September 26, 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):
And we continue with our American stories. Up next, we
continue with our recurring series about the curious origins of
everyday scenes. You're 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 (00:34):
The whole nine yards means the entire amount, or as
far as much as possible, and that's a phrase with
disputed origins. It's similar to the expression dressed to the nines,
and some say it relates to the best suits being
made from nine yards of fabric, but the more likely
origin is actually military based. During World War II, the
American fighter planes used fifty caliber machine guns that were
(00:56):
fired from the doors by the gunners. The ammunition used
by these guns were linked together on belts that were
exactly nine yards long, so if a target was shot
at with the full belt of ammunition, it was said
that they were being given the whole nine yards. A
wild goose chase is a fruitless chase for something, or
a hopeless quest, and it has its origins in early
(01:18):
horse racing. The sport developed in England in the sixteenth
century and its earliest form was much different to what
we see today, because a race began with a lead
horse being set off, the rider taking any direction he chose,
and then the other riders were sent off in pursuit,
leaving at precise regular intervals. The pursuing horses and riders
didn't know exactly which route the lead rider had taken,
(01:39):
so they all set off in different directions, like wild
geese trying to follow their leader. Shakespeare then used the
expression in his play Romeo and Juliet and that popularized it.
To win hands down means to win easily with little effort,
and it's another phrase that comes from horse racing. When riding,
a jockey needs to keep a tight rain on his
horse to encourage it to But when a jockey so
(02:01):
far ahead of the competition that he can loosen the
rain and still win without needing his whip, he can
place both hands back on the rains and wrest them
down comfortably. He can then canter to the fringish line
and win hands down without batting. An eyelid means to
take a situation in your stride or not show any
emotional response, and it's always used in the negative, and
(02:23):
it's Another expression that derives from the linguistic world. The
world bat comes from bait, an obsolete English word which
comes from the old French word buttra, meaning to beat
the wings or flutter. So when a person reacted to
something of note without showing any surprise or motion to
the extent that they didn't even blink or flutter an eyelid,
it was said that they didn't bat an eyelid. To
(02:47):
wreak havoc means to cause major destruction or confusion, and
it began in thirteenth century France, where the expression cry
a havot was a military call that battlefield generals would
yell have it meaning plumb, so to cry a habit
meant the battle was won and the soldiers could begin looting.
The phrase then reached England by the fourteenth century, where
(03:07):
it evolved to cry havoc, and then the expression was
used by Shakespeare in a number of his plays, which
brought it to the mainstream, where it was adapted to
wreak havoc. The wrong end of the stick means to
misunderstanders situation entirely, and it's got pretty disgusting origins. It
began with the toilet habits of ancient Rome. The Romans
(03:28):
used communal toilets, where people sat side by side to
discuss the day's events. Toilet paper hadn't been invented, so
to address personal hygiene issues, a cloth or sponge was
tied to one end of a short stick, which was
passed from person to person. It was obviously important to
pay close attention when picking up or being past the stick,
because nobody wanted to get the wrong end of the stick.
(03:51):
To get out of the wrong side of the bed
means that someone's in a bad mood, and it's an
expression that began ancient Rome, and it's very similar to
the saying to set off on the wrong foot, where
the Romans believed that anything on the left was evil,
including the bed. They a real superstition that nefarious spirits
lay on the left hand side of the bed during
the night, and if someone was to get out on
(04:11):
that side, they would be forced to pass through those spirits,
whose sinister ways would influence the person during the day,
affecting their judgment and putting them in a bad mood.
This negative influence would continue until the next morning when
the person got out of the bed on the right
you can run, but your card. Hide means you can
try to escape something, but you'll eventually be caught, and
(04:33):
it owes its origins to the great heavyweight boxer Joe Lewis,
known as the Brown Bomber. In nineteen forty one, he
fought Billy Conn, a much lighter and faster boxer, and
behind on the scorecard. Lewis eventually knocked Conn out in
the thirteenth round. Then still champion, in nineteen forty six,
Lewis fought a rematch with Con. Remembering how close Lewis
(04:53):
had come to losing his belt in the first bout,
boxing writers asked Lewis how he could combat CON's fast
hit and run stratu. Lewis responded, he can run, but
he can't hide, and Lewis won the fight by knockout
in the eighth round. You scratch my back and old
scratch yours means to do someone a favor if they
do one for you, and it has its origins with
(05:14):
the British Navy during the seventeenth century. The punishments meet
it out to sailors for being drunk, grabs and or
disobedient was severe and one of the main forms of
punishment was the lashing with the cut of nine tails whip,
which had multiple strands that caused severe pain. The common
practice was to tie the offender to the ship's mast
in full view and have him flogged by another crew member.
