May 13, 2025 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Andrew Thompson shares another slice from his guide to unraveling the baffling mini mysteries of the English language. His book, Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town Red: The Wonderful Origins of Everyday Expressions and Fun Phrases, explores where our favorite sayings come from—and what they really mean. 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):
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
including your stories. Send them to our American Stories dot com.
There's some of our favorites. Up next, we continue with
our recurring series about the curious origins of everyday sayings
the stories behind them. Here to join us again is
(00:31):
Andrew Thompson as he continues to share another slice from
his Ultimate Guide to understanding these mini mysteries, these many
stories of our precious English language.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
On skid Row means a squalid area where vagrants and
derelicts live, and it's an expression that originated in the
American lumber industry of the nineteenth century. Large tree trunks
will hauled by rolling them along tracks made of greased logs.
The were laid crosswise. This was known as the skid
road because the trunks skidded across the logs. The timber
(01:05):
industry was booming at the time, and many men came
to the logging town's to find work. The large numbers
of single men created a demand for bars and brothels,
which would spring up in a certain part of the town.
This area also became known as skid row due to
the imagery of someone slipping or skidding down in society
when falling victim to these vices. By the nineteen thirties,
(01:28):
skid road had been altered to skid row and the
wider use was born. On the bandwagon means to join
in in an already successful venture, as normally said to
jump or climb on the bandwagon, and it has its
origins in politics. In the nineteenth century in America, traveling
bands or circuses would prey through towns on brightly colored,
(01:49):
well decorated bandwagons. They would often perform at political rallies
and attracted large crowds of people. Because the bandwagons were
usually the center of attention at any given event, cunning
politicians often saw an opening and they would climb up
on the bandwagon, interrupt the performance and campaign to the
captive audience below. To be on the breadline means to
(02:12):
be very poor, and that expression originated in America in
the eighteen sixties. Charles and Max Fleischmann were brothers who
revolutionized the baking industry and created the first commercially produced yeast.
Their bakery in New York was also famous for the
freshness and quality of its bread. While other bakeries would
use any leftover bread to sell to the next morning's customers.
(02:35):
The Fleischmans would give away any unsold bread to the
poor people in the city. At the end of each day,
a line of starving people would form outside the bakery
and wait for the free bread. They were on the breadline.
To leave no stone unturned means to make every possible effort,
and that expression is arguably the oldest one that we have.
(02:56):
It comes from ancient Greek and from fourteen seventy seven,
when the Greeks defeated the Persians in the Battle of Plateau.
It was rumored at the time that the Persian general
had buried a large treasure in his tent after the defeat.
Unable to find the treasure, the Greek leader consulted the
oracle of Delphi, who advised him to move every stone
(03:18):
in his search. He did just that and eventually found
the treasure. Leaving no stone unturned on the fiddle means
that someone's not operating within the rules and it's getting
more than their fair share, and like many expressions, it
has nautical origins. The dining tables on ships had raised
edges known as fiddles, which were used to prevent the
(03:40):
plates from sliding off the table during rough weather at sea,
the sailors ate from the wooden plates that were built
with their own fiddles to stop the food from sliding
off them. If a sailor selfishly overfilled his plate so
that the food piled up over the edge, it was
said that he was on the fiddle. On the grapevine
means via in formal means of communication, particularly gossip, and
(04:03):
it owes its origins to the early days of American telegraphy.
