Language

The poem and nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb” was written in 1830 by Sarah Hale, the editor of Godey’s Ladies Magazine. She was inspired after watching young Mary Tyler’s pet lamb follow the girl to school, which, of course, was against the rules. The poem became immortal more than fifty years later when … Read more

At a time when King Henry VIII was confiscating church property, one monk appeased the king with the gift of a special Christmas pie. Inside the crust were deeds to twelve manor houses secretly offered in exchange for his monastery. The steward who carried the pie to London was Jack Horner, who along the way … Read more

Although it’s known as the Mona Lisa, Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting was originally titled La Giaconda. Painted on wood, it’s a portrait of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine merchant. X-rays reveal that Leonardo sketched three different poses before settling on the final design. The painting of Lisa has no eyebrows because it … Read more

Because the lyrics in the Kingsmen’s 1963 recording of the song “Louie, Louie” were unintelligible, people thought they were dirty, and although they weren’t, a U.S. congressional investigation assured the song’s enduring success. Since being sold by its author, Richard Berry, for $750 in 1957, “Louie, Louie” has been recorded by nearly one thousand different … Read more

The song “Happy Birthday” began as “Good Morning Dear Children” and was written by educators Mildred and Patty Hill in 1893. In 1924, a publisher changed the opening line to “Happy Birthday to You” and it became a ritual to sing the song to anyone celebrating his or her birthday. In 1934, after hearing the … Read more

The expression “blonde bombshell,” often used to describe a dynamic and sexy woman with blonde hair, came from a 1933 movie starring Jean Harlow. Hollywood first titled the film Bombshell, but because it sounded like a war film, the British changed the title to Blonde Bombshell. It originally referred only to the platinum-haired Miss Harlow, … Read more

There hasn’t been a movie made in Hollywood since 1911. Fed up with ramshackle sets and the chaotic influence of hordes of actors and crews, the town tossed out the Nestor Film Company and wrote an ordinance forbidding the building of any future studios. Even so, the magic of the name was already established. So … Read more

Since 1928, the Academy Awards have been issued by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for excellence in filmmaking. The statuettes were nicknamed “Oscar” in 1931 by Margaret Herrick, a secretary at the academy who, upon seeing one for the first time, exclaimed, “Why it looks just like my uncle Oscar.” Her … Read more

In 1940, Warner Bros. asked its illustrators for sketches of a “tall, lanky, mean rabbit” for a cartoon titled “Hare-urn Scare-urn.” Someone in the office labelled the submission from cartoonist “Bugs” Hardaway as “Bugs’ Bunny” and sent it on. Although his drawings weren’t used, the words that labelled them were given to the rabbit star … Read more

The classic tale of Dorothy in the land of Oz came from the imagination of L. Frank Baum, who made up the story for his son and a group of children one evening in 1899. When a little girl asked him the name of this magical land with the Scarecrow, Tinman, and Cowardly Lion, he … Read more

The name Wendy was invented by J.M. Barrie for a character in his 1904 play Peter Pan. The poet W.E. Henley, a close friend of Barrie’s, had a four-year-old daughter, Margaret. And because her father always referred to Barrie as “friend,” she would try to imitate him by saying “fwend” or “fwendy-wendy.” Sadly, Margaret died … Read more

The story of Cinderella was passed along orally for centuries before it was written down by Charles Perrault in 1697. While doing so he mistook the word vair, meaning ermine, for the word verre, meaning glass. By the time he realized his mistake, the story had become too popular to change, and so instead of … Read more

Yellow, meaning cowardly, is actually an abbreviation of yellow dog, an American insult that first appeared in the nineteenth century to describe a cowardly or worthless person. In the early twentieth century, when employers were fighting trade unions, they insisted that new employees sign a pledge never to join a union. This pledge was called … Read more

In 1850, the Pinkerton Detective Agency opened in Chicago with the slogan “We never sleep,” and its symbol was a large wide-open eye. Pinkerton was very effective and criminals began calling the feared operation “the eye.” Pinkerton agents were hired to track outlaws such as Jesse James, the Reno brothers, and even Butch Cassidy and … Read more

