‘Hands down’ originated in horse racing.
19th century—The adverb ‘hands down’ originated in horse racing: a jockey who is winning comfortably is able to lower his hands and relax his hold on the reins.
Read Morefolk-etymological origin of ‘squirrel’
Greek ‘skíouros’, ultimate origin of ‘squirrel’: folk-etymologically interpreted as meaning ‘shadow-tailed’ because when the animal sits erect, it raises its tail up against its back and over its head as if to shade itself
Read Moreorigin of ‘Shrovetide’ (‘les jours gras’)
Etymologically, ‘Shrovetide’ denotes the period during which it was customary to attend confession in preparation for Lent—but this period was also marked by feasting before the Lenten fast.
Read Moreorigin of the phrase ‘to sit below the salt’
The phrase ‘below the salt’ originated in the social differentiations materialised by the former custom of placing a large saltcellar in the middle of a dining table.
Read Morethe story of ‘greengrocer’s apostrophe’, a.k.a. ‘apostrofly’
UK, ‘greengrocer’s apostrophe’ – ‘apostrofly’: the mistaken use of an apostrophe, especially its insertion before the final ‘s’ of an ordinary plural form
Read Moreorigin of ‘Bombay duck’
‘Bombay’: alteration after the city’s name of ‘bummalo’, the name of the fish—‘duck’: common dishes were humorously called by the names of superior ones
Read Morethe cultural background to ‘Welsh rabbit’
‘Welsh’: used disparagingly by the English to denote inferior things; ‘rabbit’: common dishes were humorously called by the names of superior ones
Read Morethe origin of ‘soap opera’
US, 1938—‘soap’: from early sponsors of such radio serials, often soap manufacturers—‘opera’: from the scale of dramatic incident that happens in these programs
Read Morethe supposed origin of ‘to have one’s work cut out’: tailoring
supposedly an allusion to the preparation of fabric to be worked on: once the shapes have been cut out, the tailor still has a lot of sewing to do
Read Morethe devotional origin of ‘lip service’
First recorded in 1590, the term ‘lip service’ originally referred to prayer as a mere formal practice, as a sort of mechanical physical exercise.
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