March 12, 2024 • 7 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. The book is Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town Red: The Wonderful Origins of Everyday Expressions and Fun Phrases.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
including your story. Send them to us and our American
Stories dot com. There's some of our favorite And up
next we continue with our recurring series about the curious
origins of everyday sayings. Here to join us again is
(00:31):
Andrew Thompson as he continues to share another slace from
his Ultimate Guide to Understanding these mini Mysteries of the
English language.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
In a nutshell means concisely, or in a few words,
he might say to someone, just tell me in a nutshell.
And it's said to originate from the ancient story described
in seventeen AD by the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder.
The story goes that the philosopher witnessed a copy of
Homer's epic poem the Iliad, written onto a piece of
(01:05):
parchment and enclosed into the shell of a walnut. Obviously,
this is impossible, but it is believed that important documents
were folded and inserted into walnut shells and bound so
that they were waterproof and could be taken long distances
without damaging them. Shakespeare referred to the expression in his
sixty to oh three play Hamlet, and that immortalized the expression.
(01:27):
In a shambles means a state of complete disorder or ruin,
and it derives from the open air meat sellers of
medieval times. The word shambles derived from the Old English
word meaning footstool, which came from the Latin word meaning
small bench. Most towns at that time in England had
streets designated to a single type of vendor. There were
(01:49):
streets for grocers, streets were bread sellers butchers, who all
offered their wares from street side work benches. These streets
were known as shambles, but it was the butcher's that
became particularly associated with the term, as they were supplied
directly by the slaughterhouses. The meat shambles were renowned for
being a complete mess of blood and offcuts. By the
(02:11):
fourteen hundreds, the word shambles had become synonymous with general
mess and disorder, and the town of York in England
to this day has a street called shambles. In cold
blood means deliberately and without emotion, and is often related
to murders, for example, he murdered the man in cold blood.
(02:32):
It's an expression that dates from the early eighteenth century
and began with the belief that a person's blood heated
up when an act of great emotion or passion was committed.
This was based on the reddening of the face and
the feeling of heat that a person experienced. It was
thought that when one could carry out a violent crime
without excitement or emotional involvement, the person was acting in
(02:52):
cold blood. The term was first used in the English
publication The Spectator in seventeen eleven. To say something is
in the bag means a successful outcome is absolutely certain,
and while there are different theories on the origins of
the phrase, including those relating to baseball and hunting, the
(03:12):
early days of the British Parliament as the likely birthplace.
On the back of the speakersh chair in Parliament hung
a velvet bag, and all successful petitions that were brought
before the House of Commons would be placed in that bag.
Because it was known that all such petitions had been successful,
they became known as in the bag. If you say
(03:34):
to someone I'm in the doghouse, it usually means you're
disgraced and out of favor, usually said by a husband
or wife, and in the doghouse as a phrase that
has literary origins. It derives from J. M. Barry's nineteen
o four book Peter Pan. Mister Darling, the children's father
in the book, is particularly unpleasant to nan At, the
family dog. His children then fly off with Peter Pan,
(03:57):
and as a self imposed punished and for his behavior,
he goes out to live in the doghouse until the
children return from Neverland. Peter Pan was obviously a very
popular book, and as a result, the expression quickly came
into widespread usage. If you say in the doldrums or
you're feeling in the doldrums, it means to feel unmotivated
(04:18):
or depressed, and it relates to a region by that name,
which is located slightly north of the equator between two
belts of wind Sailors used the term because winds there
met and neutralized each other, which resulted in ships becoming
stranded and sitting around idly, virtually unable to sail. Many
assume that the expression comes from the name of the region,
(04:41):
but it's actually that the region came to be named
because of its nature. Doldrum comes from the Old English
word dull, meaning dull, and that led on to the
word doldrum and the phrase was then used in the
figurative sense by the early nineteenth century. In the groove
is an expression which means means to function perfectly or
(05:01):
with little effort, and it stems from the early vinyl
record days. Records made with a number of grooves cut
into the material where the music is recorded. The record
is played by a stylus or needle, which must sit
neatly in the groove to ensure good sound quality. If
a stylus is worn, making its tip too wide, it
will not sit in the groove and the sound will
(05:22):
become distorted. Equally, if the record is scratched, the stylus
may slip out of the groove and the record won't play.
