Karen Hill

In the year 43 BC, Roman scholar Marcus Tarentius Varro observed humanity and remarked that even “a dog will not eat dog.” His point was that humans are less principled in the matter of destroying their own kind than other animals. By the sixteenth century, the phrase became a metaphor for ruthless competition. And during … Read more

Saying something without conviction might be called a lie, or you could be accused of “talking through your hat.” Around 1850, an Englishman refused to kneel before sitting in a church pew, a serious breach of religious etiquette. Instead, he whispered a prayer while covering his mouth with his hat before sitting down. This shocked … Read more

If something isn’t all it was cracked up to be, then it’s less than advertised, it’s a disappointment. Crack began as the verb “to praise or boast” in the fifteenth century and today is often used as a noun. For example, you might be cracked up by a good wisecrack. In the South, a cracker … Read more

If you cross someone, you’re cheating him. A double-cross means you are cheating both your employer and the one you’ve been hired to deceive. In the 1800s, Thackeray described a fixed horse race in Vanity Fair where the jockey who was prearranged to lose was instead allowed to win, costing the gamblers a fortune. Because … Read more

To be “on the ball” means to be at the top of your game. We have all heard a pitcher’s excuse of not having his “stuff” after a bad outing and wondered how that excuse would work with our bosses if we had a bad day. From the early days of baseball, when a pitcher … Read more

Someone with the “upper hand” has the final say over a situation. When a group of youngsters gather to pick sides at a game of sandlot baseball, the two captains decide who chooses first when one of them grasps the bat at the bottom of the handle. The captains take turns gripping the bat one … Read more

“Take a powder” is a tough way of telling someone to get lost or get out of here and began as a rude dismissal of women. The expression was popularized in the gangster movies of the 1930s. When a tough guy was having a private conversation that he didn’t want a woman to overhear, he … Read more

To strike while the iron is hot means to act quickly before an opportunity is gone. In medieval Europe, blacksmiths worked red-hot iron by hand from a forge. They shaped the heated metal with a hammer before it cooled, so they needed to work quickly, because as the iron cools it becomes brittle and impossible … Read more

The expression about skeletons in a closet comes from a fairy tale about Bluebeard the pirate, who, legend has it, murdered all his many wives. When he gave his new wife the keys to the house, he forbade her to open a specific closet at the end of a long hall, which, of course, she … Read more

Being “on the lam” means to be on the run and became popular in the American underworld near the end of the nineteenth century. Lam is from the Viking word lamja meaning “to make lame” and was used in England during the sixteenth century as “a sound beating.” The words lame and lambaste are related. … Read more

Sometimes the truth is obscured within the written text of a letter, and so we must “read between the lines.” Centuries ago it was discovered that by writing a secret message between the lines of a normal letter with lemon juice, the real message would stay transparent until the document was heated over a flame. … Read more

After John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Lincoln at the Ford Theater, he broke his leg while leaping from the balcony and onto the stage. During his escape, Booth stopped in at the home of a country doctor for treatment. That doctor’s name was Mudd. Although he claimed no knowledge of Booth’s crime, Dr. Mudd was … Read more

The word “catchword” is from the world of print. Two hundred years ago, the last word on a page to be turned began being routinely repeated at the top of the next page to smooth the transition. Newspapers followed by repeating the last word of an article when it was picked up deeper into the … Read more

To choke is to restrict airflow, whether to human lungs or the carburetor of a car. In ancient times, the guilt or innocence of an accused robber was established by making him swallow a piece of barley bread over which a Mass had been said. He had to do this while repeating words from that … Read more

There are gossipmongers, warmongers, scandal-mongers, hate-mongers, and many others to whom we show extreme disrespect by adding the perceived curse monger to their action. Yet when the word stands alone it isn’t that severe. From the old English word mangian, mong simply means “to peddle, sell, or barter,” so a fishmonger sells fish, while a … Read more