Samuel Moose invented the telegraph, which was first used in
eighteen forty four. The invention was widely recognized as a
useful means of rapid communication, and many companies across America
rushed to put up telegraph lines. But in their haste,
some of them cut corners and used trees instead of
(04:24):
fixed telegraph poles to save money. But the movement of
the tree stretched the wire, often leaving it tangled. A
notable instance of this was in California, where people likened
the tangle wires to local grapevines. The expression on the
grapevine then developed its current meaning during the American Civil War,
when messages transmitted via the telegraph were sometimes unreliable. The
(04:48):
expression on the level means honest, reliable, or trustworthy, and
that began with the freemasons, the skilled stone workers of
fourteenth century. In any construction was acknowledged at a perfect
flat base was essential if the building was going to
be structurally sound and of high quality. They developed an
instrument known as a level, which was used to ensure
a flat and true base from which to work. The
(05:11):
level symbolized integrity in the building process, and on the
level was soon adapted into the wider sense that is
used today. On the right track means to do something
correctly or well, and it's an expression that's being corrupted
from its original form. It has nautical origins and was
originally on the right tack. In order to progress into
(05:32):
a headwind, a sailing ship follows a zigzag style of path,
angling left to right as it moves forward. This type
of plotting is known as tacking, which is a technical art,
and a captain must be precise in order to use
the wind to his benefit. It is important to stay
on the right tack because otherwise the ship will make
little or no progress. And then that expression then developed
(05:54):
into on the right track. On the wagon means abstaining
from drinking alcol and many believe this expression derives from
when prisoners had their last drink when being transported from
the Old Bailey criminal courts in London to the gallows
on a wagon. Some even suggested that the criminals were
sometimes given one for the road, which was a final
(06:15):
drink before they were hanged, but it's now widely accepted
that these explanations are incorrect and the expression actually is
a contraction of the words on the water wagon. In
the early twentieth centuries, water wagons were used in America
to damp and dusty streets. At the time, the drinking
of alcohol was high, and people who had vowed to
(06:36):
give it up would crowd around waiting for the water
wagon to arrive to quench their thirst. Some people could
even ride around town on the wagon, drinking the water
in an effort to stay away from alcohol. To be
on your high horse means to behave in a self
righteous manner, and that expression began with the army or
officers of medieval England. To assume a commanding position of supremacy.
(07:00):
These officers would ride around on large horses and would
look down upon those of a lower rank. The higher
the officer's rank, the larger his horse. A large horse
was also needed for such high ranking men, as they
generally wore heavy suits of armour, and a strong horse
was needed to bear that weight. Political leaders then adopted
this idea as a symbol of power. They would parade
(07:20):
around town on large horses, which gave them an air
of superiority as they look down on the common folk.
Once in a blue moon means very rarely, and it's
an expression that's related to the moon. Although the color
blue has no significance in the origin of the phrase,
the moon can actually appear blue at any time, depending
on certain weather conditions. But the main Farmer's Almanac provides
(07:42):
the explanation for the saying. Since eighteen nineteen, that publication
listed the dates of the various moons, for example, the
harvest moon and the hunter's moon. Typically there are three
full moons for each season, but because the lunar and
the calendar months are not the same, some years have
thirteen four moons instead of twelve, and the almanac named,
(08:03):
for no apparent reason, the third full moon in an
unusual four moon season as the blue moon. An amateur
American astronomer named James Proot misinterpreted the almanac and described
the blue moon as the second full moon in a
month in a nineteen forty six edition of Sky and
Telescope magazine. This took hold and is now the accepted definition.
(08:25):
A blue moon actually occurs about every three years. Having
your work cut out for you means there's a lot
to be dull or a difficult time lies ahead, and
that began in the eighteen hundreds when taylors began streamlining
their operations. Traditionally, a tailor would make a suit using
one large piece of cloth, cutting the material and then
stitching as he went. In order to make the work
(08:46):
more efficient, the practice developed where a tailor's assistant would
cut out the various patterns beforehand, leaving the tailor to
stitch them together. At first, this would seem to make
the tailor's job easier, but it resulted in piles of
cut material heaping up for the tail little stitch. This
made it difficult for him to keep up, so he
had his work cut out for him and he had
a very busy time ahead. The expression was first used
(09:08):
metaphorically by Charles Dickens in his eighteen forty three novel
A Christmas Carol.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
And a special thanks as always to Greg Hangler for
the great work on the production, and also a special
thanks to Andrew Thompson for narating portions of his own
terrific book. And the book is called Hair of the Dog.
To paint the Town, read the curious origins of everyday
sayings and fun phrases. In the end, it's the story
of the stories behind America's official language English, Andrew Thompson's storytelling.
