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Post by bluwahoo (FL/AL Coast) on May 8, 2018 1:05:15 GMT -5
Gone Haywire Meaning: In a mess. Origin: In frontier towns of the United States, wire would be taken from hay bales and used for domestic jobs, such as hanging clothes or binding the stove together. A ‘haywire’ camp was one that was poor, backward, or slovenly.
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Post by bluwahoo (FL/AL Coast) on May 8, 2018 23:42:28 GMT -5
Butter Someone Up - Meaning: To flatter someone. Origin: An ancient Indian custom involved throwing balls of clarified butter at statues of the gods to seek favor.
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Post by SUVFan on Jul 20, 2018 9:34:45 GMT -5
"That's the way the cookie crumbles"
Origin is unknown. Some say it dates to the '50s, some to the '20s, when a product called "crumbling" came out and the phrase became a variant of the French saying for "Such is life" - "Cosi va'l mondo!" or more simply, "C'est la vie" ("that's life").
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Post by SUVFan on Dec 26, 2018 21:25:49 GMT -5
Run the gamut
I most recently used this term the other day returning from a Christmas visit with relatives. There's a string of eight traffic lights in a section of roadway on the next to last leg of my trip, where the road turns from expressway to highway. I made each of them green, which is a rare feat in my experience. As I approached the last intersection, I commented to my passenger, "I'm about to run the gamut!"
I immediately realized that while I'd used the term for as long as I can remember, I had no idea of it's history. So I checked it out.
Meaning “the entire range,” the word gamut traces its origins to the Middle Ages and a system for designating musical notes.
While neither the linked item nor any of about the first fifty or so google hits for my "run the gamut origin" search actually explain the original meaning of the phrase, I'm left to infer that since running the gamut means you somehow accomplished the entire range of things in a class -- such as hitting green lights at all of those intersections -- then in the historical context of the phrase, one would run the gamut by singing or playing on an instrument the entire set of notes that comprised the original gamut.
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Post by bluwahoo (FL/AL Coast) on Feb 24, 2019 21:40:30 GMT -5
'The salt of the earth' Meaning: People who are described as 'the salt of the earth' are those who are considered to be of great worth and reliability. Origin: The phrase 'the salt of the earth' derives from the Bible, Matthew 5:13 (King James Version):
"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men".
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Post by SUVFan on Jun 28, 2019 7:22:13 GMT -5
OK"On Saturday, March 23, 1839, the editor of the Boston Morning Post published a humorous article about a satirical organization called the "Anti-Bell Ringing Society " in which he wrote: That and so much more can be found in the article linked below. Without knowing any of that background, I started a JFF topic at the other place with OK as the topic name. I tried for a while to direct to that topic the folks who posted "OK" to news article threads. That never took, but most days there were at least 2 pages of posts, often more. Yesterday, someone posted over at the other place an article that explains the origins of OK. Knowing that could disappear, here's a link to the actual article titled, What's the Real Origin of "OK"? The article is well sourced, based on a book by Allan Metcalf called OK: The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word. Metcalf's "book is based in the thorough scholarship of Allen Walker Read, a Columbia professor who for years scoured historical sources for evidence about OK, and published his findings in a series of journal articles in 1963 to 1964."
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Post by sandipaws on Aug 30, 2019 17:46:18 GMT -5
Acid test A sure test, giving an incontestable result.
Origin of the phrase Acid test: Gold prospectors and dealers need to be able to distinguish gold from base metal. The original acid test was developed in the late 18th century and relied on nitric acid's ability to dissolve other metals more readily than gold. To confirm that a find was gold it was given 'the acid test'. A test sample was used to mark a touchstone and the degree to which it dissolved when the acid was added determined whether it was gold. Various other later tests also used acid and these are all called 'acid tests'.
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Post by SUVFan on Feb 20, 2020 19:39:51 GMT -5
Full of piss & vinegarMeaning: Rowdy, boisterous, full of youthful energy.
Origin: According to the link, above, 1936 in John Steinbeck's novel In Dubious Battle:
I used the phrase today when a dog was all hyped up, acting kind of crazy, and thought of this topic.
Edit: I kind of doubt that I'm ever going to read Steinbeck's novel!
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Post by SUVFan on Mar 5, 2020 8:45:31 GMT -5
Blowing a hoolie I encountered this delightful term for the first time this morning when it was used in this GB topic that I visit daily to describe exceptionally windy conditions. Speculation here indicates that it may have derived from "hooley", apparently Scottish slang for a rip-roaring party. Common usage apparently is fairly recent, dating to the early 90s according to research reported at this link. But a first hand report from someone claiming to be a 76 year old Scot suggests it's been common there, particularly in Northern Scotland, since at least the 1930s. The LA Times reference in one of the posts hints that windsurfers may have adopted the term by 1992. I'm also liking the term, " Baltic", introduced by that Scot, and apparently applied by folks living in and about Glasglow "to describe any form of bitterly cold weather." Though I plan to steal it, I'm mindful that using "Baltic" to describe what seems to be extreme weather conditions here in Central Ohio would generate laughter from those who routinely experience much harsher conditions. It's all relative!
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Post by VanIsleRover on Mar 5, 2020 13:34:14 GMT -5
Here's a good link for you. 2,000 English idioms, phrases and proverbs that we use every day, with their meanings and origins explained. www.phrases.org.uk/index.htmlphrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at The Phrase Finder Bob's your Uncle'Bob's your uncle' is an exclamation that is used when 'everything is alright' and the simple means of obtaining the successful result is explained. For example, "left over right; right over left, and Bob's your uncle - a reef knot" or, "she slipped the officer £100 and, Bob's your uncle', she was off the charge".
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Post by VanIsleRover on Mar 5, 2020 13:53:16 GMT -5
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Post by SUVFan on Mar 8, 2020 11:44:52 GMT -5
Field dayThanks to VanIsleRover's link to British phrases, I now better understand this term, which I first heard used in Buffalo Springfield's 1967 protest song, For What It's Worth. " What a field day for the heat", starts the third verse. Over time, "field day" has evolved to mean, " A day of excitement or a circumstance of opportunity." It's use in the protest song is clearly both -- the "heat" (slang for law enforcement in the '60s) was excited by the overwhelming presence of protesters at the 1966 Sunset Strip riots and thought to look forward to situations such as these as an opportunity teach the protesters an obviously needed lesson. At the link to the current meaning, the origin of the term is explained to date to London's The Daily Journal in September, 1723, as a name for a military parade held in Hide Park. The link describes the beginning of the evolution of the term's usage: The term evolved during that century to refer to "any exciting or welcome event." As society began to spend less and less time in fields the term further evolved, "to include opportunity as well as enjoyment."
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Post by SUVFan on Mar 16, 2020 16:18:42 GMT -5
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Post by VanIsleRover on Mar 21, 2020 17:50:43 GMT -5
Social Isolation
Now a common use title
Social isolation describes the absence of social contact and can lead to loneliness. It is a state of being cut off from normal social networks, which can be triggered by factors such as loss of mobility, unemployment, or health issues.
Social isolation is a state of complete or near-complete lack of contact between an individual and society. It differs from loneliness, which reflects temporary and involuntary lack of contact with other humans in the world. Social isolation can be an issue for individuals of any age, though symptoms may differ by age group.[1]
Social isolation has similar characteristics in both temporary instances and for those with a historical lifelong isolation cycle. All types of social isolation can include staying home for lengthy periods of time, having no communication with family, acquaintances or friends, and/or willfully avoiding any contact with other humans when those opportunities do arise.
--------------------------------------------------------- Some people choose this way of life.
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Post by VanIsleRover on Mar 29, 2020 15:20:27 GMT -5
Touch Wood
UK informal (US knock on wood) said in order to avoid bad luck, either when you mention good luck that you have had in the past or when you mention hopes you have for the future It derives from the pagan belief that malevolent spirits inhabited wood, and that if you expressed a hope for the future you should touch, or knock on, wood to prevent the spirits from hearing and presumably preventing your hopes from coming true. Why do people touch their heads when they say touch wood?This expression is a superstition that is used in the hope that a good thing will continue to occur even after it is mentioned, and as a way to prevent envy also known as the Evil Eye, as they believe that Envy can harm other people. blog.ed.ted.com/2017/05/18/why-do-we-knock-on-wood/You tube of the above: www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=204&v=quOdF1CAPXs&feature=emb_logo
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