The phrase is an allusion to a well-known puzzle where one has to connect nine dots, arranged in a square grid, with four straight lines drawn continuously without pen leaving paper. The only solution to this puzzle is one where some of the lines extend beyond the border of the grid, or box. This puzzle … Read more

If everything is great then it’s hunky-dory, while a honcho is a big shot, and both words come from Japan. During the First World War, American sailors on leave discovered a Yokohama street named Huncho-dori that provided all the facilities for carnal pleasure. They brought home the name and the good feeling as hunky-dory. The … Read more

Gimmick or gimac, either way it’s spelled, a gimmick is a gadget or idea that gives you an advantage. The second spelling is an anagram of magic. The word comes from the language of professional magicians and means a small, secret device, like a mirror or sliding panel, that makes an illusion possible. Carnival barkers … Read more

After the Romans conquered most of Slavonia, the word Slav became synonymous with subjugated people. Slav gave us the word slave. Slays were given as rewards to Roman warriors and were known by the Latin word for slaves, addicts. If your life is controlled by anything other than your own will, you are a slave … Read more

An author facing writer’s block is overwhelmed by indecision. The word started out in the 1300s as whelm, meaning to overturn or cover. For example, food was preserved by whelming it with another dish, or a capsized ship had been whelmed by the ocean. In the 1600s, over was added to intensify the meaning. Overwhelm … Read more

Today, crossing the threshold signifies a figurative beginning. But a thousand years ago, a threshold was just the floorboard in the doorway of a country cottage. Threshing is the process of separating wheat from the straw. While the wheat was stored, straw, among other things, was used to cover both slate and dirt floors. The … Read more

Each word is a contraction of two words. Byte is a contraction of the words by eight and means eight bits. Half a byte is four bits, or a nibble, depending how you look at it. The word pixel is an abbreviation of picture cell, while modem is a combination of the first letters in … Read more

Longing for someone evolved from long, as in length, around 1000 AD. Around 1300 AD, long began to define a period of time because it seemed forever for someone to travel a great distance when a donkey cart was rapid transit. In this day of jet travel, yearning or longing for someone who is far … Read more

The word “tip” is not an acronym for “To Insure Promptness.” In the 1800s a tip was understood to be a bribe. As insider information, tip first appeared in the seventeenth century and derives from the Low German word tippen, which means “to touch discreetly.” A tip is something confidential, whether given or received, either … Read more

The word magazine is from the Arabic word makhzan, meaning “a place to store arms and ammunition.” The word entered English to describe an ammunition warehouse or the chamber that holds bullets in a loaded gun. In 1731, the word took on its new meaning with the publication of The Gentlemen’s Magazine. It got its … Read more

The title longshoreman goes back to a time when there was very little mechanical help to unload a great sailing vessel, and often there were no port or docking facilities either. Everything was done by hand. Unloading the big ship into smaller rowing boats, then unloading these onto the shore, was hard work and needed … Read more

Referring to young women as birds dates back to the Anglo-Saxons, who used the endearment brid, meaning “baby animal.” The word “brid” is the derivative of bride. Over time, the term created a number of similar words, all of them having to do with young women. During the 1920s, the flapper look was named after … Read more

The odds of winning on a Lotto 6/49 are 1 in 13,983,816, because that’s how many different groups of six numbers can possibly be drawn. This means the odds of winning are about the same as flipping a coin and landing on heads twenty-four times in succession. The odds of winning second place are 1 … Read more

The Ouija board has been around since the fourth century, but the first patent was obtained by a German professor of music in 1854. Parker Brothers purchased the rights in 1966 and published the Ouija board game in 1967. The game begins by asking if any spirits are present, and the desired answer is in … Read more

Spring is a season, but it’s also part of a mattress, an underground water supply, and a surprise attack. The word “spring” derives from sprengh, an ancient Indo-European word for “rapid movement.” It was around 816 AD when spring was first used to mean “rising up,” or the beginning of something. By the fourteenth century … Read more

