The first part of this post was sent to me by my friend Carole. Thank you, Carole!!
A SHOT OF
WHISKEY
In the old west a .45 cartridge for a six-gun cost 12 cents, so
did a glass of whiskey. If a cowhand was low on cash he would often give the
bartender a cartridge in exchange for a drink. This became known as a
"shot" of whiskey.
THE WHOLE
NINE YARDS
American fighter planes in WW2 had machine guns that were fed by a
belt of cartridges. The average plane held belts that were 27 feet (9 yards)
long. If the pilot used up all his ammo he was said to have given it the whole
nine yards.
BUYING
THE FARM
This is synonymous with dying. During WW1 soldiers were given life
insurance policies worth $5,000. This was about the price of an average farm so
if you died you "bought the farm" for your survivors.
IRON CLAD
CONTRACT
This came about from the ironclad ships of the Civil War. It meant
something so strong it could not be broken.
PASSING
THE BUCK / THE BUCK STOPS HERE
Most men in the early west carried a jack knife made by the Buck
knife company. When playing poker it was common to place one of these Buck
knives in front of the dealer so that everyone knew who he was. When it was
time for a new dealer the deck of cards and the knife were given to the new
dealer. If this person didn't want to deal he would "pass the buck"
to the next player. If that player accepted then "the buck stopped
there".
RIFF RAFF
The Mississippi River was the main way of traveling from north to south.
Riverboats carried passengers and freight but they were expensive so most people
used rafts. Everything had the right of way over rafts which were considered
cheap. The steering oar on the rafts was called a "riff" and this
transposed into riff-raff, meaning low class.
SHIP
STATE ROOMS
Traveling by steamboat was considered the height of comfort.
Passenger cabins on the boats were not numbered. Instead they were named after
states. To this day cabins on ships are called staterooms.
SLEEP
TIGHT
Early beds were made with a wooden frame. Ropes were tied across
the frame in a crisscross pattern. A straw mattress was then put on top of the
ropes. Over time the ropes stretched, causing the bed to sag. The owner would
then tighten the ropes to get a better night's sleep.
SHOWBOAT
These were floating theaters built on a barge that was pushed by a
steamboat. These played small town along the Mississippi River. Unlike the boat
shown in the movie "Showboat" these did not have an engine. They were
gaudy and attention grabbing which is why we say someone who is being the life
of the party is "showboating".
OVER A
BARREL
In the days before CPR a drowning victim would be placed face down
over a barrel and the barrel would be rolled back and forth in a effort to
empty the lungs of water. It was rarely effective. If you are over a barrel you
are in deep trouble.
BARGE IN
Heavy freight was moved along the Mississippi in large barges
pushed by steamboats. These were hard to control and would sometimes swing into
piers or other boats. People would say they "barged in".
HOGWASH
Steamboats carried both people and animals. Since pigs smelled so
bad they would be washed before being put on board. The mud and other filth
that was washed off was considered useless "hog wash".
CURFEW
The word "curfew" comes from the French phrase "couvre-feu",
which means "cover the fire". It was used to describe the time of
blowing out all lamps and candles. It was later adopted into Middle English as
"curfeu", which later became the modern "curfew". In the
early American colonies homes had no real fireplaces so a fire was built in the
center of the room. In order to make sure a fire did not get out of control
during the night it was required that, by an agreed upon time, all fires would
be covered with a clay pot called-a "curfew".
BARRELS
OF OIL
When the first oil wells were drilled they had made no provision
for storing the liquid so they used water barrels. That is why, to this day, we
speak of barrels of oil rather than gallons.
HOT OFF
THE PRESS
As the paper goes through the rotary printing press friction
causes it to heat up. Therefore, if you grab the paper right off the press it’s
hot. The expression means to get immediate information.
