On this episode of Our American Stories, as part of his ongoing series on the origins of everyday expressions, Andrew Thompson, author of Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town Red, shares the fascinating backstories behind the phrases “take the cake,” “the third degree,” and others.
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. Up next, we
continue with our recurring series about the curious origins of
everyday scenes. Here to join us again is Andrew Thompson
as he continues to share another slaves from his Ultimate
Guide to Understanding the stories the Mysteries of the English Language.
(00:33):
Take it away, Andrew.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
To take the cake means to achieve something or to
do something outrageous, and it began with the days of
slavery in America in the nineteenth century. At parties held
by wealthy white landowners, it was a tradition for married
slaves to walk in a procession around a cake in
a form of competition. The slaves will be judged and
(00:55):
the couple who were considered the most grateful would get
to take the cake as a prize. That's also the
origin of the expression cakewalk and piece of cake, both
of which means something easily accomplished, as while these tasks
were demeaning, the competition required little effort to be taken.
Aback means to be startled or surprised by a sudden change,
(01:16):
and it relates to sailing a back means facing towards
the rear, and the sales of ships are said to
be a back when the wind flattens them against the
supporting mast. A sudden wind change can slower ship down
and in some cases drive it backwards. So if such
a wind changed took place, causing a sailing ship to
turn unexpectedly in the wind, the ship would be said
(01:38):
to have been taken a back. To be taken with
a pinch of salt means to take something with a
healthy dose of suspicion or caution. That's also normally said
with taken as a grain of salt, and it began
in ancient Rome with the philosopher Planey the Elder. He
wrote in his book Naturalis Historian in AD seventy seven
(02:00):
a story that the king had built up his immunity
to poison by regularly ingesting small doses of a certain recipe,
which was various ingredients that tasted disgusting. But he added
that you should add a grain of salt to make
the mixture more palatable and easier to swallow. It's not
then known when the expression changed to mean what it
does today. Talking Turkey means to speak frankly and plainly,
(02:25):
and it began in colonial times when the European settlers
encountered the Native American Indians. Wild turkeys lived among the
Indians and was soon considered a high delicacy and were
often put up for barter. The bargaining for turkeys that
took place on a daily basis became known as talking turkey,
and it then became known to mean any serious discussion.
(02:47):
To be tarred with the same brush means to have
the same faults or bad qualities, and it's often used
in a derogatory sense when saying tart with the same brush.
It began with early sheep farming. It was common for
a number of sheep within a flock to develop saws
from time to time, and they were usually treated by
coating them with tar, which was applied with a brush.
(03:09):
The same brush was used on every sheep with infection,
but it was important never to use it on a
healthy sheep or that animal would get contaminated. This way,
it was only the infected sheep that were tarred with
the same brush. To say that's just the ticket means
that something is exactly right or exactly what is needed,
and it began in the early twentieth century when tickets
(03:31):
were distributed to the poor to provide them with essential
items such as food and clothing. The tickets were specific
to the goods being sought and would be exchanged with shopkeepers,
who were known to say that's just the ticket when
the person produced the correct one. To give someone the
third degree means to give them an intensive questioning or interrogation,
(03:53):
and it comes from the Freemasons are centuries old fraternal
organization in Britain, the Masonic Lodgers. There are three degrees
of membership. The first was known as entered apprentice, the
second is fellow craft, and the third is Master Mason.
As the third degree is far more challenging than the
first two, the candidate is subjected to rigorous questioning and
(04:14):
examinations before he receives the third degree of Master Mason.
By the nineteenth century, the third degree had come to
mean any kind of interrogation. If you say someone is
three sheets to the wind, you mean they're very drunk.
And it's a phrase it has nautical origins. Originally three
sheets in the wind, the phrase relates to the sales
(04:36):
of tall ships. These sails are controlled by ropes known
as sheets, which are fixed to the lower corners of
the sails to hold them in place relative to the wind.
If the sheets break or come loose, the sheets are
said to be to the wind. If three sheets are loose,
the sails will flat wildly about, so having three sheets
to the wind will result in the boat becoming completely
(04:57):
out of control, much like a sunwey drunk might be.
To throw down the gauntlet means to challenge someone, and
it drives. Some medieval times, a garnmont was a glove
that formed part of a knight's suit of armor, and
it was usually covered with steel plates which aided in protection.
