Origins by Angela Rieck

Our vocabulary would not be complete without idioms and sayings. But I wondered the other day where these originated. So I compiled a list:

Cut to the chase—get to the point. This idiom comes from the film industry. Early films often had long storylines before getting to the chase scene.

Red-letter day—an auspicious, good day. This had its origins in ecclesiastical calendars. In the Middle Ages, feast and saints’ days were marked in red letters. 

Nest egg—set aside money for the future. While collecting eggs, farmers often leave one egg to encourage the chickens to continue laying eggs in the same nest. 

Baker’s dozen—usually 13 instead of 12 pastries. To stay on the right side of a Medieval law to prevent bakers from selling underweight loaves of bread, bakers started to give an extra piece of bread away with every loaf.

Sink or swim—fail or succeed entirely by one’s own efforts. During Puritan times, a person’s innocence was judged by casting them into a lake. If the victims sunk they were innocent (but, unfortunately dead), but if they floated they were guilty. 

Curry favor—to get someone to think highly of you. This came from a Dark Ages play about characters grooming a chestnut horse in order to win favor (the original word was favel which meant deceit or flattery). Eventually, the play was forgotten, but the idiom remained.

Butter someone up—flatter someone. In ancient India, the devout would throw butter balls at the statues of their gods to seek favor and forgiveness.

Dead as a doornail—completely dead. Door nails used to be hammered in the doors and then hammered sideways to prevent the nail from being pulled out. Such a nail was called a dead nail.

Bite the bullet—do something unpleasant that you have been putting off. If there was no anesthesia, doctors would ask the patient to bite down on a bullet to distract them from pain. 

Dyed in the wool—someone with a deeply ingrained belief (e.g., dyed in the wool Republican). In medieval times, people applied vegetable dye directly to raw wool rather than to yarn or finished cloth, resulting in a more consistent and durable color. 

Red herring—mislead or distract from the main issue. A dried, salted, and smoked herring takes on a reddish hue and has a pungent odor. It was used for training hounds to recognize stags for hunting. 

Give someone the cold shoulder—to ignore someone. In the Middle Ages if someone overstayed their welcome they were served leftovers, such as a cold shoulder of mutton from the previous night’s dinner.

Hue and cry—protest loudly. In the 1600s, if you saw a crime being committed, you were obliged to raise ‘hue’ and ‘cry.’

Play devil’s advocate—speak in opposition. Pope Leo X created the post of Promoter of the Faith. The official’s job was to argue against a proposed canonization of a saint by bringing up all that was unfavorable, which led to the unofficial title of Devil’s advocate.

Throw down the gauntlet—issue a challenge. The piece of armor that knights wore to protect their forearms and hands was called a gauntlet. A knight would threaten a fellow knight or enemy to a duel by throwing one of his gauntlets on the ground. 

Break the ice—get a conversation started. When trade ships got stuck in the ice, the receiving country would send small ships to “break the ice” to clear the way. 

Mad as a hatter—crazy. In earlier times hat makers were poisoned by mercury in hat felt. They would become shy, irritable, and develop tremors that made them appear crazy or “mad.”

Cat got your tongue?—doesn’t speak. The English Navy used to use a whip called “Cat-o’-nine-tails” for flogging. The pain was so severe that it caused the victim to stay quiet for a long time.

Barking up the wrong tree—misguided. This refers to hunting dogs that chased their prey up a tree. The dogs barked, assuming that the prey is still in the tree.

Bury the hatchet—make peace. When negotiating peace, Native Americans would bury all their hatchets, knives, clubs, and tomahawks.

Caught red-handed—guilty. An old English law punished anyone for butchering an animal that wasn’t his. He could only be convicted if he was caught with the animal’s blood still on his hands.

The whole nine yards—above and beyond. During World War II, fighter pilots were equipped with nine yards of ammunition. When they ran out, it meant that they had tried their best.

Let one’s hair down—relax. Aristocratic women wore elegant hairdos in public that were usually pulled up. The only time they would “let their hair down” was when they came home and relaxed.

Straight from the horse’s mouth—direct from the source. The idiom originated from horse racing, where people would get information about horses directly from their owners or trainers. 

One mistaken idiomatic origin is the origin of the rule of thumb. This is often believed to be based on a law granting husbands permission to beat wives and children as long as it was a stick less than the size of a thumb. This is simply not true. In fact, in the 17th century the term was used as a general sizing guideline by the trades before there were uniform measurements.

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Angela Rieck, a Caroline County native, received her PhD in Mathematical Psychology from the University of Maryland and worked as a scientist at Bell Labs, and other high-tech companies in New Jersey before retiring as a corporate executive. Angela and her dogs divide their time between St Michaels and Key West Florida. Her daughter lives and works in New York City.