The phrase took on its idiomatic qualities with the arrival
of jazz in the nineteen twenties. The free spirited nature
of jazz bands and the way they played with each
other led people to describe them as in the groove.
(05:43):
In the limelight means at the center of attention. You
may say John loves being in the limelight. And this
is one of the very first phrases I ever learned.
It has its origins in the theater when calcium oxide
more commonly known as lime is heated, it produces an
in tense white light and this process was first used
(06:03):
to affect by a man named Thomas Drummond in the
eighteen twenties. He was a Scottish army engineer who used
heated lime as an aid in map making. Because of
the bright light was visible at a distance. The technique
was then adopted in theaters to illuminate the stage, and
was first used in Covent Garden in London in eighteen
thirty seven. The actors who were the center of attention
(06:26):
on the stage were said to be standing in the limelight,
and that saying now applies to anyone who's the focus
of attention. If you say something is in the offing,
you mean it as likely to happen soon or as imminent.
And it's a naudical expression originating in the early sixteen
hundreds that came into widespread usage by the late seventeen hundreds.
(06:47):
The offing is that part of the sea that is
visible from or off the shore, the area between the
shore and the horizon. In other words, a ship that
was in the offing was within sight.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And a special thanks to Greg Hangler for the production
on the piece and a special thanks to Andrew Thompson
Hair of the Dog to paint the town red. The
curious origins of everyday sayings and funphrases go to Amazon
dot com or any of the usual suspects the story
of the English language, or at least it's curious sayings
(07:22):
and phrases here on Our American Stories Folks. If you
love the great American stories we tell and love America
like we do, we're asking you to become a part
of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that
America is a good and great country, please make a donation.
(07:43):
A monthly gift of seventeen dollars and seventy six cents
is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go to
our American Stories dot com now and go to the
donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's Our American Stories dot com.
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
including your story. Send them to us and our American
Stories dot com. There's some of our favorite And up
next we continue with our recurring series about the curious
origins of everyday sayings. Here to join us again is
(00:31):
Andrew Thompson as he continues to share another slace from
his Ultimate Guide to Understanding these mini Mysteries of the
English language.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
In a nutshell means concisely, or in a few words,
he might say to someone, just tell me in a nutshell.
And it's said to originate from the ancient story described
in seventeen AD by the Roman scholar Pliny the Elder.
The story goes that the philosopher witnessed a copy of
Homer's epic poem the Iliad, written onto a piece of
(01:05):
parchment and enclosed into the shell of a walnut. Obviously,
this is impossible, but it is believed that important documents
were folded and inserted into walnut shells and bound so
that they were waterproof and could be taken long distances
without damaging them. Shakespeare referred to the expression in his
sixty to oh three play Hamlet, and that immortalized the expression.
(01:27):
In a shambles means a state of complete disorder or ruin,
and it derives from the open air meat sellers of
medieval times. The word shambles derived from the Old English
word meaning footstool, which came from the Latin word meaning
small bench. Most towns at that time in England had
streets designated to a single type of vendor. There were
(01:49):
streets for grocers, streets were bread sellers butchers, who all
offered their wares from street side work benches. These streets
were known as shambles, but it was the butcher's that
became particularly associated with the term, as they were supplied
directly by the slaughterhouses. The meat shambles were renowned for
being a complete mess of blood and offcuts. By the
(02:11):
fourteen hundreds, the word shambles had become synonymous with general
mess and disorder, and the town of York in England
to this day has a street called shambles. In cold
blood means deliberately and without emotion, and is often related
to murders, for example, he murdered the man in cold blood.
(02:32):
It's an expression that dates from the early eighteenth century
and began with the belief that a person's blood heated
up when an act of great emotion or passion was committed.
