Ever wonder where certain phrases come from? From the Dictionary of Common Phrases, by Fred Mish, we have:
· Raining cats and dogs. In 16th century London, pets would run along the roofs of lean-to houses and heavy rains would wash them into the street.
· Flash in the pan. From the early days of firearms. Soldiers needing to light the primer gunpowder in the pan to light the main charge would sometimes only get he ''flash in the pan'' with no firing of the main charge.
· Red Herring. Red, or smoked, herrings were used for training foxhounds to follow trails. Smart prisoners on the run would scatter them around to confuse the dogs.
· Red Tape. For centuries, red ribbon, or tape, was used to tie up official papers. The delay caused by having to constantly tie and untie the bundles became synonymous with a waste of time.
· Red Light District. Railway workers would carry highly visible red-painted warning lights when working on the tracks. After hours they would go to houses of ill-repute and hang them up on the door while frolicking inside.
· Make the bed. They used to, literally, make a new bed each night from fresh straw.
· Being called on the carpet. Back when the boss was the only one who had a decent carpeted floor covering in the factory, being called into his office for a reprimand was therefore being called onto the carpet.
· Sour grapes. In Aesop's fable of the fox who couldn't reach to pick grapes from the vine, he gave up deciding the grapes were sour anyway.
· Half-cocked. Flintlock rifles where in a half-cocked position when in their safety position. If the owner forgot this and tried firing the gun, it wouldn't work because it was half-cocked.
· Bite the bullet. Before anaesthetic, soldiers on the battlefield who had to go through horrific operations were given a bullet to bite on to take the minds off the pain.
· In the pink. Scarlet coats, worn by huntsmen, are known as pinks. So when asked about their health, they'd say they were fit to ride by saying they were in the pink.
· Feather in your cap. Indian braves wore head-dresses lined with feathers. Each brave battle added another feather. This was adopted by frontiersman.
· Hunky dory: From a road in Yokohama called Hunch-dori was lined with bars and brothels used by U.S. soldiers in WW II to relax. So if all was well, it was hunky dory.
Express News 11-Jul-00 |
