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Trivia ~ Words & Phrases
Two words that are now synonymous, but weren't always , are dirt and soil. Soil comes from the Old French suel for earth. Dirt came from the Old Norse drit for excrement. This distinction was definite to refined folk of yesteryear. thus if you told a gentleman he had dirtied his trousers, you might have been invited to a duel.
The terms "Port" and "Starboard" to designate the right and left sides of ships comes from the Viking ships which went into "port" on the left side to keep from damaging the "steeringboard" on the right side.
Dead as a Door Nail
Old time carpenters, when building a door would drive large headed nail through the wood. They would then bend the pointed end of the nail over, preventing it from working loose. This practice was known as deadening the nail. thus came the term dead as a door nail.
The tires that are hung from boats to protect them from bumping at the docks have replaced sponges or rolled op nets that were once used. These protective devices were originally know as defenders, which is where we got the word fender.
In Medieval Europe, the plague was often preceded by a cold and the expression "God bless you!" was a prayer that the sneezer suffer from nothing worse than a common cold.
Goodbye comes from the archaic English blessing "God be with ye!"
Ships and aircraft in trouble use "mayday" as their call for help. This comes from the French word m'aidez - meaning "help me" - and is pronounced "mayday." (Note: not exactly.... it's pronounced "med-ay", but close enough)
The word Sabotage has its origins in a vile practice. Derived from the French word "Sabot," which was a kind of wooden shoe, It originally meant to "work clumsily" and was a form of direct action by workers against employers to reduce efficiency by destroying the wooden shoes that held the lines in place during the French railway strike in 19 1 0.
In old England, hanging day was Friday.
The Hangman got 13 pence per execution.
The term "the whole 9 yards" came from WWII fighter pilots in the Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9 yards."
The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
Shifting responsibility to someone else is called "passing the buck"?
In card games, it was once customary to pass an item, called a buck, from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to deal. If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility, he would "pass the buck" to the next player.
The Scottish used to hold picnics during salmon season during which they would boil freshly caught fish in huge kettles or cauldrons. They would then eat this culinary treat with their fingers, despite the messiness Since the 18th century, kettle of fish has described a bad state of affairs or an awkward or difficult situation. Near synonyms include mess, jumble, muddle, and snarl.
When whistles, like musical instruments, were handmade, usually carved from wood. In order to get a pure tone, the carver would have to be careful to avoid faults inside the whistle, making the bore absolutely flawless. In other words, it had to be clean. Thus if something is really clean, it's, well . . .as clean as a whistle
The first use of the term cow-boy (it was originally hyphenated) was in England. In the 18th century it simply described a young boy who tended to the cows. The rough and tough adult cow-boy, however, does originate on American soil. But not where you might think
Even at the time of the American Revolution, what is now the upscale New York City suburb of Westchester County was hardly part of the wide open spaces. It always had more crabgrass than sagebrush. And the only place it was ever west of was New England. But back then it was the home of many loyalists, or Tories, who sided with the British against the revolting colonists.
Among the toughest were the guerilla fighters who signaled their attacks by ringing cowbells, from which they got the name cowboys. Yahoo.
People in the public eye are said to be "in the limelight" Invented in 1825, limelight was used in lighthouses and stage lighting by burning a cylinder of lime in an oxyhydrogen flame that produced a brilliant light. In the theater, performers on stage in the limelight" were seen by the audience to be the center of attention.
The "Horse Latitudes," which are subtropical belts of high atmospheric pressure, were named so because of the fact that the crew of sailing ships sometimes threw horses overboard to reduce weight when their ships were becalmed in the high pressure belts.
In England the dandelion was originally called a lion's tooth. But as early as the 16th century people were already coming to look upon anything with a French name as having been culturally bumped up a notch. So the lion's tooth became the dent de lion, eventually dandelion, which freely translated means--surprise!--"lion's tooth."
You say you still want to know about the connection to lions? Who knows? Etymological sources beg this mane question.
To be down at the heels is to be in bad financial shape. The worn-away condition of the bottom of one's shoes reflects a diminished bottom line. So being well heeled would present the reverse situation. Right? Wrong. Well the meaning did come around to that, but not in a direct way.
The heel in "well-heeled" originally belonged to a gamecock, a bird trained to fight other birds to the death while men wagered on the outcome. A bird's owner would attach a sharp spur to its leg to make it deadlier in the cockfighting pit. The fowl was then said to be "well-heeled."
In the western United States in the 19th century, in the same spirit, this expression was applied to men who were well armed. Ultimately being well heeled carried over to the financial realm, where it meant that one was financially armed to better deal with life. Think about all this if being well heeled makes you feel cocky.
The first motor cars ran on a steam operated principle, So, the vehicles had to be heated up before they could be run. A person was appointed specifically to do this job. He was called a Chauffeur. This is also used in French to refer to firemen on steam engines.
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