The word kidnap was first recorded in 1666. It referred to the criminal practice of enticing children or apprentices to come away and be sold to sea captains who took them to British colonies to be sold as slaves, laborers, or indentured servants. Kid was an underworld reference to a child, while nap, a variation … Read more

The Muppets, who’ve had their own television show as well as a series of movies, are best known for their roles on Sesame Street, which first appeared in 1969. After 4,100 episodes, Sesame Street is the longest running television show in history and has received more Emmy Awards than any other show. The Muppets were … Read more

The word paparazzi is a nickname or tag for pushy celebrity photographers. It comes from Frederico Fellini’s 1960 film La Dolce Vita and first appeared in its current use around 1968. In the movie, the character Signor Paparazzo, the singular of paparazzi, was an obnoxious, creepy little man who was despised by the stars. Before … Read more

The word deadpan was first used in print by the New York Times in 1928. It was a description of the great silent film comic Buster Keaton, who was also known as “The Great Stone Face.” The theatrical slang use of pan for face dates to the fourteenth century. Dead, of course, means it’s not … Read more

In 1941, Bob Hawk emceed a radio quiz called Take It or Leave It. Chosen from a live studio audience, the contestants went through seven levels of difficulty, starting at $2 and culminating with a chance at $64. The show’s success inspired a dozen imitators, but the original gave us the expression that stuck: “That’s … Read more

Since the start of the UFO phenomenon in 1947, many who experienced sightings have reported visits from men in black. After approaching Washington claiming that he had proof that flying saucers exist, Albert Bender was visited by three men dressed in black. After the infamous visit by the three men, he became gravely ill and … Read more

Movies used to be shown continuously without a break between features. If someone arrived late for a show they would simply sit and watch for where they came in before leaving. To catch this crowd, and to signify an end to the film as well as chase as many people as possible from their seats … Read more

In the eighteenth century, poker cards were called broads because they were wider than those used for other card games. Around 1912, because they resembled poker cards, tickets of admission, meal tickets, and transit tickets were being called “broads.” By 1914, because they were a different kind of “meal ticket,” pimps began calling their prostitutes … Read more

Confectioner Leo Hirschfield created the Tootsie Roll. He named his chewy chocolate treat after his daughter Clara, whose nickname was Tootsie. The Baby Ruth chocolate bar was named in honor of President Grover Cleveland’s baby daughter, Ruth. Hershey’s named their chocolate treats Kisses because in the factory the machine that dispenses them kisses the conveyor … Read more

The bobby pin got its name in the 1930s, but the inexpensive little wire gadget had become popular with flappers during the “Roaring 20s.” A short haircut for young women came in vogue for the first time in history, and the bobby pin helped keep its shape. The bob in “bobby pins,” like the one … Read more

The word metrosexual was coined in 1994 by writer Mark Simpson. However, it was Simpson’s 2002 article in Salon concerning soccer star David Beckham that introduced metrosexual to everyday use. A metro-sexual is a straight but fastidious and style-conscious urban male whose self-indulgence never keeps him far from his true love, himself.

When William Golding published his classic novel in 1954, he chose a title suggesting a powerful, malevolent, supernatural presence, which he called the Lord of the Flies. Translated into Hebrew, “Lord of the Flies” is Ba’ al zebhubh, which, since the twelfth century in English has been rendered as “Beelzebub,” a Catholic reference to the … Read more

If someone is “spinning a yam” they are exaggerating the truth. First printed about 1812, the expression is nautical and has nothing to do with domestic spinning. Sailors were required to spend long tedious shifts working in pairs, spinning fibers into the endless miles of rope needed to keep their sailing ship sound. To pass … Read more

When Coca-Cola was introduced in 1886 it was sold as a cure for sore throats, nervousness, headache, colds, neuralgia, and sleeplessness. Like other patent medicines of the time, its formula did include a secret amount of cocaine as well as an extract of cola leaves and kola nuts. As knowledge about the dangers of cocaine … Read more

Roman shoemakers had discovered that the length of three barleycorns equaled one inch. So they used one kernel, or a third of an inch, as a measurement for shoe size. In 1324, King Edward of England decreed that three barleycoms was indeed one inch. In the seventeenth century, children’s shoe sizes were deemed to be … Read more

