“Make no bones about it” means nothing has been left to chance.
The “bones” of the expression refer to gambling dice, which for thousands of years were made of animal bone.
The oldest known dice were found in Iraq and date from 3000 BC.
Today, to make no bones about their honesty, the dice used in Las Vegas crap games are precisely calibrated and are manufactured to a tolerance of 0.0002 inches.
That’s less than one-seventeenth the width of a human hair.
Related Posts
-
What does the phrase “to make no bones about a matter” mean and Where does it originate?
The expression "to make no bones about a matter" means to speak frankly; to come out flat-footed; to talk straight from the shoulder; hence, to have no scruples; to show no reluctance, also,…
-
What Does the Expression “When My Ship Comes In” Mean and How Did the Idiom Originate?
During the nineteenth century, Bristol, England, was the busiest seaport in the world. While local sailors were at sea, tradesmen would extend credit to their wives until the very day their husband's ship…
-
Where Did the Idiom “Line In the Sand” For a Military Challenge Originate and What Does the Expression Mean?
The concept of a literal "line in the sand" was first created by a lone Roman senator who rode out to meet a Macedonian king at the head of an army poised to…
-
Where Did the Expression “Spinning a Yarn” When Telling a Tall Tale Originate and What Does the Idiom Mean?
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…
-
Where Did the Expression “In a Nutshell” Originate and What Does the Idiom Mean?
"In a nutshell" indicates a drastically reduced summary. Long before modern electronics, a few scholars made attempts at condensing massive literary works so they could be more easily stored. It became an obsession…
-
What Does the Expression “On a Wing and a Prayer” Mean and Where Did the Idiom Originate?
If someone is operating "on a wing and a prayer," whatever they are doing involves serious risk. The expression became popular with fliers on dangerous missions during World War II and was derived…
