Karen Hill

In 1865, Robert Lincoln rushed to his father’s deathbed. Sixteen years later, as Garfield’s secretary of war, he was with that president when he was shot by an assassin. In 1901, Robert arrived in Buffalo for the American Exposition just in time to see President McKinley murdered. After that, Robert Lincoln vowed never again to … Read more

To control rowdiness, a wooden bar was built across early courtrooms to separate the judge, lawyers, and other principle players from the riffraff seated in the public area. That bar, first used in the sixteenth century, is also where the English word barrister came from, for the lawyer who argues the case in court. When … Read more

With the slogan “a true covenantor wears true blue,” the Scottish Presbyterians adopted blue as their color in the seventeenth century during their defense of their faith against Charles I. The instruction came from Numbers 15:38 in the scriptures, which tells the children of Israel to fringe the borders of their garments in ribbons of … Read more

In Northern Ireland during the ninth century, the British introduced a harsh poll tax of one ounce of gold per year on all Irish households. The tax was nicknamed the “Nose Tax” because if a person didn’t or couldn’t pay, he had his nose slit. This cruel but effective procedure gave rise to the expression … Read more

The expression dates back to the English Crown’s first efforts to control the Irish by outlawing their language and customs. But the unruly Irish were just that, and by the fifteenth century the English still controlled only a small area around Dublin, protected by a fortification called “The Pale,” meaning sharp sticks (i.e., impaled). To … Read more

In prehistoric times, executions of condemned prisoners were carried out as sacrificial ceremonies to the rising sun. In the Middle Ages, because the executions were public, they continued to be held early in the day so as not to attract huge crowds. It wasn’t until well into the twentieth century that more enlightened societies brought … Read more

In the early days of criminal justice, punishment was often barbaric. Public hangings and floggings were commonplace, and for lesser crimes, the infliction of public humiliation and pain on the criminal was considered necessary to deter others from committing similar crimes. One such deterrent was to nail the convicted person’s ears to the hangman’s scaffold, … Read more

The Egyptian pharaohs, concerned that courtroom theatrics might influence the administration of justice, established the practice of holding trials in darkened chambers with absolutely no light. That way, the judge wouldn’t be moved by anything but the facts. It’s this principle that inspired Lady Justice, the well-known statue of a woman in a blindfold holding … Read more

In British courts, both judges and attorneys wear wool wigs, a custom that originated in the eighteenth century. The judge’s wig is larger than the lawyer’s, so he’s often called the “bigwig.” When a crafty lawyer wins at trial against all odds, it’s as though the lawyer had blinded the judge with his own wig. … Read more

During a time when the church and the state were equal in government, anyone failing to follow the state religion was burned at the stake. Those who demanded the separation of church and state were considered heretics, and thousands who were caught discussing the issue were burned at the stake. Because of this, whenever there … Read more

When America was fighting for its independence, the British poet Thelwall was arrested after enraging King George with his liberal, seditious support for the colonies. In prison he wrote to his lawyer, “I shall be hanged of I don’t plead my own case,” to which his lawyer replied, “You’ll be hanged if you do!” His … Read more

During the Second World War, airmen introduced the term “he bought the farm” after a pilot was shot down. The expression soon caught on with all the armed services. It meant that if you gave your life for your country, your impoverished family would receive insurance money for your death, which would help pay off … Read more

When you say, “The die is cast,” you are quoting Julius Caesar. In 49 BC, the Roman general stood and thought long before crossing the Rubicon River into Italy with his army, a move that would break Roman law and start a civil war. When he made his decision and moved forward, he said, “Alea … Read more

After 1808 it was illegal for deep southerners to import slaves, and so they were brought down the Mississippi River from the North to the slave markets of Natchez and New Orleans. This gave the northerners a way of selling off their difficult or troublesome slaves to the harsher plantation owners on the southern Mississippi. … Read more

During the American Civil War, a Colonel Bee set up a crude telegraph line between Placerville and Virginia City by stringing wires from trees. The wires hung in loops like wild grapevines, and so the system was called the “Grapevine Telegraph,” or simply “the grapevine.” By the time war news came through the wires it … Read more

