• 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 does the expression “spit and polish” come from and What does it mean?

Where does the expression “spit and polish” come from and What does it mean?

April 14, 2020 by Karen Hill

The expression “spit and polish” means: Finical smartness or ornamentation; furbishment; trimness.

But whereas in the early nineteenth century, and many years before, the British officer, naval and military, demanded such finicky smartness, as if by the application of much spittle and elbow grease with a polishing agent, by the latter half of that century many naval officers, at least, regarded it as a wasteful affectation, having no bearing on efficiency.

The first to voice that disapproval, and, incidentally, to record the term, was Admiral Lord Charles Beres-ford.

In his Memoirs (1914), telling of his first independent command in 1873, he said that though at the outset he had a large working party holystone the decks until they were “as clean as a hound’s tooth,” from that day onward “I set myself steadily against bright-work and spit-and-polish.”

And he added, “Under the spitand-polish system no doubt the men take a pride in keeping the ship bright, but such a process involves perpetual extra bother and worry, which are quite unnecessary.”

Related Facts

  • Where does the expression "till the cows come home" come from and What does it mean?
  • Where does the expression "to come out flat footed" come from and What does it mean?
  • Where does the expression "to come out at the little end of the horn" come from and What does it mean?
  • Where does the expression "come off your perch" come from and What does it mean?
  • What does the expression "to get one's come uppance" mean and Where does it come from?
  • Where does the expression "to be ahead of the game" come from and What does to come out ahead mean?

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 phrase “between wind and water” mean and Where does it come from?
Next Post: What does the phrase “to nourish a snake in one’s bosom” mean and Where does it come from? »

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