Karen Hill

We use the saying “to swallow a tale hook, line, and sinker” for a person so exceedingly gullible as to accept a yarn or statement, no matter how fantastic, at its face value. The allusion is to a hungry fish, so voracious as to take into its maw not only the baited fish hook, but … Read more

The expression “to turn the heat on” seems originally to have been underworld slang, probably a rough interpretation of “to be grilled” in its figurative sense. It means, to be subjected to a severe cross-examination, as by police officers in grilling a suspected criminal; but of course in ordinary use a youngster will say that … Read more

The phrase “to be hand in glove” mean to be on such terms of intimacy that the relationship is almost that of the glove to the hand. Literary usage dates back to 1678, but in those days and until late in the following century the phrase was “hand and glove,” a form rarely heard nowadays.

Though spelled and contracted in different ways, spit and image, spitting image, spittin’ image, spitten image, the intent is always the same, an exact likeness, a counterpart. It usually refers to an infant or child whose features and mannerisms strongly reflect those of one of its parents. The origin of the expression has been variously … Read more

“Tether” is the older word, but with either “rope” or “tether” the saying goes back many centuries. In original usage the expression “to come to the end of one’s rope” alluded apparently to a cow or other domestic animal, perchance a dog, staked for grazing or for protection by a rope attached to its neck. … Read more

In theater or show parlance, an “Annie Oakley” is a free pass to the show. The real Annie Oakley, born in 1860, was an expert American markswoman. During the years when William F. Cody, perhaps better known as “Buffalo Bill,” was touring the country with his Wild West Show, organized in 1883, one of his … Read more

One wonders why such a typical Americanism was not coined until early in the present century. We suspect that it must have come from the fertile imagination of Sime Silverman, the editorial genius and apt word-coiner who guided the theatrical journal, Variety, until his death in 1933, but if so, I find no proof. The … Read more

The expression “to come out at the little end of the horn” means to fail in an undertaking; especially, to fail after one has bragged about a result that promised large returns. Such has been the meaning of this expression for more than three hundred years. From the statement made by John Fletcher, in A … Read more

The expression “balled up” has been used, in the sense of confused, embarrassed, entangled, only since about 1880, if we allow seven or eight years of that puristic period for a slang expression to break into print. Really, however, the slang use is little more than a natural extension of the normal use of the … Read more

We saw elsewhere how “to let the cat out of the bag” was connected with the other familiar saying, “to buy a pig in a poke.” Proof is lacking, but it seems to me that the unfortunate wight who bought a pig in a poke and soon after let a cat out of the bag, … Read more

In its entirety, the phrase “the whole kit and caboodle” is American; it is a somewhat more refined expression than the earlier, “the whole kit and bilin’.” Both forms mean lock, stock, and barrel; the whole lot, omitting nothing. But “the whole kit” is plain English, the entire outfit; the whole lot, either of things … Read more

To ruin one’s carefully laid plans; to turn things topsy-turvey; to halt a procedure as effectively as a farmer would be halted if, on his way to market with a load of apples, his cart were to be overturned. The Romans had a similar saying, minus the apples, and with the same meaning: “Perii, plaustrum … Read more

There is no uncertainty about the source of the term “to pass the buck”. Poker. But, just as the origin of the American game of poker is shrouded in mystery, so is the origin of this phrase. Probably both the name of the game and the game itself come from an old German game, pochspiel, … Read more

Through some odd chance, the word “lick” in American speech acquired the meaning “a spurt of speed; also, a burst of energy.” This meaning found its way into print early in the nineteenth century. Our present phrase was derived from that sense and is graphically illustrated by the line from “Polly Peablossoin’s Wedding”, published in … Read more

The modern slang expression “to lay an egg” has no bearing whatsoever upon the output of a hen. It means, “to fail; to flop; to fail to produce an intended result.” The “egg” in the expression is shortened from the older slang meaning of “goose-egg,” which, in sporting circles, means a cipher, a nought, a … Read more

The American slang expression “to shoot the bull”, which originated in the gutter or, rather, the barnyard, now means to talk pretentiously, to talk wisely and freely upon subjects about which one knows little. It developed from the American institution known as a “bull session,” a gathering of men, usually young men, in which each … Read more

We use the phrase “to stab in the back” almost always figuratively, to deliver a cowardly blow, physically or against one’s character, and we usually use it with reference to such a delivery by one who was thought to be friendly, or at least not suspected to be inimical. The literal origin goes back to … Read more

