January 30, 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
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 yours. Send them to our American Stories dot com.
There's some of our favorites, and up next a recurring favorite.
We continue our series about the curious origins of everyday sains.
Here to join us again as Andrew Thompson as he
(00:32):
continues to share another slice from his Ultimate Guide to
understanding these many mysteries of the English language. Here's Andrew.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Red tape is pointless bureaucratic procedures or excessive regulations, and
it derives from the sixteenth century in Britain. Since that time,
legal and official documents have been bound with red ribbon.
Documents were rolled in their original condition and seal with
red tape. This was done as a measure to sure
documents have not been tampered with, similar to wax seals
(01:03):
and ancient times, official Vatican documents were also bound in
red cloth, and to this day many legal documents are
bound in pink or red coloured material. The phrase was
then expanded to its current form by Charles Dickens, who
used it in a number of his books, including David
Copperfield Bleak.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
House and little Dorrit.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
To rest on your laurels means to be satisfied with
a past performance and to think any future effort is unnecessary,
and that expression harks back to ancient Greek Apollo, the
famous Greek god, was usually depicted by the crown of
laurel leaves around his head, and a wreath of laurels
became a symbol of status and achievement, and these wreaths
were presented to winning athletes at various athletic games in
(01:48):
the sixth century BC. The Romans then embraced the laurel
as a status symbol and would present wreaths to victorious generals,
and the people who were presented with these wreaths became
non laureates, a term that's still used to this day.
Because they were then so respected, laureates were able to
bask in the glory of their achievements and rest on
(02:09):
their laurels, and that's how.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
The expression came about.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
To ride roughshod means to treat harshly, and it has
military beginnings. Horses that are rough shod have nail heads
and sometimes metal points protruding from the bottom of their shoes.
These are deliberately inserted to provide extra traction in wet
or icy conditions. During the eighteenth century, it became common
for cavalry soldiers to intentionally roughshod their horses. This turned
(02:36):
the horses into brutal weapons, severely damaging the foot soldiers
and horses of the enemy when they charged and rode
roughshod over them. To ride shotgun means to travel in
the car's front passenger seat, and it derives from the
days of stagecoach travel in America. During the nineteenth century,
postal express messengers became known as shotgun messages because they
(02:59):
rode up the front of the stage coach next to
the driver and carried a loaded shotgun. Stage coaches were
often confronted by armed bandits or dangerous animals such as bears,
and the person riding shotgun was there for protection. A
right hand man is an invaluable or an indispensable assistant
or a second in command, and it has its origins
(03:20):
in ancient Roman Greece. In those times, leaders are often
under attack of threat of assassination, and while most people
were right handed, they carried their swords on their right
and because they carried their weapons on their right, it
was from the right. That an enemy could disable a
man by grabbing his right arm his sword arm, leaving
invulnerable to attack, but with a trusted allies sitting on
(03:43):
the right, the leader would be protected. But this also
meant that the right hand man was in a position
himself to disable the leader, so placing the man there was.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
A gesture of great trust.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
If you say something rings true, it means a story
is tested and found genuine. It's commonly said as a
story has the ring of truth, and it has its
origins with the currency manufacturers of the Middle Ages. At
that time, monetary coins were actually made of gold, silver,
or other semi precious metals, with their value depending on
the weight of the metal they contained.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
It was difficult at the time.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Because of the equipment and the scarcity of metals, to
produce coins of uniform weight, and this provided criminals with
an opportunity. They would counterfeit coins by mixing small quantities
of gold or silver with a cheaper metal. But when
dropped on a stone slab, precious metals have a clear
ring to them compared to a dull and flat tone
of a fake metal. If someone wanted to test if
(04:40):
a coin was genuine, all they had to do was
drop it and see if it rang true. To rise
and shine means to get out of bed and prepare
for the day, and it's a simple phrase that stems
from the military.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
The rise is.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Literal meaning to wake up and get up, usually before dawn,