(09:39):
Here on our American Stories
This is Lee Habib and this is our American Stories,
and we tell stories about everything here on this show,
including your stories. Send them to our American Stories dot com.
There's some of our favorites. Up next, we continue with
our recurring series about the curious origins of everyday sayings
the stories behind them. Here to join us again is
(00:31):
Andrew Thompson as he continues to share another slice from
his Ultimate Guide to understanding these mini mysteries, these many
stories of our precious English language.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
On skid Row means a squalid area where vagrants and
derelicts live, and it's an expression that originated in the
American lumber industry of the nineteenth century. Large tree trunks
will hauled by rolling them along tracks made of greased logs.
The were laid crosswise. This was known as the skid
road because the trunks skidded across the logs. The timber
(01:05):
industry was booming at the time, and many men came
to the logging town's to find work. The large numbers
of single men created a demand for bars and brothels,
which would spring up in a certain part of the town.
This area also became known as skid row due to
the imagery of someone slipping or skidding down in society
when falling victim to these vices. By the nineteen thirties,
(01:28):
skid road had been altered to skid row and the
wider use was born. On the bandwagon means to join
in in an already successful venture, as normally said to
jump or climb on the bandwagon, and it has its
origins in politics. In the nineteenth century in America, traveling
bands or circuses would prey through towns on brightly colored,
(01:49):
well decorated bandwagons. They would often perform at political rallies
and attracted large crowds of people. Because the bandwagons were
usually the center of attention at any given event, cunning
politicians often saw an opening and they would climb up
on the bandwagon, interrupt the performance and campaign to the
captive audience below. To be on the breadline means to
(02:12):
be very poor, and that expression originated in America in
the eighteen sixties. Charles and Max Fleischmann were brothers who
revolutionized the baking industry and created the first commercially produced yeast.
Their bakery in New York was also famous for the
freshness and quality of its bread. While other bakeries would
use any leftover bread to sell to the next morning's customers.
(02:35):
The Fleischmans would give away any unsold bread to the
poor people in the city. At the end of each day,
a line of starving people would form outside the bakery
and wait for the free bread. They were on the breadline.
To leave no stone unturned means to make every possible effort,
and that expression is arguably the oldest one that we have.
(02:56):
It comes from ancient Greek and from fourteen seventy seven,
when the Greeks defeated the Persians in the Battle of Plateau.
It was rumored at the time that the Persian general
had buried a large treasure in his tent after the defeat.
Unable to find the treasure, the Greek leader consulted the
oracle of Delphi, who advised him to move every stone
(03:18):
in his search. He did just that and eventually found
the treasure. Leaving no stone unturned on the fiddle means
that someone's not operating within the rules and it's getting
more than their fair share, and like many expressions, it
has nautical origins. The dining tables on ships had raised
edges known as fiddles, which were used to prevent the
(03:40):
plates from sliding off the table during rough weather at sea,
the sailors ate from the wooden plates that were built
with their own fiddles to stop the food from sliding
off them. If a sailor selfishly overfilled his plate so
that the food piled up over the edge, it was
said that he was on the fiddle. On the grapevine
means via in formal means of communication, particularly gossip, and
(04:03):
it owes its origins to the early days of American telegraphy.
