Phrase Origins on suds-and-sycles.com

PHRASE & WORD	ORIGIN
'A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush'	Meaning It's better to have a small actual advantage than the chance of a greater one. Origin It isn't until the 19th century that we find the phrase in its currently used form. The earliest I've located is from the London journal The Monthly Review, 1801: "The chief Consul is said to have great faith in proverbs, and seems full convinced that 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.'" Referring to the phrase as proverbial suggests an earlier coinage. By how much the current version predates 1801 isn't clear, but variations of the phrase have been known for centuries. The earliest English version of the proverb is from the Bible and was translated into English in Wycliffe's version in 1382, although Latin texts have it from the 13th century: Ecclesiastes IX - A living dog is better than a dead lion. Alternatives that explicitly mention birds in hand come later. The earliest of those is in Hugh Rhodes' The boke of nurture or schoole of good maners, circa 1530: "A byrd in hand - is worth ten flye at large." John Heywood, the 16th century collector of proverbs, recorded another version in his ambitiously titled A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue, 1546: "Better one byrde in hande than ten in the wood." The Bird in Hand was adopted as a pub name in the UK in the Middle Ages and there are still many pubs of that name there. This refers back to mediaeval falconry where a bird in the hand (the falcon) was certainly worth more than two in the bush (the prey). The term bird in hand must have been known in the USA by 1734, as that is the date when a small town in Pennsylvania was founded with that name
'A bunch of fives'	Meaning A fist. The fives are the five fingers. Origin The phrase appears in print in 1825, in Charles Westmacott's, The English Spy: "With their bunch of fives." It is also reported as appearing, slightly earlier, in Boxiana by Pierce Egan, 1821. Boxiana is a classic work on boxing history and folklore, and just the place to look for such a reference. It isn't easy to obtain copies of it these days, so that hasn't been confirmed here as yet.
'A diamond in the rough'	Meaning Someone who is basically good hearted but lacking social graces and respect for the law. This term is often used to describe people on the edge of the criminal fraternity who, while they may not commit serious crimes themselves, probably know people who do. The English comic actor, the late Sid James, typified the type on and off stage and was typecast in such roles. For example, he played Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond in the Ealing comedy Carry On Up The Khyber. That was quite appropriate for this phrase as it turns out - Sid James worked in a diamond mine in South Africa before becoming an actor. Origin The phrase is clearly a metaphor for the original unpolished state of diamond gemstones, especially those that have the potential to become high quality jewels. It is more commonly expressed in the form 'rough diamond'. The first recorded use in print is in John Fletcher's A Wife for a Month, 1624: "She is very honest, and will be as hard to cut as a rough diamond."
'A feather in ones cap'	Meaning A symbol of honour and achievement. Origin The placing of a feather in a hat has been a symbol of achievement that has arisen in several cultures, apparently independently. The English writer and traveller Richard Hansard recorded it in his Description of Hungary, 1599: "It hath been an antient custom among them [Hungarians] that none should wear a fether but he who had killed a Turk, to whom onlie yt was lawful to shew the number of his slaine enemys by the number of fethers in his cappe." The Native American tradition of adding a feather to the head-dress of any warrior who performed a brave act is well-known. The figurative use of the phrase 'a feather in his hat', was in use in the UK by the 18th century. This is referred to in a letter from the Duchess of Portland to a Miss Collingwood, in 1734: "My Lord ... esteems it a feather in his hat, that ..." The children's rhyme Yankee Doodle is the best-known use of the phrase. Yankee Doodle went to town, Riding on a pony; He stuck a feather in his cap, And called it macaroni. There are many version of the lyric. It has been suggested that this version originated with the British forces in the American War of Independence, in an attempt to mock the revolutionary militia. A doodle was 18th century British slang for simpleton (a.k.a. noodle). Macaroni was slang for a dandy or fop. This originated with the Macaroni Club, which was a group of London aesthetes who were anxious to establish their sophistication by demonstrating a preference for foreign cuisine. The thinking behind the theory is that the Yankees were so stupid as to believe that putting a feather in one's cap would make them appear fashionable.
'A Square Meal'	The saying 'having a square mea'l comes from the English Royal Navy during the time of Nelson. In order to stop the plates/ dishes slipping around on the table when the ship was at sea, four pieces of wood were nailed to the benches in the shape of a square to stop the plates from slipping... hence 'having a square meal'.
A 'wake'	Many people were buried alive in times past because it was not recognised that they might simply be in a coma. This was especially true of people who drunk as many would get dead drunk , and cider drinkers often lead poisoning. Thus a body was left out awhile, and a party thrown around it, just to make sure the corpse didn’t ‘wake’ up!
'Bloody' a much used British curse'	This very common swearing word is a shortened form of 'By God's blood'.
