"ACHILLES
HEEL"
In Greek mythology Thetis dipped her son Achilles in the
mythical River Styx. Anyone who was immersed in the river became invulnerable.
However Thetis held Achilles by his heel. Since her hand covered this part of
his body the water did not touch it and so it remained vulnerable. Achilles was
eventually killed when Paris of Troy fired an arrow at him and it hit his heel.
"AM
I MY BROTHERS KEEPER?"
Like many old sayings in the English
language this one come from the Bible. In Genesis Cain murdered his brother
Abel. God asked Cain 'Where is your brother?' Cain answered 'I don't know. Am I
my brothers keeper?'
"APPLE
OF MY EYE"
This phrase also comes from the Bible.
In Psalm 17:8 the writer asks God 'keep me as the apple of your eye'.
"BAKERS
DOZEN"
A bakers dozen means thirteen. This
old saying is said to come from the days when bakers were severely punished for
baking underweight loaves. Some added a loaf to a batch of a dozen to be above
suspicion.
"BEAT
ABOUT THE BUSH"
When hunting birds some people would
beat about the bush to drive them out into the open. Other people would than
catch the birds. 'I won't beat about the bush' came to mean 'I will go straight
to the point without any delay'.
"ON
YOUR BEAM ENDS"
On a ship the beams are horizontal
timbers that stretch across the ship and support the decks. If you are on your
beam-ends your ship is leaning at a dangerous angle. In other words you are in
a precarious situation.
"BEE
LINE"
In the past people believed that bees
flew in a straight line to their hive. So if you made a bee line for something
you went straight for it.
"BEYOND
THE PALE"
Originally a pale was an area under
the authority of a certain official. In the 14th and 15th centuries the English
king ruled Dublin and the surrounding area known as the pale. Anyone 'beyond
the pale' was seen as savage and dangerous.
"BIG
WIG"
In the 18th century when many men wore
wigs, the most important men wore the biggest wigs. Hence today important
people are called big wigs.
"BITE
THE BULLET"
This old saying means to grin and bear
a painful situation. It comes from the days before anesthetics. A soldier about
to undergo an operation was given a bullet to bite.
"THE
BITER BEING BITTEN"
This old saying has nothing to do with
animals. In the 17th century a biter was a con man. 'Talk about the biter being
bitten' was originally a phrase about a con man being beaten at his own game.
"BITES
THE DUST"
This phrase comes from a translation
of the epic Ancient Greek poem the Iliad about the war between the Greeks and
the Trojans. It was poetic way of describing the death of a warrior.
"BITTER
END"
Anchor cable was wrapped around posts
called bitts. The last piece of cable was called the bitter end. If you let out
the cable to the bitter end there was nothing else you could do, you had
reached the end of your resources.
"THE
BLIND LEADING THE BLIND"
In Matthew 15:14 Jesus criticised the
Pharisees, the religious authorities of his day, saying 'they are blind leaders
of the blind'.
"BLUE-BLOOD"
This means aristocratic. For centuries
the Arabs occupied Spain but they were gradually forced out during the Middle
Ages. The upper class in Spain had paler skin than most of the population as
their ancestors had not inter-married with the Arabs. As they had pale skin the
'blue' blood running through their veins was more visible. (Of course all blood
is red but it sometimes looks blue when running through veins). So blue-blooded
came to mean upper class.
"BOBBIES,
PEELERS"
Both these nicknames for policemen
come from Sir Robert Peel who founded the first modern police force in 1829.
"TO
BOOT"
If you get something to boot it means
you get it extra. However it has nothing to do with boots you wear on your
feet. It is a corruption of the old word bot, which meant profit or advantage.
"BORN
WITH A SILVER SPOON IN YOUR MOUTH"
Once when a child was christened it
was traditional for the godparents to give a silver spoon as a gift (if they
could afford it!). However a child born in a rich family did not have to wait.
He or she had it all from the start. They were 'born with a silver spoon in
their mouth'.
"A
BROKEN REED"
This phrase is from Isaiah 36: 6. When
the Assyrians laid siege to Jerusalem one of them stood outside the walls and
asked if they hoped for help from Egypt. He described Egypt as a 'broken reed'.
"CHAP"
This word is derived from the old word
Chapman that meant merchant or trader. It in turn was derived from ceapman. The
old word ceap meant to sell.
