The etymologist finds the deadest words to have been once a brilliant picture. Language is fossil poetry. ~
So many topics lack appeal until we gather sufficient detail to capture our attention. As an example, I attended the Indianapolis 500 about 30 years ago. The 50° temps, the near-constant drizzle and the quarter of a million people surrounding me created a challenge, but the real problem was that I didn’t know what I was watching. We miss a lot when we don’t understand what we’re observing, and sometimes we don’t even understand the full meaning of the words we use. As mentioned in an August 2023 post, when we know more, we appreciate more.
Anyway, as an example, I offer for consideration common phrases we use. Some date back centuries, and we have no idea how they originated. Let’s remedy some of that.
How did it get to be "your turn" and why do you have to wait?
One of my many opportunities involves running an old grist mill. There is a list of milling terms there that could give rise to enough Dad jokes to last a month. Here are a few from Wilton Windmill Education Pack, but I’ve also heard them some of them at Cable Mill in Cades Cove (GSMNP):
- Rule of thumb – the miller would test the quality of the grind by picking up a pinch between his thumb and finger. If it was too coarse, he’d run it through again.
- Take your turn – to wait in line behind those who were already waiting to have their corn (or wheat) ground.
- Keep your nose to the grindstone – the miller needed to put his nose close to the grinding stones to make sure they weren’t overheating by being too close. That would cook the grain and could start a fire.
- Come to a grinding halt, which is what happened when the wind slowed at a wind-powered mill. OR, from mechanical failure or lack of water, depending on the type of mill.
There are all kinds of phrase origins; here are a few more.
From the Bible, according to, well ... 🙄
- A house divided against itself cannot stand. This metaphor is found in three gospels – Matthew, Mark and Luke.
- The nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered as a speck of dust in the scales – Isaiah 40:15.
- The writing is on the wall – Daniel 5.
- Just like a leopard cannot change its spots, a person cannot change their nature – Jeremiah 13:23.
- The salt of the earth – Matthew 5:13.
- There is nothing new under the sun – Ecclesiastes 1:9
- Slush fund – ship cooks saved meat fat as it cooked & sold it to candle makers. The money earned paid for sailors’ non-essentials.
- Pipe down – long ago ships’ crews were provided signals by sounding a pipe. The last signal each day was called ‘piping down the hammocks’ and meant it was time to settle in for the night.
- The devil and the deep blue sea – the ‘devil’ was the seam along the hull of a ship, which needed caulking regularly. The sailor who had to handle that job was between the seam and, potentially, a watery death.
Shifting slightly
Sometimes we think we know origins of words or phrases, but we don’t. Until doing research for this post, I thought that “three sheets to the wind” was a seafaring saying, but according to Wilton Windmill, it originated with grist mills that were powered by the wind. If four sheets (windmill sails) were the norm, and only three sails were covered in canvas, the rotation would be off balance, like a drunk. So, did that phrase originate from grist mill operations or maritime experiences? Which tribal myth is correct? I don’t know.
A famous saying attributed to Mark Twain is, “It ain’t what you know that gets you in trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” Am I saying that the origin of age-old phrases is critical to everyday life? No. But I am saying that learning about small phrases that populate our conversations can be entertaining, and perhaps that learning can awaken a dormant intellectual curiosity. That, and the “often wrong, never in doubt” approach to language does a disservice to communication. Maybe it’s also an insult to the sometimes underused ability our gray cells provide.
Interesting! Some I knew, most I didn’t. He could have included “beyond the pale”.
Lee, I wish I had included that one, as it has connotations that could lead to lively discussions.
Another of my favorites often spoken by John Wayne
“ Good Lord willin, and the creek don’t rise “
The creek in this phrase meaning Creek
Indians.
I like that one, too, and I know it is frequently misunderstood. But then, there are many “common words” that are tortured as well. 😉
I love learning tidbits like this. I already knew a few of these, but some were new to me. Of course, who knows how accurate the info is, since the video contradicted the origin of “rule of thumb” that you learned elsewhere.
Exactly. We never know which version is accurate, but I expect there may be more than one way certain phrases came into use, even though the stories have no apparent connection. Who knows? Not me.