In 1801, while second in command of a British fleet near Copenhagen, Horatio Nelson was told that his commander had sent up flags ordering a retreat. Nelson lifted his spyglass to his previously blinded eye and said he couldn’t see the order, and then he ordered and led a successful attack. Nelson’s insubordination became legend … Read more

During the Second World War, Native American paratroopers began the custom of shouting the name of the great Indian chief Geronimo when jumping from a plane. They did this because, according to legend, when cornered at a cliff’s edge by U.S. cavalrymen, Geronimo, in defiance, screamed his own name as he leaped to certain death, … Read more

A deadline is an absolute limit, usually a time limit, and was popularized by the newspaper business, in which getting stories written and printed on time is of ultimate importance. But the expression comes from American Civil War prisoners, who were kept within crude makeshift boundaries, often just a line scratched in the dirt or … Read more

During the Second World War, massive military operations were so huge they were usually fouled up by their sheer weight and size. The frustrated servicemen called them SNAFUs, an acronym for “Situation Normal: All Fouled Up.” Some say that “fouled up” was a polite adaptation for family use. But regardless, the expression snafu lived on, … Read more

During the South Pacific action of the Second World War, American fighter planes’ machine guns were armed on the ground with .50 calibre ammunition belts. The belts measured exactly twenty-seven feet, or nine yards, in length before being loaded into the fuselage. If, during mortal combat, a pilot gave everything he had by firing all … Read more

In the sixteenth century, when an army attacked a walled city or fortress, they would advance by digging a series of trenches for protection until they were close enough to storm the walls. If there was a successful counter-attack, the invaders would retreat by attempting to hold each trench in the reverse order from which … Read more

The country that contributed the most soldiers to fight with the British against Washington was America itself. By 1779, there were more Americans fighting alongside the British than with the colonists. Washington had about thirty-five hundred troops. But because one-third of the American population opposed the revolution, up to eight thousand loyalists either moved to … Read more

In 1683, during a time when all the nations of Europe were at war with each other, the Turkish army laid siege to the city of Vienna. The following year Poland joined Vienna against the Turks, who were ultimately forced to lift the siege in 1689. As a celebration of victory, a Viennese baker introduced … Read more

Machines win modern wars. A 1947 study found that during the Second World War, only about 15 to 25 percent of the American infantry ever fired their rifles in combat. The rest, or three-quarters of them, simply carried their weapons, doing their best not to become casualties. The infantry’s purpose is not to kill the … Read more

All salutes are signals of voluntary submission. Early warriors simply placed their weapons on the ground. But when guns came along, the ritual of firing off or emptying cannons was done to illustrate to approaching foreign dignitaries that they had nothing to fear. In 1688, the Royal Navy regulated the number of guns to be … Read more

The adjective gung-ho comes from the Chinese word gonghe, meaning “work together.” It entered the English language through U.S. Marines who picked it up from the communists while in China during the Second World War. Because the marines admired the fervour of the Chinese leftists in fighting the Japanese, while the rightists under Chiang Kai-shek … Read more

In the seventeenth century, the British borrowed a Dutch army custom of sounding a drum and bugle to signal soldiers that it was time to stop socializing and return to their barracks for the night. The Dutch called it “taptoe,” meaning “shut off the taps,” and the abbreviated “taps” became a signal for tavern owners … Read more

During the Second World War, the U.S. Navy used a phonetic alphabet to clarify radio messages. It began, Alpha, Baker, Charlie, Dog, and went on to include Roger for “R.” Because “R,” or “Roger,” is the first letter in received, it confirmed that the message was understood. On the other hand, “Wilco” is a standard … Read more

War has influenced the slurs in our language more than anything else. For example, when a soldier runs from battle the French say he’s gone traveling “English style,” while the English say he’s on “French leave.” During the Anglo-Dutch wars of the seventeenth century, British insults were that “Dutch courage” came from a bottle. A … Read more