and the shine derives from shining boots, buckles, and other
equipment and soldiers were expected to do each morning before
heading to the parade ground for inspection. So rise and
shine is quite a simple one to explain. A round
robin is something that operates in a rotational manner, like
(05:15):
a letter or petition or a sporting tournament where each
player plays all the others, and that expression stems from
seventeenth century France, when peasant revolts were rife. Whenever the
king received a petition for change which contained a list
of signatures, he would generally call in the top few
people on the list who are thought to be the
ringleaders and behead them. But people were still desperate to
(05:38):
petition the king, so the peasants devised a concept that
they called a rond reuben, meaning round ribbon. It was
a length of ribbon joined to form a circle, which
the petitioners would sign this disguised who'd signed first, and
protected everyone. This practice was actually adopted by sailors in
the eighteenth century, where any complaints were made by signing
(05:59):
a circular petition so that no single person looked like
he was being mutinous. The term was adapted to round
robin by the seventeen hundreds. A rule of thumb is
a rough and useful principle rather than a scientific calculation,
and it's got many potential origins. The Romans used their
(06:20):
thumb as a measure of length, from the thumb's last
knuckle to the tip that was one inch, and before
the advent of thermometers, brew masters would test the temperature
of beer with their thumbs, and while the thumbs being
used that way since ancient times, the saying didn't get
coined until seventeen eighty two. It was in that year
that just As Buller of the King's Bench in England
(06:41):
delivered a judgment that formalized the age old maxim of
English law that allowed a man to beat his wife
provided that he used to stick no thicker than his thumb.
Buller was accused of being prejudiced at the time, and
was attacked in a cartoon where he was characterized as
Judge Thumb and the expression rule of thumb became widespread
from that time on.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
And a terrific job on the production by Greg Hangler,
and a special thanks as always to Andrew Thompson for
sharing these terrific short stories about the origins of everyday sayings.
To get his book Hair of the Dog to Paint
the Town read, go to Amazon dot com or the
usual suspects the stories of the origins of everyday expressions
(07:24):
here on Our American Stories. Here at our American Stories,
we bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith,
and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that
need to be told that we can't do it without you.
Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not
(07:44):
free to make. If you love our stories in America
like we do, please go to our American Stories dot
com and click the donate button. Give a little, give
a lot, 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 yours. Send them to our American Stories dot com.
There's some of our favorites, and up next a recurring favorite.
We continue our series about the curious origins of everyday sains.
Here to join us again as Andrew Thompson as he
(00:32):
continues to share another slice from his Ultimate Guide to
understanding these many mysteries of the English language. Here's Andrew.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Red tape is pointless bureaucratic procedures or excessive regulations, and
it derives from the sixteenth century in Britain. Since that time,
legal and official documents have been bound with red ribbon.
Documents were rolled in their original condition and seal with
red tape. This was done as a measure to sure
documents have not been tampered with, similar to wax seals
(01:03):
and ancient times, official Vatican documents were also bound in
red cloth, and to this day many legal documents are
bound in pink or red coloured material. The phrase was
then expanded to its current form by Charles Dickens, who
used it in a number of his books, including David
Copperfield Bleak.
Speaker 3 (01:21):
House and little Dorrit.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
To rest on your laurels means to be satisfied with
a past performance and to think any future effort is unnecessary,
and that expression harks back to ancient Greek Apollo, the
famous Greek god, was usually depicted by the crown of
laurel leaves around his head, and a wreath of laurels
became a symbol of status and achievement, and these wreaths
were presented to winning athletes at various athletic games in
(01:48):
the sixth century BC. The Romans then embraced the laurel
as a status symbol and would present wreaths to victorious generals,
and the people who were presented with these wreaths became
non laureates, a term that's still used to this day.
Because they were then so respected, laureates were able to
bask in the glory of their achievements and rest on
(02:09):
their laurels, and that's how.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
The expression came about.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
To ride roughshod means to treat harshly, and it has
military beginnings. Horses that are rough shod have nail heads
and sometimes metal points protruding from the bottom of their shoes.
