Karen Hill

Jules Leotard was the inspiration for the song “The Man on the Flying Trapeze.” He made his first public appearance in 1859 with the Cirque Napoleon and began a career of trapeze stunts that made him the toast of Europe. Leotard invented a one-piece, skin-tight garment to free his movement and display his physique. The … Read more

If a gambler bets one dollar at a time at a craps table, the odds of winning a thousand dollars before losing a thousand dollars are one in two trillion. That’s a two with twelve zeros. If everyone on Earth played this way, betting a dollar at a time until they won or lost one … Read more

Today, Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network is a multi-million-dollar conglomerate. But when they first went on the air in 1961, Robertson’s refusal to seek commercial revenue meant that only prayer and telethons kept them going. At the time, Robertson told his audience that a club of seven hundred viewers contributing ten dollars each per month … Read more

The Turkish city of Byzantium was dedicated to the goddess Diana, whose symbol was the crescent moon. In 330 A.D., Constantine rededicated the city to the Virgin Mary and added her symbol, the star. The symbol was common on the arm of Christian soldiers, including Richard I. When Muslims captured the city in 1453, they … Read more

Today we often refer to anything elusive and sought-after as a “Holy Grail” because from the Crusaders to the present, the search for the original Holy Grail has consumed Christendom. The “grail,” or bowl, in question was used by Christ at the last supper and disappeared after his crucifixion. Legend has it that the Holy … Read more

The Greek philosopher Plato observed his teacher Socrates’ great but non-sexual love for young men, and concluded that the purest form of love exists only within the mind. Ideal love’s perfection is spiritual, and that perfection is often destroyed by a sexual act. Eventually, Plato’s philosophy on love was expanded to include women. “Platonic love” … Read more

If someone has “had the biscuit,” they’re definitely done, regardless of the circumstances. The expression has its origins in a Protestant allusion to the Roman Catholic sacrament of Extreme Unction. Biscuit is a contemptuous reference to the host, the sacramental wafer used by Catholics during the issuing of the last rites to a dying person. … Read more

This phrase and others like it, for example “For Pete’s sake”, are euphemisms for the phrases “For the love of God/Christ” or “For God’s/ Christ’s sake” and hail from a time when those phases were considered blasphemous. Nowadays phrases like “For the love of God” are commonly used, but the euphemisms are still used as … Read more

As innocent as it seems today, the expression “holy mackerel” began as a blasphemous Protestant oath against the Friday fish-eating habit of Catholics. The fish was an early symbol of Christianity. Likewise, “holy smokes” is a snide reference to religious incense burning, while “holy cow” is a shot at Hindus who consider cows sacred. “Holy … Read more

The word Godspeed has nothing to do with haste. The archaic meaning of the word speed, as used in this case, meant succeed or prosper. Just as goodbye came from “God be with you,” Godspeed is an abbreviation of “May God speed you” and was first heard in the late fifteenth century. A modern translation … Read more

In 1741, after Handel introduced his majestic Messiah, demand was so great that in order to increase seating gentlemen were asked to leave their swords at home and women were asked to not wear hoops. When England’s King George II first heard the Hallelujah Chorus he rose to his feet in awe, and the entire … Read more

Latinos and Europeans use hand gestures differently than North Americans. Kissing one’s fingertips before directing them toward the object of esteem can be an appreciation of anything from a good wine to a good soccer play. It simply means something is beautiful. The custom comes from the Romans, who kissed their fingertips and then directed … Read more

When we gather at the cenotaph on Remembrance Day it is because a cenotaph is a monument inscribed to honor the dead but which does not contain any remains. An epitaph is inscribed on the tombstone above a grave. Both words and concepts are Greek in origin. Today, the simplest epitaphs are for Catholic clergy. … Read more

A Westerner probably won’t notice the sophisticated use of the bow in Japanese culture. There are four bows, each with a different meaning. The simplest, at an angle of five degrees, means “good day.” A bow of fifteen degrees is more formal and means “good morning.” As an appreciation of a kind gesture the angle … Read more