'Bring someone down a peg or two'	In olden times people would share a drinking vessel called a ‘pigin’. This was passed around the drinking circle. You drank down to your mark or peg. If you upset the crowd you had to miss a few turns, hence brought down a ‘peg or two’.
'Burning the candle at both ends'	Once upon a time the only light in a house was provided by the taper. This was kept alight usually on a holder beside the fire.. It provided a small amount of light. If special vistors came and more light was demanded then the taper was lit both ends.
'By hook or by crook'	There are several derivations given. One is that peasants were permitted under the ancient forestry acts only to take from the forests that which they could reach from the edge with their hooks or shepherds crooks. Another version has it that Cromwell vowed to take Waterford in Ireland attacking either via the villages of Hook or Crook.
'Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey'	No, it's not as coarse and rude as it might appear! This very common description of the British winter weather actually comes from the times when the navy fought with cannon balls. These were stored on deck, besides the actual cannon. With the rolling of the ship the balls would roll aound the ship. They were welded to small stable upright called, a brass monkey. In the bitter cold the weld could snap and the let loose the balls!
'Crack a smile'	Should the woman smile, the wax would crack, hence the term . Also, when they sat too close to a fire the wax would crack and drip!
'Dear old Blighty'	'Blighty' is another nickname for Britain. In the first World War, soldiers would pray for a 'blighty'. This was a wound that would get them back to 'Blighty' for treatment. Some people say it's a corruption 0f 'beauty' but more probably it's derived from a Hindu word meaning 'stranger' and picked up by the British while ruling India.
'Don't throw the baby out with the bath water'	Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and were still smelling pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the B.O. Baths were a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of nice clean hot water. Then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all were the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. *Submitted by Marg Duncombe.*
'Fortnight'	Hadrian's Wall, built to guard the Romans northern England border against the marauding Scots, had forts situated at regular intervals along its length. Every two weeks the soldiers got to sleep inside them and this is where our term for two weeks, 'Fortnight' comes from.
'Goodnight, sleep tight'	In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. That's where the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight" came from. **Submitted by Tana M. Schiewer.**
'Grog'	In 1794 Admiral Vernon of the British fleet decided to water down the Navy's rum. Needless to say, the sailors weren't too pleased and called Admiral Vernon Old Grog, after the stiff wool grogram coats he wore. The term "grog"soon began to mean the watered down drink itself. When you were drunk on this grog, you were "groggy", a word still in use today. *Submitted by Marg Duncombe.*
'He [or she) follows every Jack Straw that comes along'	It means that he/she has no mind of his/her own and just does whatever someone else says. Jack Straw was an itinerant hedge row preacher. *Submitted by Patti Johnson.*
'Honeymoon'	It was the accepted practice in Anglo-Saxon England years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink (it was supposed to make the wife fertile and the husband virile). Mead is a honey wine, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon." *Submitted by Tana M. Schiewer.*
'I'm feeling fair to middling'	It comes from cotton grading used in the late19th century to early 20th century in the southern United States. "Fair" was one of the lowest grades of cotton and "middling" was the next lowest used when a farmer brought his cotton to market! Submitted by Charles Brittain.
'It's raining cats and dogs'	Houses had thatched roofs, thick straw pile high. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the pets, dogs, cats and other small aminals, mice rats, bugs, lived in the roof. When it rained, it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. *Submitted by Marg Duncombe.* This is also the reason why four poster beds developed. The idea of the 'roof' was to keep from nasty things falling into your open mouth when asleep! The side curtains kept out the drafts.
'Mind your Own business' or 'Mind your own bees wax'	Our ancestor's personal hygiene left much room for improvement. As a result, many women and men had developed acne scars by adulthood. The women would spread bee's wasx over their facial skin to smooth out their complexions. When they were speaking to each other, if a woman began to stare at another woman's face she was told 'mind your own bee's wax'.
'Mind your P's and Q's'	In old England ale is/was drunk in pints and quarts. So when customers got unruly, the innkeeper would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down.
'One for the road'	During the middle ages and mediaeval period, the condemned were taken from London city gaols to Tyburn Hill for execution. En route, along what is today’s Oxford Street, the cart stopped and they were allowed one final drink at a country inn situated on the road. The ‘one’ they were drinking was for the road to death.