These are deliberately inserted to provide extra traction in wet
or icy conditions. During the eighteenth century, it became common
for cavalry soldiers to intentionally roughshod their horses. This turned
(02:36):
the horses into brutal weapons, severely damaging the foot soldiers
and horses of the enemy when they charged and rode
roughshod over them. To ride shotgun means to travel in
the car's front passenger seat, and it derives from the
days of stagecoach travel in America. During the nineteenth century,
postal express messengers became known as shotgun messages because they
(02:59):
rode up the front of the stage coach next to
the driver and carried a loaded shotgun. Stage coaches were
often confronted by armed bandits or dangerous animals such as bears,
and the person riding shotgun was there for protection. A
right hand man is an invaluable or an indispensable assistant
or a second in command, and it has its origins
(03:20):
in ancient Roman Greece. In those times, leaders are often
under attack of threat of assassination, and while most people
were right handed, they carried their swords on their right
and because they carried their weapons on their right, it
was from the right. That an enemy could disable a
man by grabbing his right arm his sword arm, leaving
invulnerable to attack, but with a trusted allies sitting on
(03:43):
the right, the leader would be protected. But this also
meant that the right hand man was in a position
himself to disable the leader, so placing the man there was.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
A gesture of great trust.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
If you say something rings true, it means a story
is tested and found genuine. It's commonly said as a
story has the ring of truth, and it has its
origins with the currency manufacturers of the Middle Ages. At
that time, monetary coins were actually made of gold, silver,
or other semi precious metals, with their value depending on
the weight of the metal they contained.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
It was difficult at the time.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Because of the equipment and the scarcity of metals, to
produce coins of uniform weight, and this provided criminals with
an opportunity. They would counterfeit coins by mixing small quantities
of gold or silver with a cheaper metal. But when
dropped on a stone slab, precious metals have a clear
ring to them compared to a dull and flat tone
of a fake metal. If someone wanted to test if
(04:40):
a coin was genuine, all they had to do was
drop it and see if it rang true. To rise
and shine means to get out of bed and prepare
for the day, and it's a simple phrase that stems
from the military.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
The rise is.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Literal meaning to wake up and get up, usually before dawn,
and the shine derives from shining boots, buckles, and other
equipment and soldiers were expected to do each morning before
heading to the parade ground for inspection. So rise and
shine is quite a simple one to explain. A round
robin is something that operates in a rotational manner, like
(05:15):
a letter or petition or a sporting tournament where each
player plays all the others, and that expression stems from
seventeenth century France, when peasant revolts were rife. Whenever the
king received a petition for change which contained a list
of signatures, he would generally call in the top few
people on the list who are thought to be the
ringleaders and behead them. But people were still desperate to
(05:38):
petition the king, so the peasants devised a concept that
they called a rond reuben, meaning round ribbon. It was
a length of ribbon joined to form a circle, which
the petitioners would sign this disguised who'd signed first, and
protected everyone. This practice was actually adopted by sailors in
the eighteenth century, where any complaints were made by signing
(05:59):
a circular petition so that no single person looked like
he was being mutinous. The term was adapted to round
robin by the seventeen hundreds. A rule of thumb is
a rough and useful principle rather than a scientific calculation,
and it's got many potential origins. The Romans used their
(06:20):
thumb as a measure of length, from the thumb's last
knuckle to the tip that was one inch, and before
the advent of thermometers, brew masters would test the temperature
of beer with their thumbs, and while the thumbs being
used that way since ancient times, the saying didn't get
coined until seventeen eighty two. It was in that year
that just As Buller of the King's Bench in England
(06:41):
delivered a judgment that formalized the age old maxim of
English law that allowed a man to beat his wife
provided that he used to stick no thicker than his thumb.
Buller was accused of being prejudiced at the time, and
was attacked in a cartoon where he was characterized as
Judge Thumb and the expression rule of thumb became widespread
from that time on.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
And a terrific job on the production by Greg Hangler,
and a special thanks as always to Andrew Thompson for
sharing these terrific short stories about the origins of everyday sayings.
To get his book Hair of the Dog to Paint
the Town read, go to Amazon dot com or the
usual suspects the stories of the origins of everyday expressions
(07:24):
here on Our American Stories. Here at our American Stories,
we bring you inspiring stories of history, sports, business, faith,
and love. Stories from a great and beautiful country that
need to be told that we can't do it without you.
Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not
(07:44):
free to make. If you love our stories in America
like we do, please go to our American Stories dot
com and click the donate button. Give a little, give
a lot, help us keep the great American stories coming.
That's our American Stories dot Com.
Host
Lee Habeeb
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