If something is unacceptable, it’s considered “taboo.” When Captain James Cook visited the Friendly Islands in 1777, he noted in his diary that the Polynesians used the word taboo to signify that a thing was forbidden. Cook and his men carried the word to the rest of the English-speaking world. They didn’t realize that it … Read more

Nicknames are usually pet names of endearment or affection and are derived from a distinct characteristic of or the appearance of the subject. The source is the Old English word eke, which means “as well as” or “in addition to.” The linguistic transition to nick, meaning “devilish,” came later. To a stranger a nickname signaled … Read more

There is no such thing as a family coat of arms. They were granted only to individuals, and those individuals were exclusively men. A coat of arms can only be used by the uninterrupted line of male descendants of the person to whom it was granted and is a privilege of nobility. The heraldic symbol … Read more

Pants is short for pantaloons, and the item only became a single garment late in its history. Up until the seventeenth century, the legs were covered with two separate sleeves of fabric called “hose,” which were tied to a belt with braces. The open crotch was covered with breeches and a long tunic. The plural … Read more

When someone is “looking for dirt,” or scavenging for scandal in another person’s earlier life, if they dig long enough they’re bound to find something. Of course if you’re scrounging through an attic trunk or old scrapbooks, you too are “digging up the past.” The expression logically comes from the science of archeology. It is … Read more

In medieval Europe, a system of roads was built to speed messages from the heads of state to all corners of the realm. These were called post roads because riders on horseback were “posted” at intervals in a relay system copied by the Pony Express to speed the delivery of the mail. Mail is what … Read more

There were never any snakes in Ireland. The story of St. Patrick banishing snakes from Ireland is a metaphor for the eradication of paganism during the fifth century. St. Patrick did, however, superimpose a circle representing the sun, a powerful pagan symbol, on what is known as the Celtic cross. As for leprechauns, these two … Read more

If you heard Stringer tell Archer point-blank to brace himself for a quarrel, you were probably an archer. Surnames taken from archery include Stringer, Bower, Fletcher, Abbott, meaning, “at the butts”, and of course Archer. Point-blank is the bulls-eye on a French target. “Brace yourself” meant prepare to shoot, while a quarrel is an arrow … Read more

In the Middle Ages, most common people didn’t have a last name. Many of our familiar surnames came from the necessity to distinguish between two people with the same first name by adding their occupation, location, or a physical characteristic. William the tanner and William the blacksmith became William Tanner and William Smith. Poor country … Read more

A potentially dangerous situation was first called a hazard by the western European Crusaders after returning from the Holy Land. It was there that they encountered and were fleeced by unscrupulous local gamblers using loaded or doctored dice. “Hazard” is how they pronounced “al zahr”, which is the Arabic word for dice. In time the … Read more

Spiral staircases originated as a defense mechanism in medieval castles because all knights were right-handed. Southpaws were considered under the Devil’s influence and were automatically disqualified for knighthood. While ascending a clockwise spiral staircase backwards with a sword in his right hand, the defending knight could freely swing his sword arm, while the attacker was … Read more

During the Victorian era, before embalming, there was a great fear of being buried alive. Wealthy men and women arranged to have a string tied to their hands that ran from the buried coffin to a bell on the surface, so that if they awoke they could sound the alarm. The cemetery was busy during … Read more

During the 1920s, while radio was in its infancy, the FCC assigned the letter K to all stations west of the Mississippi and the letter W to all those east of the river. Exceptions were made for stations with established call signs, like KDKA in Pittsburgh, and those affiliated with a network. The other three … Read more

In 1906, George M. Cohan was forced to change one word in his song and anthem to the American flag. The line in the Chorus is, “It’s a grand old flag/it’s a high flying flag…” Though today it’s sung as a tribute to Old Glory, if Cohan hadn’t made the change, the song probably would … Read more