If you are invited to a stately home for dinner, you are first directed into the parlour. There, through introductions and conversation, you mingle and become acquainted with your host and other guests. The room is called a parlour after the French word “parler”, meaning “to talk.” After the meal, you retire to the drawing … Read more

Near the end of a Jewish wedding ceremony, after the vows have been made, wine is poured into a new glass and a blessing is recited over it by the rabbi. After the couple drinks from the glass, it is placed on the ground and crushed by the groom’s foot. This symbolizes the destruction of … Read more

At the end of the movie Schindler’s List, the cast and some of the survivors visit the graves of those whom Schindler worked with. Each person places a stone on the headstone, where Christians customarily place flowers. This ancient Jewish custom dates back to Biblical times, when stones adorned graves as markers. Today the stones … Read more

Men might cry at weddings, but they have been socially conditioned that as protectors and warriors signs of weakness such as tears invite an attack. There is no such thing as “happy” crying. Psychologists suggest that when people cry at happy endings, they are reacting to the moment when the critical outcome was in doubt. … Read more

Most wedding rituals are to encourage fertility, and so it is with the wedding cake. The tradition began in the Roman Empire with the Romans breaking small cakes of wheat and barley over the bride’s head. Back then, the tradition was a symbol of his dominance in the marriage and over her. During the reign … Read more

Wedd is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning “to gamble,” and there is no greater gamble than marriage. In the days when brides were bartered by their fathers, a deal was reached with a prospective groom through an exchange of either property or cash. A young woman would have been bought and sold for breeding purposes to … Read more

It’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride within twenty-four hours of the wedding ceremony for the same reason that brides wear veils. When marriages were arranged by two families, the groom wasn’t allowed to see or even meet his bride until he lifted her veil after they were married. This way, he … Read more

The expression “through the mill” has nothing to do with a grist or paper mill. It came from legal circles, and in the commercial world it means to have been through bankruptcy. The phrase comes from the original English court, where petitions for discharge of debt due to insolvency were first heard. This special court … Read more

The Roman word for beard is “barba”, which gave us the term barber. Early barbers cut hair and trimmed beards, but they also pulled teeth and practiced medicinal bloodletting. This last procedure required the patient to expose his veins by squeezing a pole painted red to hide the bloodstains. When not in use the red … Read more

In 1976, NOW incorrectly linked the expression “rule of thumb” with a 1782 public statement by an English judge. On his opinion, a man should have the right to beat his wife as long as the stick used was no thicker than his thumb. In fact, the real “rule of thumb” is a reference to … Read more

One of the first things we learn in school is our ABCs, a list of all letters used in the English language. The name comes from the first two letters in the original Greek alphabet, alpha and beta. The triangular mouth of the Nile River was called a “delta” because, like all rivers leading into … Read more

As part of the constellation of Ursa Major, the Big Dipper can be seen the entire year throughout Europe and most of North America. It also becomes brighter as you travel north. The Romans followed the Greeks in naming the seven-star constellation containing the Big Dipper “the Bear,” which in Latin is ursa. In Greek … Read more

When we use moment or jiffy, as in “I’ll be back in a moment” or “She’ll be with you in a jiffy,” we usually mean in an undefined but brief period of time, but in fact, both have a precise length. Although lost through time, a moment was originally an English reference for ninety seconds. … Read more

All spiders create their webs through a liquid secretion that hardens in the air. These webs are nearly invisible, especially to the insects they trap. In modern language, the spider’s web becomes a cobweb only after it collects dust and becomes visible, so the webs are different in name only. The word cob came from … Read more

The original difference between a jackknife and a penknife was size. Both had blades that folded into the handle for safety. The small penknife came first and was carried in a pocket in a sheath and was used for making or repairing quill pens. Pen is derived from penna, the Latin word meaning “feather.” The … Read more