When conceived in 1934, Superman was endowed with the strength of ten men, but he couldn’t fly. After being turned down by fifteen syndicators, the Man of Steel took to the air and acquired the needed strength to become a super legend. Some say Superman’s success is within the storyline of his secret identity, whose … Read more

Mortimer was Walt Disney’s original name for a cartoon mouse in the historic 1928 cartoon “Plane Crazy.” When Walt came home and told his wife about the little mouse, she didn’t like the name “Mortimer” and suggested that “Mickey” was more pleasant-sounding. Walt thought about it for a while and then grudgingly gave in, and … Read more

If someone is “born with a silver spoon in his mouth,” it means that he was born into wealth rather than having had to earn it. The expression comes from an old custom of godparents giving the gift of a spoon to a child at its christening to signify their responsibility for its nourishment and … Read more

The word gay comes from the Old French word “gai”, meaning “merry.” It came to mean reckless self-indulgence in the seventeenth century, and it wasn’t until the 1930s that its homosexual connotation came out of the prison system. The expression “gay-cat” meant a younger, inexperienced man who, in order to survive, traded his virtue for … Read more

The Australian actor Errol Flynn had an amazing prowess with the ladies, and of course the tabloids built this into a legend. During the Second World War, servicemen coined the phrase “in like Flynn” either to brag about their own conquests or to describe someone they envied. Flynn said he hated the expression, but his … Read more

Today Moxie is a New England soft drink, but it began as a tonic invented by Dr. Augustine Thompson in 1884 as “Moxie Nerve Food.” Although the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act put an end to its medicinal claims, there are still those who say Moxie gives them energy, and so to be “full … Read more

The British title esquire, like the magazine, has very masculine roots. An esquire was a young man who was a manservant to an armored knight and whose job included holding his master’s shield. With the passing of the knights, esquire was applied to any young man of noble birth who hadn’t yet earned a proper … Read more

In the mid-seventeenth century, young princes and aristocrats were sent off to school with a young servant who would attend classes and receive an education while also attending to his master’s needs. If the master found himself in trouble, the servant would take the punishment for him, even if it were a whipping. He was … Read more

To prefix a person’s name with “the late” certainly signifies that he or she is dead. Although you would be correct in using it only with the name of someone who had died within the past twenty years. The use of the word began with medieval rulers, whose first name often had been passed down … Read more

The expression grass widow originated hundreds of years ago in Europe where summers were unbearably hot. Because grass was scarce in the lowlands, husbands would send their wives and children, along with their resting workhorses, up into the cooler grassy uplands while they stayed in the heat to till the land. It was said that … Read more

Most men call their wives their “better half’ because they believe it, but the expression comes from an ancient Middle Eastern legend. When a Bedouin man had been sentenced to death, his wife pleaded with the tribal leader that because they were married, she and her husband had become one, and that to punish one-half … Read more

In medieval times the marriage bargain held men responsible for the physical labor outside of the home, while the women provided nourishment and comfort inside. A distaff was a rod used to hold wool during weaving and became a symbol of honor and respect to the value of a woman’s work toward the family’s well-being. … Read more

Some say that during the Mexican-American war at the end of the nineteenth century, locals heard the invaders singing “Green Grow the Lilacs” and simply picked up the term “gringo” from “green grow.” Others say that because the American uniforms were green, the expression came from a rallying cry: “Green, go!” But, in fact, gringo … Read more

During the Roman Catholic proceedings leading to the assignment of sainthood, a specific individual is given the job of investigating the candidate and the validity of any associated miracles. He then argues vehemently against the canonization by denigrating the potential saint on behalf of the devil. His official Vatican title is the “Devil’s Advocate.” The … Read more

In the nineteenth century, Samuel A. Maverick was a stubborn Texas rancher. Because he said it was cruel, he refused to brand his cattle even though it was the only way to identify who owned free-range livestock. Instead he would round up all the unbranded cattle he could find, even those not from his own … Read more