It is said that Yankee comes from an English pirate reference to the Dutch. The Dutch were known for their diet of cheese, which in their own language is Kaas. The Christian name Jan tied to the word Kaas, or JanKaas, pronounced “yan-kas”, was a derogatory English reference to the Dutch who settled New York. … Read more

Legend has it that the word Eskimo was picked up from the Abenaki by European explorers as meaning “eaters of raw meat”. But the word was originally “ayashkinew” and referred to the way they tied their snowshoes. It is not a derogatory word, although erroneously believing this and responding to demands from Eskimo political associations, … Read more

As of 2005, there are five former American presidents not buried in the United States. Ulysses S. Grant is not buried but is entombed in New York, a body is only buried when it’s placed in the ground and covered with dirt. The others are Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and the current … Read more

When the American President enters a room, “Hail to the Chief “is preceded by a fanfare of four drum and bugle ruffles and flourishes. The number of ruffles and flourishes indicates the importance of the person being introduced, not “Hail to the Chief”. The march comes from the English dramatization of Sir Walter Scott’s poem … Read more

The word canuck first appeared in 1835 as a derogatory American reference to French Canadians working in the lumber camps of Maine. Today it means any Canadian and is no longer an insult unless used by non-Canadians to describe our French brothers. It’s most likely a combination of the French word for canoeman, canaque, with … Read more

The American flag has changed twenty-six times since the first official design was approved by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777. Today it consists of thirteen horizontal stripes, seven red alternating with six white. The stripes represent the original thirteen colonies, while the stars represent the fifty states of the Union. The colors of … Read more

Aspirin is the most successful pharmaceutical drug ever produced. Its main ingredient is found in the bark of the willow tree and was known as a pain reliever in 1500 B.C. In 1828, the ingredient salicin was isolated. In 1897 chemist Felix Hoffman developed a synthetic form, known as acetylsalicylic acid, at the Bayer factory … Read more

If your palms sweat when you’re nervous, you can blame evolution. The inside of your hands have more sweat glands than any other part of your body. This is because tens of thousands of years ago, when our primal ancestors were threatened by savage carnivores, the quickest exit was the nearest tree. Stress caused their … Read more

Plastic surgery was first practiced in India around 600 BC when noses that had been amputated as punishment for criminals were reconstructed with skin from the forehead. The word plastic is from the ancient Greek word plastikos, which means “to mold into shape.” The plastic arts include sculpting and ceramics. The modem term “plastic surgery” … Read more

The first reference to a healer as a quack goes back into the sixteenth century. In those days it was common for dubious medicine men to travel from town to town dispensing their miracle cures from the back of a horse-drawn wagon. The quack refers to the meaningless sound of a duck, which had the … Read more

If you say a doctor has given you a clean bill of health, you’re using a nautical expression. The phrase comes from the days when sailing ships were required to obtain a document from local officials at every port of call declaring that they had not been exposed to any epidemic or infectious disease. If … Read more

Before the age of modern epidemiology, attempts to control the outbreak of a contagious disease included an arbitrary forty days of enforced confinement. New and strange diseases were often carried from abroad by ships, so a quarantine of crew and cargo helped discourage epidemics. Forty days was chosen because of its prominence in the Bible. … Read more

When the weather turned bad at sea, the constant rolling of the rough water caused a rocking motion that brought on seasickness. Those passengers affected were taken below deck, because the sway diminishes the lower you get on the ship, especially down near the keel. Those taken below deck because of seasickness were brought “under … Read more

New Year’s Eve is the night of Holy Sylvester, the Pope who converted the Roman Emperor Constantine to Christianity. With the Emperor’s conversion, pagan gods fell from favor but fought back through the souls of the living. To combat their return, during the darkness of New Year’s Eve, people wandered the streets shouting to strangers, … Read more

Kwanza is a seven-day celebration beginning the day after Christmas. It was created in 1966 by Maulana Karenga, chairman of African studies at California State University, and is based on an African winter harvest. Kwanza means “first fruits” in Swahili and celebrates African heritage. On each night of Kwanza, one of several candles is lit … Read more