Early mechanical timepieces didn’t have hands. They signaled time with bells. Then one hand was introduced, indicating the hour only, until eventually sophisticated mechanics introduced the more precise minute and then second hands. Because clocks were invented in the northern hemisphere, the hands followed the same direction as the shadows on a sundial. If they’d … Read more

The word “triage” is from the French word “trier”, meaning to compare and select. It was used in reference to sorting livestock for culling or slaughter. Triage entered medicine during the First World War, when battlefield physicians were overwhelmed with the wounded and dying. The least likely to live were treated last. In modern hospitals … Read more

A leap year has 366 days, with an extra day added to February. Every year divisible by four is a leap year except those completing a century, which must be divisible by four hundred. It’s called a leap year because normally the date that falls on a Monday this year will fall on Tuesday next … Read more

The word gadget first appeared in 1886, the year the French gave America the Statue of Liberty. That same year, a man named Gaget, one of the partners in the French company that had built the Liberty, conceived the idea of creating miniature statues to sell to Americans in Paris as souvenirs. The Americans mispronounced … Read more

The polka dot is a leftover from the polka dance craze that was introduced to America in 1835. Polka is the Polish word for “Polish woman,” but the dance came from Czechoslovakia, just like the song “American Woman” came from Canada. The dance was in vogue up until the end of the nineteenth century, during … Read more

A settee, a divan, and a couch are all parlour furniture designed for sitting. Settee entered the language from the German setlaz, which means simply “seat.” Divan is from the Persian word for “council of rulers” and was given as a name to an armless couch. The word couch originally referred to a bed and … Read more

The word carat comes from the carob bean, which grows on the cerantonia siliqua tree. Each bean is so remarkably near the same size and weight that the ancients used it as a universal measurement for precious stones. There are approximately 142 carob beans, or carats, to the ounce. Each carat is divided into one … Read more

Twilight is defined by the ancient word twi, which means “half” or “between”. So twilight is the time between light and darkness. Dusk is the final stage of twilight and is from the lost English word dox, which meant “dark” or “darker.” The word “evening” comes from the ancient word “aefen”, meaning “late,” and came … Read more

A proper education is an advantage to any mind, but intelligence doesn’t guarantee a formal education. Albert Einstein left school at fifteen after his teacher described him as “retarded”. Thomas Edison dropped out at eight. Up to 50 percent of North Americans born with a genius IQ never graduate high school. They can take comfort … Read more

One of the ancient Celtic traditions of Scotland and Ireland was, in much the same manner as for American slaves, that all the serfs who worked his land used the name of the clan chieftain. In Gaelic, the prefix Mac means “son,” while O means “grandson” or “descendant of.” Both were used to keep track … Read more

A shindig, a shebang, and a shillelagh are all from Irish expressions. Shindig comes from the fighting Irishman’s habit of digging the steel toe of his boot into his opponent’s shins. Shebang is from shebeen, an Irish reference to an illegal bootlegger. His wooden club took its name from the famous oak trees near the … Read more

George Herbert Walker Bush became the second descendant of passengers on the Mayflower to become president. His son George W. Bush was the third. In 1620, Jane De La Noye was a small girl who arrived in America with her parents aboard the Mayflower. She was the first president Bush’s grandmother eleven times removed. Her … Read more

A Catch-22 is an impossible situation. In Joseph Heller’s 1961 novel Catch-22, the protagonist tries every means possible to avoid flying dangerous missions in order to survive the war. The problem was Catch-22, a regulation that specified that if a man was afraid to fly then he was sane and had to, but if he … Read more

Mojo is a word from the black Creole culture of the coastal regions of South Carolina and Georgia and probably arrived in some form with the slaves from Africa. The word means “magic,” and although it’s had minor sub-cultural use as a jazz reference to drugs and sex, a mojo is a good luck charm … Read more

To the Romans, the pursuit of the healing arts and the distribution of medicine was the highest professional calling possible and therefore could only be ordained by Jupiter. The “R” in “Rx” is from the Latin word recipere, meaning “to have been prescribed” or “to take,” while the small “x” was the god king’s symbol … Read more

