August 20, 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 “fair game” 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 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. And now it's
time for our recurring series with Arthur Andrew Thompson. His
book is Heir of the Dog, to Paint the Town
Red the curious origins of everyday scenes and fun phrases.
He continues here to share another slaves from his ultimate
(00:31):
Guide to understanding these baffling mini mysteries of the English language.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
The expression fair game means a legitimate target for a
tackle pursuit, and it's an expression that began in the
eighteenth century in England. King George the Third was a
keen hunter and introduced a raft of new laws in
an attempt to reduce a poaching and protect livestock that
the upper class landowner has had. The king wanted to
(00:57):
keep the hunting as a privilege of the aristocracy, and
he made it illegal for anyone apart from the landowner
and his eldest son to kill any game animals such
as pheasants or deer. The punishments were severe for breach.
Only certain animals were exempt and allowed to be killed
by others, such as vermin or birds that were harmful
to the land, known as crops. These animals were referred
(01:19):
to in the laws as fair game. Feather in your
cap means a symbol of honour or achievement, and its
origins are owed to the times of early warfare. In
medieval England, knights who exhibited battlefield bravery were awarded feathers
to be worn on their helmets. These were considered symbols
of state, as similar to modern day medals that soldiers receive.
(01:42):
In the first major battle of the One Hundred Years
War in thirteen forty six, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales,
showed bravery. He was known as the Black Prince and
he was only sixteen years old when he was awarded
the crest of John of the Bohemia, his defeated enemy.
The crest consisted of three ostri ridge feathers, which remains
the crest of the Prince of Wales today. The expression
(02:04):
feather in your cap was used figuratively by the early
eighteenth century, and was popularized in Yankee Doodle, the children's
nursery rhyme in the seventeen eighties. Fifteen minutes of fame
means a brief period of celebrity or publicity, and it
was first coined by the American artist Andy Warhol. In
the catalog for a nineteen sixty eight exhibition of his
(02:27):
work in Sweden, he included the words in the future,
everybody will be famous for fifteen minutes. While Wallhole is
credited with the expression, a photographer named Nat Finkelstein claims
he first said it when working with the artist in
nineteen sixty six. A crowd had gathered and was trying
(02:47):
to get photos of Warhol, who remarked that everyone wants
to be famous, and Finkelstein replied, yeah, for about fifteen minutes. Andy.
The expression first rate means something of their very best quality,
and it's a naval expression dating from the time of
King Henry the Eighth. It was during his reign that
(03:07):
the British Navy began organizing its ships according to their
size and strength. The warships were rated on a scale
of one to six. A small ship with little armory
was considered sixth rate, while a large and well armed
ship was classed as first rate. The expression soon came
to refer to anything of the highest quality. Fit as
a fiddle means to be very fitten in good health,
(03:30):
and it's actually a shortened version of the original saying
as fit as a fiddler. A fiddle is a cloaquoral
name for violin, and in medieval times in England, fiddlers
would play energetic street performances to throngs of people. They
would dance and weave through the crowd as they played.
The best performers were physically fit and agile. Hence, the
expression fits to a t means it fits exactly and
(03:56):
is very appropriate. The expression derives from medieval Latin. The
tea in the phrase stands for tittle, which comes from
the Latin word to tillus, meaning tiny. A tittle is
a small stroke or point in writing or printing. Originally
fits to a tittle. The expression was first used by
the English theologian John Wycliffe the thirteen hundreds to refer
(04:19):
to very minor differences in his version of the New Testament.
The saying flash in the pan means that something is
a disappointment after a promising start, and it has military
origins from the eighteenth century. Flintlock muskets contained small priming
pans that held charges of gunpowder. When the gun's trigger
(04:39):
was pulled, a spark ignited the priming powder, which usually
set off the main powder charge in the musket's bore
and fired the weapon. In some cases, the priming powder
failed to light the main charge. The priming powder would
flash in the pan, but no shot would be discharged,
resulting in disappointment after a positive start. Flavor of the
month means something that's in fashion for fleeting time or
(05:03):
the latest thing, and it began in the nineteen thirties
with the American advertising campaigns for ice cream companies. To
encourage customers into their parlours, ice cream companies ran slogans
promoting reduced prices on certain flavors that were less popular.