After her first, or “freshman,” year, a college student is called a “sophomore,” and has been since the description emerged at Cambridge in 1688. The word is constructed from the Greek sophos, meaning wise, and moros, meaning foolish. So a second-year student is somewhere between ignorance and wisdom. Similarly, when we say something is “sophomoric,” … Read more

The word shift means to change or rearrange, which is why we call those who work during differing blocks of time “shift workers.” This use of the word shift also applies to an individual’s ability to change or adapt. Therefore, if you’re “shiftless” you lack the initiative or resources to change with the circumstances. The … Read more

As a boy, Benjamin Franklin was sharpening tools in his father’s yard when a stranger carrying an axe came by and praised the boy on how good he was with the grindstone. He then asked Franklin if he would show him how it would work on his own axe. Once his axe was sharpened, the … Read more

A rookie is anyone new to an organization requiring teamwork and whose lack of experience may cause errors. The word originated in the American military during the Civil War when massive numbers of young and untrained soldiers were rushed into battle, causing major problems with discipline. The veterans called these incompetents “reckies,” an abbreviation of … Read more

The name of a twelfth-century monk, Lambert de Begue, whose followers wandered the French countryside depending on handouts, gave us the verb to beg. When in 555 AD the Roman general Belisarius was stripped of his rank and wealth, he became one of history’s most notable beggars, and his frequent cry, “Don’t kick a man … Read more

When the early Normans brought fire indoors they built semicircular open fireplaces. To keep warm at night or when the air was cool, the family would sit in a semicircle opposite the one formed by the hearth, creating a complete circle where they would spend time telling stories or singing songs within what they called … Read more

The word freelance came out of the period between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries. The term originated when mercenary knights with no particular allegiance would take their lances into battle for the prince or state that paid them the most money. They were referred to as freelancers by authors in the nineteenth century and operated … Read more

A buff is someone with a keen interest in a subject that is not related to his or her profession. The term was coined by New York firemen, who were often hindered by crowds who gathered at fires either to help or stand around and criticize. At the time, around 1900, most winter coats worn … Read more

In the days of feudalism, when noblemen gathered for a meal in the castle, those of higher rank sat at the head of a T-shaped table, and the rest sat in order of diminishing importance away from them. For such occasions a yard-long loaf of bread was baked, and the honor of making the first … Read more

Tin Pan Alley is an actual place in New York City. It’s the nickname for the side streets off Times Square, where for generations music publishers have auditioned new songs. The name came from the late 1800s, when the awful sound of cheap tinny pianos coming through the open office windows of hundreds of publishers … Read more

In the 1800s, when the American West was first opened, the early pioneers were offered free land east of the Rockies. But to ensure fairness, they could only stake out forty acres after a race to the region on a specific date and time. Those heading for Oklahoma who jumped the gun and settled on … Read more

If you wish to gain esteem and avoid grief, then it’s wise to respect the customs of the majority within any culture you may find yourself. When St. Ambrose was sent on a mission to Rome by St. Augustine, he was concerned about which holy day to observe since the Romans fasted on a different … Read more

The word chauvinism originally meant excessive patriotism and came from the name of Nicolas Chauvin, a French general who was known for his extreme devotion to Napoleon Bonaparte. “Male chauvinism” became a description of a man preoccupied with masculine pursuits during the 1950s, and the word pig, borrowed from a slur on policemen, was added … Read more

It’s a myth that the camp followers of Union General Joseph Hooker gave us the popular euphemism for a prostitute. It’s true they were called “Hooker’s division,” or “Hooker’s reserves,” but the word predates the American Civil War as, of course, does the profession. It first appeared in 1845 as a reference to an area … Read more

The nickname “Dixieland” didn’t come from the Mason-Dixon Line, the boundary between the free and the slave states. Rather it’s from the word dixie, which was what southerners called a French ten-dollar bank note of New Orleans that was already in use in 1859. Back then, Daniel Emmet, a northern black man, wrote and introduced … Read more