Although originating in Roman mythology, many of our names for days of the week came from the Vikings. “Sunday” is a tribute to the sun. “Monday” is a tribute to the moon. “Tuesday” is from the Germanic war god Tiu. “Wednesday” takes its name from the Germanic sky god Woden. “Thursday” is from the Norse … Read more

Delve into the linguistic divergence between Canadians and Americans in the pronunciation of “Z.” Uncover the cultural roots behind this subtle yet significant difference. Key Takeaways: Explore the historical reasons for the distinct pronunciation of “Z” in Canada and the United States. Understand the cultural influences that shaped these linguistic variations. Gain insights into the … Read more

The Romans were well-known for their road building. From their Latin phrase “noun trivium”, meaning a place where three roads meet, there derived a word for insignificant information. At a three-road intersection, traffic would slow and congest, offering a great chance for light gossip and meaningless conversation. So from tri, meaning “three,” and via, meaning … Read more

The word “redhand” goes back to the fifteenth century Scottish people and became “red-handed” within judicial circles in Britain during the eighteenth century. It means that someone has been caught in the act of committing a crime or that there is an irrefutable body of evidence to establish the criminal’s guilt. Its original reference was … Read more

Divorce to the Athenians and Romans was allowed whenever a man’s like turned to dislike. In the seventh century it was recorded that Anglo-Saxon men could divorce a wife who was barren, rude, oversexed, silly, habitually drunk, overweight, or quarrelsome. Throughout history, in societies where men were paid dowries, divorce favored the husband. However, in … Read more

When cars were introduced, crossing city streets became a lot more hazardous than when horse-drawn carriages were the only traffic. New safety laws were introduced, and anyone ignoring them was considered a country bumpkin. In the early part of the twentieth century, unsophisticated rural people were often referred to as “jays,” as in just another … Read more

The scot in “scot-free” has nothing to do with Scotsmen. As a matter of fact, the archaic word scot was borrowed from the Norse and meant a contribution of tax or treasure. Used in its present sense, scot first appeared in English in the thirteenth century, and its use with free became common in the … Read more

Rap surfaced as a word imitating sound in the fourteenth century. Among other things, it perfectly describes the noise made by someone knocking, or “rapping,” at the door. In the criminal sense it’s the rap of a judge’s gavel sounding the end of a trial that gave us such phrases as “a bad rap” and … Read more

The term “grandfather clause” means something is exempt if in practice before a new law forbids it. It comes from a legal trick used by the Southern States to keep former slaves from voting. A law was introduced requiring the passing of a literacy test before anyone, black or white, could vote. The only exemptions … Read more

Loops were originally holes in the thick stone walls of a medieval fortress. Some of these holes were small and used for observation. Others were slits that widened on the inside, enabling an archer to safely shoot out arrows during a siege. Finally, these walls had larger, hidden loops or openings through which it was … Read more

Seventeenth-century English law used a unique way to settle the contested division of an estate. The executor divided the estate into the number of heirs, then wrote down each parcel of land in the estate on an individual scrawl. To keep it secret, each scrawl was then covered by wax and made into a ball, … Read more

Before there were trials by jury, there were trials by ordeal. The ordeal depended on the crime, but if it carried the death penalty the accused could find himself in hot water. The defendant was forced into a large cauldron of boiling water, and if he survived he was clearly innocent, but on the other … Read more

When the Arab Moors invaded Spain in the eighth century they brought with them profound cultural and creative concepts that influence that country to this day. For example, when the matador skirts the bull in their life and death ballet, the Spanish crowd cries ole, which evolved from the Arabic word Allah. Twenty miles from … Read more

Thomas Jefferson used the letter “S” with two lines through it to symbolize a dollar in a document. It is in that document that he suggested the dollar as the primary unit of American currency in 1784. Prior to this the symbol was in use for the peso throughout Latin America. Consequently, the most widely … Read more