If a dispute arose, a knight wanted to challenge someone
(05:18):
to combat, he would throw down his metal gauntlet as
a sign that he wanted a duel. Then if his
opponent accepted the challenge, the opponent would pick up the
gaunlet and the fight would begin. Taking up the gauntlet
has since been used for accepting a challenge. To throw
your hat into the ring means to take up a
challenge or give a signal of an intention to join something,
(05:40):
and it has its origins with boxing. In the early
eighteen hundreds, prize fighters would two of the country in
box at traveling fares they offered to take on all
comers and gave local men a chance to win money
if they could last the distance or beat them. Anyone
who fancied their chances in a bout against these professionals
would throw his hat into the ring. The hats were
(06:00):
placed in a pile by the referee and then shown
to the crowd in turn as an invitation for the
owner to come up and fight. To tide you over
means to supply someone with something they need for a
short period, and it has its origins with the sea,
and as the phrase suggests, the tide in the absence
of any wind, to propel a ship via at sales,
(06:22):
captains would use the tide to move the ship. The
rising tide would also use to lift a ship over
a threatening obstacle, such as a reef for a sambar.
The expression was first used by the British captain John
Smith as early as sixteen twenty seven, and it was
used figuratively by the early eighteen hundreds.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And a terrific job by the production editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler, and a special thanks to
Andrew Thompson. The curious origins of everyday sayings, A terrific reed,
go to Amazon and the usual suspects to pick it up.
You won't put it down. And it's amazing. We were
just commenting together how many of these have nonautical origins,
(07:01):
And of course love, the third degree being that final
stage Mason, the grilling you get or the final stage
of almost anything in any elite institution is rough. Thus
the third degree, and my goodness, three sheets to the
wind now makes complete sense to me. The story of
the curious origins of everyday sayings, the sayings we use
(07:24):
all the time here on our American Stories lie hubib here,
and I'd like to encourage you to subscribe to Our
American Stories on Apple podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or
wherever you get our podcasts. Any story you missed or
want to hear again can be found there daily again.
(07:46):
Please subscribe to the Our American Stories podcast on Apple podcasts,
the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you get your podcasts. It
helps us keep these great American stories coming
And we continue with our American stories. Up next, we
continue with our recurring series about the curious origins of
everyday scenes. Here to join us again is Andrew Thompson
as he continues to share another slaves from his Ultimate
Guide to Understanding the stories the Mysteries of the English Language.
(00:33):
Take it away, Andrew.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
To take the cake means to achieve something or to
do something outrageous, and it began with the days of
slavery in America in the nineteenth century. At parties held
by wealthy white landowners, it was a tradition for married
slaves to walk in a procession around a cake in
a form of competition. The slaves will be judged and
(00:55):
the couple who were considered the most grateful would get
to take the cake as a prize. That's also the
origin of the expression cakewalk and piece of cake, both
of which means something easily accomplished, as while these tasks
were demeaning, the competition required little effort to be taken.
Aback means to be startled or surprised by a sudden change,
(01:16):
and it relates to sailing a back means facing towards
the rear, and the sales of ships are said to
be a back when the wind flattens them against the
supporting mast. A sudden wind change can slower ship down
and in some cases drive it backwards. So if such
a wind changed took place, causing a sailing ship to
turn unexpectedly in the wind, the ship would be said
(01:38):
to have been taken a back. To be taken with
a pinch of salt means to take something with a
healthy dose of suspicion or caution. That's also normally said
with taken as a grain of salt, and it began
in ancient Rome with the philosopher Planey the Elder. He
wrote in his book Naturalis Historian in AD seventy seven
(02:00):
a story that the king had built up his immunity
to poison by regularly ingesting small doses of a certain recipe,
which was various ingredients that tasted disgusting. But he added
that you should add a grain of salt to make
the mixture more palatable and easier to swallow. It's not
then known when the expression changed to mean what it
does today. Talking Turkey means to speak frankly and plainly,
(02:25):
and it began in colonial times when the European settlers
encountered the Native American Indians. Wild turkeys lived among the
Indians and was soon considered a high delicacy and were
often put up for barter. The bargaining for turkeys that
took place on a daily basis became known as talking turkey,
and it then became known to mean any serious discussion.
