October 7, 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 saints.
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 house and little Dorrit. To rest on your
(01:25):
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 the sixth century BC.
(01:50):
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 their laurels, and
that's how the expression came about. To ride roughshod means
(02:15):
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 the horses into
(02:37):
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 rode up the
(03:00):
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 in ancient
(03:20):
Roman Greece. In those times, leaders are often under attack
of threat of assassination, and while most people are 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
(03:41):
with a trusted allies sitting on 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 a gesture of great trust.
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
(04:04):
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. It was difficult
at the time, because of the equipment and the scarcity
of metals, to produce coins of a uniform weight, and
this provided criminals with an opportunity. They would counterfeit coins
(04:27):
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 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
(04:47):
of bed and prepare for the day, and it's a
simple phrase that stems from the military. The rise is
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
(05:11):
robin is something that operates in a rotational manner, like
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
(05:32):
people on the list who are thought to be the
ringleaders and behead them. But people were still desperate to
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
(05:56):
the eighteenth century, where any complaints were made by signing
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,
(06:16):
and it's got many potential origins. The Romans used their
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 thumb's being
used that way since ancient times, the saying didn't get
coined until seventeen eighty two. It was in that year
(06:39):
that just As Buller of the King's Bench in England
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
(07:00):
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 are 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. But 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 Americanstories 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 saints.
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 house and little Dorrit. To rest on your
(01:25):
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 the sixth century BC.
(01:50):
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 their laurels, and
that's how the expression came about. To ride roughshod means
(02:15):
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 the horses into
(02:37):
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 rode up the
(03:00):
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 in ancient
(03:20):
Roman Greece. In those times, leaders are often under attack
of threat of assassination, and while most people are 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
(03:41):
with a trusted allies sitting on 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 a gesture of great trust.
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
(04:04):
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. It was difficult
at the time, because of the equipment and the scarcity
of metals, to produce coins of a uniform weight, and
this provided criminals with an opportunity. They would counterfeit coins
(04:27):
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 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
(04:47):
of bed and prepare for the day, and it's a
simple phrase that stems from the military. The rise is
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
(05:11):
robin is something that operates in a rotational manner, like
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
(05:32):
people on the list who are thought to be the
ringleaders and behead them. But people were still desperate to
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
(05:56):
the eighteenth century, where any complaints were made by signing
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,
(06:16):
and it's got many potential origins. The Romans used their
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 thumb's being
used that way since ancient times, the saying didn't get
coined until seventeen eighty two. It was in that year
(06:39):
that just As Buller of the King's Bench in England
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
(07:00):
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 are 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. But 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 Americanstories 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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