Samuel Moose invented the telegraph, which was first used in
eighteen forty four. The invention was widely recognized as a
useful means of rapid communication, and many companies across America
rushed to put up telegraph lines. But in their haste,
some of them cut corners and used trees instead of
(04:24):
fixed telegraph poles to save money. But the movement of
the tree stretched the wire, often leaving it tangled. A
notable instance of this was in California, where people likened
the tangle wires to local grapevines. The expression on the
grapevine then developed its current meaning during the American Civil War,
when messages transmitted via the telegraph were sometimes unreliable. The
(04:48):
expression on the level means honest, reliable, or trustworthy, and
that began with the freemasons, the skilled stone workers of
fourteenth century. In any construction was acknowledged at a perfect
flat base was essential if the building was going to
be structurally sound and of high quality. They developed an
instrument known as a level, which was used to ensure
a flat and true base from which to work. The
(05:11):
level symbolized integrity in the building process, and on the
level was soon adapted into the wider sense that is
used today. On the right track means to do something
correctly or well, and it's an expression that's being corrupted
from its original form. It has nautical origins and was
originally on the right tack. In order to progress into
(05:32):
a headwind, a sailing ship follows a zigzag style of path,
angling left to right as it moves forward. This type
of plotting is known as tacking, which is a technical art,
and a captain must be precise in order to use
the wind to his benefit. It is important to stay
on the right tack because otherwise the ship will make
little or no progress. And then that expression then developed
(05:54):
into on the right track. On the wagon means abstaining
from drinking alcol and many believe this expression derives from
when prisoners had their last drink when being transported from
the Old Bailey criminal courts in London to the gallows
on a wagon. Some even suggested that the criminals were
sometimes given one for the road, which was a final
(06:15):
drink before they were hanged, but it's now widely accepted
that these explanations are incorrect and the expression actually is
a contraction of the words on the water wagon. In
the early twentieth centuries, water wagons were used in America
to damp and dusty streets. At the time, the drinking
of alcohol was high, and people who had vowed to
(06:36):
give it up would crowd around waiting for the water
wagon to arrive to quench their thirst. Some people could
even ride around town on the wagon, drinking the water
in an effort to stay away from alcohol. To be
on your high horse means to behave in a self
righteous manner, and that expression began with the army or
officers of medieval England. To assume a commanding position of supremacy.
(07:00):
These officers would ride around on large horses and would
look down upon those of a lower rank. The higher
the officer's rank, the larger his horse. A large horse
was also needed for such high ranking men, as they
generally wore heavy suits of armour, and a strong horse
was needed to bear that weight. Political leaders then adopted
this idea as a symbol of power. They would parade
(07:20):
around town on large horses, which gave them an air
of superiority as they look down on the common folk.
Once in a blue moon means very rarely, and it's
an expression that's related to the moon. Although the color
blue has no significance in the origin of the phrase,
the moon can actually appear blue at any time, depending
on certain weather conditions. But the main Farmer's Almanac provides
(07:42):
the explanation for the saying. Since eighteen nineteen, that publication
listed the dates of the various moons, for example, the
harvest moon and the hunter's moon. Typically there are three
full moons for each season, but because the lunar and
the calendar months are not the same, some years have
thirteen four moons instead of twelve, and the almanac named,
(08:03):
for no apparent reason, the third full moon in an
unusual four moon season as the blue moon. An amateur
American astronomer named James Proot misinterpreted the almanac and described
the blue moon as the second full moon in a
month in a nineteen forty six edition of Sky and
Telescope magazine. This took hold and is now the accepted definition.
(08:25):
A blue moon actually occurs about every three years. Having
your work cut out for you means there's a lot
to be dull or a difficult time lies ahead, and
that began in the eighteen hundreds when taylors began streamlining
their operations. Traditionally, a tailor would make a suit using
one large piece of cloth, cutting the material and then
stitching as he went. In order to make the work
(08:46):
more efficient, the practice developed where a tailor's assistant would
cut out the various patterns beforehand, leaving the tailor to
stitch them together. At first, this would seem to make
the tailor's job easier, but it resulted in piles of
cut material heaping up for the tail little stitch. This
made it difficult for him to keep up, so he
had his work cut out for him and he had
a very busy time ahead. The expression was first used
(09:08):
metaphorically by Charles Dickens in his eighteen forty three novel
A Christmas Carol.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
And a special thanks as always to Greg Hangler for
the great work on the production, and also a special
thanks to Andrew Thompson for narating portions of his own
terrific book. And the book is called Hair of the Dog.
To paint the Town, read the curious origins of everyday
sayings and fun phrases. In the end, it's the story
of the stories behind America's official language English, Andrew Thompson's storytelling.
(09:39):
Here on our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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