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Post by Fjordmom on Aug 4, 2015 9:36:58 GMT -5
Ever say or type some phrase and then wonder how or where the heck it came into being? I thought it might be fun to share phrases we use all the time and how they came into being, and especially learn what other parts of the country/world may use.
What got me going the other day was when I was emailing someone and used the phrase "got the short end of the stick", and then wondered just how that came into being. Sooooooo, here you go (there were some interesting takes on this, including turning short into a 4-letter word for excrement, but, being a farm girl, I think this one makes the most sense, particularly in light of how we normally use it in conversation)....
"When harnessing a matched team, one uses a stick called an "evener" attached by a pin at its center to the wagon or farm implement. Each end of the evener is attached to the harness of each draft animal. When pulling with 2 animals of different size (am unmatched team) one moves the location of the center hole (fulcrum) towards the side near the larger animal. Each animal is then pulling an amount of weight corresponding to its size, thus the term "evener". The larger animal is pulling more of the load because he has the "short end of the stick”.
What are your favorites?
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Post by ProudTVJunkie on Aug 4, 2015 10:05:17 GMT -5
This is great Fjordmom. I think I'm really going to like this thread...although it may take a little time and research before I add to it. I like that explanation for "short end of the stick." I had no idea where that came from. |
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Post by Fjordmom on Aug 4, 2015 10:29:18 GMT -5
My husband and I frequently use the phrase "Half a bubble off" to refer to someone or something that is not quite "right" or a little (or sometimes a LOT) odd...
It comes from the use of a carpenter's level with its "bubble" gauge; when the bubble is between two lines, then the level is level to the earth. A "half-bubble off" literally means the bubble is not centered BETWEEN the lines, but half of the bubble is outside the lines.
Figuratively it just means "a bit off" in some context.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2015 17:41:43 GMT -5
"One fry short of a Happy Meal"
E'nuff said.
*cheesy grin*
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2015 18:03:15 GMT -5
One clown short of a circus.
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Post by Fjordmom on Aug 4, 2015 20:10:00 GMT -5
A taco short of a combination plate.  |
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Post by shutterbug5269 on Aug 14, 2015 23:05:58 GMT -5
"He's not the brightest bulb in the chandelier."
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Post by ProudTVJunkie on Aug 14, 2015 23:34:37 GMT -5
Get Down to Brass Tacks
Where does it come from? No one is really sure. It was first coined in a Texas newspaper The Tri-Weekly Telegraph in 1863:
"When you come down to 'brass tacks' - if we may be allowed the expression - everybody is governed by selfishness."
Although it’s origins are still considered unknown, there are two popular theories.
1. Brass tacks were commonly used in Tudor furniture but long predate the use of the phrase. The supporters of that idea say that, in order to re-upholster a chair, the upholsterer would need first to remove all the tacks and fabric coverings, thus getting down to the basic frame of the chair. While that is true, it doesn't seems to match the exact meaning of the expression, as the tacks would be the first thing to be removed rather than the last.
2. The second explanation that relies on actual tacks comes from the haberdashery trade. Here the notion is that, in order to be more accurate than the rough-and-ready measuring of a yard of material by holding it out along an arm's length, cloth was measured between brass tacks which were set into a shop's counter.
I vote for #2.
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Post by geezer2008 on Aug 15, 2015 10:17:42 GMT -5
Not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
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Post by geezer2008 on Aug 15, 2015 10:18:17 GMT -5
One brick shy of a load.
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Post by shutterbug5269 on Aug 16, 2015 2:03:13 GMT -5
He's seven sheets to the wind. (Intoxicated)
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Post by tycho657 on Aug 16, 2015 16:32:16 GMT -5
"Once in a blue Moon"
We drove up to the top of Paulina Peak , almost 8,000 ft., unobstructed 360 degree view of Oregon, to watch the "blue moon rise. Unfortunately it was obscured by the smoke from all of the fires south of the peak. They call it a Blue Moon, even thought it is not blue in color, because they don't happen very often. There has to be two full moons in the same month. They don't even occur every year...they are once in a blue moon.
We did get a beautiful sunset looking west.
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Post by RG on Aug 16, 2015 16:41:52 GMT -5
A phrase I use all the time which I had to explain to my lovely bride..."Happy as a clam."
Now one would wonder why a clam would be happy, and they'd be right to do so, after all, I used to be happy with clams when they were fried and placed in front of me, but something tells me that a clam wouldn't be too happy about that.
The phrase as I wrote it above and as it's usually spoken is incomplete...the correct and entire phrase is, "Happy as a clam at high tide." Now that makes sense and I can understand a clam being happy that the tide is high since no one is going to try to harvest it for my blue plate special...which brings up an entire other phrase which I won't delve into now, other than to ask, are the plates really blue or are they just special?
Damn...this may just keep me up tonight! 
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Post by ProudTVJunkie on Aug 16, 2015 17:07:32 GMT -5
RG I got completely distracted when you mentioned fried clams. Mmm...
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Post by shutterbug5269 on Aug 16, 2015 17:16:43 GMT -5
A phrase I use all the time which I had to explain to my lovely bride..."Happy as a clam."
Now one would wonder why a clam would be happy, and they'd be right to do so, after all, I used to be happy with clams when they were fried and placed in front of me, but something tells me that a clam wouldn't be too happy about that.
The phrase as I wrote it above and as it's usually spoken is incomplete...the correct and entire phrase is, "Happy as a clam at high tide." Now that makes sense and I can understand a clam being happy that the tide is high since no one is going to try to harvest it for my blue plate special...which brings up an entire other phrase which I won't delve into now, other than to ask, are the plates really blue or are they just special?
Damn...this may just keep me up tonight!
I can think of something that should Keep you awake at night. I'm posting the last chapter of my Alien story... and that means my Russian Muse is going to be getting bored soon... BWAhahahahahahahahahaha! |
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