The phrase “to take the cake” means to receive or merit a prize or honor; hence, to excel at something. This expression did not arise from the “cakewalk,” but the cakewalk got its name from the expression. Even two hundred years ago “cake” denoted an award or honor of some sort, and he who received … Read more

The expression “to jump the gun” is of racing origin, especially foot racing. A contestant so keyed up as to spring from the starting mark a moment before the starter fires his pistol is said “to jump the gun.” The expression is also used in hunting game, as when a pheasant “jumps the gun” by … Read more

The saying “to beat the band” has become so trite as to be employed for almost any element of amazement or of any superior accomplishment or achievement; as, Well, if that doesn’t beat the band! or, She cooks to beat the band; or, The baby yelled to beat the band. The expression isn’t very old; … Read more

We may as well take these together, for it is only the use of “salt” in these phrases that is interesting. Because of the origin of the word, one would expect to be able to find that either of the expressions could be traced to ancient Latin, but actually the first of them, the earliest, … Read more

It is proverbial that a crocodile moans and sobs like a person in great distress in order to lure a man into its reach, and then, after devouring him sheds bitter tears over the dire fate of its victim. Thus “crocodile tears” is synonymous with hypocritical grief, make-believe deep sorrow. Belief in the proverb is … Read more

It is the torch of love that is understood in this modern American term, though sometimes no more than the torch of loyalty, for the “torchbearer” is one who is loud in his praise of a friend. But the torch has long been an emblem of enlightenment and of burning devotion, and, in 1775, Richard … Read more

Young people of today think they are very up to date when they refer to a carnally minded man, young or old, as a “wolf,” but the fact is that they are, roughly speaking, some twenty-five hundred years behind the times. So anciently were such men known that Aesop, who lived in Greece about 600 … Read more

The phrase “out on a limb” means to be at a disadvantage, as one would be if actually upon the limb of a tree, hanging on for dear life and being pelted or shot at by an enemy. The expression is of American origin and dates from the latter part of the nineteenth century. Its … Read more

Though “Dutch courage” as a synonym for sham courage and “Dutch consolation” as a synonym for “Well, it might be worse,” date back to the days of rivalry in arms and commerce between the countries of Holland and England, “to beat the Dutch” is traceable only to late American colonial days. Under English rule of … Read more

The saying “not amount to Hannah More”, equivalent to “not amount to a hill of beans,” is a common way of telling a young person around Gloucester, Massachusetts, that he doesn’t show much promise. The saying was also current in some parts of England many years ago, but why the name of Miss Hannah More … Read more

These sayings, which express contempt, may go back to ancient Greece, to a region where figs were so plentiful as to have almost no value. But more probably we got the worthlessness of a fig from Italy, where a gesture, the thumb thrust between the fingers, said to have an indecent significance, is called a … Read more

Lewis Carrol popularized the Cheshire cat in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, in which the grinning cat disappeared gradually from Alice’s view and the last to vanish was the grin, but the saying is much older than this account. It has been traced back to the writings of John Wolcot, better known under his pseudonym, Peter … Read more

When you volunteer for something that may have a bad ending, when you enter an argument in which you may turn out to be a poor second, or whenever you deliberately take the chance of being hurt, literally or figuratively, you are sticking your neck out. The saying is modern American slang, an outgrowth of … Read more

The expression “rope of sand” means nothing could he less cohesive or less stable. With just such meaning the expression has been used through the past three hundred and fifty years, ironically describing a treaty, contract, or the like which has no force, as a “rope of sand” binding the two parties. As used by … Read more

The phrase “to sow one’s wild oats” means to indulge in dissipation, or to conduct oneself foolishly. The saying has been common in its present sense for at least four hundred years, for a writer of that period speaks of young men at “that wilfull and unruly age, which lacketh rypenes and discretion, and (as … Read more

One who no more than barely catches a train, who has hardly settled himself in a theater seat before the curtain rises, who in a moment more would have been too late for whatever the event might be, is said to be “just under the wire.” The expression comes from the racetracks. The winning horse … Read more

The phrase “to have bees in one’s bonnet” means to be slightly daft or crazed. The original saying, which dates at least to the sixteenth century was, “to have a head full of bees,” or “to have bees in the head, or in the brain.” That association of craziness with bees humming in the head … Read more

The English saying “to return to one’s muttons” is a direct translation from the French, revenon a nos moutons. The literal meaning in the French phrase is the same as the English, and the figurative meanings are also the same, to return to the subject under discussion or consideration. For the origin we must go … Read more