The word “bank” comes from the Italian word “banca”, meaning “bench,” over which medieval moneylenders did business in the streets of Venice. If he became insolvent, the law intervened and broke the lender’s bench, which in Italian is banca rotta. the word “rotta” referred to the broken bench, but another figurative word in use for … Read more

Embark on a linguistic journey as we unravel the origins and meanings behind the phrase “foot the bill.” Delve into the fascinating history that shaped this common expression. Key Takeaways: Discover the historical roots of the phrase “foot the bill.” Understand the evolution of its meaning in contemporary language. Gain insights into how this expression … Read more

In medieval England, pots and dishes were made from a clay known as “pygg,” and it was common practice to save spare change in a kitchen pot. Around 1600, an English potter who was unfamiliar with this custom was asked to make a pygg bank. He misunderstood, and thought it was supposed to be a … Read more

Most nursery rhymes were never intended for children. For centuries, these ballads came from bawdy folk songs or spoofs on social issues of the day, often sung or recited as limericks in local taverns. “Nursery” wasn’t used to describe them until efforts were made in the nineteenth century to clean them up as children’s lullabies. … Read more

The famous American patriotic song “Yankee Doodle” actually began as an English song of derision against the colonists. At the time there was a Macaroni Club in London which catered to foppish, wealthy young men who copied everything Italian, including sticking a feather in their caps, which to many became the sign of a “sissy.” … Read more

In the song “Loch Lomond,” two wounded Scottish soldiers are in a foreign prison. One will be set free, but the one speaking is to be executed. When he says, “You take the high road and I’ll take the low road,” he’s referring to the Celtic belief that if a man dies in a foreign … Read more

In the tenth century, Guido d’ Arezzo was having trouble teaching monks their Gregorian chants. So he replaced the A, B, C music scale with sound symbols which we now know as Do, Re, Mi. He could point to a spot where he had written them on his hand and the monks would know exactly … Read more

In the first draft of his 1851 song “The Old Folks At Home,” Stephen Foster’s river was the Pedee. But that didn’t work so he searched an atlas and found the Suwannee River, which he shortened to Swanee. In 1919, Gershwin and Irving Caesar reused the name in the Jolson classic and made the Swanee … Read more

A friend in need could be someone in trouble who needs your help and indeed becomes your friend in order to get it. But the phrase is usually interpreted as meaning a friend who stands with you during a difficult time. But if you accept that “in deed” is two words instead of one, it … Read more

The noble expression about how you play the game is a Greek historian’s fifth-century B.C. reference to the Olympians. He wrote, “Tis not for Money they contend, but for Glory”. The phrase resurfaced in 1927 when the great sportswriter Grantland Rice wrote, “For when the great scorer comes to write against your name, He marks … Read more

The nursery rhyme in which “Humpty Dumpty has a great fall” dates back to 1493 and refers to King Richard III of England. Richard had a hump on his back and had been dumped by his mount in the thick of battle when he cried, “My kingdom for a horse” before being slain. The last … Read more

The children’s nursery rhyme “Mary, Mary, quite contrary” is about Mary, Queen of Scots, and emerged during her struggle for power with Queen Elizabeth I. The “pretty maids all in a row” were her ladies in waiting, the Marys: Seaton, Fleming, Livingston, and Beaton. The cockleshells were decorations on an elaborate gown given to her … Read more

To be “between the Devil and the deep blue sea” has largely been replaced by being “between a rock and a hard place,” which came out of Arizona and originally meant to be bankrupt. The Devil is the seam of a sailing ship’s hull, which was reinforced to support cannons and was where a board … Read more

The expression “The pot calling the kettle black” first entered a dictionary in 1699 with the explanation, “When one accuses another of what he is as deep in himself.” When kitchen stoves were fired by wood and coal, both the kettle and the pot would become black through time, so both were equally tarnished. Another … Read more

The phrase “Every cloud has a silver lining” originated in a poem written in 1634 by John Milton. Milton tells of a young woman who becomes lost and alone in the woods after being separated from her two brothers. As night falls, her terror is lifted and her prayers answered when she sees a dark … Read more