This was based on the reddening of the face and
the feeling of heat that a person experienced. It was
thought that when one could carry out a violent crime
without excitement or emotional involvement, the person was acting in
(02:52):
cold blood. The term was first used in the English
publication The Spectator in seventeen eleven. To say something is
in the bag means a successful outcome is absolutely certain,
and while there are different theories on the origins of
the phrase, including those relating to baseball and hunting, the
(03:12):
early days of the British Parliament as the likely birthplace.
On the back of the speakersh chair in Parliament hung
a velvet bag, and all successful petitions that were brought
before the House of Commons would be placed in that bag.
Because it was known that all such petitions had been successful,
they became known as in the bag. If you say
(03:34):
to someone I'm in the doghouse, it usually means you're
disgraced and out of favor, usually said by a husband
or wife, and in the doghouse as a phrase that
has literary origins. It derives from J. M. Barry's nineteen
o four book Peter Pan. Mister Darling, the children's father
in the book, is particularly unpleasant to nan At, the
family dog. His children then fly off with Peter Pan,
(03:57):
and as a self imposed punished and for his behavior,
he goes out to live in the doghouse until the
children return from Neverland. Peter Pan was obviously a very
popular book, and as a result, the expression quickly came
into widespread usage. If you say in the doldrums or
you're feeling in the doldrums, it means to feel unmotivated
(04:18):
or depressed, and it relates to a region by that name,
which is located slightly north of the equator between two
belts of wind Sailors used the term because winds there
met and neutralized each other, which resulted in ships becoming
stranded and sitting around idly, virtually unable to sail. Many
assume that the expression comes from the name of the region,
(04:41):
but it's actually that the region came to be named
because of its nature. Doldrum comes from the Old English
word dull, meaning dull, and that led on to the
word doldrum and the phrase was then used in the
figurative sense by the early nineteenth century. In the groove
is an expression which means means to function perfectly or
(05:01):
with little effort, and it stems from the early vinyl
record days. Records made with a number of grooves cut
into the material where the music is recorded. The record
is played by a stylus or needle, which must sit
neatly in the groove to ensure good sound quality. If
a stylus is worn, making its tip too wide, it
will not sit in the groove and the sound will
(05:22):
become distorted. Equally, if the record is scratched, the stylus
may slip out of the groove and the record won't play.
The phrase took on its idiomatic qualities with the arrival
of jazz in the nineteen twenties. The free spirited nature
of jazz bands and the way they played with each
other led people to describe them as in the groove.
(05:43):
In the limelight means at the center of attention. You
may say John loves being in the limelight. And this
is one of the very first phrases I ever learned.
It has its origins in the theater when calcium oxide
more commonly known as lime is heated, it produces an
in tense white light and this process was first used
(06:03):
to affect by a man named Thomas Drummond in the
eighteen twenties. He was a Scottish army engineer who used
heated lime as an aid in map making. Because of
the bright light was visible at a distance. The technique
was then adopted in theaters to illuminate the stage, and
was first used in Covent Garden in London in eighteen
thirty seven. The actors who were the center of attention
(06:26):
on the stage were said to be standing in the limelight,
and that saying now applies to anyone who's the focus
of attention. If you say something is in the offing,
you mean it as likely to happen soon or as imminent.
And it's a naudical expression originating in the early sixteen
hundreds that came into widespread usage by the late seventeen hundreds.
(06:47):
The offing is that part of the sea that is
visible from or off the shore, the area between the
shore and the horizon. In other words, a ship that
was in the offing was within sight.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And a special thanks to Greg Hangler for the production
on the piece and a special thanks to Andrew Thompson
Hair of the Dog to paint the town red. The
curious origins of everyday sayings and funphrases go to Amazon
dot com or any of the usual suspects the story
of the English language, or at least it's curious sayings
(07:22):
and phrases here on Our American Stories Folks. If you
love the great American stories we tell and love America
like we do, we're asking you to become a part
of the Our American Stories family. If you agree that
America is a good and great country, please make a donation.
(07:43):
A monthly gift of seventeen dollars and seventy six cents
is fast becoming a favorite option for supporters. Go to
our American Stories dot com now and go to the
donate button and help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's Our American Stories dot com.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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