The price of a particular flavor would be dropped for
a month long period in an attempt to increase sales.
(05:25):
The price reduced ice cream would be promoted as the
flavor of the month, and this method of advertising was
so successful in increasing sales that by the nineteen fifties,
every major ice cream company was using the slogan to flog.
A dead horse means to engage in a fruitless effort,
and it's a mariner's term and derives from what's known
(05:45):
as the horse latitudes, which is an area with irregular
and unreliable winds about thirty degrees to either side of
the equator. It's an air of high pressure that can
result in weak winds and long periods of calm. Sailors
were paid in advance its wage at the start of
a voyage, and the time it took to pay the
advance off was known as a dead horse time. Because
(06:06):
of the lack of wind, it sometimes took months to
pass through the horse latitudes. This was advantageous to the
sailors as they had already received a payment, so they
saw little point in working hard to get clearer of
the area. To do so would have been flogging a
dead horse. To fly by the seat of your pants
is to do something without planning or deciding on the
(06:27):
course of action as you go along, and it's an
expression that derives from the world of aviation in the
nineteen thirties. Early aircraft had a few navigational aids or
sophisticated instruments, and flying was predominantly based on the pilot's
judgment and feel of the plane. The largest point of
contact between the pilot and the plane is the seat,
so most of the feedback comes through the seat to
(06:49):
the pilot, and it was through the seat that the
pilot could feel the reactions of the plane and flight accordingly.
The expression came into prominence in relation to Douglas Corrigan's
nineteen thirty eight flight from America to Ireland. In that flight,
some of the plane's systems failed and Corrigan was forced
to fly by the seat of his pants. To fly
(07:09):
off the handle means to lose one's temper or get
very angry, and it's an expression that began with the
early American frontier settlers. The iron head of an axe
as a hollow area into which the wooden handle is inserted.
The handle is fitted tightly, but in conditions where the
atmosphere is very dry, like in Middle America, the wood
can shrink and the axe head loosens. When being vigorously swung,
(07:33):
the axe head can sometimes fly off the handle in
an uncontrolled manner. To foot the bill means to pay
the check, normally to restaurant or something like that, and
it began in the fourteen hundreds and derived from the
simple method of adding up the various components of a
check or bill and writing the total at the bottom
or foot, originally meaning the total of the account at
(07:55):
the foot. By the eighteen hundreds, it had changed to
today's cloaquial use, which means to pay the check rather
than to add it up. To be footloose and fancy
free means to be free from care or responsibility, and
it's an expression that lies in the early sailing boats.
The foot is the bottom part of a sail that
is connected to the boom. Sometimes, in strong winds, it
(08:17):
would become detached from the boom and was regarded as footloose.
A footloose sail would flap around and be free to
move whichever way the wind blew. It was considered footloose
and fancy free. To freeze the balls off a brass
monkey means very cold weather conditions, and while many people
think that this has vulgar origins, it's actually one of
(08:40):
the many phrases from the nautical world. Naval artillery guns
in the eighteenth century required gunpowder and were manned by
so called powder monkeys, who were usually young, agile boys
able to move easily through tight passages. They would ferry
the powder from the ship's holed to the guns, and
next to the guards were brass triangles that supported stacks
(09:03):
of cannonballs. By association with these young boys, these became
known as brass monkeys. The advantage of brass was that
it wasn't as corrosive as iron, but in cold weather
it would contract more than other metals. On particularly cold days,
the brass racks would contract, increasing their openings and causing
(09:23):
the balls to fall through.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
And great job is always to Greg Hangler for producing
the piece and for finding the book. And a special
thanks to Andrew Thompson, author of Hair of the Dog.
To paint the town red, the curious origins of everyday
scenes and fun freezes and by the way, we've done
a really good series. Go to our American stories dot
(09:47):
com and just put in the words Andrew Thompson or
Hair of the Dog and you can listen to the
Hall series here on our American Stories
And we continue with our American stories. And now it's
time for our recurring series with Arthur Andrew Thompson. His
book is Heir of the Dog, to Paint the Town
Red the curious origins of everyday scenes and fun phrases.