The Chinese have tied animal names to calendar years for centuries. According to the myth, Buddha invited all the animals on Earth to visit him on New Year’s Day, but only twelve arrived. They were the rat, the ox, the tiger, the hare, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey, the rooster, … Read more

Travelling at about a thousand miles a second, or 3.6 million miles an hour, Santa covers 111 million miles in 31 hours. Within one second he must visit 500,000 homes, which is why we seldom see him. Of course he does have help, and in some cases he delivers presents before Christmas or even works … Read more

From the very beginning of Christmas traditions, January 6, the day of the Epiphany, was the official end of gift giving, and the most popular day of the celebration. Some people still celebrate the Epiphany as being more important than Christmas Day. Regardless, January 6 is the last day of the festival, and that is … Read more

The word Chanukah means “rededication.” Over 2,300 years ago, the Syrians occupying Judea were overthrown by a Jewish army led by Judah Maccabee. The Syrians had desecrated the Jerusalem Temple with their own gods. While cleaning and reclaiming the temple, the Israelites found enough oil to light the eternal lamp for only one day, but … Read more

In the sixteenth century, Germans began decorating fir trees with ribbons, flowers, apples, and colored paper. Inspired by the reflection of stars off branches in the forest, Martin Luther placed lit candles on his indoor tree. After three hundred years of candles, Edward Johnson introduced electric Christmas lights outside his Fifth Avenue home in New … Read more

The celebration of Christmas begins with Midnight Mass, and the calendar date is December 25. But every Christian knows that the reverence begins on Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve comes directly from the Jewish custom of beginning religious rituals with ceremonies starting at sundown. In other words, the evening before the holy day with candles and … Read more

Early scholars believed that prophets died on an anniversary of their birth. Once they established Good Friday as either March 25 or April 6, they reasoned that Christ’s incarnation was nine months later, which would be either December 25 or January 6. The choice was not simply to comply with pagan superstitions. In 386 AD, … Read more

The ancient Germanic peoples celebrated the winter solstice with a feast day for the pagan sun god Jul. It is still the preferred Scandinavian reference to Christmas and survives in our Yule log. Fearing the sun god had disappeared during the year’s longest night, a vigil was held from dusk to dawn. The Yule log … Read more

In 1865, inspired by a horseback trip from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, Reverend Philip Brooks of Philadelphia composed a poem. He eventually showed it to Lewis Redner, the organist at the Church of the Holy Trinity, wondering if he could put the words to music. Redner was stumped, that is, until Christmas Eve, when it came … Read more

On Christmas Eve in 1817, when Father Joseph Mohr of St. Nicholas Church in Arnsdorf, Austria, found that a mouse had chewed through the bellows of his church pipe organ, he rushed to the home of music teacher Franz Gruber. The two men quickly wrote a musical piece, hoping it would save the Christmas Mass. … Read more

According to legend, the very first gifts St. Nicholas gave were to three very poor girls who needed money for their wedding dowries. On Christmas Eve they hung their stockings to dry by the fireplace. St. Nicholas slipped in at night and left gold coins in each of their stockings so they could marry the … Read more

December 21 is the day of the winter solstice, the year’s shortest day and longest night. It’s known as St. Thomas Day, commemorating the last apostle to be convinced of Christ’s resurrection. On this day a bowl of nuts and fruits is put on display to ensure prosperity in the new year, and by sharing … Read more

Xmas has its roots legitimately grounded in the Greek word for Christ, which is Xristos. In the sixteenth century, Europeans adopted the first letter from Xristos as an initial for Christ’s name. And even though the practice had been common among the early Christians, some North Americans, not understanding the Greek language, mistakenly took the … Read more

The twelve days of Christmas are the days separating December 25 and the Epiphany. Also known as the date of Christ’s baptism, which is on January 6th, the Epiphany is the legendary date that the three Wise Men visited the stable with their gifts. It was once the custom to pile up gifts on December … Read more