• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / Where Did the Term “Choked” When Someone Fails To Perform Under Pressure Come From?

Where Did the Term “Choked” When Someone Fails To Perform Under Pressure Come From?

July 1, 2020 by Karen Hill

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 Mass.

If he swallowed without choking, he was innocent, but if he choked he was pronounced guilty.

This gave us the expression “choking under pressure.”

Legend has it that the Earl of Godwin died while choking on a piece of bread during this legal process.

Related Facts

  • What Do Weathermen Mean by High Pressure and Low Pressure?
  • Did the slang term for a prostitute "hooker" originate with soldiers serving under the Civil War general Joseph Hooker?
  • Did men always perform both male and female roles in Japanese Kabuki theatre?
  • Did Abraham Lincoln ever see his assassin John Booth perform on stage?
  • Who Was the First Person To Walk In Space and When Did Soviet Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov Perform His Space Walk?
  • When Was the First U.S. Space Station Skylab Launched Into Orbit and What Experiments Did Astronauts Perform?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « What Does the Word “Monger” Mean and Where Did the Word Fishmonger Come From?
Next Post: What Is a Catchword, How Did it Originate, and What Is the Purpose of a Catchword? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy