From where do common phrases, idioms come and what do they mean?
By Phil Riske | Senior Reporter/Writer
On any given day, we read or hear commonly used phrases, many of them archaic. Many of them date far back into our or some other lexicology and have been modernized.
Below are nine such phrases I encountered in the past week alone.
Well ain’t that the cat’s pajamas?
The phrase became popular in the U.S. in the 1920s, along with the bee’s knees, the cat’s whiskers (possibly from the use of these in radio crystal sets). In the 1920s the word “cat” was used as a term to describe the unconventional flappers from the jazz era.
The fighter threw a real haymaker.
“Haymaker,” meaning “powerful punch,” harks back to the actual process of harvesting hay in the age of the scythe. The scythe, a long, curved blade on a long crooked handle, is wielded with a broad, swinging stroke.
The newspaper had a field day with the scandal.
Field day stems from a day for military exercises or maneuvers. It has come to mean a time of extraordinary pleasure or opportunity.
It was the straw that broke the camel’s back (or that’s the last straw).
The idiom alludes to the proverb “It is the last straw that breaks the camel’s back,” and describes the seemingly minor or routine action which causes an unpredictably large and sudden reaction because of the cumulative effect of small actions.
The game turned into a real donnybrook.
Mid 19th Century: From the name of a suburb of Dublin, Ireland, formerly famous for its annual fair. Has come to mean an inordinately wild fight or contentious dispute; brawl; free-for-all.
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Comes from Proverbs of Ahiqar: “A sparrow in thy hand is better than a thousand sparrows flying.” Modern meaning: It is preferable to have a small but certain advantage than a mere potential of a greater one.
Smoke and mirrors
This expression alludes to the performances of stage conjurers who use actual smoke and mirrors to deceive the audience. The figurative use that is now more common refers to the obscuring or embellishing of the truth that is employed by spin doctors and the like in order to deceive the general public; trickery or deception, often in a political context.
How’d you like them apples?
During the World War I, the Allies had an anti-tank grenade, which was colloquially referred to as a “toffee apple” thanks to the appearance of its bulb. In the John Wayne movie “Rio Bravo,” one of the characters launches a “toffee apple” at the enemy lines and says the phrase, “How you like them apples?” referring, of course, to the bomb. As movie phrases are wont to do, it entered popular consciousness as a boastful expression of triumph.
I don’t have a dog in the fight.
If there’s a dogfight going on, and neither dog is yours, then there’s no reason for you to care which one wins or loses.
