the most common was cats, dogs and other small creatures would hide in the thatch roof of a house during heavy rains and would often fall through the roof as they were often poorly made. No clue how true this is but I found it rather interesting and it put my brain at ease… For about 10 seconds!
Then I began making a list in my head… A list of every saying I have used with no clue where it originated. So as I’m sure you have gathered by now… I took my list and did some research.
I am not guaranteeing everything in this post is accurate but I cross referenced everything and these seem to be the most common explanations of phrases we use on a daily basis.
Bite the Bullet
Meaning: Accepting something difficult or unpleasant
Origin: There was no time to administer anesthesia before emergency surgery during battle. (Well shit.) The surgeon made patients bite down on a bullet in an attempt to distract them from the pain. (Broken teeth with your painful surgery anyone?)
Break the Ice
Meaning: To commence a project or initiate a friendship
Origin: Before the days of trains or cars, port cities that thrived on trade suffered during the winter because frozen rivers prevented commercial ships from entering the city. Small ships known as “icebreakers” would rescue the icebound ships by breaking the ice (No duh) and creating a path for them to follow. Before any type of business arrangement today, it is now customary to “break the ice” before beginning a project. (To be honest… This just made me want an Icebreaker… Not a ship but the yummy ice-lollies we ate as kids and as adults because we are just really big kids if you think about it.)
Butter Someone Up
Meaning: To flatter someone
Origin: From an ancient Indian custom involved throwing balls of clarified butter at statues of the gods to seek favor.
Cat Got Your Tongue?
Meaning: Something said when a person is at a loss for words
Origin: There are so many “sources” for this common saying but the one that seems to come up the most refers to the practice of cutting out the tongues of liars and blasphemers and feeding them to cats. (That’s messed up!)
Caught Red-Handed
Meaning: To be caught doing something wrong
Origin: This saying originated because of a law. If someone butchered an animal that didn’t belong to him, he had to be caught with the animal’s blood on his hands to be convicted. Being caught with freshly cut meat did not make the person guilty. (How did they know it was the animals blood and the butcher wasn’t just a deranged mass murderer?)
Eat Humble Pie
Meaning: Making an apology and suffering humiliation along with it
Origin: During the Middle Ages, the lord of a manor would hold a feast after hunting. He would receive the finest cut of meat at the feast, but those of a lower standing were served a pie filled with the entrails and innards (YUK!), known as “umbles.” Therefore, receiving “umble pie” was considered humiliating because it informed others in attendance of the guest’s lower status. (So I’m not hungry anymore.)
Go Cold Turkey
Meaning: To quit something abruptly
Origin: People believed that during withdrawal, the skin of drug addicts became translucent, hard to the touch, and covered with goose bumps – like the skin of a plucked turkey.
Go the Whole 9 Yards
Meaning: To try one’s best
Origin: World War II Fighter pilots received a 9-yard chain of ammunition. Therefore, when a pilot used all of his ammunition on one target, he gave it “the whole 9 yards.” (That is one aggro pilot!)
Kick the Bucket
Meaning: To die
Origin: When a cow was killed at a slaughterhouse, a bucket was placed under it while it was positioned on a pulley. Sometimes the animal’s legs would kick during the adjustment of the rope and it would literally kick the bucket before being killed. (Huh… Ok…)
Let Your Hair Down
Meaning: To relax or be at ease
Origin: Parisian nobles risked condemnation from their peers if they appeared in public without an elaborate hairdo. (Fancy as fuck son!) Some of the more intricate styles required hours of work, so of course it was a relaxing for these aristocrats to come home at the end of a long day and let their hair down. (In this day and age it’s probably the same as getting home and taking off your bra…)
No Spring Chicken
Meaning: Someone who is past his prime
Origin: England chicken farmers generally sold chickens in the spring, so the chickens born in the springtime were worth more than the chickens that survived the winter. Sometimes, farmers tried to sell old birds for the price of a new spring chicken. Clever buyers complained that the fowl was “no spring chicken,” and the term came to represent anyone past their prime. (So you make it through the winter alive and clucking only to be told no? RUDE!)
Pleased as Punch
Meaning: To be very happy
Origin: A 17th century puppet show for children called Punch and Judy featured a puppet named Punch who always killed people. (What?!) The act of killing brought him pleasure, so he felt pleased with himself afterwards. (That’s seriously messed up people!)
Rub the Wrong Way
Meaning: To irritate, bother, or annoy someone
Origin: In colonial America, servants were required to wet-rub and dry-rub the oak-board floors each week. Doing it against the grain caused streaks to form, making the wood look awful and irritating the homeowner. (LOL!)
Rule of Thumb
Meaning: A common, ubiquitous benchmark
Origin: Legend has it that 17th century English Judge Sir Francis Buller ruled it was permissible for a husband to beat his wife with a stick, given that the stick was no wider than his thumb. (Whose thumb? The judges thumb or the husbands thumb? Just need to know whose thumb I would need to chop off.)
Run Amok
Meaning: Go crazy (Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah, Oh baby, Ah Ah Ah Ah Ah)
Origin: This comes from the Malaysian word amoq, which describes the behavior of tribesmen who, under the influence of opium (obvs) became wild, rampaging mobs that attacked anybody in their path.
Saved by the Bell
Meaning: Rescued from an unwanted situation
Origin: As scary as it sounds, being buried alive was once a common occurrence. People who feared succumbing to such a fate were buried in special coffins that connected to a bell above ground. At night, guards listened for any bells in case they had to dig up a living person and save them “by the bell.” (That’s it! When I die cremate me!)
Show Your True Colors
Meaning: To reveal one’s true nature
Origin: Warships used to fly multiple flags to confuse their enemies. However, the rules of warfare stated that a ship had to hoist its true flag before firing and hence, display its country’s true colors. (OH PLEASE! Like anyone would actually do that! “I say good Sir you may have sunk our ships and killed all our men but you didn’t hoist the correct flag, shame on you.”)
Sleep Tight (This one I did actually know… Thanks to The Big Bang Theory… But I’ll stick it in here anyway)
Meaning: Sleep well
Origin: During Shakespeare’s time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. In order to make the bed firmer, one had to pull the ropes to tighten the mattress.
Spill the Beans
Meaning: To reveal a secret
Origin: In Ancient Greece, beans were used to vote for candidates entering various organizations. One container for each candidate was set out before the group members, who would place a white bean in the container if they approved of the candidate and a black bean if they did not. Sometimes a clumsy voter would accidentally knock over the jar, revealing all of the beans and allowing everyone to see the otherwise confidential votes. (Yeah… Sure… He was clumsy! This was Greece! The guy knocking the container over was probably smashed out of his mind!)
Waking Up on the Wrong Side of the Bed
Meaning: Waking up in a bad mood
Origin: The left side of the body or anything having to do with the left was often associated considered sinister. To ward off evil, innkeepers made sure the left side of the bed was pushed against a wall, so guests had no other option but to get up on the right side of the bed.
(Totally unrelated to a saying but this is also why left handed people were not allowed to be knights… they were considered impure and sometimes evil. LOL!)
Ok… That’s all for now… I think.
If you didn’t enjoy this post then what the heck is wrong with you?!
I gave you gross pies, chickens, fancy hair and serial killer entertainment for KIDS!!! What more do you want?!
END!
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