origin of ‘to bell the cat’ (to undertake a very dangerous mission)
ultimately based on the fable of the mice, or rats, who proposed to hang a bell round the cat’s neck, so as to be warned of its approach
Read MoreCategory: literature
‘bedside manner’: originally applied to fashionable ladies’ doctors
UK, 1849—in the medical profession, appearances, among which a good bedside manner, prevailed over qualifications
Read More‘beer and skittles’: meaning and origin
UK, 1831—In ‘beer and skittles’, denoting unmixed enjoyment, the image is of a person drinking beer while playing skittles.
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘not to know (something) from Shinola’
USA, 1946—to be completely unaware or innocent—from ‘Shinola’, the trade name of an American brand of shoe polish
Read More‘to count sheep’ – French ‘compter les moutons’
‘to count sheep’ (French ‘compter les moutons’): to count imaginary sheep jumping over an obstacle one by one, as a way of sending oneself to sleep
Read Moremeaning and origin of ‘things that go bump in the night’
UK, 1912—from the prayer “From Ghoulies and Ghoosties, long-leggety Beasties, and Things that go Bump in the Night, Good Lord, deliver us!”
Read MoreHow ‘to call a spade a spade’ originated in a mistranslation.
originated in the mistranslation by Erasmus of Greek ‘skáphē’ (meaning anything hollowed out) as a word denoting a digging tool
Read Moreorigin of ‘sop’ (a concession given to placate)
17th century—allusion to the Aeneid, by Virgil, in which the Sybil throws a drugged cake to Cerberus, the monstrous dog guarding the entrance to Hades
Read Moreorigin of the Irish-English phrase ‘up the pole’ (‘pregnant’)
probably refers to pregnancy as an awkward condition, the image being apparently of an uncomfortable position at the top of a pole
Read Morethe American-English origin of the phrase ‘like greased lightning’
denotes extreme quickness of movement—the use of ‘greased’ likens lightning to a machine that a mechanic has lubricated in order to minimise the friction and make it run easily
Read More
word histories 