On the 'graveyard shift' they would know if someone was 'saved by the bell' or he was a 'dead ringer'	England is old and small. When they started running out of places to bury people they would dig up coffins after so many years and reuse the graves. In reopening these coffins about 1 in 25 were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realised they had been burying people alive. So they tied a string on the decease's wrist and led it through the coffin lid and up through the ground and tied it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night and listen for the bell. *Submitted by Marg Duncombe.* 'Graveyard shift' also refers to the practice of sitting there overnight to guard against the grave robbers digging up the bodies! Saved by the bell also refers to at a Boxing match where the end of round bell rings while someone was being counted out by the referee after being knocked down. Submitted by Tom Cornwell
'On the wagon'	Suggested explanations of the origin of 'on the wagon' focus on actual wagons that were used to transport people; for example, condemned prisoners who had taken their last drink in this life and were transported to the gallows by wagon. Another story has it that Evangeline Booth, the US Salvation Army National Commander, toured the Bowery slums in a wagon picking up drunks and delivering them to sobriety. The phrase predates Booth's work in New York, so that can't be the origin. It isn't far from the truth though, but, as we'll see below, no actual wagon rides were involved. 'On the wagon' was coined in the USA around the turn of the 20th century. The phrase began as 'on the water-cart', migrated to 'on the water-wagon' and finally to 'on the wagon'. The late 19th century saw the emergence of several temperance organisations, notably The Anti-Saloon League, founded in 1893 and The Woman's Christian Temperance Union, founded in 1874. These followed on from the work of The Abstinence Society which had encouraged millions of men to 'take the pledge'. The Pledge wasn't just a vague intention to avoid drink; it was a specific and absolute promise never to drink again and was taken very seriously: "I promise to abstain from all intoxicating drinks except used medicinally and by order of a medical man, and to discountenance the cause and practice of intemperance. Water wagons were a commonplace sight in US cities at the time. They didn't carry drinking water but were used to damp down dusty streets during dry weather. Those who had vowed to give up drink and were tempted to lapse said that they would drink from the water-cart rather than take strong drink. The first reference to it that I've found in print is from Alice Caldwell Hegan's comic novel Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, 1901: I wanted to git him some whisky, but hoe shuck his head. "I'm on the water-cart." 'Water-wagon' was soon used as an alternative and the distinction between the figurative phrase 'on the wagon' and real water-wagons was made clear in this piece from The Davenport Daily Leader, March 1904: "Peter Solle took a bad fall from the water wagon this morning. The water wagon was not that imaginary, visionary affair that is sometimes applied to he who signs the pledge, but was the real thing, all there and big as life."
'Pressed for an answer'	Horribly, people used to have heavy weights loaded onto their chests in an effort to squeeze a confession out of them at any interrogation. Quite literally ‘pressed for an answer’.
'Rule of thumb'	Before thermometers were invented, brewers would dip a thumb or finger into the mix to find the right temperature for adding yeast. Too cold, and the yeast wouldn't grow. Too hot, and the yeast would die. This thumb in the beer is where we get the phrase "rule of thumb". Submitted by Marg Duncombe.
'Show a leg'	Apparently, when the ships of old were about to leave port, the sailors might try to smuggle a lady aboard, concealing her in their hammock. The officers or mates would do a final inspection of the ship and crew before she left. Anybody in a hammock was bidden to ‘show a leg’. Should a hairless and shapely one dangle the owner was usually a Jill not Jack Tar and eviction swiftly followed!
'Sincere'	The word "sincere" has some interesting roots. One story is that it comes from the ancient marble quarries of Rome. Apparently, unscrupulous stone dealers covered the marble's imperfections with wax. The practice eventually became illegal, as the Roman Empire certified that all marble must be "sine cera" or "sincerus," meaning without wax - genuine. So, to be sincere is to be genuine.
'The whole nine yards'	This originated in the Great War. A Vickers machine gun boasted a nine yard magazine belt. To 'give them the whole nine yards' meant to use up the entire belt on the enemy. *Submitted by Ben Edwards.*
'To let your hair down'	In Tudor England the ladies wore their hair up, and in 'wimples' (those pointed bonnets you see in paintings). Beneath, their hair was piled high and pinned. Naturally, in the bed chamber, caps and hats, as well as other garments, were disposed of. It was a time for wanton behaviour and abandonment - but only in the bedroom, and in private. Hence, letting one's hair down was a practical as well as a symbolic thing.
'under your thumb' or 'under the thumb'	This is said to come from the ancient custom that men could beat their wives but only with a stick no thicker than their thumb! Thus having someone ''under your thumb'.
'Wet your whistle'	Many years ago, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic mugs. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice. Submitted by Marg Duncombe.
'What a shambles!' 'It's shambolic'	Travel to the walled city of York in northern England and you'll undoubtedly enjoy time in the narrow, cobble-stoned medieval, shopping streets. These were known as 'the shambles'. Traditionally, this is where traders erected their temporary stalls and sold their wares from barrows, long before the idea of a permanent shop was feasible. In fact, such streets were a feature of all towns. You can imagine the virtual chaos as traders fought for space in these unregulated areas. It would truly have been shambolic.

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