December 16, 2024 • 10 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 our American stories, and we tell stories about
just about everything. And here to tell those stories is
Andrew Thompson, author of Hair of the Dog That Paint
the Town Red. The curious origins of everyday scenes and
fun phrases.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Take it away, Andrew.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
To beat a hasty retreat means to withdraw or leave quickly,
and it has military origins. It began from the battlefields
of the sixteenth century, when an army would have a
marching band and there'd be a drummer who take orders
from the commanding officer who he'd be stationed next to.
There's a series of orders that the troops knew, and
the drummer boy would beat them out and then they
(00:50):
would hear them and act accordingly. One of the drum
beats was known as the retreat, and at sunset, when
the rules of engagement dictated that fighting would cease, soldiers
would return to camp and the drummer would beat the
retreat and the troops would return. In cases where the
battle wasn't going well and the army was losing, the
drummer would beat the retreat faster to indicate an urgency
(01:14):
to withdraw. To beat around the bush means to avoid
coming to the point, and it's a phrase that began
in hunting in medieval times. Back then, wealthy noblemen would
hunt for pleasure, but they didn't want to put themselves
at risk, so then employ men to help them. The
men's job was to flush out animals from within the
brush so that the noblemen could shoot them. Often the
(01:36):
men were sent in to scare out the animals, but
when they were dangerous animals hiding, such as wild boar,
they would beat around the bush, hitting it with a
stick to make a lot of noise in the hope
that they would scare out the animals, but not actually
in danger themselves. The bee's knees is something that is
excellent or of the highest quality, and the origins of
that phrase relates to how bees carry pollen from their hive.
(02:01):
Once the bee has extracted the pollen from the flower,
it carefully places it into sacks on the rear of
its legs. Many believe that's where the expression came from,
from the rich and concentrated pollen found around.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
The bee's knees.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
The phrase was first years in America in the nineteen twenties,
and at that time it was fashionable to use meaningless
animal inspired expressions to mean excellence.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
There was a lot of them.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
There was the cat's pajamas, the snake's hips, the monkey's eyebrows,
the eels ankles.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
And the bee's knees. Below the belt is.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
An expression that has its origins in boxing. The London
Prize Ring rules were drafted in seventeen forty three by
boxer name Jack Broughton. They included not hitting a man
who was down and not hitting any part below the waist.
The rules were then updated to the Queensberry Rules of
Boxing in eighteen sixty seven, which was a formal code
(02:53):
to put it into dangerous fighting techniques. One of the
rules was a quote not to hit an opponent below
the level of his trouser belt and below the belt
soon came to be used figuratively to mean any unfair tactic.
The best things in slice bread means an excellent new
idea invention. They won't surprise you to learn that it
(03:16):
came from the bread business. Otto Frederick Roadweader of Iowa
invented the first bread slicing machine in nineteen twenty eight
and was first used by a company in Missouri with
a product called clean made sliced bread, and it was
advertised in the local newspaper as the greatest forward step
in the baking industry since bread was wrapped. The bread
(03:37):
was an instant's success and other bakery started using the machine,
which was advertised heavily, and the slice bread became a
talking point throughout the country and developed into the popular
expression that is used today. Between the devil and the
deep blue sea, which means between two undesirable alternatives, is
one of many expressions that has nautical origins, one that
(04:00):
you would never guess unless you knew a lot about boating.
It derives from the traditional wooden sailing boats. Sailors use
hot tart to seal or cork the seams between the
planks to prevent leaking. The scene between the two topmost
planks was known as the devil seam. It was the
longest seam and the closest to the water, so it
needed regular ceiling. This meant a sailor had to stand
(04:23):
on the very edge of the deck or even be
suspended over the side, so if there was a sudden
gust of wind or a large swell, the sailor could
get knocked over the edge and find himself between the
devil and the deep blue sea, between you, me and
the lamp post, which means a secret between two people,
is one of many expressions that came from the nineteenth
(04:43):
century British writer Charles Dickens. It was in his eighteen
thirty eight book Nicholas Nickleby where the expression was first used.
Big Brother is watching, which means your actions being monitored
by the authorities.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Is an expression that came from the literary world.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
A lot of people these days, young people probably think
it's from the popular reality television show, but it's actually
from George Orwell's nineteen forty nine book called nineteen eighty four.