He continues here to share another slaves from his ultimate
(00:31):
Guide to understanding these baffling mini mysteries of the English language.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
The expression fair game means a legitimate target for a
tackle pursuit, and it's an expression that began in the
eighteenth century in England. King George the Third was a
keen hunter and introduced a raft of new laws in
an attempt to reduce a poaching and protect livestock that
the upper class landowner has had. The king wanted to
(00:57):
keep the hunting as a privilege of the aristocracy, and
he made it illegal for anyone apart from the landowner
and his eldest son to kill any game animals such
as pheasants or deer. The punishments were severe for breach.
Only certain animals were exempt and allowed to be killed
by others, such as vermin or birds that were harmful
to the land, known as crops. These animals were referred
(01:19):
to in the laws as fair game. Feather in your
cap means a symbol of honour or achievement, and its
origins are owed to the times of early warfare. In
medieval England, knights who exhibited battlefield bravery were awarded feathers
to be worn on their helmets. These were considered symbols
of state, as similar to modern day medals that soldiers receive.
(01:42):
In the first major battle of the One Hundred Years
War in thirteen forty six, Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales,
showed bravery. He was known as the Black Prince and
he was only sixteen years old when he was awarded
the crest of John of the Bohemia, his defeated enemy.
The crest consisted of three ostri ridge feathers, which remains
the crest of the Prince of Wales today. The expression
(02:04):
feather in your cap was used figuratively by the early
eighteenth century, and was popularized in Yankee Doodle, the children's
nursery rhyme in the seventeen eighties. Fifteen minutes of fame
means a brief period of celebrity or publicity, and it
was first coined by the American artist Andy Warhol. In
the catalog for a nineteen sixty eight exhibition of his
(02:27):
work in Sweden, he included the words in the future,
everybody will be famous for fifteen minutes. While Wallhole is
credited with the expression, a photographer named Nat Finkelstein claims
he first said it when working with the artist in
nineteen sixty six. A crowd had gathered and was trying
(02:47):
to get photos of Warhol, who remarked that everyone wants
to be famous, and Finkelstein replied, yeah, for about fifteen minutes. Andy.
The expression first rate means something of their very best quality,
and it's a naval expression dating from the time of
King Henry the Eighth. It was during his reign that
(03:07):
the British Navy began organizing its ships according to their
size and strength. The warships were rated on a scale
of one to six. A small ship with little armory
was considered sixth rate, while a large and well armed
ship was classed as first rate. The expression soon came
to refer to anything of the highest quality. Fit as
a fiddle means to be very fitten in good health,
(03:30):
and it's actually a shortened version of the original saying
as fit as a fiddler. A fiddle is a cloaquoral
name for violin, and in medieval times in England, fiddlers
would play energetic street performances to throngs of people. They
would dance and weave through the crowd as they played.
The best performers were physically fit and agile. Hence, the
expression fits to a t means it fits exactly and
(03:56):
is very appropriate. The expression derives from medieval Latin. The
tea in the phrase stands for tittle, which comes from
the Latin word to tillus, meaning tiny. A tittle is
a small stroke or point in writing or printing. Originally
fits to a tittle. The expression was first used by
the English theologian John Wycliffe the thirteen hundreds to refer
(04:19):
to very minor differences in his version of the New Testament.
The saying flash in the pan means that something is
a disappointment after a promising start, and it has military
origins from the eighteenth century. Flintlock muskets contained small priming
pans that held charges of gunpowder. When the gun's trigger
(04:39):
was pulled, a spark ignited the priming powder, which usually
set off the main powder charge in the musket's bore
and fired the weapon. In some cases, the priming powder
failed to light the main charge. The priming powder would
flash in the pan, but no shot would be discharged,
resulting in disappointment after a positive start. Flavor of the
month means something that's in fashion for fleeting time or
(05:03):
the latest thing, and it began in the nineteen thirties
with the American advertising campaigns for ice cream companies. To
encourage customers into their parlours, ice cream companies ran slogans
promoting reduced prices on certain flavors that were less popular.
