Anyone know any good sayings and their origins?

Question

For eg, the saying to "paint the town red" comes from when the Romans would invade a town, village, city etc and massacre the inhabitants and then paint its walls and buildings with the dead populations blood.

Answer 1

Opening pandoras box is attributed to the HMS pandora, it was transporting prisoners and wrecked, the captain didn't want to let the prisoners out and wanted to leave them in the "box" i.e the hold they were in. However they box was opened and all the prisoners were taken ashore. Later the crew were rescued and the prisoners were taken to their destination to be hanged.

Let the cat out the bag - is supposed to be attributed to the cat of nine tails being kept in a cloth bag in view of a ships crew. When it was to be used the cat would be let out of the bag.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, this is attributed to an old Babylon law that attributed a crime should be punished with the same level of justice.

Kick the bucket - apparently the frame animals were hung on when slaughtered was called a bucket, when dying they were known to kick the bucket.

Answer 2

Doing a Gig - musical performance.

Bands were prohibited from street perfoming in the USA (don't know which city it was) and doing so they would be arrested for loitering. So they performed on a horse drawn carriage being slowly driven along the street. the carriage was a type called a Gig.

Answer 3

Ewww I don't think I'll say I'm off to paint the town red again when I go out clubbing!

"That's like the pot calling the kettle black"

Cos in the olden days the pot and the kettle were heated up on the fire, so they both got a black bottom. An the saying could be used when someone points out some elses mistake when they already make the same mistake themselves but ironically couldn't see it.

Answer 4

" Get a frog in your throat " comes from medieval times.  People would drink water from ponds and rivers, but sometimes this water would also carry frog spawn which the poeple woul ingest.  The expression has come to refer to a throat infection or having something in your throat which causes you discomfort.

" Quiz " stemmed from a drunken bet between two people in a Dublin pub.  One bet the other that he could create a completely new word, and painted the word QUIZ on walls right across the city.  The following day, people awoke to this strange utterance, and it came to mean something which people did not know the answer to.

" Juevo de Juanelo " or Juanelo's egg came from the experience of A Mexican man called Juanelo who thought that cooking eggs would be difficult, until he actually tried.  It has come to mean an activity which is perceived to be hard, but when undertaken is actually quite easy.

" OK " originates from US president Martin van Buhren, who had the nickname Old Kinterhook.  If somebody was seeking his approval on matters, it came to be known that he had " OKed " it, or that it was OK.

Another expression originating from a US president was " the buck stops here " as orated by Harry S. Truman.

Conservative politician Norman Tebbit is said to have invented the phrase " on your bike. "

So many sayings and expressions come from Shakespeare, such as " more fool you " and " an ill wind which blows no good. "

" Worth his salt " comes from Roman times, when centurions were paid in salt.  If they had done a good job, they were said to be worth their salt, and paid accordingly.

Answer 5

You might try the website I've given you the link to because there are literally hundreds of the types of quotes you are seeking, along with an explanation of the quote and who said it.

Answer 6

Paint the town red - Meaning: Spend a wild night out, usually involving drinking.

Example: At the end of final exams college students have traditionally gone out to paint the town red. College students traditionally also do this at the throughout the semester.

Origin: This phrase originated with the Roman Empire. Roman soldiers used to wash the walls of a newly-conquered town or city with the blood of the vanquished. This was usually accomplished with a great degree of gusto, hence the term being applied to a great night on the town.

Alternative: In the 19th century, the section of town where brothels and saloons were located was known as the 'red light district." So a group of lusty cowhands out for a night on the town might well take it into their heads to make the whole town red.

Alternative: "Paint the town red" is a reference to the money spent in the process. The party goer ends up in the red paying for the celebration. Related phrase: "In the red".

Alternative: A joe-k that the resulting blood-shot eyes resulting from partying and drinking might actually color one's field of vision red.

lots more here:

http://www.joe-ks.com/phrases/phrases.ht...



A Picture Paints a Thousand Words

This term which means a story told by pictures as well as a vast amount of descriptive text comes from the quotation 'One picture is worth ten thousand words', Frederick R. Barnard in Printer's Ink, 8 Dec 1921 retelling a Chinese proverb. .

Bad Hair Day

A bad hair day is one of those days when nothing seems to be going right. Originated in the 1992 movie Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This was the exact lines from the film:

Buffy (Kristy Swanson) to the one-armed vampire Amilyn (Paul Reubens):

"I'm fine but you're obviously having a bad hair day."

This from a website visitor:

I don't know when Jane Pauley retired from the anchor position on the Today show,

but during their final goodbye, he referred to Jane as having had good hair days and bad hair days. This reference may predate the Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference that is now listed on your site.

Blue Moon

The term Blue Moon means something that happens rarely, as in "once in a blue moon". It is rare that in one calendar month you would see a second full moon or "blue moon". This is an event that is seen as absurd and can never occur. Although the moon is never actually "blue", unless alot of dust is kicked up into the atmosphere, then the moon can almost appear blue. Some events in history that have caused this effect and made the moon appear as blue include: The eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, late Indian monsoons in 1927, and forest fires in Canada in 1951.

*This from another website visitor:

Blue moon is actually an astronomical term when there are two full moons in a month. Also, when there are two new moons in a month, that's called a Black Moon.

Back Seat Driver

This idiom comes from the habit many people have of giving too much advice (unwanted advice) to the driver of an automobile from the backseat. this idiom means 'someone who watches and criticizes'

Don't look a Gift Horse in the Mouth

When given something don't be ungrateful.

By counting the teeth you can tell the age of a horse. Checking whether a present of a horse was old would be considered impolite.

Elvis has left the building

Meaning the show/event has ended, this comes from the announcements that used to be made at the end of musician Elvis's concerts in order to get fans to leave the arena. Now we use this term anytime an event has ended.

Get out of the wrong side of bed

Meaning to be in a bad mood, it is considered unlucky to put your left foot on the floor first when getting out of bed.

Getting Down To Brass Tacks

"Getting down to brass tacks" means getting serious. Years ago millinery stores had brass tacks set in their counters every 6 inches. Tailors would come in and look over the fabric picking up bolts that they liked, but they weren’t serious until they "got down to brass tacks" and measured out the amount they needed and intenede to purchase.

here's the site for more

http://www.idiomsite.com/

Answer 7

you could swing a cat in there

theres no smoke without fire

youve lost your marbles

night night sleep tight ( in the olden days beds used to be made of wire underneath and each night they would have to tighten the string) dont let bed bugs bite ( lots of bugs in straw and in wool)

Answer 8

shes got a face on like her mother

meaning someones upset her

Answer 9

The only one I know is from Groucho Marx:

Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.

Answer 10

If you governed your province well and treat your people kindly, you kingdom shall not lose any war. If you govern selfishly to your people, you kingdom will not only lose a war, but your people will break away from your kingdom