____________________
Following are some proposed conversions that I think might make things easier to understand:
1. Ratio of an igloo's
circumference to its diameter = Eskimo Pi
2. 2000 pounds of Chinese Soup = Won ton
3. 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope
4. Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement = 1 bananosecond
5. Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1 billigram
6. Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour = Knotfurlong
7. 365.25 days of drinking low calorie beer = 1 Lite year
8. 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Serling
9. Half a large intestine = 1 semicolon
10. 1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz
11. Basic unit of laryngitis - 1 hoarsepower
12. Shortest distance between two jokes - a straight line
13. 453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake
14. 1 million microphones = 1 megaphone
15. 1 million bicycles = 1 megacycle
16. 365 days = 1 unicycle
17. 2000 mockingbirds = two kilomockingbirds
18. 10 cards = 1 decacard
19. 52 cards = 1 deckacard
20. 1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 Fig Newton
21. 1000 grams of wet socks = 1 literhosen
22. 1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche
23. 1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin
24. 10 rations = 1 decaration
25. 100 rations = 1 C-Ration
26. 2 monograms = 1 diagram
27. 8 nickels = 2 paradigms
28. 5 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital = 1 I.V. League
2. 2000 pounds of Chinese Soup = Won ton
3. 1 millionth of a mouthwash = 1 microscope
4. Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement = 1 bananosecond
5. Weight an evangelist carries with God = 1 billigram
6. Time it takes to sail 220 yards at 1 nautical mile per hour = Knotfurlong
7. 365.25 days of drinking low calorie beer = 1 Lite year
8. 16.5 feet in the Twilight Zone = 1 Rod Serling
9. Half a large intestine = 1 semicolon
10. 1,000,000 aches = 1 megahurtz
11. Basic unit of laryngitis - 1 hoarsepower
12. Shortest distance between two jokes - a straight line
13. 453.6 graham crackers = 1 pound cake
14. 1 million microphones = 1 megaphone
15. 1 million bicycles = 1 megacycle
16. 365 days = 1 unicycle
17. 2000 mockingbirds = two kilomockingbirds
18. 10 cards = 1 decacard
19. 52 cards = 1 deckacard
20. 1 kilogram of falling figs = 1 Fig Newton
21. 1000 grams of wet socks = 1 literhosen
22. 1 millionth of a fish = 1 microfiche
23. 1 trillion pins = 1 terrapin
24. 10 rations = 1 decaration
25. 100 rations = 1 C-Ration
26. 2 monograms = 1 diagram
27. 8 nickels = 2 paradigms
28. 5 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital = 1 I.V. League
ArcaMax, I think!!
____________________
And some suggestions to modernize the dictionary:
2. AVOIDABLE: What a bullfighter tries to do.
3. BERNADETTE: The act of torching a mortgage.
4. BURGLARIZE: What a crook sees with.
5. CONTROL: A short, ugly inmate.
6. COUNTERFEITERS: Workers who put together kitchen cabinets.
7. ECLIPSE: What an English barber does for a living.
8. EYEDROPPER: A clumsy ophthalmologist.
9. HEROES: What a guy in a canoe does.
10. LEFT BANK: What the robber did when his bag was full of money.
11. MISTY: How golfers create divots.
12. PARADOX: Two physicians.
13. PARASITES: What you see from the top of the Eiffel Tower.
14. PHARMACIST: A helper on the farm.
15. POLARIZE: What penguins see with.
16. PRIMATE: Removing your spouse from in front of the TV.
17. RELIEF: What trees do in the spring.
18. RUBBERNECK: What you do to relax your wife.
19. SELFISH: What the owner of a seafood store does.
20. SUDAFED: Brought litigation against a government official.
Again, I think this was from ArcaMax!!
And some random cartoons:
Anything worth taking
seriously is worth making fun of----fishducky

I LOVED learning the origin of those phrases. Thank you. I hope some of them stay in my head.
ReplyDeleteThe definitions were great too.
Don't shake your head--when I do, my brains tend to fall out!!
DeleteFor quite some time I've tried to learn the origin of Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite. Your sleep tight meaning makes sense, but I wonder what it has to do with bedbugs.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Maybe just because it rhymes?
DeleteCould be.
DeleteSo much here tyo laugh at. Love the Mike Peters cartoon. He always makes me laugh. I hope you're having a great week.
ReplyDeleteSo far, so good!!
DeleteI feel so enlightened today, Fran, with all these questions pondering in my mind now answered!
ReplyDeleteNow you & I know EVERYTHING!!
DeleteI love the origin of sayings. Most of these I had never heard before.
ReplyDeleteAnd now you have!!
DeleteThe origin of sayings is a favorite pursuit of mine! Loved the list.
ReplyDelete"...I'm a unicorn..." BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA....Fran, Fran, Fran. What did I do before I met ya?
Life must have been boring!!
DeleteNow that's my kind of To-Do list!
ReplyDeleteI knew the origin of sleep tight, but all the rest are new to me.
I did NOTHING all day yesterday & I'm still not finished!!
Deletenice phrases
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dazz!!
Delete