"CHOCK-A-BLOCK"
When pulleys or blocks on sailing ship
were pulled so tightly together that they could not be moved any closer
together they were said to be chock-a-block.
"COALS
TO NEWCASTLE"
Before railways were invented goods
were often transported by water. Coal was transported by ship from Newcastle to
London by sea. It was called sea coal. Taking coals to Newcastle was obviously
a pointless exercise.
"COCK
A HOOP"
This phrase comes from a primitive tap
called a spile and shive. A shive was a wooden tube at the bottom of a barrel
and a spile was a wooden bung. You removed the shive to let liquid flow out and
replaced it to stop the flow. The spile was sometimes called a cock. If people
were extremely happy and wanted to celebrate they took out the cock and put in
on the hoop on the top of the barrel to let the drink flow out freely. So it
was cock a hoop. So cock a hoop came to mean ecstatic.
"COCK
AND BULL STORY"
This phrase was first recorded in the
17th century. It probably comes from an actual story about a cock and a bull
that is now lost.
"CLOUD
CUCKOO LAND"
This phrase comes from a play called
The Birds by the Greek dramatist Aristophanes (c.448-385 BC). In the play the
birds decide to build a utopian city called Cloud cuckoo land.
"COPPER"
The old word cop meant grab or capture
so in the 19th century policemen were called coppers because they grabbed or
caught criminals.
"CROCODILE
TEARS"
These are an insincere display of
grief or sadness. It comes from the old belief that a crocodile wept
(insincerely!) if it killed and ate a man.
"CUT
AND RUN"
In an emergency rather than haul up an
anchor the sailors would cut the anchor cable then run with the wind.
"WHAT
THE DICKENS!"
This old saying does not come from the
writer Charles Dickens (1812-1870). It is much older than him! It has been
around since at least the 16th century. Originally 'Dickens' was another name
for the Devil.
"DIFFERENT
KETTLE OF FISH"
In the past a kettle was not
necessarily a device to boil water to make a cup of tea. A pot for boiling food
(like fish) was also called a kettle. Unfortunately nobody really knows why we
say 'a different kettle of fish'.
"DON'T
LOOK A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH"
This old saying means don't examine a
gift too closely! You can tell a horse’s age by looking at its teeth, which is
why people 'looked a horse in the mouth'.
"DOUBTING
THOMAS"
This phrase comes from John 20: 24-27.
After his resurrection Jesus appeared to his disciples. However one of them,
named Thomas, was absent. When the others told him that Jesus was alive, Thomas
said he would not believe until he saw the marks on Jesus’ hands and the wound
in his side caused by a Roman spear. Jesus appeared again and told Thomas ‘Stop
doubting and believe!’
"DOWN
AT HEEL"
If the heels of your shoes were worn
down you had a shabby appearance.
"DUTCH
COURAGE"
In the 17th century England and
Holland were rivals. They fought wars in 1652-54, 1665-67 and 1672-74. It was
said (very unfairly) that the Dutch had to drink alcohol to build up their
courage. Other insulting phrases are Dutch treat (meaning you pay for yourself)
and Double Dutch meaning gibberish.
"DYED
IN THE WOOL"
Wool that was dyed before it was woven
kept its colour better than wool dyed after weaving of 'dyed in the piece'.
"EARMARKED"
This comes from the days when
livestock had their ears marked so their owner could be easily identified.
"EAT
DRINK AND BE MERRY"
This old saying is from Ecclesiastes
8:15 'a man has no better thing under the sun than to eat and to drink and be
merry'.
"ESCAPED
BY THE SKIN OF YOUR TEETH"
This phrase comes from the Bible, from
Job 19:20.
"FEET
OF CLAY"
If a person we admire has a fatal
weakness we say they have feet of clay. This phrase comes from the Bible. King
Nebuchadnezzar dreamed of a statue. It had a head of gold, arms and chest of
silver, belly and thighs of bronze and it legs were of iron. However its feet
were made of a mixture of iron and clay. A rock hit the statue's feet and the
whole statue was broken. The prophet Daniel interpreted the dream to be about a
series of empires, all of which would eventually be destroyed. (Daniel
2:27-44).
"FIDDLE
WHILE ROME BURNS"
There is a legend that when Rome
burned in 64 AD Emperor Nero played the lyre (not the fiddle!). Historians are
sceptical about the story.
