Number One
19th December 2007, 14:28
above board - honest - a metaphor based on a conjuror preparing a trick with hands above the 'board' (table), rather than below it, where the trickery could be concealed.
take a back seat - have little or only observational involvement in something - not a car metaphor, this was originally a parliamentary expression derived from the relative low influence of persons and issues from the back benches (the bench-seats where members sit in the House of Commons), as opposed to the front benches, where the leaders of the government and opposition sit.
battle of the bulge - diet/lose weight - the original Battle of the Bulge occurred in 1944 when German forces broke through Allied lines into Belgium, forming a 'bulge' in the defending lines.
bird - woman or girlfriend - now unfortunately a rather unflattering term, but it wasn't always so; until recent times 'bird' was always an endearing term for a girl, derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'brid' which meant 'baby animal', in other words a cute little thing. The origin also gave us the word 'bride'
boxing day - the day after Christmas - from the custom in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of servants receiving gratuities from their masters, collected in boxes in Christmas day, sometimes in churches, and distributed the day after
cake walk,piece of cake/takes the cake - easy task/wins (the prize) - from the tradition of giving cakes as prizes in rural competitions. Brewer (1870) tells of the tradition in USA slavery states when slaves or free descendents would walk in a procession in pairs around a cake at a social gathering or party, the most graceful pair being awarded the cake as a prize. This also gave us the expression 'cake walk' and 'a piece of cake' both meaning a job or contest that's very easy to achieve or win, and the variation 'takes the biscuit', meaning to win (often ironically, to be the worst).
catch-22 - an impossible problem in which the solution effectively cancels itself out - although often mis-used to mean any difficult problem, this originally came from Joseph Heller's book of the same title about a reluctant American wartime pilot for whom the only living alternative to continuing in service was to be certified mad; the 'catch-22' was that the act of applying for certification was deemed to be the act of a perfectly sane man
Chinese fire drill - chaotic situation, especially one involving a group's incompetence in carrying out instructions or a plan (more recently the term also describes a student prank where a car-full of students stops at red traffic lights, all occupants leap out, run around the car, return to their seats and drive off as the lights turn green) - Usage of this wonderful expression in either situation now seems confined to USA; although it is supposed to have UK origins, and various sources state it being in use on both sides of the Atlantic after World War 1. The expression 'Chinese fire drill' supposedly derives from a true naval incident in the early 1900's involving a British ship, with Chinese crew: instructions were given by the British officers to practice a fire drill where crew members on the starboard side had to draw up water, run with it to engine room, douse the 'fire', at which other crew members (to prevent flooding) would pump out the spent water, carry it away and throw it over the port side. After initially going to plan, fuelled by frantic enthusiasm as one side tried to keep pace with the other, the drill descended into chaos, ending with all crew members drawing up water from the starboard side, running with it across the ship, entirely by-passing the engine room, and throwing the un-used water straight over the port side. It's certainly an amusing metaphor, if these days an extremely politically incorrect one. It's akin to other images alluding to the confusion and inconsistency that Westerners historically associated with Chinese language and culture, much dating back to the 1st World War. Other expressions exploiting the word 'Chinese' to convey confusing or erratic qualities: Chinese whispers (confused messages), Chinese ace (inept pilot), and Chinese puzzle (a puzzle without a solution); 'Chinese fire drill' is very much part of this genre
close but no cigar - narrowly failing to get something right or win - from early USA slot machines which used to give a cigar as a prize
die hard - fierce or resilient - the die-hards were the British 57th Foot regiment, so called after their Colonel Inglis addressed them before the (victorious) battle of Albuera against Napoleon's French on 16 May in 1811, 'Die hard my lads, die hard'. Only one officer of 24 survived, and only 168 men of 584. The regiment later became the West Middlesex.
dutch courage - bravery boosted by alcohol - from the 17th century story of the sailors aboard the Hollander 'man-o-war' British warship being given a hogshead of brandy before engaging the enemy during the Dutch Wars
egg on your face - to look stupid - from the tradition of poor stage performers having eggs thrown at them.
a man's home is his castle - a person's home is or should be sacrosanct - from old English law when bailiffs were not allowed to force entry into a dwelling to seize goods or make arrest.
there ain't no such thing as a free lunch - you never get something for nothing - now a common business expression, often used in acronym form 'TANSTAAFL', the first recorded use of this version was by Robert Heinlein in his 1966 book 'The moon is a harsh princess'. The general expression 'there's no such thing as a free lunch' dates back to the custom of America 19th century bars giving free snacks in expectation of customers buying drink. American economist Milton Friedman, who won the 1976 Nobel prize for economics, did much to popularise the expression in that form and even used it as a title for one of his books.
the full monty - the full potential of anything, or recently, full frontal nudity (since the film of the same name) - the two much earlier origins are: 1. Field Marshall Montgomery's insistence on a full English breakfast every morning, and 2. a full sunday-best suit and tie outfit from the tailors Montague Burton
gander - to look at something enthusiastically - an old English expression from the image of a goose (gander is a male goose and was earlier the common word for a goose) craning its neck to look at something.
