There are a lot of sayings in English that seem
a little ... off. What crude mind insisted that a person
undertaking something with great intensity was going "balls to the
wall"? Well, we have good news: That particular phrase doesn't have an
inappropriate origin at all. Here's where it comes from — and a handful of others
for good measure.
Balls to the Wall
No, it doesn't have anything to do with anyone's
anatomy. The phrase originates in 20th-century military aviation.
See, most planes had a ball-shaped grip atop the controls for both the throttle
and the joystick. Push both all the way forward to the firewall, and the plane
goes into a dive at maximum speed, preventing enemy fire from hitting the
pilot. Hence, going "balls to the wall" means doing something intense
with as much power as you can muster.
Beat Around the Bush
These days, “beat around the bush” generally
means to delay on arriving to the point, or to waste time on irrelevant details
— perhaps in an attempt to avoid your stated goals. But in its original sense,
it was a necessary preamble to the main event. To hunt birds in medieval
Europe, some participants would beat the bushes and the ground around them to
send the avians flying into the air. The rest of the hunters would then be able
to take aim at the target. Incidentally, those actually firing arrows (and
later, bullets) would be said to have "cut to the chase."
Cat's Out of the Bag
Another phrase with medieval origins, “cat’s out
of the bag” refers to a popular scam perpetrated on unwary buyers. It used
to be that a piglet sold at market would be tied up in a bag to prevent its
escape. Unscrupulous merchants could place a cat in the bag instead, and as
long as their buyer didn't look inside, hear the yowling, or get scratched
through the burlap, they might make it all the way home before they realize
that they'd been had. But if the cat escaped (and they're pretty good at
escaping), well, the secret's out and the jig is up.
Can't Hold a Candle To
If somebody “can’t hold a candle to” somebody
else, then the latter is much better than the former. Which is kind of strange,
since holding a candle isn't too difficult. But that's kind of the point. The
phrase originates from the days before electric light, when a master artisan
might work under the light of a candle held by their assistant or apprentice.
The learning partner performs a valuable service and gets to see how the craft
is done — but only if they're worthy of doing so.
Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth
If somebody gives you a bottle of whiskey, free
of charge, it would be bad form to complain about its quality — just say
"thanks" and pour a drink for yourself and your benefactor. To “look
a gift horse in the mouth” means to be overly judgmental about a gift
given freely. It refers to the fact that you can check a horse's age by looking
at their teeth, which get longer with the years. Sure, that horse might be a
little old. But you didn't pay a thing for it, so don't be so picky.
On a Soapbox
Ever meet somebody with a holier-than-thou
attitude, who can't help but deliver impassioned speeches at the drop of a hat?
They sure love to get on their soapbox, and about 100 years ago they might have
done so literally. Soapboxes — wooden crates used to ship or carry soap — would
have made for a pretty good makeshift podium when you wanted to address a
crowd. It might have been a union organizer rallying their people, a traveling
salesperson making a pitch, or a pastor suddenly moved to deliver a sermon.
Whatever the motivation, a soapbox was the perfect venue to get on a roll about a topic you care deeply about.
Winning Hands Down
When you win “hands down,” it generally
means that you were way ahead of all of the competition. But in its original
meaning, it doesn't just mean that you were the winner by a long shot. It
means you were showboating while you did it. The first recordings of
the phrase come from mid-19th-century horse races. A jockey has to keep their
hands up on the reins to keep their horse moving at top speed. But if a jockey
is able to win hands-down, they're so far ahead they can kick back, relax, and
still come in first place.
Resting on Your Laurels
There are a lot of things we modern English
speakers say that have their origins in the ancient Greek practice of awarding
victorious athletes a crown of laurels. What do you call someone who's
won an award? A laureate, of course. You might even laud them
with praise. But if they're just coasting on recognition they earned long ago,
well, they're resting on their laurels.
Read the Riot Act
When someone “reads you the riot act,” it
generally means they're angrily chastising you for some sort of wrongdoing or
faux pas. Something like that has generally been true since the origin of the
phrase — but the police officers who would have been screaming the actual Riot
Act were likely only doing it to be heard over the crowd. The Riot Act was a
British law that allowed the authorities to scatter any crowd they felt was
getting unruly, but to do so, they would have to literally read the act out loud.
Turn a Blind Eye
To "turn a blind eye" means to
willfully ignore something that you'd rather not acknowledge. Frankly, it
doesn't feel like it needs a whole lot of explaining, but the story behind the
phrase is just too good to pass up. Admiral Horatio Nelson was on the vanguard
of the British Navy assailing a Danish/Norwegian fleet in the 1801 battle of
Copenhagen when his superior officer, Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, signaled to
retreat from another ship. But Nelson wasn't having it. Having lost one eye at
Corsica, the legendary seaman put his telescope up to his glass eye and said,
"You know, Foley, I have only one eye — and I have a right to be blind
sometimes ... I really do not see the signal." That decision swung the
battle in favor of the British. No, Nelson didn't use the phrase specifically
(and truthfully, others had used it before him), but it exploded in popularity
after the story made the rounds.
There are a lot more
famous phrases where those came from. "The
Ultimate Book of Quotations," compiled by Joseph Demakis, is a great way to spice up your
speech with the wisdom of the ancients.
(curiosity.com/Reuben Westmaas)
----fishducky
(curiosity.com/Reuben Westmaas)
----fishducky