"FLASH
IN THE PAN"
Muskets had a priming pan, which was
filled with gunpowder. When flint hit steel it ignited the powder in the pan,
which in turn ignited the main charge of gunpowder and fired the musket ball.
However sometimes the powder in the pan failed to light the main charge. In
that case you had a flash in the pan.
"FLY
IN THE OINTMENT"
This old saying comes from the Bible.
In Ecclesiastes 10:1 the writer says that dead flies give perfume a bad smell
(in old versions of the Bible the word for perfume is translated 'ointment').
"FLYING
COLORS"
If a fleet won a clear victory the
ships would sail back to port with their colours proudly flying from their
masts.
"FREELANCE"
In the Middle Ages freelances were
soldiers who fought for anyone who would hire them. They were literally free
lances.
"FROM
THE HORSES'S MOUTH"
You can tell a horse’s age by
examining its teeth. A horse dealer may lie to you but you can always find out
the truth 'from the horse’s mouth'.
"GET
THE SACK"
This comes from the days when workmen
carried their tools in sacks. If your employer gave you the sack it was time to
collect your tools and go.
"GILD
THE LILY"
This phrase is from King John by
William Shakespeare. 'To gild refined gold, to paint the lily is wasteful and
ridiculous excess'.
"GO
THE EXTRA MILE"
By law a Roman soldier could force
anybody to carry his equipment 1 mile. In Matthew 5:41 Jesus told his followers
'if somebody forces you to go 1 mile go 2 miles with him'.
"GO
TO POT"
Any farm animal that had outlived its
usefulness such as a hen that no longer laid eggs would literally go to pot. It
was cooked and eaten.
"GOLLY,
GOSH"
In the past it wasn't polite to use
the exclamation 'God!' Instead people said Golly! or Gosh! Sometimes they said
'heck' instead of Hell.
"GOODBYE"
This is a contraction of the words God
be with ye (you).
"HAT
TRICK"
This comes from cricket. Once a bowler
who took three wickets in successive deliveries was given a new hat by his
club.
"HIDING
YOUR LIGHT UNDER A BUSHEL"
A bushel was a container for measuring
grain. In Matthew 15:15 Jesus said 'Neither do men light a candle and put it
under a bushel but on a candlestick'.
"HOBSONS
CHOICE"
This means to have no choice at all.
In the 16th century and the early 17th century if you went on a journey you
could hire a horse to take you from one town to another and travel using a
relay of horses. (That was better than wearing out your own horse on a long
journey over very poor roads). In the early 1600s Thomas Hobson was a man in
Cambridge who hired out horses. However he would not let customers choose which
horse they wanted to ride. Instead they had to ride whichever horse was nearest
the stable entrance. So if you hired a horse from him you were given 'Hobson's
choice'.
"HOIST
BY YOUR OWN PETARD"
A petard was a type of Tudor bomb. It
was a container of gunpowder with a fuse, which was placed against a wooden
gate. Sometimes all things did not go to plan and the petard exploded
prematurely blowing you into the air. You were hoist by your own petard.
"HOLIER
THAN THOU"
This comes from the Bible, Isaiah
65:5, the Old Testament prophet berates people who say 'stand by thyself, come
not near me for I am holier than thou'.
"BY
HOOK OR BY CROOK"
This old saying probably comes from a
Medieval law which stated that peasants could use branches of trees for fire
wood if they could reach them with their shepherds crook or their billhook.
"HUMBLE
PIE"
The expression to eat humble pie was
once to eat umble pie. The umbles were the intestines or less appetising parts
of an animal and servants and other lower class people ate them. So if a deer
was killed the rich ate venison and those of low status ate umble pie. In time
it became corrupted to eat humble pie and came to mean to debase yourself or
act with humility.
"KICK
THE BUCKET"
When slaughtering a pig you tied its
back legs to a wooden beam (in French buquet). As the animal died it kicked the
buquet.
"KNOW
THE ROPES"
On a sailing ship it was essential to
know the ropes.
"KNUCKLE
UNDER"
Once knuckle meant any joint, including
the knee. To knuckle under meant to kneel in submission.
"LAMB
TO THE SLAUGHTER"
This is from Isaiah 53:7 'He is
brought as a lamb to the slaughter'. Later this verse was applied to Jesus.
"RESTING
ON YOUR LAURELS, LOOK TO YOUR LAURELS"
In the ancient world winning athletes
and other heroes and distinguished people were given wreaths of laurel leaves.