While mounting a jihad against the invading Christian Crusaders in the 1300s, Hassan ben Sabah controlled his command of radical killers with a potion that gave them dreams of an eternity in a garden where young women pleased them to their heart’s content. The potion was from hashish, and these young killers became known as … Read more

Those who side with war have been called “hawks” since 1798, when Thomas Jefferson coined the term war hawk. The description of those who favor peace as doves is from the biblical book of Genesis. When Noah sent a dove over the water to see if it was receding, it returned with an olive leaf, … Read more

Any secret force within an enemy’s midst during wartime is called a fifth column. The phrase comes from the Spanish Civil War, when the general leading the 1936 siege of Madrid with four columns of infantry was asked if four were enough. He replied that he had a fifth column hiding inside the city. Since … Read more

The word scuttlebutt comes from sailors of the British Navy. Nineteenth-century warships had large wooden casks with holes cut in the lid for drinking water. The word scuttle means a hole, like the one created to scuttle a ship, or in this case, the one in the cask. The water cask itself was called a … Read more

In 1852, the HMS Birkenhead was off to war in South Africa when she ran aground and sank off the coast of the Cape. The only useable lifeboats were quickly filled by the 20 women and children on board, while the 476 soldiers lined up on deck to go down with the ship. This is … Read more

Someone who changes sides during a war is called a “turncoat”. The term came from the actions of a former duke of Saxony who found himself and his land uncomfortably situated directly in the middle of a war between the French and the Saxons. He quickly had a reversible coat made for himself, one side … Read more

Sailing under false colors means to sail under the enemy flag, and it was once a legitimate naval maneuver used to get close enough to the enemy for a surprise attack. At the last moment, just before opening fire, the false colors were lowered and replaced by the ship’s “true colors.” Although such deception is … Read more

Although D-Day has become synonymous with the Allied landing on June 6, 1944, in Normandy, it was used many times before and since. The D in D-Day simply stands for “day,” just as the H in H-Hour stands for “hour.” Both are commonly used codes for the fixed time when a military operation is scheduled … Read more

Early warships fired iron cannonballs from a stack piled next to the cannon. To keep them in place, they used a square piece of rust-proof brass with indentations to secure the bottom layer of balls. This plate was nicknamed the monkey. When it got cold enough, the mischievous brass monkey would shrink, causing the balls … Read more

The Etruscans of ancient Italy ritually honoured their dead war heroes by sacrificing the lives of all prisoners seized in battle. After conquering the Etruscans, the Romans borrowed and embellished the ritual by having the prisoners kill each other. They turned the slaughter into public gladiatorial games and declared the spectacle a Roman holiday. The … Read more

In medieval times, during the last feast of the Christmas week, knights of the realm were required to place their hands on a peacock and vow to continue living up to their pledge of chivalry. This was known as the knight’s “peacock vow.” The New Year’s custom of resolving to live a better life originated … Read more

The earliest recorded New Year’s festival was in ancient Babylon in what is now Iraq. Before the introduction of a calendar year, the celebration took place in spring during the planting season. The Babylonian feast was elaborate, lasting eleven days, and included copious drinking and eating in a tribute to the gods of fertility and … Read more

When the time came to honour the patron saint of Ireland’s birthday, church officials gathered solemnly to choose a day. They then realized that most of St. Patrick’s life was a mystery. They finally narrowed his birth-date down to either March 8 or 9, but because they couldn’t agree which was correct. They decided to … Read more

The word Easter comes from the ancient Norse word Ostara, which is what the Vikings called the festival of spring. The legend of a rabbit bringing Easter eggs is from German folklore. It tells of a poor woman who, during a famine, dyed some eggs then hid them in a chicken’s nest as an Easter … Read more

In 270 AD, the mad Roman emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage because he believed married men made for bad soldiers. Ignoring the emperor, Bishop Valentine continued to marry young lovers in secret until his disobedience was discovered and he was sentenced to death. As legend has it, he fell in love with the jailer’s blind … Read more

In German folklore, if it’s sunny when it emerges from hibernation, a groundhog will be frightened by his own shadow and return to his lair. Therefore crops shouldn’t be planted because there will be another six weeks of winter. In fact the groundhog comes out hungry and ready to mate, but if he’s still dozy … Read more