(02:47):
To be tarred with the same brush means to have
the same faults or bad qualities, and it's often used
in a derogatory sense when saying tart with the same brush.
It began with early sheep farming. It was common for
a number of sheep within a flock to develop saws
from time to time, and they were usually treated by
coating them with tar, which was applied with a brush.
(03:09):
The same brush was used on every sheep with infection,
but it was important never to use it on a
healthy sheep or that animal would get contaminated. This way,
it was only the infected sheep that were tarred with
the same brush. To say that's just the ticket means
that something is exactly right or exactly what is needed,
and it began in the early twentieth century when tickets
(03:31):
were distributed to the poor to provide them with essential
items such as food and clothing. The tickets were specific
to the goods being sought and would be exchanged with shopkeepers,
who were known to say that's just the ticket when
the person produced the correct one. To give someone the
third degree means to give them an intensive questioning or interrogation,
(03:53):
and it comes from the Freemasons are centuries old fraternal
organization in Britain, the Masonic Lodgers. There are three degrees
of membership. The first was known as entered apprentice, the
second is fellow craft, and the third is Master Mason.
As the third degree is far more challenging than the
first two, the candidate is subjected to rigorous questioning and
(04:14):
examinations before he receives the third degree of Master Mason.
By the nineteenth century, the third degree had come to
mean any kind of interrogation. If you say someone is
three sheets to the wind, you mean they're very drunk.
And it's a phrase it has nautical origins. Originally three
sheets in the wind, the phrase relates to the sales
(04:36):
of tall ships. These sails are controlled by ropes known
as sheets, which are fixed to the lower corners of
the sails to hold them in place relative to the wind.
If the sheets break or come loose, the sheets are
said to be to the wind. If three sheets are loose,
the sails will flat wildly about, so having three sheets
to the wind will result in the boat becoming completely
(04:57):
out of control, much like a sunwey drunk might be.
To throw down the gauntlet means to challenge someone, and
it drives. Some medieval times, a garnmont was a glove
that formed part of a knight's suit of armor, and
it was usually covered with steel plates which aided in protection.
If a dispute arose, a knight wanted to challenge someone
(05:18):
to combat, he would throw down his metal gauntlet as
a sign that he wanted a duel. Then if his
opponent accepted the challenge, the opponent would pick up the
gaunlet and the fight would begin. Taking up the gauntlet
has since been used for accepting a challenge. To throw
your hat into the ring means to take up a
challenge or give a signal of an intention to join something,
(05:40):
and it has its origins with boxing. In the early
eighteen hundreds, prize fighters would two of the country in
box at traveling fares they offered to take on all
comers and gave local men a chance to win money
if they could last the distance or beat them. Anyone
who fancied their chances in a bout against these professionals
would throw his hat into the ring. The hats were
(06:00):
placed in a pile by the referee and then shown
to the crowd in turn as an invitation for the
owner to come up and fight. To tide you over
means to supply someone with something they need for a
short period, and it has its origins with the sea,
and as the phrase suggests, the tide in the absence
of any wind, to propel a ship via at sales,
(06:22):
captains would use the tide to move the ship. The
rising tide would also use to lift a ship over
a threatening obstacle, such as a reef for a sambar.
The expression was first used by the British captain John
Smith as early as sixteen twenty seven, and it was
used figuratively by the early eighteen hundreds.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
And a terrific job by the production editing and storytelling
by our own Greg Hangler, and a special thanks to
Andrew Thompson. The curious origins of everyday sayings, A terrific reed,
go to Amazon and the usual suspects to pick it up.
You won't put it down. And it's amazing. We were
just commenting together how many of these have nonautical origins,
(07:01):
And of course love, the third degree being that final
stage Mason, the grilling you get or the final stage
of almost anything in any elite institution is rough. Thus
the third degree, and my goodness, three sheets to the
wind now makes complete sense to me. The story of
the curious origins of everyday sayings, the sayings we use
(07:24):
all the time here on our American Stories lie hubib here,
and I'd like to encourage you to subscribe to Our
American Stories on Apple podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, Spotify, or
wherever you get our podcasts. Any story you missed or
want to hear again can be found there daily again.
(07:46):
Please subscribe to the Our American Stories podcast on Apple podcasts,
the iHeartRadio app, or anywhere you get your podcasts. It
helps us keep these great American stories coming
Host
Lee Habeeb
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