Not often is a phrase, coined for a particular occasion, immediately seized upon, and widely used. The phrase “iron curtain”, however, so aptly described a condition which was disturbing half the globe that it achieved immediate popularity. It was coined by Winston Churchill who, as prime minister of Great Britain during World War II, had … Read more

In America, as any country boy knows, the expression “to skin the cat” means to hang by the hands from a branch or bar, draw the legs up through the arms and over the branch, and pull oneself up into a sitting position. As we must abide by the record, we cannot say positively that … Read more

In America, extreme skepticism is indicated by one who says, “I’m from Missouri,” though actually the residents of that state are no more incredulous than are other Americans. The expression is said to have originated during the course of some extemporaneous humorous remarks by Willard D. Vandiver who was, at the time, a representative to … Read more

Someone who has listened to, but has taken no part in, a debate or argument, finally breaks his silence. “Another county heard from,” someone else is sure to remark brightly. The allusion is to the presidential election of 1876; Tilden and Hayes had had a neck and neck campaign; neither the Democrats nor the Republicans … Read more

Aunt Sally, if you remember Huckleberry Finn, got so upset when trying to count the silver spoons, sometimes making a count of nine, sometimes ten, thanks to Huck’s manipulations, that she seized the spoon basket, slammed it across the room, and knocked the cat “galley west.” It means that the cat was knocked upside down, … Read more

The expression “to make one’s mouth water” means to anticipate something with great eagerness. Literally, and the original sense, one referred to the actual drooling that one experiences over the prospects of sinking one’s teeth into a comestible that exudes a particularly delightful aroma, as a schoolboy from Boston might say. The experience must have … Read more

The expression “to stew in one’s own juice” means to suffer the consequences of one’s own act. This, or its variant, “to fry in one’s own grease,” is very old. In the latter form it appears in a thirteenth-century tale of Richard the Lion-Hearted, and there is a French equivalent, cuire dans son jus. It … Read more

This somewhat disgusting sound expressing contemptuous disapproval, the reverse of a cheer, a vibrating sound partly uttered through loosely closed lips and partly through the nose, seemingly owes its present name to the unusual skill displayed by the residents of the northern geographical section of New York City, or to spectators at athletic sports events … Read more

The modern expression “behind the eight ball” has come to mean in a hazardous position; in a state or condition of embarrassment or peril from which it is difficult or impossible to extricate oneself; hence, out of luck; jinxed. The expression originated from the game of pocket billiards or, popularly, Kelly pool. But, though the … Read more

The sense is always that of sharing, perhaps to a lesser degree, the faults or iniquities of another, of being defiled to some extent in the defilement of another. The record of usage goes back only to the late eighteenth century, though we may find its origin six centuries earlier. Early American usage, largely vanished … Read more

The use of the expression “by the skin of one’s teeth” is always in respect to some calamity that has been avoided by so narrow a margin as to be measurable by the lining of a tooth. But originally, as found in Job xix, an, the preposition “with” was used, not “by”, “And I am … Read more

To be uncommonly and rashly brave; literally, to be so courageous as to dare to seize a lion by the beard. The saying is most familiar to us perhaps, from the lines in Scott’s Marmion: And dar’st thou then To beard the lion in his den, The Douglas in his hall? And hop’st thou thence … Read more

To be secretly amused, whether in derision or just to avoid offense through open laughter, is to laugh in one’s sleeve. The saying dates from the first half of the sixteenth century when, as one would suppose, the sleeves of a gentleman’s costume were distinctly oversize, large enough to conceal one’s whole head, let alone … Read more

The use of the figure of speech “to pull in one’s horns” with the meaning, “to retract, or to check oneself,” has been traced back to the fourteenth century. The allusion is to the snail which, when its hornlike tentacles touch something strange, possibly perilous, immediately retracts one or both of them.

In the United States we know a “lame duck” as a congressman who, having run for re-election in November and having been defeated at the polls, still has several months of his term to serve before he bows out more or less gracefully to his successful rival. But why “lame” and why “duck”? We must … Read more

Salaries are to he paid! The expression is now heard in any line of business: “Friday’s the day the ghost walks.” “The ghost walks on the fifteenth of each month.” The “ghost” is the paymaster, nowadays, or the cashier or whoever may be the distributor of salary or wage. But the expression arose in the … Read more

The saying “a man of my kidney” is not now in frequent use; we are much more likely to say, “a man after my own heart,” which carries the same meaning. But we find it used by Shakespeare and other writers of bygone years. The explanation takes us back to the philosophy of the Middle … Read more

