To become infected with a cold. This hyperbolic phrase, often used as a warning (“Wear your hat or you’ll catch your death”), dates from the late 1800s.
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catch more flies with honey than vinegar, one can
One can accom- plish more by being nice than by being nasty. A version of this term appears in Cervantes’s Don Quixote (“Make yourself into honey and the flies will
devour you”), and a more precise version appears about 100 years later, in
Thomas Fuller’s Gnomologia: “More Flies are taken with a Drop of Honey
than a Tun of Vinegar.” It is a proverb in most European languages
catch as catch can
By any method that can be used; without any specific plan or order. Variants of this term go back as far as the fourteenth century
(“Was none in sight but cacche who that cacche might,” John Gower, c.
1394) and appeared in John Heywood’s 1546 collection of proverbs (“Catch
that catch may”). More specifically, it is the name of both a children’s game
and a style of wrestling (also called freestyle) in which the wrestlers may get
a hold on each other anyhow and anywhere.
catbird seat, (sitting) in the
Being in a position of advantage or superi- ority. The term originated in the American South, where the catbird is quite common. It is thought to allude to the bird’s habit of singing from a very high perch in trees. It came into common usage in the 1940s when Mississippi- born sportscaster Red Barber would use it, for example, for a pitcher who was almost certain to strike out all the batters. Barber said he himself first heard the term in a poker game where he had bluffed all but one player into dropping out, but the remaining player, who had said from the start that he was sitting in the catbird seat, proved to have an ace and an ace in the hole. James Thurber used the expression as the title of a short story about a mild- mannered accountant who was so irritated by a colleague using this and other terms that he planned to murder her.
beauty is (only) skin-deep
A lovely appearance has no relation to more profound good qualities. “All the carnall beauty of my wife is but skin- deep,” wrote Sir Thomas Overbury (c. 1613). Of course this observation was hardly new, having been made by many ancient poets long before
(Vergil wrote, O formose puer, nimium ne crede colori, “O my pretty boy, trust not too much in your looks”). Although only skin deep, observed William Cobbett (Advice to Young Men, 1829), “It [beauty] is very agreeable for all that,” whereas H. H. Munro (Saki) punned “I always say beauty is only sin deep” (Reginald’s Choir Treat, 1904).
beauty is in the eye of the beholder
What one person considers ugly may seem beautiful to another. The idea is very old and was stated in various ways from the sixteenth century on. Shakespeare’s version is close to the modern: “Beauty is bought by judgement of the eye” (Love’s Labour’s Lost,
2.1). Possibly the first exact statement of the cliché in print was in Mar- garet Hungerford’s Molly Bawn (1878).
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beautiful people, the
The fashionable social set, individuals who are in vogue and widely emulated and envied. Although general use of this term began in the mid-1960s—Diana Vreeland, the editor of Vogue magazine, is
often credited with inventing it—it appeared even earlier as the title of a
William Saroyan play of 1941. It was given further currency by the Beatles
song “Baby You’re a Rich Man” (1967) by John Lennon and Paul McCartney,
which contains the line, “How does it feel to be one of the beautiful peo-
ple?” Katherine Hall Page used the phrase in her mystery The Body in the Big
Apple (1999), with its numerous descriptions of expensive New York restau-
rants and elegant parties. Also see JET SET.
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beat to the punch/draw
Move more quickly than someone to accom- plish something: for example, “We headed straight for the buffet, but others beat us to the punch and got most of the lobster salad.” Both versions of this cliché date from the mid-1800s and imply an aggressive move, the first alluding to fisticuffs and the second to drawing a pistol.
beat the living daylights out of, to
To punish severely, to thrash. This cliché is in effect a colorful elaboration of to beat someone up, an American locution dating from about 1900. The word daylights was a nineteenth- century American colloquialism for one’s vital organs. “That’ll shake the daylights out of us,” wrote Emerson Bennett (Mike Fink, 1852). Another writer referred to “pulling out” a mule’s daylights by beating it, and mystery writers of the early twentieth century sometimes had their characters
“shoot the daylights” out of someone. Earlier British versions are to beat black and blue (Shakespeare), beat to a jelly (Smollett), and the equally hyper- bolic beat to a pulp. Another American synonym is to beat the tar out of, which unlike the other fairly graphic equivalents is more puzzling, but has been used since about 1800.
beat the bushes for, to
To seek out assiduously. The term comes from hunting, in the days when beaters were employed to flush birds out for a hunt- ing party, and has been used in its literal sense since the fifteenth century.
beat one’s brains (out), to
A more colloquial version of CUDGEL ONE’S BRAINS or RACK ONE’S BRAIN, meaning, like them, to strain to remember something or solve a difficult problem. It dates from the sixteenth century, when Christopher Marlowe wrote, “Guise beats his brains to catch us in his trap” (The Massacre of Paris, 1593, 1.1).
