December 19, 2025 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Andrew Thompson shares another slice of his guide to understanding the baffling mini-mysteries of the English language, this time diving into how the phrase “bring home the bacon” came to be. His book, Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town Red: The Wonderful Origins of Everyday Expressions and Fun Phrases, is a must-read. Be sure to check it out!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
This is our American stories, and we tell stories about
everything here on this show. And up next Arthur Andrew
Thompson here to share the stories behind curious phrases and
everyday sayings. Take it away, Andrew.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Blowing hot and cold means to change one's mind or
be inconsistent, and it derives from classical mythology and one
of the fables of Aesop, the ancient Greek writer from
five seventy BC. In it, he tells the story of
a man who meets a mythical beast whose part man
and part goat on winter's day. When he meets the beast,
the man blows on his hands to warm them up
(00:48):
because it's cold, and the beast invites the man into
his house to have some porridge, But then the man
blows on the porridge to cool it down. The beast
couldn't believe it and set out you go. I will
have nought to do with a man who can blow
hot and cold with the same breath. The expression was
used figuratively by the seventeenth century, when the English churchman
William Chillingworth referred to it in a book he wrote
(01:11):
in sixteen thirty eight. The expression blue blood means a
member of a socially prominent or wealthy family, and it's
a translation of the Spanish phrase sangrea zool, which relates
to aristocrats who lived in Castile in the eighteenth century.
The Moors invaded Castile from northern Africa and they had
(01:31):
dark skin. Many interracial marriages took place, but the oldest
and proudest families from Castile were quick to boast that
they had never intermarried with the Moors or any other race.
As a result, they were pure and remain fair skin,
making their veins appear very blue against their white skin.
This was taken to be a mark of good breeding,
(01:52):
and they call themselves the sangrea zool or the blue bloods.
It was later used in England to describe the nobility
Bob's your uncle means that everything will be all right
and you'll get a favorable result with very little effort,
and it dates back to eighteen eighty six. In that year,
Arthur Balfer was unexpectedly appointed to the job of Chief
(02:13):
Secretary for Ireland. Many believed he didn't deserve the job
and wasn't qualified, and as it turned out, the British
Prime Minister at the time was Balfer's uncle, and it
was the prime minister's nepotism that got balf for the post.
The Prime minister's name at the time was Robert gascoyne
Cecil or Bob, so Arthur Balfo got the job because
(02:35):
Bob was his uncle, and the word nepotism actually drives
from nephew, which completes the link. A booby prize is
a prize given to someone who comes last in a
game or contest to make fun of him or her.
It derives from the blue footed booby, a South American
bird that's known to be unintelligent and easy to catch.
(02:55):
During the seventeenth century, sailors who first came across the
bird and when tried to catch it, it didn't escape, and
it could be caught on the deck of a ship
with a simple noose and food as a bait. That
is actually the origin of the expression booby trap as well.
But because of this slow witted bird, sailors who also
weren't too bright became known as boobies, and the prize
(03:17):
was given to anyone who came last in the contest,
and that was known as the booby prize. To bottle.
It means to lose your nerve or your courage, and
it originates from the days of bare knuckle boxing in
the nineteenth century. A fighter always had a man in
his corner who supplied water and encouragement between the rounds
to keep the fighter's spirits up. This man was known
(03:39):
as the bottleman because he carried with him the box's water.
Without the bottleman and the necessary water, a fighter couldn't
go on. But in cases where the fighter was losing,
he would sometimes tell his bottleman to sneak away with
the water bottle, which would give the fighter an excuse
to quit. In these cases, it was said that the
fighter had bottled it. The saying break a leg is
(04:01):
used to wish someone like an actor, success in a performance.
It's often thought to be related to the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth, who broke his own
leg while jumping onto the stage to escape, but while
manything that's the origin had actually came into existence well
before then. When a successful theater performance is applauded by
(04:22):
an audience, the cast will return to the front of
the stage, and this can happen a number of times,
the curtains rising and falling on each occasion. The actors
are required to bow or kurtzy each time, and in
doing so they bend or break a leg as they do.