If you are resting on your laurels you are relying on your past achievements.
If you need to look to your laurels it means you have competition.
"A
LEOPARD CANNOT CHANGE HIS SPOTS"
This is another old saying from the
Bible. This one comes from Jeremiah 13:23 'Can an Ethiopian change his skin or
a leopard his spots?'
"LET
THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG"
This old saying is probably derived
from the days when people who sold piglets in bags sometimes put a cat in the
bag instead. If you let the cat out of the bag you exposed the trick.
"LICK
INTO SHAPE"
In the Middle Ages people thought that
bear cubs were born shapeless and their mother literally licked them into
shape.
"LILY
LIVERED"
Means cowardly. People once believed
that your passions came from you liver. If you were lily livered your liver was
white (because it did not contain any blood). So you were a coward.
"A
LITTLE BIRD TOLD ME"
This old saying comes from the Bible.
In Ecclesiastes 10:20 the writer warns us not to curse the king or the rich
even in private or a 'bird of the air' may report what you say.
"LOCK,
STOCK AND BARREL"
This phrase comes because guns used to
have 3 parts, the lock (the firing mechanism), the stock (the wooden butt of
the gun) and the barrel.
"A
LONG SHOT"
A long shot is an option with only a
small chance of success. In the past guns were only accurate at short range. So
a 'long shot' (fired over a long distance) only had a small chance of hitting
its target.
"LONG
IN THE TOOTH"
When a horse grows old its gums recede
and if you examine its mouth it looks 'long in the tooth'.
"MAD
AS A HATTER"
This phrase comes from the fact that
in the 18th and 19th centuries hat makers treated hats with mercury. Inhaling
mercury vapour could cause mental illness.
"MAUDLIN"
This is a corruption of Magdalene.
Mary Magdalene was a prostitute who became a follower of Jesus. In paintings
she was often shown weeping tears of repentance. So she became associated with
sentimentality.
"MOOT
POINT"
This comes from the Saxon word moot or
mote, which meant a meeting to discuss things. A moot point was one that needed
to be discussed or debated.
"NAIL
YOUR COLOURS TO THE MAST"
In battle a ship surrendered by
lowering its flag. If you nailed your colours to the mast you had no intention
of surrendering. You were totally loyal to your side.
"NAMBY-PAMBY"
This was originally a nickname for the
poet Ambrose Philips (1674-1749) who was known for writing sentimental verse.
"NICKNAME"
This is a corruption of eke name. The
old word eke meant alternative.
"NO
REST FOR THE WICKED"
This phrase comes from the Bible. In
Isaiah 57:21 the prophet says: 'there is no peace saith my God to the wicked'.
"ON
TENTERHOOKS"
After it was woven wool was pounded in
a mixture of clay and water to clean and thicken it. This was called fulling.
Afterwards the wool was stretched on a frame called a tenter to dry. It was
hung on tenterhooks. So if you were very tense, like stretched cloth, you were
on tenterhooks.
"PANDEMONIUM"
This comes from John Milton’s poem
Paradise Lost. In Hell the chief city is Pandemonium. In Greek Pandemonium
means 'all the devils'.
"PASTURES
NEW"
In 1637 John Milton wrote a poem
called Lycidas, which includes the words 'Tomorrow to fresh woods and pastures
new'.
"PAY
ON THE NAIL"
In the Middle Ages 'nails' were
flat-topped columns in markets. When a buyer and a seller agreed a deal money
was placed on the nail for all to see.
"PEARLS
BEFORE SWINE"
In Matthew 7:6 Jesus warned his
followers not to give what is sacred to dogs and not to throw pearls (of
wisdom) before swine (the ungodly).
"PEEPING
TOM"
According to legend a man named
Leofric taxed the people of Coventry heavily. His wife, lady Godiva, begged him
not to. Leofric said he would end the tax if she rode through the streets of
Coventry naked. So she did. Peeping Tom is a much later addition to the story.
Everybody in Coventry was supposed to stay indoors with his or her shutters
closed. However peeping Tom had a sneaky look at Godiva and was struck blind.
"PEPPERCORN
RENT"
In the Middle Ages and Tudor Times
rents were sometimes paid in peppercorns because pepper was so expensive.
Peppercorns were actually used as a form of currency. They were given as bribes
or as part of a bride's dowry.