When the Irish introduced Halloween to America, children celebrated with a night of mild vandalism. Their bag of “tricks” included breaking or soaping windows or overturning outdoor toilets. Soon they realized that adults would offer candy or other “treats” to stop these tricks. They then offered the homeowner a choice of giving them goodies or … Read more

During a Spokane, Washington, Mother’s Day service in 1910, a Mrs. Sonora Dodd thought of how she and her five brothers had been raised on a small farm by her single father. She proposed a Father’s Day celebration, but although it caught on locally, it was a political hot potato and didn’t receive permanent recognition … Read more

In 1907 Miss Anna Jarvis of West Virginia asked guests to wear a white carnation to the church service on the anniversary of her mother’s death. But Mother’s Day became increasingly commercial, and Miss Jarvis spent the rest of her life trying to restore its simplicity. The strain of her efforts to stop Mother’s Day … Read more

Up until 1564, the French celebrated New Year’s between March 25 and April 1, but with the introduction of the new Gregorian calendar the festival was moved to January 1. Those who resisted became the victims of pranks including invitations to non-existent New Year’s parties on April 1. Soon the April 1 celebration of a … Read more

In the fifth century, Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, transformed that country from its pagan roots to Christianity. During an outdoor sermon, Patrick was struggling to explain the Holy Trinity when he spotted a shamrock. He used its three leaves to illustrate how the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost grew from a single stem, … Read more

The ancient Celts celebrated October 31 as New Year’s Eve. They called the day “All Hallows Eve.” The Celts believed that on that night, all those who had died in the previous twelve months gathered to choose the body of a living person or animal to inhabit for the next year before they could pass … Read more

In Irish folklore, a supreme con man named Jack, or “Jack-o,” once tricked the Devil himself. Upon his death, his sins barred him from heaven, and because he had once fooled the Devil he couldn’t enter hell. After a lot of begging he finally persuaded Satan to give him one burning ember. Placed in a … Read more

Today, merry, as in “Merry Christmas,” suggests gaiety, a mood for celebration, but its original meaning was quite different. For example, the carol we sing as “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen,” should read “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen.” The word was at least four hundred years old when it was first written down in 1827, … Read more

In the Middle Ages, Christmas banquets started at three in the afternoon, with appetizers and fortified mulled wine followed by ten main courses, and lasted until midnight. Today, over the holidays, North Americans consume about 24 million turkeys and 112 million cans of cranberries. We drink 108 million quarts of eggnog and 89 million gallons … Read more

An early English saying was, “The devil himself dare not appear in Cornwall during Christmas for fear of being baked in a pie.” Historical records show that living creatures from blackbirds to pheasants, from foxes to rabbits, and in one case even a dwarf, were cooked into Christmas pies at temperatures not hot enough to … Read more

Because the golden rings are pheasants and not jewellery, the most expensive item in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is seven swans a-swimming, at US$7,000, followed by ten lords a-leaping and nine ladies dancing. The current price of a partridge in a pear tree is $34, which is the hourly rate for eight maids a-milking. … Read more

In 1939, Robert May, a copywriter for Montgomery Ward, wrote a promotional Christmas poem for that Chicago department store. The main character in the poem was “Rollo” the Red-Nosed Reindeer, but the corporate executives didn’t like that name, nor did they approve of May’s second suggestion, “Reginald.” It was May’s four-year-old daughter who came up … Read more

The term “white elephant” comes from ancient Siam, where no one but the king could own a rare and sacred albino, or white, elephant without royal consent. The cost of keeping any elephant, white or otherwise, was enormous. So when the king found displeasure with someone he would make him a gift of a white … Read more

When someone “gets your goat,” it usually means you’ve lost your temper or become angry enough to be distracted. It’s a term that came from a horse trainer’s practice of putting a goat in a stall with a skittish racehorse to keep him calm before a big race. An opponent or gambler might arrange for … Read more