Like many other of our common sayings, the expression “to get down to brass tacks” appears to have alluded originally to some specific operation, something that would call for the removal of successive layers until the brass tacks which held the structure together were exposed to view. For, as we in America use the expression, … Read more

Other languages have similar expressions, all dealing with the folly of buying something that one has not seen. In England, from time immemorial, it has been a pig, a young or suckling pig in a bag, for in ancient days the term “pig” was used only of very young swine, three or four months old, … Read more

The expression “cut out of whole cloth” means wholly false; without foundation of truth. Back in the fifteenth century, “whole cloth” was used synonymously with “broad cloth,” that is, cloth that ran the full width of the loom. The term dropped into disuse along in the eighteenth century, except in the figurative sense. In early … Read more

The incident, in time of war, was not unusual; it was not particularly hazardous; but as dramatized by Elbert Hubbard in the March, 1900, issue of his famous magazine, The Philistine, it fired the imagination as keenly as if it had been an adventure of a knight of King Arthur’s court. The United States, in … Read more

When a lady fair, an American one, rejects her suitor, she gives him the mitten; he gets it. This has been in American usage for at least a hundred years. The Knickerbocker, a New York periodical, back in July of 1847 wondered how the expression had originated, but it seems clear that the intent of … Read more

Despite the contention that the term “Brain Trust” was used as a title to a newspaper article in 1903, the name attained no popularity until 1933. In the previous summer, after his nomination for the presidency by the Democratic party, Franklin Delano Roosevelt surrounded himself with a group of advisers to aid in mapping out … Read more

The phrase “neither hide nor hair” sounds like such a typically western American expression that it is surprising to find that, though American, it is merely the reverse of one so old that it might have been known to Chaucer. The ancient saying was “in hide and hair,” and the meaning was “wholly, entirely.” The … Read more

This expression intrigued me as a youngster; it turned up in all the yarns about the Spanish Main, but was so obscure. Eight what? Actually, there was nothing mysterious about it, the term was merely the plural of the Spanish dollar which, having the value of eight reals, was stamped with a large figure 8. … Read more

The expression “chip of the old block” means one who has the characteristics of a parent, usually a son with those of his father. The expression goes back to the early seventeenth century and, if some of the early sermons of Bishop Robert Sanderson quote it correctly, the original form showed less disrespect to dad. … Read more

Though its reputation has been questioned in recent years, the beaver has been long noted for persistent industry. This reputation gave us the simile, “to work like a beaver,” some two hundred years ago. And, of course, industrious persons have long been likened to the beaver, “So and so is a veritable beaver.” We English-speaking … Read more

Though the expression “sold down the river” is now used with wryful humor, as of a baseball player whose contract is sold to a team of lower rating or of an employee who is transferred to a more humble position than he formerly held, there was a time when it was literal and tragic, when … Read more

The phrase “to pull the wool over one’s eyes” is a very roundabout way of saying to hoodwink, to delude. The expression is said to have originated in the United States, probably because the earliest use of the expression in print that has yet been found is American. But this was in a newspaper, so … Read more

When such a respectable family publication as The Saturday Evening Post gives its sanction to the homely American expression “to be caught with one’s pants down”, notice of its origin may properly be taken. Despite the fact that the appearance of the phrase in the Post is its first in print (1946), so far as … Read more

This is he who “rules the roost,” who permits no doubt of his supremacy. The figurative use is so common, especially as applied to a young dandy strutting along the sidewalk, that we are not likely to wonder why a rooster would be upon a promenade nor how long its cockiness would last if it … Read more

The cocked hat, especially that of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, was permanently out of shape, with the brim turned up along three sides, giving the hat the outline of a triangle. The style was generally affected by officers of both the American and British armies during the Revolutionary War. Undoubtedly the hat was … Read more

Aside from the literal sense, this modern expression “the dog house” is used to mean that a person is undergoing punishment of some sort. It is usually used to denote the treatment, mental or physical, meted out to a man by his spouse for some misdemeanor. Probably the original allusion was to a “gay dog,” … Read more

One would suppose that this warning would be as old as the first hat, but its actual history appears to have been no earlier than the closing years of the nineteenth century. What is kept under the hat, of course, is retained within the head; that is, it remains a secret.