at a loss, to be
To be puzzled or unable to come to a decision. The En- glish clergyman Charles Colton (c. 1780–1832) wrote, “As completely at a loss as a Dutchman without his pipe, a Frenchman without his mistress, an Italian without his fiddle, or an Englishman without his umbrella” (Lacon, Part 2, no. 116). One may also be at a loss for something, most often at a loss for words, meaning that one is rendered speechless.
at a snail’s pace
Very slowly. The slowness of snails was pointed out about
200 B.C. by the Roman poet Plautus and the term “snail’s pace” in English goes
back to about 1400. Relative to its size, however, a snail travels a considerable
distance each day, using the undersurface of its muscular foot to propel itself.
as we speak, (even)
At this moment, right now. An oral equivalent of AT THIS JUNCTURE. For example, “When is her plane due?—It’s landing even as we speak.”
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as we know it
As something is currently understood or viewed. This phrase usually implies that current conditions will change, as, for example,
“Nuclear warfare will mark the end of civilization as we know it.” First recorded in the late 1800s, the phrase began to be widely used from the
1940s on and has reached cliché status.
as the crow flies
By the most direct or shortest route. Since crows nor- mally fly straight to their food supply, this simile came into use as the short- est distance between two points. It originated in the late eighteenth century or even earlier.
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empty calories
Food that has little or no nutritional value but adds to one’s caloric intake. This expression was born in the diet-conscious era of the late twentieth century and applied to, for example, liquor, soft drinks, snack foods, and desserts, as in, “She loads up on empty calories like potato chips.” It is on its way to clichédom.
embarrassment of riches, an
Too much of a good thing, an overabun- dance. The term is a direct translation from the French, where it first appeared
as the title of a comedy by the Abbé Léonor d’Allainval, L’embarras des richesses
(1726), translated into English by John Ozell and opening in London in 1738.
eloquent silence, an
Speechlessness that speaks louder than speech. “Often there is eloquence in a silent look,” wrote the Roman poet Ovid in his Artis Amatoriae (The Art of Love), a three-volume how-to text for lovers (c. 1 B.C.).
Cicero, Tasso, and La Rochefoucauld were among the many who echoed the
sentiment, although not all in the service of love. In English, the playwright
William Congreve said (Old Batchelour, 1693, 2:9), “Even silence may be elo-
quent in love.” It was already a cliché by the time Thomas Carlyle (On Heroes
and Hero-Worship, 1840) wrote, “Silence is more eloquent than words.” A
newer synonym, dating from the second half of the 1900s and rapidly becom-
ing a cliché, is deafening silence. It is used especially to refer to a refusal to reply
or to make a comment. The Times had it on Aug. 28, 1985: “Conservative and
Labour MPS [Members of Parliament] have complained of a ‘deafening silence’
over the affair.” See also ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS.
dictates of conscience
The guiding principles of what one believes is right. The word “dictate” has been so used, for the authoritative words of law, scripture, and the like, since the late sixteenth century. In 1656 Arch- bishop John Bramhall wrote, “Contrarie to the dictate of his conscience.”
diamond in the rough, a
An individual of intrinsic merit but uncultivated manners. The simile comes from mining, where the uncut, unpolished dia- mond resembles a hunk of worthless rock but may, after processing, be both beautiful and very valuable. John Fletcher’s 1624 play, AWife for a Month, has it,
“She is very honest, and will be hard to cut as a rough diamond” (4.2).
devil you know is better than the devil you don’t know, the
A familiar misfortune is preferable to a totally unexpected one. This adage first appeared in John Taverner’s Proverbs of Erasmus (1539), and Anthony Trollope referred to it as “an old proverb” in Barchester Towers (1857). It may
be dying out.
devil to pay, the
Serious trouble, a mess. The expression originally referred to making a bargain with the devil, and the payment that eventually would be exacted. It first appeared in print about 1400: “Be it wer be at tome for ay, than her to serve the devil to pay” (Reliquiare Antiquae). This Faustian type of trouble was later lightened to mean any kind of problem
(Jonathan Swift, Journal to Stella, 1711: “The Earl of Strafford is to go soon
to Holland . . . and then there will be the devil and all to pay”). In the nine-
teenth century the expression was expanded to “the devil to pay and no
pitch hot.” This form referred to “paying,” or caulking, a seam around a
ship’s hull very near the waterline; it was called “the devil” because it was so
difficult to reach. (See also BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.) Sir
Walter Scott used it in The Pirate (1821): “If they hurt but one hair of Cleve-
land’s head, there will be the devil to pay and no pitch hot.”
