Sayings We Take For Granted.

[Bill]

Just come across this explanation for a saying we probably use on a regular basis without actually knowing what it means or how it came about, Anybody got any sayings and explanations they would like to share.

 

Dead as a door nail.

Nails were once hand-tooled and costly. When someone tore down an aging cabin or barn he would salvage the nails so he could re-use them in later construction. When building a door, however, carpenters often drove the nail through then bent it over on the other end so it couldn't work its way out. When it came time to salvage, these bent "door nails" were considered useless or "dead.".

 

How about .........

Black market.. ?

No room to swing a cat.?

and how did posh people come to be called the Upper Crust. ?

[jamiemaher85]

I like finding these things out, there are two good ones that learnt about.

 

1- The term. "Grass". As in, "To grass someone in..."

Is initialliy derived from cockney ryhming slang. Police where called Grasshoppers (Coppers). Grasshopper got shortened to Grass for police informers.

 

2- Hungry enough to eat a horse.

The term now refers to people being able to eat a large amount but the term originated when Horses where the main means of conveyence for most people, so to eat your horse would kill of your livlihood. Hungry enough to eat a horse was a sign of desperation, not a signel of a healthy appetitie.

[MikeO]

"Not worth a light" is a good one that got told to me while I was visiting >>HERE<< a few years back. The men had to buy their candles to work by and if, when they got to "quality control" the blocks they'd quarried were imperfect in some way they'd be "not worth the candle." Extra irony added by the fact that their wives were employed (for a pittance) making the candles in the first place.

 

 

Get hold of a copy of this Bill...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_Phrase_and_Fable

 

....brilliant book first published in 1870 with all sorts of interesting stuff in it, my copy's battered to shite .

[Bill]

"Not worth a light" is a good one that got told to me while I was visiting >>HERE<< a few years back. The men had to buy their candles to work by and if, when they got to "quality control" the blocks they'd quarried were imperfect in some way they'd be "not worth the candle." Extra irony added by the fact that their wives were employed (for a pittance) making the candles in the first place.

 

 

Get hold of a copy of this Bill...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_Phrase_and_Fable

 

....brilliant book first published in 1870 with all sorts of interesting stuff in it, my copy's battered to shite .

 

 

Your one leads to another .................... Burning the Candle at both ends. ??

[jamiemaher85]

Another good one is "Walking into the lime light..."

In the 17th Centuary the footlights at the front of a stage used limestone based candles, the powder of which was very flammable, actors used to stomp there feet when they walked onto stage to make the lights seem brighter as they wlaked on so that there stage enterance would appear more dramatic. Hence why still today we talk about celebraties living in the lime light.

[Bill]

The Rule of Thumb. .............

 

In days gone bye the law was that a man could not beat his wife with a stick that was any thicker than his thumb.

So nowadays if you want to do a job properly, you do it by the rule of thumb.

[jamiemaher85]

The Rule of Thumb. .............

 

In days gone bye the law was that a man could not beat his wife with a stick that was any thicker than his thumb.

So nowadays if you want to do a job properly, you do it by the rule of thumb.

Thats quite a shocking one actually.

[Bill]

No room to swing a cat. ........ often said of any very small room or space.

 

From the times when unruly sailors had been given punishment, the 1st mate would take him to the Captains quarters and he would be whipped with the "Cat o nine tails", some quarters however are very small in size and there was no room to swing the whip, in later times punishment was always delivered on deck, either tied to the Mast or across the Helm.

[dark]

Our For A Duck

 

This is short for 'out for a duck's egg', the duck's egg being the large nought (0) recorded on the scoreboard. The expression is recorded from the 1860s.

 

OK

 

The word OK is reported to have arisen during the American Civil War, when the armies wrote in a blackboard, at the end of a battle day, the casualties they had suffered. It was written in the following way: [number of people] K (K for "killed").

 

Therefore, OK means "0 [people] killed", undoubtedly a synonym of a good day, or a controlled situation.

[jamiemaher85]

Our For A Duck

 

This is short for 'out for a duck's egg', the duck's egg being the large nought (0) recorded on the scoreboard. The expression is recorded from the 1860s.

 

OK

 

The word OK is reported to have arisen during the American Civil War, when the armies wrote in a blackboard, at the end of a battle day, the casualties they had suffered. It was written in the following way: [number of people] K (K for "killed").

 

Therefore, OK means "0 [people] killed", undoubtedly a synonym of a good day, or a controlled situation.