In the tenth century, in an effort to stop hostilities between their two countries, the English gave a Scottish king land in London with the provision that he build a castle on it and live there for a few months every year. Seven centuries later, with the two nations united under one king, the land … Read more

From 1800, when John Adams became the first president to inhabit it, until 1814, when the British burned it because the Americans had torched Toronto, the presidential building was a grey Virginia freestone. It was painted white to cover up the fire damage done by the British. It wasn’t officially called the White House until … Read more

In September of 1653, the settlers in what is now New York City felt threatened by the local Natives and by the possibility of an invasion by Oliver Cromwell’s army. For protection, they built a large protective wall that stretched a half-mile across Manhattan Island. That wall was situated on the exact spot that we … Read more

One of the more popular stories as to how New York got its nickname is as follows. During the 1940s, Robert Emmerich, who played piano in the Tommy Dorsey Band, wrote an obscure song called “The Big Apple.” It was soon forgotten by everyone except legendary reporter Walter Winchell, who liked the song so much … Read more

Most people believe that Chicago got its nickname from its prevailing winds, but that isn’t the case. In 1893, Chicago hosted the World’s Columbian Exposition, celebrating the four hundredth anniversary of America’s discovery. The city’s aggressive promotional campaign for the event offended the people of New York, whose press nicknamed it the Windy City to … Read more

In the early 1700s, English playwright John Dennis introduced a metallic device that imitated the sound of thunder. The production it was created for failed, and the thunder device was forgotten until months later, when, while attending another play at the same theatre, Dennis heard the unmistakable sound of his invention. He made such a … Read more

The word keister is derived from kiste, the German Yiddish word for strongbox or suitcase. Early Jewish immigrants who arrived with all their belongings in a kiste would often sit on them while waiting to be processed through customs. The English-speaking agents didn’t realize that it was the suitcase and not their bottoms they were … Read more

In Europe during the Middle Ages, the “cold shoulder” had two purposes. If guests overstayed their welcome they were often served cooked but cold beef shoulder at every meal until they tired of the bland diet and left. The other “cold shoulder” was leftover mutton that was saved to give to the poor to discourage … Read more

The term slush began as a sailors’ reference to the grease from the cook’s galley, which was used to lubricate the ships masts. When the voyage was over, the surplus grease was sold, and the money was put into a “slush fund” to be shared by the enlisted men. By 1839, when a ship returned … Read more

“By hook or by crook” means to accomplish something by any means, fair or foul. Today a crook is a thief who uses deception, and to hook something means to steal it. That particular definition comes from the thirteenth century, when hooks used for shepherding were also used by peasants to bend branches when stealing … Read more

To “put the kibosh” on something is an Irish expression meaning to put an end to it. The word kibosh is Gaelic and means “cap of death.” The cap of death was, in fact, the black skullcap donned by a judge before he sentenced a prisoner to death. In modern usage it means, as it … Read more

There are two main jobs on a fishing boat. One is to “cut bait,” which means to prepare or cut “junk” fish for a hook, or for “chum,” which is dumped in the water to attract other fish. The second job is to do the actual fishing. So the admonition “Either fish or cut bait” … Read more

In the nineteenth century, railway tracks usually ran right through the center of town, and it was the prevailing winds that determined which was the right or wrong side to live on. As the town developed, the wealthy built homes on the cleaner, windward side of the tracks, while industrial development and the working class … Read more

If you know someone using creative accounting to balance the books, they’re probably also breaking the law. This individual would likely need someone with sophisticated bookkeeping skills comparable to those of a skilled chef who can prepare a dish so artfully that no one can tell how it was done. If authorities discover that the … Read more

The phrase boning up comes from a British teacher of Greek and Latin who wanted to make life easier for his students. With that goal in mind he translated the Greek and Latin classics into English and then had them published and distributed within his classroom. His name was Mr. Bohn, and his grateful students … Read more

