R. Richard
Literotica Guru
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2003
- Posts
- 10,382
WE use them every day but the original meanings of many of our favourite phrases have bitten the dust.
Bite the dust: A quote from a character describing the death of Hector, the Prince of Troy, in Homer's Ancient Greek poem The Iliad.
To hector: Fierce warrior Hector loved to intimidate rivals into fighting him.
Heard it through the grapevine: Probably from "the grapevine telegraph", American slang for gossip passed on by slaves while picking grapes.
Let the cat out of the bag: Piglets were sold in medieval markets to fatten at home. A common scam was to substitute a cat. When it came out of the bag, the con was exposed.
To give someone the cold shoulder: Cold shoulder of mutton was the type of leftover given to unwelcome guests.
In the doghouse: From Peter Pan. In JM Barrie's children's classic, Mr Darling forces the dog to sleep in the kennel, which allows Peter Pan to fly away with the unguarded children. Mr Darling punishes himself by sleeping in the doghouse.
Winging it: Refers to actors learning lines at the last minute in the stage wings.
To eat humble pie: From "umbles", innards of deer, given to servants to eat.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating: To "prove" something used to mean to test it, which is why firearm ranges were often called proving grounds. So we taste a pudding to test it's worth.
Champ: The word should really be camp, from the Latin for battlefield, campus. The best soldiers were called campiones, hence champions.
In a nutshell: Another one from ancient times. Roman writer Pliny claimed to have seen a copy of the poem The Iliad that was so small it could fit in a walnut shell.
Heckle: Originally the process of combing out wool to remove knots.
In the 1700s, Dundee workers who carried out the task were renowned for their radical politics, often interrupting public speakers. This quickly became known as heckling.
Bite the dust: A quote from a character describing the death of Hector, the Prince of Troy, in Homer's Ancient Greek poem The Iliad.
To hector: Fierce warrior Hector loved to intimidate rivals into fighting him.
Heard it through the grapevine: Probably from "the grapevine telegraph", American slang for gossip passed on by slaves while picking grapes.
Let the cat out of the bag: Piglets were sold in medieval markets to fatten at home. A common scam was to substitute a cat. When it came out of the bag, the con was exposed.
To give someone the cold shoulder: Cold shoulder of mutton was the type of leftover given to unwelcome guests.
In the doghouse: From Peter Pan. In JM Barrie's children's classic, Mr Darling forces the dog to sleep in the kennel, which allows Peter Pan to fly away with the unguarded children. Mr Darling punishes himself by sleeping in the doghouse.
Winging it: Refers to actors learning lines at the last minute in the stage wings.
To eat humble pie: From "umbles", innards of deer, given to servants to eat.
The proof of the pudding is in the eating: To "prove" something used to mean to test it, which is why firearm ranges were often called proving grounds. So we taste a pudding to test it's worth.
Champ: The word should really be camp, from the Latin for battlefield, campus. The best soldiers were called campiones, hence champions.
In a nutshell: Another one from ancient times. Roman writer Pliny claimed to have seen a copy of the poem The Iliad that was so small it could fit in a walnut shell.
Heckle: Originally the process of combing out wool to remove knots.
In the 1700s, Dundee workers who carried out the task were renowned for their radical politics, often interrupting public speakers. This quickly became known as heckling.