"A
PIG IN A POKE"
This is something bought without
checking it first. A poke was a bag. If you bought a pig in a poke it might
turn out the 'pig' was actually a puppy or a cat. (See Sold A Pup).
"PIN
MONEY"
In the 16th and 17th century it was
common to give your wife or daughter a small amount of money for for pins and
other necessary things.
"POT
LUCK"
In the past all kinds of food went
into a big pot for cooking. If you sat down to a meal with a family you often
had to take 'pot luck' and could never be quite sure what you would be served.
"THE
POWERS THAT BE"
This comes from Romans 13:1 when Paul
says 'the powers that be are ordained of God'.
"PRIDE
GOES BEFORE A FALL"
This old saying comes from the Bible,
from Proverbs 16:18 'Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before
a fall'.
"PULL
THE WOOL OVER MY EYES"
In the 18th century it was the fashion
to wear white, curly wigs. They were nick named wool possibly because they
resembled a sheep's fleece.
"PULL
OUT ALL THE STOPS"
This saying comes from church organs.
Pulling out a stop lets air flow through a pipe and makes a sound.
"RACK
AND RUIN"
Rack has nothing to do with the
torture instrument. It is a modification of 'wrack' which was an alternative
way of saying 'wreck'.
"READ
THE RIOT ACT"
Following a law of 1715 if a rowdy group
of 12 or more people gathered, a magistrate would read an official statement
ordering them to disperse. Anyone who did not, after one hour, could be
arrested and punished.
"RED
HERRING"
Poachers and other unsavoury
characters would drag a herring across the ground where they had just walked to
throw dogs off their scent. (Herrings were made red by the process of curing).
"RED
TAPE"
This phrase comes from the days when
official documents were bound with red tape.
"RED
LETTER DAYS"
In the Middle Ages saints days were
marked in red in calendars. People did not work on some saint’s days or holy
days. Our word holiday is derived from holy day.
"RING
TRUE, RING OF TRUTH"
In the past coins were actually made
of gold, silver or other metals. Their value depended on the amount of gold or
silver they contained. Some people would make counterfeit coins by mixing gold
or silver with a cheaper metal. However you could check if a coin was genuine
by dropping it. If it was made of the proper metal it would 'ring true' of have
the 'ring of truth'.
"RUB
SALT INTO A WOUND"
This is derived from the days when
salt was rubbed into wounds as an antiseptic.
"RULE
OF THUMB"
This comes from the days when brewers
estimated the temperature of a brew by dipping their thumb in it.
"SALT
OF THE EARTH"
Is another Biblical phrase. It comes
from Matthew 5:13 when Jesus told his followers 'You are the salt of the
Earth'.
"SCAPEGOAT"
In the Old Testament (Leviticus 16:
7-10) two goats were selected. One was sacrificed. The other was spared but the
High Priest laid his hands on it and confessed the sins of his people. The goat
was then driven into the wilderness. He was a symbolic 'scapegoat' for the
people's sins.
"SCOT
FREE"
This has nothing to do with Scotland.
Scot is an old word for payment so if you went scot free you went without
paying.
"TO
SEE A MAN ABOUT A DOG"
This old saying first appeared in 1866
in a play by Dion Boucicault (1820-1890) called the Flying Scud in which a
character makes the excuse that he is going 'to see a man about a dog' to get
away.
"SENT
TO COVENTRY"
The most likely explanation for this
old saying is that during the English Civil War Royalists captured in the
Midlands were sent to Coventry. They were held prisoner in St John’s Church and
the local people shunned them and refused to speak to them.
"SET
YOUR TEETH ON EDGE"
This is from Jeremiah 31:30 'Every man
that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge'.
"SHAMBLES"
Originally a shamble was a bench.
Butchers used to set up benches to sell meat from. In time the street where
meat was sold often became known as the Shambles. (This street name survives in
many towns today). However because butchers used to throw offal into the street
shambles came to mean a mess or something very untidy or disorganised.
"SHIBBOLETH"
This is a word used by members of a
particular group. It identifies people as members of the group. It comes from
the Old Testament Judges 12: 5-7. Two groups of Hebrews, the Gileadites and the
Ephraimites fought each other. The Gileadites captured the fords over the River
Jordan leading to Ephraim. If a man wanted to cross a ford they made him say
'Shibboleth' (a Hebrew word meaning ear of grain). The Ephraimites could not
pronounce the word properly and said 'Sibboleth'. If anyone mispronounced the
word the Gileadites knew he was an enemy and killed him.
