Hansel Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Thought it might be interesting to discuss well known phrases; to discover where each of them come from. On another thread, it was mentioned that 'rule-of-thumb' originated from, the accepted width of a stick; used to beat ones wife, and the thumb being used for measuring the width. I thought that 'under-the-thumb', might have had a similar origin, but I was corrected by 'ignoranus'; who told me it is related to a falconry technique. Anyway, are there any other phrases which have interesting origins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdy Doody Jambo Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 It's not all over untill the fat striker scores A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sterling Archer Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Pull the boat out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I P Knightley Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 "Toe the line" Need I say more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hansel Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 Pull the boat out. Frankenstein jambo coined that phrase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hansel Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 "Toe the line" Need I say more? Didn't know that one mate, cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnjl Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 the term blockbuster came from ww2 and referred to any bomb which could take out a whole block of buildings. when soldiers returned they used it as a word to describe anything which made a big/serious impact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I P Knightley Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Didn't know that one mate, cheers. The rule in the Commons is/was that each side had to stay behind their own respective red line. As long as that rule was observed, two opponents' swords couldn't touch each other. So if it got a bit unruly, the Speaker of the House would order the honourable gentlemen to 'toe the line'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johanes de Silentio Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Was searching the origin of the phrase 'to go nap' as in "Hearts go nap over Aberdeen" when a team scores five golas in a game. Apparently, it's derived from a card game invented by Napoleon. Where does the other 'nap' come from, though? Like in the horses, or when someone says "That tidy bird will be married - NAP!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tynie b Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Freeze the Balls off a Brass Monkey... Seemingly a "Brass Monkey" was a plate where Cannon Balls where stacked next to cannons on the old Battle ships. When they went anywhere extremely cold, this caused the plates "Brass Monkey" to buckle so the Balls rolled off all over the place. "Freeze the Balls off a Brass Monky" Could be a lot of Sheeite, i thought it sounded Feasable!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I P Knightley Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Another one from falconry - not so much a phrase - is mantelpiece, taken from 'Mantling' which is where a bird of prey shields its dinner from passers-by: Falconry also gave us the phrase "hoodwink" - which is not what I've been doing above. Comes from where they put the hood over the bird's heid. There - I learnt something on last summer's holiday. Why's a 3-goal haul a 'hat-trick'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trotter Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 The term 'debugging' for troubleshooting a computer was coined by Harvard University in the late 1940s' when they opened up a broken computer to find that a moth had gotten in and fused to the circuit boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Say What Again Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 A boy in my local once complained his pint 'was as flat as a Dodo'. I assume this phrase came about after a Dodo was stood on by a Brontosaurus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Gin Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 "somebody will be getting their arse felt for that one" Said when somebody has made a ******-up. I'm intrigued as to the origins of this phrase. It sounds like the sort of punishment you would expect from 80s-era Celtic Boys Club. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hansel Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 How is it that 'the exception proves the rule", when it's more likely that it undermines the rule? Edit: found this http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exception_that_proves_the_rule Think I get it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hansel Posted March 30, 2011 Author Share Posted March 30, 2011 Most phrases become cliche Even when someone says "that's so cliche", is cliche Personally, I avoid them like the plague Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2NaFish Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 to be on your jack jones - mr jones was a very good victorian jockey. so good his name became the byword for being on your own. if someone has a poor reputation you may say their name is mud. Tecniqually it should be mudd, as it comes from the name of the doctor who treated oswald after jack ruby shot him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad-Stupid Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Watched a program once about sayings and was surprised at the majority of them have a nautical origin. also: knob two birds with one johnny. Ali G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boris Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Why's a 3-goal haul a 'hat-trick'? http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/hat-trick.html This perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boof Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 One phrase that never seems to become tiresome is 'Hibs nil' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Merse Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Was searching the origin of the phrase 'to go nap' as in "Hearts go nap over Aberdeen" when a team scores five golas in a game. Apparently, it's derived from a card game invented by Napoleon. Where does the other 'nap' come from, though? Like in the horses, or when someone says "That tidy bird will be married - NAP!" NAP stands for "not a problem." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_jambo Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Youtube Hot for words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alwaysthereinspirit Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 One I always liked was "get her pumped" but no idea from whence it came. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Whittaker's Tache Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Freeze the Balls off a Brass Monkey... Seemingly a "Brass Monkey" was a plate where Cannon Balls where stacked next to cannons on the old Battle ships. When they went anywhere extremely cold, this caused the plates "Brass Monkey" to buckle so the Balls rolled off all over the place. "Freeze the Balls off a Brass Monky" Could be a lot of Sheeite, i thought it sounded Feasable!! it is Sheeite http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_monkey_%28colloquial_expression%29 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Whittaker's Tache Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Two that always puzzled me were from my old tradesmen when I was about 16 (he was an old Grantoner) "That'll be chocolate" (meaning aye right said in disbelief) and "a bairn wi a biscuit erse could dae that" Never understood them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gasman Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 ........ "a bairn wi a biscuit erse could dae that" I've often heard that one as well, but I've no idea where it comes from either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boomstick Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 The rule in the Commons is/was that each side had to stay behind their own respective red line. As long as that rule was observed, two opponents' swords couldn't touch each other. So if it got a bit unruly, the Speaker of the House would order the honourable gentlemen to 'toe the line'. Does that have anything to do with crossing the line/overstepping the mark as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Don't always agree with the definition the compiler uses, but for anyone interested in English this is a wonderful site World Wide Words and a real labour of love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peebo Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I passed the home of the original "Sugar Daddy" yesterday - the Spreckles' mansion in San Francisco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Bill Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Something that is 'ear-marked' came from an old punishment of marking someone's ears if they commited a crime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gentleman Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 "somebody will be getting their arse felt for that one" Said when somebody has made a ******-up. I'm intrigued as to the origins of this phrase. It sounds like the sort of punishment you would expect from 80s-era Celtic Boys Club. A hugely unpleasant medical procedure which 'men of a certain age' undergo to diagnose the status of their prostate glands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ribble Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I've often heard that one as well, but I've no idea where it comes from either. 'bairn with a biscuit erse' is pretty much what it says on the tin, oatcakes (rusks) have for years been given to babies as their first solid food, as they are so young the oats aren't totally digested so when it came to changing them they had a 'biscuit erse'. So they term just means a very young child that is yet to move to proper solid foods! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Comedian Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Mad as a hatter comes from victorian times when lead paste was used to clean top hats, the lead casued some mental problems after time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bert Le Clos Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 "I'll tell you something for nothing?" I'm assuming that comes from someone dropping another person in it, rather than witholding information for money? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaap's Sigh Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I thought the brass monkey one was originally a naval term too, but there you go. Supposedly a room not being big enough to swing a cat refers to a room that doesn't have enough room to swing a whip (cat o' nine tails). Probably sheite too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I P Knightley Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 I thought the brass monkey one was originally a naval term too, but there you go. Supposedly a room not being big enough to swing a cat refers to a room that doesn't have enough room to swing a whip (cat o' nine tails). Probably sheite too I'd heard similar but can't remember whether it was on QI (being debunked) or on a tour of historical navel dockyards in Chatham or Portsmouth... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 The term 'debugging' for troubleshooting a computer was coined by Harvard University in the late 1940s' when they opened up a broken computer to find that a moth had gotten in and fused to the circuit boards. Not quite true. The above story did happen but the phrase debugging was in use prior to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johanes de Silentio Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Mad as a hatter comes from victorian times when lead paste was used to clean top hats, the lead casued some mental problems after time. Remember reading that the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's 'Mad Hatter' character was that hat-makers/milliners used mercury in the lining of hats to stop them being blown off their customers' heads by wind. Their is a medical condition called 'mad hatter's syndrome, which I think is mercury poisoning? Could be lead, though, right enough? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2NaFish Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Remember reading that the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's 'Mad Hatter' character was that hat-makers/milliners used mercury in the lining of hats to stop them being blown off their customers' heads by wind. Their is a medical condition called 'mad hatter's syndrome, which I think is mercury poisoning? Could be lead, though, right enough? It comes from the use of mercury. Carrol was from stockport, which had a large hat making trade. Still doesnt tell us why a raven is like a writing desk though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamboInSouthsea Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 'Son of a gun' comes from the days of the British navy press gangs. Those poor unfortunates would be made to load/fire the cannons and when in port they would not be allowed to leave the ship. Prostitutes would be provided to keep 'em on an even keel as it were but anybody born to said hookers was a 'son of a gun'...i.e. 'Yer maw's a whore'. To give someone the 'cold shoulder' comes from when it was illegal to turn away a traveller at your door (times were dangerous back then). You were also expected to provide them with food but if they out-stayed their welcome they would be given a cold, tough bit of meat to eat so they'd get the message to move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ribble Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 To be in the 'limelight' comes from the world of theatre where a lime cylinder heated by a incandescent flame was used with a lens or reflector to produce a very bright light directed at the stage! No Spring Chicken - Comes from New England farmers when they discovered chickens born in spring fetched better prices at market than older chickens that had endured the winter. Smart buyers would complain about a tough fowl was 'no spring chicken' 'Winning hands down' comes from two sports, horse racing where the jocky wins by such a margin he doesn't even need to lift his hands to guide the horse and the other is boxing where the opponent is so poor that you don't need to raise your hands in defence! Bikini comes from atomic testing and named due to it's reaction from men being like an atomic bomb. Named after one of the Marshall islands where the testing was carried out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Comedian Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 The acid test comes from the way gold was tested for authenticity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_jambo Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 Origin of the word muscle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_jambo Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 The prefix - para. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johanes de Silentio Posted April 1, 2011 Share Posted April 1, 2011 The Edinburgh slang term 'radge', as in 'schemie radge' comes from the French Parliament - the two main groups would assemble to the left and the right of the house - the rest of the disorganised rabble would congregate in a massed throng at the back - "en rage", apparently. Possibly an urban myth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gasman Posted April 7, 2011 Share Posted April 7, 2011 Does anyone know the origins of "dole" or "brew" as in signing on when unemployed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hansel Posted April 7, 2011 Author Share Posted April 7, 2011 Does anyone know the origins of "dole" or "brew" as in signing on when unemployed? From wiki To receive unemployment benefit is commonly referred to as "being on the dole", "dole" being an archaic expression meaning "one's allotted portion", from the synonymous Old English word d?l.[17] or the actual word comes from not old English but ,from the Roman Empire The free grain policy as every citizen was allotted Dole. hence the correct spelling of Dole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gentleman Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 Does anyone know the origins of "dole" or "brew" as in signing on when unemployed? I think the latter is spelt 'buroo'. Freudian slip (or maybe 'sip') there?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsychocAndy Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 I thought the brass monkey one was originally a naval term too, but there you go. Supposedly a room not being big enough to swing a cat refers to a room that doesn't have enough room to swing a whip (cat o' nine tails). Probably sheite too Half right. Not enough room to swing a cat actual refers to not having enough room to swing a cat. It's a vet thing, I believe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Spackler Posted April 8, 2011 Share Posted April 8, 2011 "Early Doors" has no origin other than Ron Atkinson making it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpeg.14eeb16ab01c6a19c6d8cffca3fd8ff1.jpeg)
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.