To bring home the bacon means to earn money or
to be successful, and it began in the village of
(04:44):
Dunmow in Essex in England in the year eleven o four.
It was in that year a noble woman named Juga
offered a side of bacon, which was known as a flitch,
to any married couple in England who could honestly say
that they had lived in complete marital harmony without a
crossword being spoken for the entire year and one day.
(05:04):
The tradition became known as the dun Mau of Flich Trials.
The trials are still held every four years and the
candidates have to prove their worth before a jury of twelve,
and if successful, they bring home the bacon, but in
over five hundred years there have only been eight winners.
To burn your bridges means to put yourself in a
position from which there is no return, and as often
(05:28):
used in the negative form with don't burn your bridges.
The expression dates back to ancient Roman times. When Roman
armies crossed a river to invade a new territory, the
general in command would order the bridge they had crossed
to be burned. This ensure the soldiers couldn't have second
thoughts and retreat, so they were forced to fight for
their lives. The territories being invaded sometimes use the same technique,
(05:50):
burning the bridges as they retreated so that the Romans
couldn't follow. And that's where the expression comes from. To
butter someone up means to shower someone with flattery, and
it dates back to ancient India. The Hindus always wanted
to keep their gods happy so that they would watch
over and protect them, and they used butter in their
cooking like we do, but they had a custom of
(06:12):
throwing balls of butter at the statues of their gods
to butter them up. They did this to keep the
gods happy and also if they were seeking a particular favor.
Buying time means to stall or be evasive to gain
some time. And it's got an interesting origin. It started
in England in seventeen ninety seven when the Duties on
Clocks and Watchers Act was passed. This act was known
(06:35):
as the clock tax, and it was a five shilling
tax would be imposed on every clock or watch in
the British Isles. Many clock owners either hid or got
rid of their clocks in order to avoid the tax,
but sensing an opportunity, tavernowners hung huge clocks on their
walls and anyone who wanted to know the time would
have to come in. The tavern owners didn't mind paying
(06:56):
the tax because people who came in to find the
time were compelled to buy a drink. The people would
often then stay longer than originally planned, and thus they
brought time. By and large means in general or on
the whole, and it's another expression that has nautical origins.
It harks to the days of sailing ships, where to
(07:16):
sail by meant to sail facing into the wind, while
sailing large the most favorable way means to have the
wind behind the ship. But when the wind was constantly
changing around, a captain would be required to sail by
and large, both with the wind and against it. By
doing this, the ship would continue to progress, but its
path was not as direct or accurate. To learn something
(07:40):
by heart means to know or memorize it perfectly, and
it dates back to ancient Greece. In the fourth century BC,
the philosopher Aristotle believed that the heart was the intelligent
center of the body and that it governed human emotions
because of the fluttering the people experienced, so he thought
that it was responsible for thinking and memory as well.
(08:00):
So if something was studied, it was committed to the heart.
And the word record actually comes from the Latin words
re meaning again and core meaning heart, So if something
was recorded in the memory, it was learned by heart.
By the skin of your teeth means by the narrowest
of margins, and it's an expression that has biblical origins.
(08:23):
In the Bible, Satan makes a bet with God, claiming
that he can get Job to curse God's name. God accepts,
and Satan does his worst in torturing Job, covering him
in excruciating boils whilst writhing in pain. At one point,
Job cries, I'm nothing but skin and bone. I've escaped
with only the skin of my teeth. It's generally thought
(08:44):
that he's referring to his gums and the skin that
held his teeth in place, and obviously a very narrow margin.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And special thanks to Greg Hangler for the work on
the piece, as always in bringing it to us and
to our storyteller Andrew Thompson, who's the author of Hair
of the Dog, To Paint the Town Red, the curious
origins of everyday sayings and fun phrases, Andrew Thompson's storytelling
of the English language. Essentially here on our American stories.