When you say that something is “neither rhyme nor reason,” you are quoting Sir Thomas More. After reading something a friend had written, Sir Thomas told him that he would have to rewrite it in order to make his point clear. After his friend reworked the manuscript, More read it again, and this time he … Read more

Humans are credited with five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell. So someone with a “sixth sense” is gifted with an unexplained perception outside of the common five. The expression sixth sense comes from a study of blind people reported in 1903 in which it was found that, although deprived of sight, some of … Read more

To gild something is to cover it with a thin layer of gold. Because a lily is already in a state of natural perfection, gilding it would only be excessive. The expression is a misquote from Shakespeare’s King John, during which the king’s barons describe his second redundant coronation, “As throwing perfume on the violet … Read more

The person who says, “The coast is clear,” sounds as though he or she is being cautious about avoiding legal detection, and so it should. It originated as the standard cry from the man in the crow’s nest of every pirate ship before it chanced a landing. When the captain verified with his telescope that … Read more

When going to sea, early sailors had to provide for their own bedding. This need was catered to by merchants on the docks who, for a shilling, sold the seamen crude canvas sacks stuffed with hay. When heading off to sleep, a sailor would announce that he was going to “hit the hay.” Although less … Read more

The admonition, “Put a sock in it,” meaning keep quiet, comes from the time of the earliest wind-up phonographs in which the sound emerged from a horn. These early acoustic record players didn’t have electronic controls or any muting device to raise or lower the volume, and so the only way to soften or muffle … Read more

The advice and expression to “leave no stone unturned” comes from Greek mythology, wherein the Oracle of Delphi, through his communication with the gods, had acquired great wisdom. Euripides wrote that when the oracle was consulted about how to find a defeated general’s hidden treasure, he advised that the only way was “to leave no … Read more

The expression “putting on the dog,” meaning showing off, comes from the practice leisurely wealthy women had of carrying lapdogs to afternoon social functions. “Dressed to the nines” comes from a time when the seats furthest from the stage cost one pence, and the closest, nine pence. Sitting in the expensive seats required dressing up … Read more

The third degree is a very difficult and sometimes brutal questioning, especially by police. In fact, without its sinister connotation, the expression comes from the Masonic Lodge and its three degrees of membership, each requiring an increasingly difficult examination. The first is Entered Apprentice, the second is Fellowcraft, and the third degree, the one most … Read more

On March 4, 1884, a British drug company registered the word tabloid for a very small tablet it was marketing. About the same time, large broadsheet newspapers were challenged by small-format journals, and because tabloid had come to mean anything small, that’s what the new papers were called. These tabloids often resorted to gossip instead … Read more

Being at “close quarters,” meaning to be overwhelmed within a small space, is a naval term from the 1700s. Merchant sailing ships laden with valuable cargo had their decks outfitted with four strong wooden barriers with musket holes to which they could retreat and continue to fight if they were boarded by pirates or privateers. … Read more

The original spelling of clue was C-L-E-W, and its forgotten meaning is a “ball of yam or string.” A clew of string was unraveled as a guide out after entering an unfamiliar maze or a cave. If you became lost, all you had to do was follow the string back to the point of origin. … Read more

Early aviators had a system of radio signals to guide pilots through fog and bad weather. Dots and dashes were beamed out from a landing field and picked up in the pilot’s earphones. If he heard dot-dashes, he was too far left, and dash-dots meant he was too far right. But when the signals converged … Read more

The derogatory expression “couldn’t hold a candle” is from the sixteenth century. Before electricity, experienced workers needing light to work by would have a young apprentice hold a candle so that they could see to complete a complex job. Holding a candle for a skilled tradesman gave the apprentice a chance to watch and learn, … Read more

“Pushing the envelope” is an aviation expression that refers to how test pilots received instructions to challenge the known limits of flight. These instructions, if not a death sentence, were very often a flirtation with disaster. The gravity of issuing such an order was understood but not spoken. Instead, the impersonal assignment came within an … Read more