At the time of writing, was said in the future
and the leader of the totalitarian state in the book,
where every citizen's every movement is continually under surveillance by
(05:20):
the government, is known as big Brother. Tele Screens were
used to monitor the people who were reminded of the
slogan big brother is watching you by it being on
constant display.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Is another expression that owes its origins to the world
of boxing. Bob Fitzsimmons was a British heavyweight boxer, and
he coined the phrase. In nineteen hundred fourt Ed Dunk
coursed in Brooklyn in New York. No one was the
human freight car. Dunk Courst was a giant of a
man who weighed nearly four hundred pounds. Fitzimmons was not
(05:55):
all that big for heavyweight, and when he walked into
the ring and saw his opponent, all he could say, well,
the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and Fitzsimmons
won the fight by knockout, spawning the expression to bite
the bullet means to bear up in a difficult situation
and carry on, and it has military origins. Many actually
think it comes from the American Civil War, when in
(06:17):
the absence of anesthesia during surgery, a soldier would bite
down on a piece of lead bullet to keep themselves
from screaming. But the real origin is earlier than that.
It's from the Indian Rebellion of eighteen fifty seven. Gun
cartridges at the time came in two parts, and to
load the bullets, the two parts had to be broken apart,
and then the base filled with gunpowder. The Indian soldiers
(06:39):
were forced to bite the bullets and separate the two parts,
and they had to do this despite the fact that
the ha to bite into grease made from pigs which
was around the projectile, pigs being an animal which they
considered sacred. The bitter end means the absolute end, and
it's another phrase that has a nautical origin. Centuries ago,
(06:59):
the anchors of sailing ships were fixed to the decks
by solid posts. Those posts were known as bits. The
sailor tied a colored cloth to the end of the
anchor rope near the bit, so that when the cloth
was reached, the men knew that they couldn't let out
any more anchor.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
The small area.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Of rope between the cloth and the bit was called
the bit end, which then became known as the bitter end.
So when the rope was led out to the bitter end,
it meant there was no more rope and the water
was too deep. The phrase black market began in medieval England.
At the time, there were nomadic mercenaries who traveled around
selling their fighting skills to the highest bidder, usually noblemen
(07:37):
who were raising armies. These men lived solitary lives in
the wilderness and their armor was rarely polished and would
oxidize into a blackish colour. As a result, they became
known as the Black Knights, and for sport. The Black
Knights would sometimes compete in jousting matches at country festivals
and the winner would win his opponent's armor and weapons.
(07:58):
But rather than carry around two who sets of armour,
the Black Knights would sell their spoils back to the loser,
who would buy it at a cut rate price, and
this aftermarket became known as the black market. To be
black balled means to be ousted or voted against, and
it derives from London's gentlemen's clubs of the eighteenth century.
(08:19):
New applications were assessed by a ruling committee and then
put to members for a secret vote, and every existing
member of the club had to vote, and the votes
were cast by placing either a white or a black
ball into a container. White ball's men acceptance into the club.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Black balls meant rejection.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
One single black ball was enough for the application to fail,
and nobody ever knew which members were in opposition. To
say bless you after someone sneezes is a phrase.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
It has religious origins.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
In medieval times, it was believed that a sneeze would
thrust a person's soul from.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
The body, so God bless you was said to protect.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
The unguarded soul from the devil until the person's body
regain Another school of thought at the time was the
disease was the expulsion of an evil spirit from body,
so the person was blessed in the hope that the
evil spirit would not return. The expression became widespread during
the Great Plague of London in sixteen sixty five. Sneezing
was thought to be a symptom of the Black death,
(09:18):
so God bless you was said to try to ward
off the disease. A blonde bombshell is a good looking
woman with blonde hair, often a film actress. A lot
of people think this expression originated with Marilyn Munroe, but
it was actually in the nineteen thirties with a Hollywood
actress named Jean Harlowe, who was highly popular and had
platinum blonde hair. In nineteen thirty three, she was the
(09:41):
lead in the Hollywood film actually called Bombshell, and the
advertising for the film was Lovely, Luscious, Exotic. Gen Harlowe
as the blonde bombshell of filmdom.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
By the nineteen.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Fifties in America, that the expression was commonplace. The expression blood,
sweat and tears, which means hard work, work, an effort
in difficult conditions, originated from John Donn's sixteen eleven poem
and Anatomy of the World, But it was Winston church Or,
the British Prime Minister and great orator, that brought the
(10:13):
phrase to the people in a speech to Parliament in
England in nineteen forty, when speaking of the hardships to
come in World War II, he said, I've nothing to
offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat, And.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
You're listening to Andrew Thompson and great job on that,
as always by Greg Hangler. And Andrew is the author
of Hair of the Dog. To Paint the Town Red,
The curious origins of everyday sayings here on our American
Stories
This is our American stories, and we tell stories about
just about everything. And here to tell those stories is
Andrew Thompson, author of Hair of the Dog That Paint
the Town Red. The curious origins of everyday scenes and
fun phrases.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Take it away, Andrew.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
To beat a hasty retreat means to withdraw or leave quickly,
and it has military origins. It began from the battlefields
of the sixteenth century, when an army would have a
marching band and there'd be a drummer who take orders
from the commanding officer who he'd be stationed next to.