This is our American stories, and we tell stories about
everything here on this show. And up next Arthur Andrew
Thompson here to share the stories behind curious phrases and
everyday sayings. Take it away, Andrew.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Blowing hot and cold means to change one's mind or
be inconsistent, and it derives from classical mythology and one
of the fables of Aesop, the ancient Greek writer from
five seventy BC. In it, he tells the story of
a man who meets a mythical beast whose part man
and part goat on winter's day. When he meets the beast,
the man blows on his hands to warm them up
(00:48):
because it's cold, and the beast invites the man into
his house to have some porridge, But then the man
blows on the porridge to cool it down. The beast
couldn't believe it and set out you go. I will
have nought to do with a man who can blow
hot and cold with the same breath. The expression was
used figuratively by the seventeenth century, when the English churchman
William Chillingworth referred to it in a book he wrote
(01:11):
in sixteen thirty eight. The expression blue blood means a
member of a socially prominent or wealthy family, and it's
a translation of the Spanish phrase sangrea zool, which relates
to aristocrats who lived in Castile in the eighteenth century.
The Moors invaded Castile from northern Africa and they had
(01:31):
dark skin. Many interracial marriages took place, but the oldest
and proudest families from Castile were quick to boast that
they had never intermarried with the Moors or any other race.
As a result, they were pure and remain fair skin,
making their veins appear very blue against their white skin.
This was taken to be a mark of good breeding,
(01:52):
and they call themselves the sangrea zool or the blue bloods.
It was later used in England to describe the nobility
Bob's your uncle means that everything will be all right
and you'll get a favorable result with very little effort,
and it dates back to eighteen eighty six. In that year,
Arthur Balfer was unexpectedly appointed to the job of Chief
(02:13):
Secretary for Ireland. Many believed he didn't deserve the job
and wasn't qualified, and as it turned out, the British
Prime Minister at the time was Balfer's uncle, and it
was the prime minister's nepotism that got balf for the post.
The Prime minister's name at the time was Robert gascoyne
Cecil or Bob, so Arthur Balfo got the job because
(02:35):
Bob was his uncle, and the word nepotism actually drives
from nephew, which completes the link. A booby prize is
a prize given to someone who comes last in a
game or contest to make fun of him or her.
It derives from the blue footed booby, a South American
bird that's known to be unintelligent and easy to catch.
(02:55):
During the seventeenth century, sailors who first came across the
bird and when tried to catch it, it didn't escape, and
it could be caught on the deck of a ship
with a simple noose and food as a bait. That
is actually the origin of the expression booby trap as well.
But because of this slow witted bird, sailors who also
weren't too bright became known as boobies, and the prize
(03:17):
was given to anyone who came last in the contest,
and that was known as the booby prize. To bottle.
It means to lose your nerve or your courage, and
it originates from the days of bare knuckle boxing in
the nineteenth century. A fighter always had a man in
his corner who supplied water and encouragement between the rounds
to keep the fighter's spirits up. This man was known
(03:39):
as the bottleman because he carried with him the box's water.
Without the bottleman and the necessary water, a fighter couldn't
go on. But in cases where the fighter was losing,
he would sometimes tell his bottleman to sneak away with
the water bottle, which would give the fighter an excuse
to quit. In these cases, it was said that the
fighter had bottled it. The saying break a leg is
(04:01):
used to wish someone like an actor, success in a performance.
It's often thought to be related to the assassination of
Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth, who broke his own
leg while jumping onto the stage to escape, but while
manything that's the origin had actually came into existence well
before then. When a successful theater performance is applauded by
(04:22):
an audience, the cast will return to the front of
the stage, and this can happen a number of times,
the curtains rising and falling on each occasion. The actors
are required to bow or kurtzy each time, and in
doing so they bend or break a leg as they do.