During the time when the entire family, beginning with the eldest, used the same bathwater, you had to be careful that a child wasn’t still inside when it came time to throw out the dirty water. But the phrase was introduced in 1909 by George Bernard Shaw, who wrote, “Like all reactionaries, he usually empties … Read more

The expression “fast and loose” was a medieval street game played by tricksters in much the same way as a shell game is played today. A coiled belt was laid out on a table with what appeared to be a knotted loop in the center. Then a mark was invited to stab a knife in … Read more

When William Cowper wrote, “Variety’s the very spice of life” in 1785, he was reflecting on the ever-changing fashion of clothes. The idea had been first expressed by ancient writers in different ways, but it was the genius of Cowper that caused “variety is the spice of life” to become an English proverb. Other common … Read more

In 1571 the Church of England introduced thirty-nine articles which clergymen of the church were required to accept before their ordination. An 1872 publication of the British humor magazine Punch suggested that reading these catechisms was tedious and that their meaning could be missed: “If a man, after reading through the thirty-nine articles were to … Read more

Like the stitches in sewing, those in the side from both running and laughing all come from the verb stick. The expression “to stick someone” is over a thousand years old and means “to stab” or “to prod.” The stabbing or sticking of a needle through cloth in sewing is thus called a stitch. And … Read more

In Britain, the phrase “off color” has always indicated that someone might feel under the weather because the color of their skin has changed from its normal hue to pale. In America the expression “off color” has a related but different meaning. When someone says something that is considered sexually shocking or impolite, it will … Read more

The expression “one fell swoop” was introduced by Shakespeare in Macbeth. When Macduff learns that his wife and children have been murdered he exclaims: “What, all my pretty chickens and their dam / At one fell swoop?” Metaphorically, Macduff compares his wife and children to chickens and their murderer to a bird of prey. During … Read more

During the 1930s, the BBC broadcast soccer, or football, games on the radio. As an aid to listeners they published a map of the playing field, which was divided into numbered squares. The commentators would mention the square number of the action after each description of the play. Square one was near the goaltender, so … Read more

Snuff, of course, is a pulverized tobacco that is inhaled through the nostrils. During the eighteenth century in Ireland, it was a common custom to place a dish of snuff inside the coffin so that those at the wake could enjoy a pinch while they said their final farewell. One woman loved the tobacco smell … Read more

The phrase “marking time” is a military command for soldiers in close-order drill to stop their forward progress but to keep their feet moving in precision so they can quickly resume marching on command. Marking time means that although your progress has been temporarily stopped you are fully prepared to continue when the time is … Read more

The phrase “cut and dried” means it’s a finished job and comes from the lumber industry. The two processes for preparing wood for sale are to cut it and then dry it. The same industry gave us the expression “hit a snag,” meaning we’ve got a problem. A snag is a tree trunk stuck on … Read more

First Nations tribes told their history through the elaborate carvings of creatures on tall totem poles. But the idea that the bottom image on the totem pole was the least important is wrong. It originated with comedian Fred Allen, who, in 1941, wrote, “If humorist H. Allen Smith were an Indian he’d be low man … Read more

Years ago, manufacturers of felt hats used mercury to treat the wool, which made it easier to pound the fibers into felt. Mercury poisoning attacks the nervous system, which caused many hatters to develop tremors and then madness. In Alice’s Wonderland tea party, she met not only a Mad Hatter but also another descriptive expression, … Read more

If someone doesn’t care one iota, they don’t care very much. Like the letter “i” in English, an iota is the ninth and smallest letter of the Greek alphabet, and because the English letters “I” and “J” were often confused, iota became jot, with both words meaning something very small. That’s why to “jot something … Read more

If a relationship or a career is going to pot, it means its glory days are over. The expression originated in 1542, long before refrigeration, and came from the urgency to save leftovers from a substantial meal before they went bad. As a metaphor, “going to pot” means that like the leftovers from a great … Read more