There's a series of orders that the troops knew, and
the drummer boy would beat them out and then they
(00:50):
would hear them and act accordingly. One of the drum
beats was known as the retreat, and at sunset, when
the rules of engagement dictated that fighting would cease, soldiers
would return to camp and the drummer would beat the
retreat and the troops would return. In cases where the
battle wasn't going well and the army was losing, the
drummer would beat the retreat faster to indicate an urgency
(01:14):
to withdraw. To beat around the bush means to avoid
coming to the point, and it's a phrase that began
in hunting in medieval times. Back then, wealthy noblemen would
hunt for pleasure, but they didn't want to put themselves
at risk, so then employ men to help them. The
men's job was to flush out animals from within the
brush so that the noblemen could shoot them. Often the
(01:36):
men were sent in to scare out the animals, but
when they were dangerous animals hiding, such as wild boar,
they would beat around the bush, hitting it with a
stick to make a lot of noise in the hope
that they would scare out the animals, but not actually
in danger themselves. The bee's knees is something that is
excellent or of the highest quality, and the origins of
that phrase relates to how bees carry pollen from their hive.
(02:01):
Once the bee has extracted the pollen from the flower,
it carefully places it into sacks on the rear of
its legs. Many believe that's where the expression came from,
from the rich and concentrated pollen found around.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
The bee's knees.
Speaker 3 (02:14):
The phrase was first years in America in the nineteen twenties,
and at that time it was fashionable to use meaningless
animal inspired expressions to mean excellence.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
There was a lot of them.
Speaker 3 (02:24):
There was the cat's pajamas, the snake's hips, the monkey's eyebrows,
the eels ankles.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
And the bee's knees. Below the belt is.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
An expression that has its origins in boxing. The London
Prize Ring rules were drafted in seventeen forty three by
boxer name Jack Broughton. They included not hitting a man
who was down and not hitting any part below the waist.
The rules were then updated to the Queensberry Rules of
Boxing in eighteen sixty seven, which was a formal code
(02:53):
to put it into dangerous fighting techniques. One of the
rules was a quote not to hit an opponent below
the level of his trouser belt and below the belt
soon came to be used figuratively to mean any unfair tactic.
The best things in slice bread means an excellent new
idea invention. They won't surprise you to learn that it
(03:16):
came from the bread business. Otto Frederick Roadweader of Iowa
invented the first bread slicing machine in nineteen twenty eight
and was first used by a company in Missouri with
a product called clean made sliced bread, and it was
advertised in the local newspaper as the greatest forward step
in the baking industry since bread was wrapped. The bread
(03:37):
was an instant's success and other bakery started using the machine,
which was advertised heavily, and the slice bread became a
talking point throughout the country and developed into the popular
expression that is used today. Between the devil and the
deep blue sea, which means between two undesirable alternatives, is
one of many expressions that has nautical origins, one that
(04:00):
you would never guess unless you knew a lot about boating.
It derives from the traditional wooden sailing boats. Sailors use
hot tart to seal or cork the seams between the
planks to prevent leaking. The scene between the two topmost
planks was known as the devil seam. It was the
longest seam and the closest to the water, so it
needed regular ceiling. This meant a sailor had to stand
(04:23):
on the very edge of the deck or even be
suspended over the side, so if there was a sudden
gust of wind or a large swell, the sailor could
get knocked over the edge and find himself between the
devil and the deep blue sea, between you, me and
the lamp post, which means a secret between two people,
is one of many expressions that came from the nineteenth
(04:43):
century British writer Charles Dickens. It was in his eighteen
thirty eight book Nicholas Nickleby where the expression was first used.
Big Brother is watching, which means your actions being monitored
by the authorities.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
Is an expression that came from the literary world.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
A lot of people these days, young people probably think
it's from the popular reality television show, but it's actually
from George Orwell's nineteen forty nine book called nineteen eighty four.