Thats a good one actually. Never heard that before.

 

Its a little bit like why we stick our middle to fingers up as a sign of insult. That comes from back in the day when we fought with bow and arrow. While fighting the French, i think during Agincourt, the French would cut the middle two fingers off of any enlgish solider that they cought, therfore stopping him from being able to fire a bow and arrow. When the englsih found this out they would stick both fingers up when they saw french soldiers to show them that they still had both fingers. And the insult ws born...

[Bill]

The Upper Crust. (Posh or Rich people).

 

In the days of Upstairs and Downstairs, when the Footman, Cooks, Cleaners and Maidservants lived in the basement serving the rich and famous, the bread makers used to bake loaves directly on the oven floor without baking trays, consequently the bottom of the loaf was often dirty and it was never cut from end to end, it was cut from top to bottom, the upper crust was for the masters and the bottom was left for the servants. Hence they where called the upper Crust.

[jamiemaher85]

"Back to Square 1."

 

This is derived from the original style of radio commentary for football, when they logically split the pitch into sqaures so that listeners could more acuratly follow the game.

 

Back to sqaure one, fairly obviously, is when players brought the ball back to the keeper to try and start a new attack.

[MikeO]

"Back to Square 1."

 

This is derived from the original style of radio commentary for football, when they logically split the pitch into sqaures so that listeners could more acuratly follow the game.

 

Back to sqaure one, fairly obviously, is when players brought the ball back to the keeper to try and start a new attack.

 

Bill already knew that one....he actually invented it .

[dark]

I remember where the saying Wrong End Of The Stick came. It was in the olden days when they visited to toilets they would wipe themselves with straw or other wet random objects on the end of a stick, the stick would be placed in a kinda' pouch, just for it to sit in when not used. Sometimes people thought it was a good prank to turn the stick around and put it in the other way. When the man/woman took a dump and grabbed the stick themselves they would get a good, gripped handful of poo. Or in other words they had got 'The Wrong End Of The Stick'

 

Give Them The Whole 9 Yards refers to the length of a Browning Machine gun belt from WWI. When the men shooting needed to rapidly fire the general would usually say 'Give him the whole 9 yards' and this is why we say it in modern society.

[amb3r-3fc]

I remember where the saying Wrong End Of The Stick came. It was in the olden days when they visited to toilets they would wipe themselves with straw or other wet random objects on the end of a stick, the stick would be placed in a kinda' pouch, just for it to sit in when not used. Sometimes people thought it was a good prank to turn the stick around and put it in the other way. When the man/woman took a dump and grabbed the stick themselves they would get a good, gripped handful of poo. Or in other words they had got 'The Wrong End Of The Stick'

 

Give Them The Whole 9 Yards refers to the length of a Browning Machine gun belt from WWI. When the men shooting needed to rapidly fire the general would usually say 'Give him the whole 9 yards' and this is why we say it in modern society.

Where Are You Gettin All These From La ?

[MikeO]

It was in the olden days when they visited to toilets they would wipe themselves with straw or other wet random objects on the end of a stick...

 

That sounds anatomically extremely difficult (and potentially very dangerous ) to me.

 

Better check the facts with Bill....he was around in the days before toilet paper .

[dark]

That sounds anatomically extremely difficult (and potentially very dangerous ) to me.

 

Better check the facts with Bill....he was around in the days before toilet paper .

 

 

Well it was when I was in Primary School, we took a trip up to Skipton Castle (some may know that place) and it was then where our group guide told us about the saying. It was when we were in the bedroom/kitchen quarters, because the prank used to be played on the peasant workers.

[Bill]

: I am quite confident that the phrase "short end of the stick" refers to an old fashioned method for carrying heavy objects. (this can be visualized using a bale of hay) a long stick is inserted through ropes or cords wrapped around the object and two (or more) people carry the object together. If the load is off-center a disproportionate burden is placed on the person(s) on the "short end of the stick".

 

That makes sense to me, and theres no way i would attempt to wipe my arse on a stick be it a bloody long one or a short one.

 

Couldnt find anything about the shitty end or wrong end of the stick.

[MikeO]

....theres no way i would attempt to wipe my arse on a stick be it a bloody long one or a short one.

 

 

Perhaps the idea was that you got someone else to do it for you ?

 

Be a lot of trust involved :lmaosmiley: .

[thebluenose]

the term 3 square meals a day comes from old naval tradition of meals being served on square plates with the edges facing upwards so that the sailors could eat their food when the ship was in choppy waters.