Exploring the phrase ‘up the spout,’ this article unveils not just its meaning and origin but also delves into the fascinating evolution of slang, shedding light on how language transforms and reflects cultural shifts over time.” When we say that something is or has gone “up the spout,” we mean, usually, that plans have gone … Read more

The modern extension of this slang appellation means any person in authority, especially one who has an overbearing manner. Originally the phrase “brass hat” was British army slang; one of the earliest instances of its literary use was by Kipling, in Many Inventions, in 1893, in the story, “In the Rukh.” Soldiers used it to … Read more

We keep one’s fingers crossed, either actually or mentally, when wishing the success of something or hoping that nothing unpleasant will happen or anything will interfere with one’s plans. The expression appears to be wholly American and, probably, of Negro origin. Probably it arose from the superstition that making the sign of the cross would … Read more

Speculation has been rife for centuries over the origin of the common saying “to rob Peter to pay Paul”; every avenue has apparently been explored, but the original allusion is still a mystery. In English it dates back at least to the fourteenth century; the French have a similar saying at least as old, and … Read more

In America we’d say, “in a hell of a hurry,” with the same meaning; but this is a British expression, apparently originating in the British army in India. Possibly Kipling coined it, for he was the first to record it, though he may have been actually quoting army speech. His first usage is in The … Read more

The phrase “a month of Sundays” has become just a glib expression for a long time. But when coined, a hundred years ago, first as “a week of Sundays,” then, in amplification, as “a month of Sundays”, it meant an interminable length of time, especially to a young person, and possibly, if the truth were … Read more

The expression “to hold a candle to someone” is usually in the negative, so-and-so can’t, or isn’t fit to or isn’t able to hold a candle to such and such, and we mean that the party of the first part fares poorly by comparison with the party of the second part. The development of the … Read more

The phrase “manna from heaven” means a windfall; something providential. That is the current figurative use of the expression; but, as any biblical student knows, the real manna from heaven was that spoken of in the sixteenth chapter of Exodus, “a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground,” which provided … Read more

Ghosts, as everyone knows, are invisible, unseen. So it is with the ghost writer; he is the unseen anonymous person who actually writes for hire or love the articles or the speeches that a prominent person gets the credit for having written. Until a decade or so ago such persons, from about 1850, were just … Read more

Red herring is nothing more than herring that has been cured by smoke, a process that changes the color of the flesh to a reddish hue. The herring is intended to be eaten after such curing, but dog trainers learned long ago that red herring had a peculiarly persistent odor and was very useful, if … Read more

“To cut didos” is something that a Britisher doesn’t do. He cuts a caper or otherwise cavorts around. There is nothing to show that George Washington cut any didos, though it is likely that others were doing so during the latter part of his life, for probably the expression was coined about that time. It … Read more

Bartlett, back in 1859, thought that the American phrase “to run into the ground” probably came from hunting, “to express the earthing of a fox or other game.” But because the sense has always been to overdo (a matter), to carry (something) to extremes, Bartlett’s explanation fails to satisfy. In our opinion, the phrase was … Read more

When something has been promised and the promise accepted in good faith, but never fulfilled, he who made the promise has “played fast and loose” with the person to whom it was made; that is, he was not trustworthy. The expression was the name of a game known and played as far back as the … Read more

The phrase “to heap coals of fire on one’s head” means to return good for evil, and thus make the recipient uncomfortable. The passage most often quoted is from the Old Testament, Proverbs xxv, 21, : “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to … Read more

Denoting the acme of speed, than which nothing could be faster. The expression “faster than greased lightning” appears to be one of the instances of American hyperbole about which British visitors to our shores, a century ago, were always complaining, or secretly envying. Our ancestors, in the days of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson, were not … Read more

Originally, the imaginary place known as “the jumping off place” was the edge of the earth, the ultima Thule. From there, one could proceed no farther, other than to leap straight into hell. At least, such appears to have been the thought of our American pioneering forebears in the late eighteenth or early nineteenth century … Read more

A bad egg figuratively is like a bad egg literally, a person, or an egg, that externally appears to be wholesome and sound but, upon closer acquaintance, is found to be thoroughly rotten. By some strange chance this slang usage did not develop until about the middle of the past century, though even Shakespeare called … Read more

The form commonly used is “not to know one from Adam’s off ox,” meaning to have not the slighest information about the person indicated. The saying in any form, however, is another of the numerous ones commonly heard but of which no printed record has been found. But in 1848 the author of a book … Read more

Back in the early sixteenth century when the saying “the fat is in the fire” first came into use the meaning of it was that the project, whatever it might have been, had become wholly ruined. The thought was, we suppose, that meat being broiled upon a spit is ruined by the resulting flame if … Read more