good-bye - originally a contraction of 'God be with ye (you)'; 'God' developed into 'good', in the same style as good day, good evening, etc.; 'good be with ye' would have meant 'may you fare well'.
hard and fast - firmly, especially rules - another nautical term; 'hard' meant that the ship was immovable, 'hard and fast' meant in dry dock.
hair of the dog - a small drink of alcohol to cure a hangover - and very old expression; the full expression is 'a hair of the dog that bit you', and originates from a poem credited to Aristophanes, Greek comic dramatist (448-387 BC): 'Take the hair, it's well written, of the dog by which you're bitten, work off one wine by his brother, and one labour with another...'
holy mackerel - exclamation of surprise - A blasphemous oath from the same 'family' as goddam and darn it, etc. Holy Mackerel dates back at least 200 years and is one of very many blasphemous oaths with the Holy prefix. Holy Mackerel was almost certainly a reference to Catholics eating fish on Fridays (rather like Holy Cow is a reference to Hindus, and Holy Smoke is a jibe at incense burning and funeral pyres; also Holy Moses - shortened to the rhyming Holy Moley - the way that the words trip of the tongue is very significant in how these expressions become widely used and adopted, and Holy Mackerel does have a certain ring to it, in a way that Holy Skate, or Holy Cod do not..... ). As well as being a popularly eaten fish of the times (affordable by Catholics on limited budgets - the insulting term 'mackerel snatchers' was also used for Catholics in the 19th century), the word Mackerel has historically been a strong fish symbol and fish stereotype (the French word maquereau is slang for 'pimp', due to its habit supposedly of leading other fish to their mates). The term Holy Mackerel would also have served as a euphemistic substitute for Holy Mary or Holy Mother of God, which is why words beginning with M feature commonly in these expressions.
horse-shoe - lucky symbol - the superstition dates from the story of the devil visiting St Dunstan, who was a skilled blacksmith, asking for a single hoof to be shod. Dunstan tied him to the wall and purposefully subjected the devil to so much pain that he agreed never to enter any place displaying a horse-shoe
eat humble pie - acknowledge one's own mistake or adopt a subordinate position - nothing to do with the word 'humble' originally; 'umbles' were the offal of animals hunted for their meat; while the lord and his guests dined on venison, his hunting staff ate pie made from the umbles.
loose cannon - a reckless member of a team - from the days when sailing warships were armed with enormous cannons on wheels; if a tethered cannon broke loose it could do enormous damage.
over a barrel - powerless to resist - people rescued from drowning were draped head-down over a barrel in the hope of forcing water from the lungs.
take a back seat - have little or only observational involvement in something - not a car metaphor, this was originally a parliamentary expression derived from the relative low influence of persons and issues from the back benches (the bench-seats where members sit in the House of Commons), as opposed to the front benches, where the leaders of the government and opposition sit.
battle of the bulge - diet/lose weight - the original Battle of the Bulge occurred in 1944 when German forces broke through Allied lines into Belgium, forming a 'bulge' in the defending lines.
bird - woman or girlfriend - now unfortunately a rather unflattering term, but it wasn't always so; until recent times 'bird' was always an endearing term for a girl, derived from the Anglo-Saxon 'brid' which meant 'baby animal', in other words a cute little thing. The origin also gave us the word 'bride'
boxing day - the day after Christmas - from the custom in seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of servants receiving gratuities from their masters, collected in boxes in Christmas day, sometimes in churches, and distributed the day after
cake walk,piece of cake/takes the cake - easy task/wins (the prize) - from the tradition of giving cakes as prizes in rural competitions. Brewer (1870) tells of the tradition in USA slavery states when slaves or free descendents would walk in a procession in pairs around a cake at a social gathering or party, the most graceful pair being awarded the cake as a prize. This also gave us the expression 'cake walk' and 'a piece of cake' both meaning a job or contest that's very easy to achieve or win, and the variation 'takes the biscuit', meaning to win (often ironically, to be the worst).