(05:36):
The crew members came to an understanding that they would
only deliver light lashes and merely scratch the other's back,
knowing that they would receive similar lean and see if
their turn came to be flogged later in the voyage.
Your name is Mud means a person who is unpopular
or out of favor, and it began in eighteen sixty
five when John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln by
(05:58):
shooting him in the Ford Theater in Washington. Booth broke
his leg while escaping and managed to ride his horse
to the house of doctor Samuel Mudd. That's Mud. Mud
was ignorant of the grave events that had just unfolded
and provided Booth with the medical assistance he needed. Mud
learned of the shooting the next day in contacted the police,
but he was arrested, convicted of conspiracy to murder, and
(06:21):
sentenced to life in jail. He was pardoned and released
in eighteen sixty nine, but the public never forgave him
and his name was forever tarnished. To say your ship
has come in means you become rich and successful, and
it dates from the mid eighteen hundreds and as a
seafaring expression. As the expression suggests, a man might spend
(06:41):
all his money in building a ship, fitting it out,
and hiring a crew. The ship would then set sail
for a long voyage in the hope of recouping the money.
It may be await for years at a time, and
the investor, unable to communicate with the captain, would never
be sure if he'd seize money again, or even the
ship again. It would only be when the ship reappeared
that he would know that the outcome, if laden with
(07:01):
the cargo valuables from far away places, it would be
said that his ship had come in.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
And a terrific job on the production and editing by
our own Greg Hangler and especial thanks to Andrew Thompson
his book Hair of the Dog To Paint the Town Red.
Get it at Amazon or the usual suspects. You won't
put it down. You can open it up to almost
any letter in the alphabet and you'll just start laughing,
the story of the origins of everyday sayings. Here on
(07:29):
Our American Stories lieh Abib here, the host of Our
American Stories. Every day on this show, we're bringing inspiring
stories from across this great country, stories from our big
cities and small towns. But we truly can't do the
show without you. Our stories are free to listen to,
but they're not free to make. If you love what
(07:50):
you hear, go to Ouramerican Stories dot com and click
the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Go
to Ouramerican Stories dot com and give
And we continue with our American stories. Up next, we
continue with our recurring series about the curious origins of
everyday scenes. You're 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 (00:34):
The whole nine yards means the entire amount, or as
far as much as possible, and that's a phrase with
disputed origins. It's similar to the expression dressed to the nines,
and some say it relates to the best suits being
made from nine yards of fabric, but the more likely
origin is actually military based. During World War II, the
American fighter planes used fifty caliber machine guns that were
(00:56):
fired from the doors by the gunners. The ammunition used
by these guns were linked together on belts that were
exactly nine yards long, so if a target was shot
at with the full belt of ammunition, it was said
that they were being given the whole nine yards. A
wild goose chase is a fruitless chase for something, or
a hopeless quest, and it has its origins in early
(01:18):
horse racing. The sport developed in England in the sixteenth
century and its earliest form was much different to what
we see today, because a race began with a lead
horse being set off, the rider taking any direction he chose,
and then the other riders were sent off in pursuit,
leaving at precise regular intervals. The pursuing horses and riders
didn't know exactly which route the lead rider had taken,
(01:39):
so they all set off in different directions, like wild
geese trying to follow their leader. Shakespeare then used the
expression in his play Romeo and Juliet and that popularized it.
To win hands down means to win easily with little effort,
and it's another phrase that comes from horse racing. When riding,
a jockey needs to keep a tight rain on his
horse to encourage it to But when a jockey so
(02:01):
far ahead of the competition that he can loosen the
rain and still win without needing his whip, he can
place both hands back on the rains and wrest them
down comfortably. He can then canter to the fringish line
and win hands down without batting. An eyelid means to
take a situation in your stride or not show any
emotional response, and it's always used in the negative, and
(02:23):
it's Another expression that derives from the linguistic world. The
world bat comes from bait, an obsolete English word which
comes from the old French word buttra, meaning to beat
the wings or flutter. So when a person reacted to
something of note without showing any surprise or motion to
the extent that they didn't even blink or flutter an eyelid,
it was said that they didn't bat an eyelid. To
(02:47):
wreak havoc means to cause major destruction or confusion, and
it began in thirteenth century France, where the expression cry
a havot was a military call that battlefield generals would
yell have it meaning plumb, so to cry a habit
meant the battle was won and the soldiers could begin looting.