"SHORT
SHRIFT"
A shrift was a confession made to a
priest. Criminals were allowed to make a short shrift before they were
executed. So if you gave somebody short shrift you gave them a few minutes to
confess their sins before carrying out the execution.
"SHOW
A LEG"
This comes from the days when women
were allowed onboard ships. When it was time for sailors to get out of their
hammocks women would show a leg to prove they were females not members of the
crew.
"SHOW
YOUR TRUE COLOURS"
Pirate ships would approach their
intended victim showing a false flag to lure them into a false sense of
security. When it was too late for the victim to escape they would show their
true colours-the jolly roger!
"SOLD
A PUP"
If you bought a piglet the seller
placed it in a bag or sack. Sometimes, with his hands out of sight, the seller
would slip a puppy into the sack. If you were swindled in that way you were
sold a pup.
"SPINNING
A YARN"
Rope was made in ports everywhere. The
rope makers chatted while they worked. They told each other stories while they
were spinning a yarn.
"SPICK
AND SPAN"
Today this means neat and tidy but
originally the saying was spick and span new. A span was a wood shaving. If
something was newly built it would have tell-tale wood chips so it was 'span
new'. Spick is an old word for a nail. New spicks or nails would be shiny.
However words and phrases often change their meanings over centuries and spick
and span came to mean neat and tidy.
"SPINSTER"
A Spinster is an unmarried woman.
Originally a spinster was simply a woman who made her living by spinning wool
on a spinning wheel. However it was so common for single women to support
themselves that way that by the 18th century 'spinster' was a synonym for a
middle-aged unmarried woman.
"SPOIL
THE SHIP FOR A HA'PENNY WORTH OF TAR"
Originally 'ship' was sheep and the
saying comes from the practice of covering cuts on sheep with tar.
"A
SQUARE MEAL"
There is a popular myth that this
saying comes from the time when British sailors ate of square plates. In
reality the phrase began California in the mid-19th century and it simply meant
a good meal for your money, as in the phrase 'fair and square'. Later the
saying made its way to Britain.
"START
FROM SCRATCH"
This phrase comes from the days when a
line was scratched in the ground for a race. The racers would start from the
scratch.
"STRAIGHT
LACED"
This phrase was originally STRAIT
laced. The old English word strait meant tight or narrow. In Tudor times
buttons were mostly for decoration. Laces were used to hold clothes together.
If a woman was STRAIT laced she was prim and proper.
"THE
STRAIGHT AND NARROW"
This comes from Matthew 7:14. In the
King James version of the Bible, published in 1611, he says: 'Strait is the
gate and narrow is the way which leadeth to life'. The old English word strait
meant tight or narrow but when it went out of use the phrase changed to
'STRAIGHT and narrow'.
"STRIKE
WHILE THE IRON IS HOT"
This phrase comes from the days when
blacksmiths lifted iron objects from the furnace and hammered it. They could
only hammer the object into shape while the iron was hot, before it cooled
down.
"SWAN
SONG"
This comes from an old belief that swans,
who are usually silent, burst into beautiful song when they are dying.
"SWASHBUCKLER"
A buckle was a kind of small shield.
Swash meant the noise caused by striking. Brash men struck their swords against
their bucklers as they walked around town. So they became known as
swashbucklers.
"SWINGING
THE LEAD"
On board ships a lead weight was
attached to a long rope. A knot was tied every six feet in the rope. The lead
weight was swung then thrown overboard. When it sank to the seabed you counted
the number of knots that disappeared and this told you how deep the sea was.
Some sailors felt it was an easy job and 'swinging the lead' came to mean
avoiding hard work. In time it came to mean feigning illness to avoid work.
"TAKE
SOMEBODY UNDER YOUR WING"
In Luke 12:34 Jesus laments that he
wished to gather the people of Jerusalem as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings but Jerusalem was not willing.
"TAKEN
ABACK"
If the wind suddenly changed direction
a sailing ship stopped moving forward. It was 'taken aback', which was a bit of
a shock for the sailors.
"TAWDRY"
This is a corruption of St Audrey
because cheap jewellery was sold at St Audrey's fair in Ely, Cambridgeshire.
"THORN
IN MY SIDE"
This comes from the Bible. In 2
Corinthians 12:7 Paul states that he was given a 'thorn in my flesh' to prevent
him becoming proud. We are not told what the 'thorn' was, perhaps it was some
form of illness.