catch-22 - an impossible problem in which the solution effectively cancels itself out - although often mis-used to mean any difficult problem, this originally came from Joseph Heller's book of the same title about a reluctant American wartime pilot for whom the only living alternative to continuing in service was to be certified mad; the 'catch-22' was that the act of applying for certification was deemed to be the act of a perfectly sane man
Chinese fire drill - chaotic situation, especially one involving a group's incompetence in carrying out instructions or a plan (more recently the term also describes a student prank where a car-full of students stops at red traffic lights, all occupants leap out, run around the car, return to their seats and drive off as the lights turn green) - Usage of this wonderful expression in either situation now seems confined to USA; although it is supposed to have UK origins, and various sources state it being in use on both sides of the Atlantic after World War 1. The expression 'Chinese fire drill' supposedly derives from a true naval incident in the early 1900's involving a British ship, with Chinese crew: instructions were given by the British officers to practice a fire drill where crew members on the starboard side had to draw up water, run with it to engine room, douse the 'fire', at which other crew members (to prevent flooding) would pump out the spent water, carry it away and throw it over the port side. After initially going to plan, fuelled by frantic enthusiasm as one side tried to keep pace with the other, the drill descended into chaos, ending with all crew members drawing up water from the starboard side, running with it across the ship, entirely by-passing the engine room, and throwing the un-used water straight over the port side. It's certainly an amusing metaphor, if these days an extremely politically incorrect one. It's akin to other images alluding to the confusion and inconsistency that Westerners historically associated with Chinese language and culture, much dating back to the 1st World War. Other expressions exploiting the word 'Chinese' to convey confusing or erratic qualities: Chinese whispers (confused messages), Chinese ace (inept pilot), and Chinese puzzle (a puzzle without a solution); 'Chinese fire drill' is very much part of this genre
close but no cigar - narrowly failing to get something right or win - from early USA slot machines which used to give a cigar as a prize
die hard - fierce or resilient - the die-hards were the British 57th Foot regiment, so called after their Colonel Inglis addressed them before the (victorious) battle of Albuera against Napoleon's French on 16 May in 1811, 'Die hard my lads, die hard'. Only one officer of 24 survived, and only 168 men of 584. The regiment later became the West Middlesex.
dutch courage - bravery boosted by alcohol - from the 17th century story of the sailors aboard the Hollander 'man-o-war' British warship being given a hogshead of brandy before engaging the enemy during the Dutch Wars
egg on your face - to look stupid - from the tradition of poor stage performers having eggs thrown at them.
a man's home is his castle - a person's home is or should be sacrosanct - from old English law when bailiffs were not allowed to force entry into a dwelling to seize goods or make arrest.
there ain't no such thing as a free lunch - you never get something for nothing - now a common business expression, often used in acronym form 'TANSTAAFL', the first recorded use of this version was by Robert Heinlein in his 1966 book 'The moon is a harsh princess'. The general expression 'there's no such thing as a free lunch' dates back to the custom of America 19th century bars giving free snacks in expectation of customers buying drink. American economist Milton Friedman, who won the 1976 Nobel prize for economics, did much to popularise the expression in that form and even used it as a title for one of his books.
the full monty - the full potential of anything, or recently, full frontal nudity (since the film of the same name) - the two much earlier origins are: 1. Field Marshall Montgomery's insistence on a full English breakfast every morning, and 2. a full sunday-best suit and tie outfit from the tailors Montague Burton
gander - to look at something enthusiastically - an old English expression from the image of a goose (gander is a male goose and was earlier the common word for a goose) craning its neck to look at something.
good-bye - originally a contraction of 'God be with ye (you)'; 'God' developed into 'good', in the same style as good day, good evening, etc.; 'good be with ye' would have meant 'may you fare well'.
hard and fast - firmly, especially rules - another nautical term; 'hard' meant that the ship was immovable, 'hard and fast' meant in dry dock.
hair of the dog - a small drink of alcohol to cure a hangover - and very old expression; the full expression is 'a hair of the dog that bit you', and originates from a poem credited to Aristophanes, Greek comic dramatist (448-387 BC): 'Take the hair, it's well written, of the dog by which you're bitten, work off one wine by his brother, and one labour with another...'
holy mackerel - exclamation of surprise - A blasphemous oath from the same 'family' as goddam and darn it, etc. Holy Mackerel dates back at least 200 years and is one of very many blasphemous oaths with the Holy prefix. Holy Mackerel was almost certainly a reference to Catholics eating fish on Fridays (rather like Holy Cow is a reference to Hindus, and Holy Smoke is a jibe at incense burning and funeral pyres; also Holy Moses - shortened to the rhyming Holy Moley - the way that the words trip of the tongue is very significant in how these expressions become widely used and adopted, and Holy Mackerel does have a certain ring to it, in a way that Holy Skate, or Holy Cod do not..... ). As well as being a popularly eaten fish of the times (affordable by Catholics on limited budgets - the insulting term 'mackerel snatchers' was also used for Catholics in the 19th century), the word Mackerel has historically been a strong fish symbol and fish stereotype (the French word maquereau is slang for 'pimp', due to its habit supposedly of leading other fish to their mates). The term Holy Mackerel would also have served as a euphemistic substitute for Holy Mary or Holy Mother of God, which is why words beginning with M feature commonly in these expressions.
horse-shoe - lucky symbol - the superstition dates from the story of the devil visiting St Dunstan, who was a skilled blacksmith, asking for a single hoof to be shod. Dunstan tied him to the wall and purposefully subjected the devil to so much pain that he agreed never to enter any place displaying a horse-shoe
eat humble pie - acknowledge one's own mistake or adopt a subordinate position - nothing to do with the word 'humble' originally; 'umbles' were the offal of animals hunted for their meat; while the lord and his guests dined on venison, his hunting staff ate pie made from the umbles.
loose cannon - a reckless member of a team - from the days when sailing warships were armed with enormous cannons on wheels; if a tethered cannon broke loose it could do enormous damage.
over a barrel - powerless to resist - people rescued from drowning were draped head-down over a barrel in the hope of forcing water from the lungs.