Happy 2024!
cookthink.com
In our Feb. 12, 2023, segment, we talked about clichés and phrases people use every day without knowing what they really mean or their origins. Here are more.
1. Living high on the hog. The back and upper legs of a pig were the most expensive parts, and your access to them reflected your wealth.
2. Bringing home the bacon. A story says in Essex, in England, a royal was so impressed with a local couple’s love for each other that he awarded them a side of bacon. The prize still is given out in the town. The term now refers to financially providing for a family.
3. Honeymoon: The phrase is said to stem from the Scandinavian tradition of a couple drinking mead, a drink of fermented honey, during their first month (“moon”) of marriage to improve the chances of conception.
4. Salary: In Roman times, salt was very valuable, for its use in preserving food and as a spice. Roman soldiers sometimes were paid not in coin but in salt. (Latin: sal)
5. Piping hot. According to the UK’s Phrase Finder, it comes from “the sizzling, whistling sound made by steam escaping from very hot food, which is similar to the sound of high-pitched musical pipes.”
7. It rings a bell. This phrase, about something that sounds familiar, has several possible sources. One is that of scientist Ivan Pavlov, who famously proved the concept of conditioning when he rang a bell every time he fed his dogs, until eventually the ringing alone made the dogs salivate. It also might refer to the fact that we respond to school bells, alarm bells, dinner bells. Readers?
8. Not worth a plugged nickel. Unscrupulous people would drill holes — into coins and "plug" -- fill -- them with cheaper metal. Sounds like a lot of work!
9. Safe and sound. This dates back to when “sound” was a common adjective for being undamaged or uninjured. It’s still used in wills, as in, “of sound mind and body.”
6. Close to the vest. This term for keeping your thoughts to yourself probably comes from the poker strategy of keeping your cards close to your body so nobody can peek at them.
Etsy
10. Off the cuff: This phrase for saying something spontaneous or unrehearsed dates to when men wore removable shirt cuffs, which made for handy note pads, especially for actors who couldn’t remember their lines.
11. Framed. This term for concocting a story or evidence to inflict guilt on an innocent person goes back to 1900 and perhaps the 1500s, according to the online etymology dictionary. But even that esteemed group was unable to say how the phrase happened. Readers?
Watch this on video! https://youtu.be/ZZwXrZqo50I?si=Fc4U_aKMXiNUV6Os
Next time: Do not remove tag, under penalty of law!
Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong" features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police.” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, menus, TV news graphics, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we can credit you properly. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com
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NOTE: Eliot and Lou Ann are available for speaking engagements, and can travel. Reach us through the comments section. Just think of all of your employees getting back to work on a Monday, their heads filled with all the ways we’ve shown them to be better communicators!