The first recorded instance of the phrase “cheating the devil” can be found in the Hebrew Talmud. The devil offered a farmer two years of a flourishing harvest with the condition that the devil would get the crops grown underground for the first year, and those grown above the ground the following year. During the … Read more

In early England, one man would challenge another to a duel by slapping his face with a glove. The challenge was a serious matter of honor, and if the slapped man did not accept it, he would be branded a coward. Having a chip on your shoulder was kind of an early Wild West equivalent … Read more

An acid test in the literal sense is most commonly the use of a strong acid to distinguish gold from base metals. If someone has passed the “acid test,” it usually means that he has proven his worth or value through experience or trial. When gold was in wide circulation, jewelers and assayers needed a … Read more

The human body has instinctive reactions to emotional circumstances, and one of these is how we breathe during times of apprehension or anticipation. Our breathing often becomes short and controlled when we are in suspense or crisis. Bated is a variation of the word abated, both meaning restricted or diminshed. The word abated comes from … Read more

After the Brooklyn Bridge was built in 1883, a young con man named George Parker approached the gullible as its owner, and after explaining the fortune to be made through toll booths, he would sell the bridge for as much as fifty thousand dollars. Parker went to jail for life, but not before selling the … Read more

The phrase “hoisted with his own petard” is found in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and refers to being a victim of one’s own scheming. It has come to mean that someone has been or will be hurt by the very device he’s created to injure someone else. Hoist means to raise something into the air, while petard … Read more

In the English language, there are only two words that end in “GRY”: angry and hungry. There are only three words that end in “CEED”: exceed, proceed, and succeed, while liquefy, putrefy, rarefy, and stupefy are the only four words ending in “EFY.” As for orange, purple, and silver, poets and songwriters should probably stay … Read more

Western Union developed the sentence, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” as a test for their telex operators, and it’s thirty-five letters long. However it isn’t the shortest English sentence ever created using all the letters of the alphabet. That honor of shortest English sentence created using all the letters of the … Read more

The word “dial” comes from the Latin word “dialis”, which means “daily”, because a sundial throws a shadow related to the time of day. The word “dialling” originally referred to the math required to create a sundial to tell time based on the position of the sun, and those skilled in the art were called … Read more

The Adam’s Apple, also known as the laryngeal prominence, is a feature of the human neck. Both men and women have the thyroid cartilage, but it is usually more prominent in adult men. The Adam’s apple got its name from an ancient embellishment of the story of Adain and Eve. Folklore had it that when … Read more

The term Ivy League has nothing to do with the ivy-covered walls of the prestigious schools to which it refers. Several Eastern U.S. schools such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia, became known collectively as the “Interscholastic Four League,” but the four was always written in Roman numerals, “IV”, and was pronounced “eye-vee.” By the … Read more

The expression “possession is nine-tenths of the law” is from the eighteenth century. The old adage means that in the pursuit of justice possession in a dispute over property outweighs these nine other essential elements of a good court case. A lot of money, a lot of patience, a good cause, a good lawyer, good … Read more

Both bravery and courage are acts of valour and imply a certain strength and fearlessness. There is, however, a subtle difference in meaning between the two words. Courage comes from the French word coeur, meaning heart. It is a quality of character that allows someone to carry through with a difficult premeditated plan of action. … Read more

The words parkway and driveway come from the days when only the well-off could afford an automobile. The long, winding roads from the highway to the manor were, and are still, called “driveways.” Driveways rarely have traffic lights, although some leading to commercial businesses and parks that have heavy traffic sometimes do. On the other … Read more

Punctuation marks are symbols which indicate the structure of written language, and is important in comprehending the meaning of sentences. The earliest writing had no capitalization, no spaces and few punctuation marks. The oldest known document using primitive punctuation is the Mesha Stele from the 9th century B.C. The Greeks had punctuation marks with vertically … Read more

The pound is a unit of mass used in various systems of measurement, and historically, the pound has referred to similar but not identical standards of mass or weight. The lb. abbreviation for pound comes from ancient Rome and originates from the Latin word, “libra pondo,” or “pound of weight.” A number of different definitions … Read more