The expression “kangaroo court” came out of Texas in the 1850s. It meant that the accused’s guilt was predetermined and that the trial was a mere formality before punishment. Kangaroo was a Texas reference to Australia, a former British penal colony where everyone had been guilty of something. So if a convict were accused of … Read more

Beginning in the Middle Ages, Boxing Day was known as St. Stephen’s Day in honour of the first Christian martyr. Although unknown in the United States, Boxing Day is still observed in Britain, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. It’s called “Boxing Day” because on the day after Christmas, the rich folks boxed up gifts to … Read more

A “stool pigeon” is someone who betrays a group or cause to which he or she belongs. In their efforts to attract passenger pigeons, hunters would tie or nail a single pigeon to a stool and wait for a flock to be drawn to the cries of the desperate bird. Then, as they approached, the … Read more

The furlong is an ancient British unit of measurement, literally meaning the length of a furrow. It’s the distance a horse can pull a plow without resting, which was calculated at exactly 220 yards, or 201.168 metres. When the Romans introduced the mile to Britain, it was changed in length to accommodate a tidy eight … Read more

An eighteenth-century proverb mocks the man who “sells the bearskin before catching the bear.” A “bearskin speculator,” like the man in the proverb, sold what he didn’t yet own, hoping that the price would drop by the time he had to pay for it. “Bulls” speculate, hoping the price will rise. The analogies come from … Read more

The phrase charley horse has its roots in baseball. At the beginning of the twentieth century, groundskeepers often used old and lame horses to pull the equipment used to keep the playing field in top condition. The Baltimore Orioles had a player named Charley Esper, who, after years of injuries, walked with pain. Because his … Read more

Before cockfighting was banned in 1849, individual birds were often fitted with sharp steel spurs, giving them an advantage in mortal combat. They were “well heeled.” In the nineteenth century, the expression became slang for anyone armed with a weapon. Then, around 1880, the term began to mean anyone who was well-off financially and who … Read more

Sam Flynn, a traveling Tennessee horse trader, often found a horse race planned in the same town as an auction. So he mixed a coal black racing stallion named Dusky Pete in with his workhorses, then quietly entered him in the local races and wagered heavily on Dusky Pete, who would invariably win. As word … Read more

In the days before automobiles, the streets were filled with horse-drawn carriages, and these animals quite naturally left behind deposits from their digestive systems. These emissions contained half-digested oats that attracted swarms of birds, which took nourishment from the deposits. The people of the time coined the expression “for the birds” as meaning anything of … Read more

The term scapegoat or escape goat entered the English language with William Tyndale’s translation of the Hebrew Bible in 1525. Under the Law of Moses, the Yom Kippur ritual of atonement involved two goats. One was sacrificed to the Lord, while all the sins of the people were transferred to the other. The scapegoat was … Read more

Thomas Hobson lived between 1544 and 1631 and was the owner of a livery stable in Cambridge, England. He was a very stubborn man whom Seinfeld might have called the “Livery Nazi” because, regardless of a customer’s rank, he would rent out only the horse nearest the stable door. Hobson became famous for never renting … Read more

During the famous Scopes trial in 1925, a Tennessee schoolteacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of breaking that state’s law by teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution rather than the Biblical origins of mankind. The trial was a sensation and astonished many who had never heard that humans might be related to the apes. And it … Read more

It’s considered rude to examine a gift for value, and the expression “Never look a gift horse in the mouth” means just that. The proverb has been traced to St. Jerome, who in 400 AD wrote a letter advising a disgruntled recipient of a gift of a horse to accept it in the spirit given … Read more

A 1760 book titled The Life and Adventures of a Cat became so popular that from then on, all un-neutered male cats were called “Tom” after the book’s feline hero. A female cat that has procreated is called a “queen,” a title easily understood by any cat lover. Legend has it that one such cat … Read more

In prehistoric China, for hygiene and safety reasons dogs weren’t allowed inside the city walls. It was also forbidden to dispose of garbage within the city, and so the designated dump outside the walls was where the stray dogs found food. When undesirables and criminals were banished from the city and forced to compete with … Read more

If left to their own devices, cows in pasture will regularly show up at the barn for milking twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. The expression “’til the cows come home” first appeared in the sixteenth century when most people were familiar with the cycles of farm life. It … Read more