To bring home the bacon means to earn money or
to be successful, and it began in the village of
(04:44):
Dunmow in Essex in England in the year eleven o four.
It was in that year a noble woman named Juga
offered a side of bacon, which was known as a flitch,
to any married couple in England who could honestly say
that they had lived in complete marital harmony without a
crossword being spoken for the entire year and one day.
(05:04):
The tradition became known as the dun Mau of Flich Trials.
The trials are still held every four years and the
candidates have to prove their worth before a jury of twelve,
and if successful, they bring home the bacon, but in
over five hundred years there have only been eight winners.
To burn your bridges means to put yourself in a
position from which there is no return, and as often
(05:28):
used in the negative form with don't burn your bridges.
The expression dates back to ancient Roman times. When Roman
armies crossed a river to invade a new territory, the
general in command would order the bridge they had crossed
to be burned. This ensure the soldiers couldn't have second
thoughts and retreat, so they were forced to fight for
their lives. The territories being invaded sometimes use the same technique,
(05:50):
burning the bridges as they retreated so that the Romans
couldn't follow. And that's where the expression comes from. To
butter someone up means to shower someone with flattery, and
it dates back to ancient India. The Hindus always wanted
to keep their gods happy so that they would watch
over and protect them, and they used butter in their
cooking like we do, but they had a custom of
(06:12):
throwing balls of butter at the statues of their gods
to butter them up. They did this to keep the
gods happy and also if they were seeking a particular favor.
Buying time means to stall or be evasive to gain
some time. And it's got an interesting origin. It started
in England in seventeen ninety seven when the Duties on
Clocks and Watchers Act was passed. This act was known
(06:35):
as the clock tax, and it was a five shilling
tax would be imposed on every clock or watch in
the British Isles. Many clock owners either hid or got
rid of their clocks in order to avoid the tax,
but sensing an opportunity, tavernowners hung huge clocks on their
walls and anyone who wanted to know the time would
have to come in. The tavern owners didn't mind paying
(06:56):
the tax because people who came in to find the
time were compelled to buy a drink. The people would
often then stay longer than originally planned, and thus they
brought time. By and large means in general or on
the whole, and it's another expression that has nautical origins.
It harks to the days of sailing ships, where to
(07:16):
sail by meant to sail facing into the wind, while
sailing large the most favorable way means to have the
wind behind the ship. But when the wind was constantly
changing around, a captain would be required to sail by
and large, both with the wind and against it. By
doing this, the ship would continue to progress, but its
path was not as direct or accurate. To learn something
(07:40):
by heart means to know or memorize it perfectly, and
it dates back to ancient Greece. In the fourth century BC,
the philosopher Aristotle believed that the heart was the intelligent
center of the body and that it governed human emotions
because of the fluttering the people experienced, so he thought
that it was responsible for thinking and memory as well.
(08:00):
So if something was studied, it was committed to the heart.
And the word record actually comes from the Latin words
re meaning again and core meaning heart, So if something
was recorded in the memory, it was learned by heart.
By the skin of your teeth means by the narrowest
of margins, and it's an expression that has biblical origins.
(08:23):
In the Bible, Satan makes a bet with God, claiming
that he can get Job to curse God's name. God accepts,
and Satan does his worst in torturing Job, covering him
in excruciating boils whilst writhing in pain. At one point,
Job cries, I'm nothing but skin and bone. I've escaped
with only the skin of my teeth. It's generally thought
(08:44):
that he's referring to his gums and the skin that
held his teeth in place, and obviously a very narrow margin.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
And special thanks to Greg Hangler for the work on
the piece, as always in bringing it to us and
to our storyteller Andrew Thompson, who's the author of Hair
of the Dog, To Paint the Town Red, the curious
origins of everyday sayings and fun phrases, Andrew Thompson's storytelling
of the English language. Essentially here on our American stories.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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