"THROUGH
THICK AND THIN"
This old saying was once 'through
thicket and thin wood'. It meant making your way through a dense wood and
through one where trees grew more thinly.
"THROW
DOWN THE GAUNTLET"
In the Middle Ages a gauntlet was the
glove in a suit of Armour. Throwing down your gauntlet was a way of challenging
somebody to a duel.
"TONGUE
IN CHEEK"
In the 18th century sticking your
tongue in your cheek was a sign of contempt. It is not clear how speaking with
your tongue in your cheek took on its modern meaning.
“TOUCH
AND GO"
This old saying probably comes from
ships sailing in shallow waters where they might touch the seabed then go. If
so, they were obviously in a dangerous and uncertain situation.
"TOUCH
WOOD"
In Celtic time’s people believed that
benevolent spirits lived in trees. When in trouble people knocked on the tree
and asked the spirits for help.
“HAVE
NO TRUCK WITH”
Truck originally meant barter and is
derived from a French word 'troquer'. Originally if you had no truck with
somebody you refused to trade with him or her. It came to mean you refused to
have anything to do with them.
"TRUE
BLUE"
This phrase was originally true as
Coventry blue as the dyers in Coventry used a blue dye that lasted and did not
wash out easily. However the phrase became shortened.
"TURN
THE OTHER CHEEK"
Jesus told his followers not to
retaliate against violence. In Luke 6:29 he told them that if somebody strikes
you on one cheek turn the other cheek to him as well.
"TURN
OVER A NEW LEAF"
This means to make a fresh start. It
mean a leaf of page of a book.
"TURNED
THE CORNER"
Ships that had sailed past the Cape of
Good Hope or Cape Horn were said to have 'turned the corner'.
"UP
THE POLE"
The pole was a mast of a ship.
Climbing it was dangerous and, not surprisingly, you had to be a bit crazy to
go up there willingly. So if you were a bit mad you were up the pole.
"WARTS
AND ALL"
When Oliver Cromwell 1599-1658 had his
portrait painted he ordered the artist not to flatter him. He insisted on being
painted
'warts and all'.
"WASH
MY HANDS OF"
The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate,
refused to be involved in the death of an innocent person (Jesus). So he washed
his hands in front of the crowd, symbolically disassociating himself from the
execution.
"WEAR
YOUR HEART ON YOUR SLEEVE"
In the Middle Ages knights who fought
at tournaments wore a token of their lady on their sleeves. Today if you make
your feelings obvious to everybody you wear your heart on your sleeve.
"WEASEL
WORDS"
This phrase is said to come from an
old belief that weasels could suck out the inside of an egg leaving its shell
intact.
"WEIGH
ANCHOR"
The 'weigh' is a corruption of the old
word wegan which meant carry or lift.
"WENT
WEST"
Once criminals were hanged at Tyburn -
west of London. So if you went west you went to be hanged.
"WIDE
BERTH"
A berth is the place where a ship is
tied up or anchored. When the anchor was lowered a ship would tend to move
about on the anchor cable so it was important to give it a wide berth to avoid
collisions. Today to give someone wide berth is to steer clear of them.
"WILLY-NILLY"
This phrase is believed to be derived
from the old words will-ye, nill-ye (or will-he, nill- he) meaning whether you
want to or not (or whether he wants to or not).
"WIN
HANDS DOWN"
This old saying comes from horse
racing. If a jockey was a long way ahead of his competitors and sure to win the
race he could relax and put his hands down at his sides.
"WHEAT
FROM THE CHAFF"
In the ancient world grain was hurled
into the air using a tool called a winnowing fork. Wind separated the edible
part of the grain (wheat) from the lighter, inedible part (chaff). In Matthew
3:12 John the Baptist warned that on the judgement day Jesus would separate the
wheat from the chaff (good people from evil).
"WHIPPING
BOY"
Prince Edward, later Edward VI, had a
boy who was whipped in his place every time he was naughty.
"WHITE
ELEPHANT"
In Siam (modern day Thailand) white or
pale elephants were very valuable. The king sometimes gave white elephant to a
person he disliked. It might seem a wonderful gift but it was actually a
punishment because it cost so much to keep!
"A
WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING"
In Matthew 7:15 Jesus warned his
followers of false prophets saying they were like 'wolves in sheep's clothing'
outwardly disarming.