A “red herring” is a false clue leading detectives off the track during a criminal investigation. The term comes from a practice once used to train police dogs. When herring is smoked it becomes red, and when the young dogs were being trained to follow a scent, the trainers tossed smoked fish around to test … Read more

During the winter of 1812, while Napoleon’s army was retreating from Russia, the only available food was stale, dark bread. Although his men were dying from hunger, Napoleon ensured that his great white horse, Nicholl, always had enough to eat. This decision caused the soldiers to grumble that although they were starving there was always … Read more

Grace Hopper led the team that developed the first large-scale computer for the American Navy in 1945. After troubleshooting an unexplained problem for days, they finally found the cause to be a two-inch bug, a moth, that had gotten stuck in the relay system. And that’s how the term bug was coined. From then on, … Read more

Whether it’s a strike or an oil well, the word wildcat describes anything that is considered risky and has a good chance of failing. It comes from a time before regulations when state banks like the Bank of Michigan issued their own money. That bank’s notes had a panther on the face and were called … Read more

In the Middle Ages, people treated a dog bite with the ashes of the canine culprit’s hair. The medical logic came from the Romans, who believed that the cure of any ailment, including a hangover, could be found in its cause. It’s a principle applied in modem medicine with the use of vaccines for immunization. … Read more

In ancient times, just as today in third-world societies, dogs lived miserable lives with little or no human care. This led to the expressions for hard-times such as, “it’s a dog’s life,” “sick as a dog,” and “dog-tired.” As for the proverb “Every dog has his day,” it was first recorded as an epilogue after … Read more

The suggestion that storks delivered babies came from Scandinavia and was promoted by the writings of Hans Christian Andersen. Storks had a habit of nesting on warm chimneys and would often lift articles from clotheslines then stuff them into these nests. To children this looked like they were stuffing babies down the flue. The stork … Read more

The term nest egg usually refers to savings that compounds or grows with interest or through investments. The expression is an old one and comes from a trick poultry farmer’s use to increase a hen’s egg-laying ability. By placing a false egg, often a doorknob, in her nest, the farmer fools the chicken into laying … Read more

The thousand-year-old expression “bringing home the bacon” came from a common British competition of trying to catch a greased pig at a country fair. But the first time it was recorded and entered into modern use in North America was in 1910, when, after her son won a championship fight, Jack Johnson’s mother told the … Read more

Twenty-four hundred years ago, because roosters heralded the sunrise and hens squawked before laying an egg, the Etruscans thought they were soothsayers. Because the sacred fowl’s collarbone resembled a human groin, it was believed to have special powers and was called a wishbone. The Romans introduced the custom of two people pulling on the wishbone … Read more

A horseshoe’s charm comes from the legend of Saint Dunstan. Because of Saint Dunstan’s talent as a blacksmith, he was asked by the Devil to shoe his cloven hoof. Saint Dunstan agreed, but in carrying out the task, he caused the Devil such pain that he was able to make him promise never to enter … Read more

Today, a tombstone is a tribute marking someone’s final resting place. But the custom began within ancient fears that the departed spirit might rise from the grave to search out and inhabit the body of a living person. To prevent this, the coffin was nailed shut, a heavy stone was placed on its lid, and … Read more

Any group of birds, goats, or sheep can be referred to as a flock, but each feathered breed has its own proper title. Hawks travel in casts, while it’s a bevy of quail, a host of sparrows, and a covey of partridges. Swans move in herds, and peacocks in musters, while a flock of herons … Read more

The expression “frog in your throat” doesn’t come from sounding like a frog because you have a cold or sore throat. It originates from an actual Middle Ages medical treatment for a throat infection. Doctors believed that if a live frog was placed head-first into a patient’s mouth the animal would inhale the cause of … Read more

As man’s first food seasoning, and later a food preservative and a medicine, salt has been a precious commodity for ten thousand years, so spilling it was costly as well as bad luck. This superstition was enhanced by Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper, within which Judas has spilled the table salt as … Read more