The price of a particular flavor would be dropped for
a month long period in an attempt to increase sales.
(05:25):
The price reduced ice cream would be promoted as the
flavor of the month, and this method of advertising was
so successful in increasing sales that by the nineteen fifties,
every major ice cream company was using the slogan to flog.
A dead horse means to engage in a fruitless effort,
and it's a mariner's term and derives from what's known
(05:45):
as the horse latitudes, which is an area with irregular
and unreliable winds about thirty degrees to either side of
the equator. It's an air of high pressure that can
result in weak winds and long periods of calm. Sailors
were paid in advance its wage at the start of
a voyage, and the time it took to pay the
advance off was known as a dead horse time. Because
(06:06):
of the lack of wind, it sometimes took months to
pass through the horse latitudes. This was advantageous to the
sailors as they had already received a payment, so they
saw little point in working hard to get clearer of
the area. To do so would have been flogging a
dead horse. To fly by the seat of your pants
is to do something without planning or deciding on the
(06:27):
course of action as you go along, and it's an
expression that derives from the world of aviation in the
nineteen thirties. Early aircraft had a few navigational aids or
sophisticated instruments, and flying was predominantly based on the pilot's
judgment and feel of the plane. The largest point of
contact between the pilot and the plane is the seat,
so most of the feedback comes through the seat to
(06:49):
the pilot, and it was through the seat that the
pilot could feel the reactions of the plane and flight accordingly.
The expression came into prominence in relation to Douglas Corrigan's
nineteen thirty eight flight from America to Ireland. In that flight,
some of the plane's systems failed and Corrigan was forced
to fly by the seat of his pants. To fly
(07:09):
off the handle means to lose one's temper or get
very angry, and it's an expression that began with the
early American frontier settlers. The iron head of an axe
as a hollow area into which the wooden handle is inserted.
The handle is fitted tightly, but in conditions where the
atmosphere is very dry, like in Middle America, the wood
can shrink and the axe head loosens. When being vigorously swung,
(07:33):
the axe head can sometimes fly off the handle in
an uncontrolled manner. To foot the bill means to pay
the check, normally to restaurant or something like that, and
it began in the fourteen hundreds and derived from the
simple method of adding up the various components of a
check or bill and writing the total at the bottom
or foot, originally meaning the total of the account at
(07:55):
the foot. By the eighteen hundreds, it had changed to
today's cloaquial use, which means to pay the check rather
than to add it up. To be footloose and fancy
free means to be free from care or responsibility, and
it's an expression that lies in the early sailing boats.
The foot is the bottom part of a sail that
is connected to the boom. Sometimes, in strong winds, it
(08:17):
would become detached from the boom and was regarded as footloose.
A footloose sail would flap around and be free to
move whichever way the wind blew. It was considered footloose
and fancy free. To freeze the balls off a brass
monkey means very cold weather conditions, and while many people
think that this has vulgar origins, it's actually one of
(08:40):
the many phrases from the nautical world. Naval artillery guns
in the eighteenth century required gunpowder and were manned by
so called powder monkeys, who were usually young, agile boys
able to move easily through tight passages. They would ferry
the powder from the ship's holed to the guns, and
next to the guards were brass triangles that supported stacks
(09:03):
of cannonballs. By association with these young boys, these became
known as brass monkeys. The advantage of brass was that
it wasn't as corrosive as iron, but in cold weather
it would contract more than other metals. On particularly cold days,
the brass racks would contract, increasing their openings and causing
(09:23):
the balls to fall through.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
And great job is always to Greg Hangler for producing
the piece and for finding the book. And a special
thanks to Andrew Thompson, author of Hair of the Dog.
To paint the town red, the curious origins of everyday
scenes and fun freezes and by the way, we've done
a really good series. Go to our American stories dot
(09:47):
com and just put in the words Andrew Thompson or
Hair of the Dog and you can listen to the
Hall series here on our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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