At the time of writing, was said in the future
and the leader of the totalitarian state in the book,
where every citizen's every movement is continually under surveillance by
(05:20):
the government, is known as big Brother. Tele Screens were
used to monitor the people who were reminded of the
slogan big brother is watching you by it being on
constant display.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Is another expression that owes its origins to the world
of boxing. Bob Fitzsimmons was a British heavyweight boxer, and
he coined the phrase. In nineteen hundred fourt Ed Dunk
coursed in Brooklyn in New York. No one was the
human freight car. Dunk Courst was a giant of a
man who weighed nearly four hundred pounds. Fitzimmons was not
(05:55):
all that big for heavyweight, and when he walked into
the ring and saw his opponent, all he could say, well,
the bigger they are, the harder they fall, and Fitzsimmons
won the fight by knockout, spawning the expression to bite
the bullet means to bear up in a difficult situation
and carry on, and it has military origins. Many actually
think it comes from the American Civil War, when in
(06:17):
the absence of anesthesia during surgery, a soldier would bite
down on a piece of lead bullet to keep themselves
from screaming. But the real origin is earlier than that.
It's from the Indian Rebellion of eighteen fifty seven. Gun
cartridges at the time came in two parts, and to
load the bullets, the two parts had to be broken apart,
and then the base filled with gunpowder. The Indian soldiers
(06:39):
were forced to bite the bullets and separate the two parts,
and they had to do this despite the fact that
the ha to bite into grease made from pigs which
was around the projectile, pigs being an animal which they
considered sacred. The bitter end means the absolute end, and
it's another phrase that has a nautical origin. Centuries ago,
(06:59):
the anchors of sailing ships were fixed to the decks
by solid posts. Those posts were known as bits. The
sailor tied a colored cloth to the end of the
anchor rope near the bit, so that when the cloth
was reached, the men knew that they couldn't let out
any more anchor.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
The small area.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
Of rope between the cloth and the bit was called
the bit end, which then became known as the bitter end.
So when the rope was led out to the bitter end,
it meant there was no more rope and the water
was too deep. The phrase black market began in medieval England.
At the time, there were nomadic mercenaries who traveled around
selling their fighting skills to the highest bidder, usually noblemen
(07:37):
who were raising armies. These men lived solitary lives in
the wilderness and their armor was rarely polished and would
oxidize into a blackish colour. As a result, they became
known as the Black Knights, and for sport. The Black
Knights would sometimes compete in jousting matches at country festivals
and the winner would win his opponent's armor and weapons.
(07:58):
But rather than carry around two who sets of armour,
the Black Knights would sell their spoils back to the loser,
who would buy it at a cut rate price, and
this aftermarket became known as the black market. To be
black balled means to be ousted or voted against, and
it derives from London's gentlemen's clubs of the eighteenth century.
(08:19):
New applications were assessed by a ruling committee and then
put to members for a secret vote, and every existing
member of the club had to vote, and the votes
were cast by placing either a white or a black
ball into a container. White ball's men acceptance into the club.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Black balls meant rejection.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
One single black ball was enough for the application to fail,
and nobody ever knew which members were in opposition. To
say bless you after someone sneezes is a phrase.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
It has religious origins.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
In medieval times, it was believed that a sneeze would
thrust a person's soul from.
Speaker 2 (08:54):
The body, so God bless you was said to protect.
Speaker 3 (08:56):
The unguarded soul from the devil until the person's body
regain Another school of thought at the time was the
disease was the expulsion of an evil spirit from body,
so the person was blessed in the hope that the
evil spirit would not return. The expression became widespread during
the Great Plague of London in sixteen sixty five. Sneezing
was thought to be a symptom of the Black death,
(09:18):
so God bless you was said to try to ward
off the disease. A blonde bombshell is a good looking
woman with blonde hair, often a film actress. A lot
of people think this expression originated with Marilyn Munroe, but
it was actually in the nineteen thirties with a Hollywood
actress named Jean Harlowe, who was highly popular and had
platinum blonde hair. In nineteen thirty three, she was the
(09:41):
lead in the Hollywood film actually called Bombshell, and the
advertising for the film was Lovely, Luscious, Exotic. Gen Harlowe
as the blonde bombshell of filmdom.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
By the nineteen.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Fifties in America, that the expression was commonplace. The expression blood,
sweat and tears, which means hard work, work, an effort
in difficult conditions, originated from John Donn's sixteen eleven poem
and Anatomy of the World, But it was Winston church Or,
the British Prime Minister and great orator, that brought the
(10:13):
phrase to the people in a speech to Parliament in
England in nineteen forty, when speaking of the hardships to
come in World War II, he said, I've nothing to
offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat, And.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
You're listening to Andrew Thompson and great job on that,
as always by Greg Hangler. And Andrew is the author
of Hair of the Dog. To Paint the Town Red,
The curious origins of everyday sayings here on our American
Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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