The phrase then reached England by the fourteenth century, where
(03:07):
it evolved to cry havoc, and then the expression was
used by Shakespeare in a number of his plays, which
brought it to the mainstream, where it was adapted to
wreak havoc. The wrong end of the stick means to
misunderstanders situation entirely, and it's got pretty disgusting origins. It
began with the toilet habits of ancient Rome. The Romans
(03:28):
used communal toilets, where people sat side by side to
discuss the day's events. Toilet paper hadn't been invented, so
to address personal hygiene issues, a cloth or sponge was
tied to one end of a short stick, which was
passed from person to person. It was obviously important to
pay close attention when picking up or being past the stick,
because nobody wanted to get the wrong end of the stick.
(03:51):
To get out of the wrong side of the bed
means that someone's in a bad mood, and it's an
expression that began ancient Rome, and it's very similar to
the saying to set off on the wrong foot, where
the Romans believed that anything on the left was evil,
including the bed. They a real superstition that nefarious spirits
lay on the left hand side of the bed during
the night, and if someone was to get out on
(04:11):
that side, they would be forced to pass through those spirits,
whose sinister ways would influence the person during the day,
affecting their judgment and putting them in a bad mood.
This negative influence would continue until the next morning when
the person got out of the bed on the right
you can run, but your card. Hide means you can
try to escape something, but you'll eventually be caught, and
(04:33):
it owes its origins to the great heavyweight boxer Joe Lewis,
known as the Brown Bomber. In nineteen forty one, he
fought Billy Conn, a much lighter and faster boxer, and
behind on the scorecard. Lewis eventually knocked Conn out in
the thirteenth round. Then still champion, in nineteen forty six,
Lewis fought a rematch with Con. Remembering how close Lewis
(04:53):
had come to losing his belt in the first bout,
boxing writers asked Lewis how he could combat CON's fast
hit and run stratu. Lewis responded, he can run, but
he can't hide, and Lewis won the fight by knockout
in the eighth round. You scratch my back and old
scratch yours means to do someone a favor if they
do one for you, and it has its origins with
(05:14):
the British Navy during the seventeenth century. The punishments meet
it out to sailors for being drunk, grabs and or
disobedient was severe and one of the main forms of
punishment was the lashing with the cut of nine tails whip,
which had multiple strands that caused severe pain. The common
practice was to tie the offender to the ship's mast
in full view and have him flogged by another crew member.
(05:36):
The crew members came to an understanding that they would
only deliver light lashes and merely scratch the other's back,
knowing that they would receive similar lean and see if
their turn came to be flogged later in the voyage.
Your name is Mud means a person who is unpopular
or out of favor, and it began in eighteen sixty
five when John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln by
(05:58):
shooting him in the Ford Theater in Washington. Booth broke
his leg while escaping and managed to ride his horse
to the house of doctor Samuel Mudd. That's Mud. Mud
was ignorant of the grave events that had just unfolded
and provided Booth with the medical assistance he needed. Mud
learned of the shooting the next day in contacted the police,
but he was arrested, convicted of conspiracy to murder, and
(06:21):
sentenced to life in jail. He was pardoned and released
in eighteen sixty nine, but the public never forgave him
and his name was forever tarnished. To say your ship
has come in means you become rich and successful, and
it dates from the mid eighteen hundreds and as a
seafaring expression. As the expression suggests, a man might spend
(06:41):
all his money in building a ship, fitting it out,
and hiring a crew. The ship would then set sail
for a long voyage in the hope of recouping the money.
It may be await for years at a time, and
the investor, unable to communicate with the captain, would never
be sure if he'd seize money again, or even the
ship again. It would only be when the ship reappeared
that he would know that the outcome, if laden with
(07:01):
the cargo valuables from far away places, it would be
said that his ship had come in.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
And a terrific job on the production and editing by
our own Greg Hangler and especial thanks to Andrew Thompson
his book Hair of the Dog To Paint the Town Red.
Get it at Amazon or the usual suspects. You won't
put it down. You can open it up to almost
any letter in the alphabet and you'll just start laughing,
the story of the origins of everyday sayings. Here on
(07:29):
Our American Stories lieh Abib here, the host of Our
American Stories. Every day on this show, we're bringing inspiring
stories from across this great country, stories from our big
cities and small towns. But we truly can't do the
show without you. Our stories are free to listen to,
but they're not free to make. If you love what
(07:50):
you hear, go to Ouramerican Stories dot com and click
the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Go
to Ouramerican Stories dot com and give
Host
Lee Habeeb
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