devil take the hindmost, the
Too bad for whoever or whatever is last or left behind. The term comes, it is thought, from children’s games like tag, in which the person left behind is the loser. By the sixteenth century it had been transferred to out-and-out selfishness (“Every one for him selfe, and the divel for all,” John Florio, First Fruites, 1578). Beaumont and Fletcher wrote, “What if . . . they run all away, and cry the Devil take the hindmost?” (Philaster, 1608, 5.1).
devil’s advocate, (to play)
To take a position against something that many others support, either for the sake of argument or to examine its validity. The term is a translation of the Latin advocatus diaboli, an official appointed by the Roman Catholic Church to argue against a proposed can- onization. By the 1700s it was extended to broader use. R. Buchanan used it
in The Heir of Linne (1887), “Even the Socialist party regarded him as a devil’s advocate, and washed their hands of him.” More recently, David Bal- dacci had it in Hour Game (2004), “‘Didn’t you try your best to convince me he was innocent?’ . . . ‘Just playing devil’s advocate.’”
desperate straits
A very difficult situation. The noun “strait,” usually in the plural (straits), has been used since the 1600s to mean a dilemma of some kind. One of the earliest pairings with “desperate” was in Harriet Martineau’s The History of England during the Thirty Years’ Peace (1849): “Never were Whig rulers reduced to more desperate straits.” Today the term is used both seri- ously and ironically, as in “We’re in desperate straits today—the newspaper never arrived.”
den of thieves, a
A group of individuals or a place strongly suspected of underhanded dealings. This term appears in the Bible (Matthew 21:13) when Jesus, driving the moneychangers from the Temple, said, “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” Daniel Defoe used the term in Robinson Crusoe, published in 1719, and by the late eighteenth century it was well known enough to be listed with other collective terms such as “House of Commons” in William Cobbett’s English Grammar in a discussion of syntax relating to pronouns.
deep-six, to
To abandon, reject, or otherwise get rid of. This slangy term dates from the mid-1900s and originated in the navy, where it meant throwing something or someone overboard. The “six” refers to the six-foot nautical fathom, the standard unit of measurement for sea depth. It soon was adopted into civilian language, as in an editorial about Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney’s chances for national office: “I’d deep-six the joke [he tells] about the wily old farmer who pretends he’s feeding an alligator in order to scare some naked coeds out of a swimming hole” (Scot Lehigh, Boston Globe, March 11,
2005).
deep pockets
Seemingly unlimited funds, a source of great wealth. Allud- ing to figurative pockets filled with money, the term dates from the second half
of the 1900s. For example, “Lacking a large endowment, the college relied on alumni with deep pockets.” See also FAT CAT.
December, May and
A marriage between a young and a much older individual. This disparity was called January and May by Chaucer, January standing for the hoary frosts of old age and May for the young breath of spring. In Chaucer’s The Merchant’s Tale the young girl, May, marries January,
a baron aged sixty. This fourteenth-century idea was transformed into
December and May by the early 1600s (although January and May survived
as well). December, of course, is not only cold but also comes at the end of
the calendar year and so may provide a better analogy for late in life. “You
doe wrong to Time, enforcing May to embrace December,” wrote Thomas
Dekker (The Seven Deadly Sinnes of London, 1606).
death wish
A desire, either conscious or, most often, unconscious, to die or to ruin oneself. The term dates from the late 1800s and originally was a translation from the German psychological term, Todeswunsch. By the 1930s
it was being used figuratively, as in a 1947 article in the Partisan Review:
“Even in America the death-wish of the business community appears to go
beyond the normal limits of political incompetence and geographical secu-
rity.”
cat and mouse, game of/to play
Toying with a helpless opponent or victim. The cat, ready to pounce, was recorded by Jonathan Swift (“She watches him as a cat would watch a mouse”). The cat-mouse analogy most often has been applied to authorities who may do as they wish with those in their power
catch more flies with honey than vinegar, one can
One can accom- plish more by being nice than by being nasty. A version of this term appears in Cervantes’s Don Quixote (“Make yourself into honey and the flies will
devour you”), and a more precise version appears about 100 years later, in
Thomas Fuller’s Gnomologia: “More Flies are taken with a Drop of Honey
than a Tun of Vinegar.” It is a proverb in most European languages.
catch as catch can
By any method that can be used; without any specific plan or order. Variants of this term go back as far as the fourteenth century
(“Was none in sight but cacche who that cacche might,” John Gower, c.
1394) and appeared in John Heywood’s 1546 collection of proverbs (“Catch
that catch may”). More specifically, it is the name of both a children’s game
and a style of wrestling (also called freestyle) in which the wrestlers may get
a hold on each other anyhow and anywhere.
catbird seat, (sitting) in the
Being in a position of advantage or superi- ority. The term originated in the American South, where the catbird is quite common. It is thought to allude to the bird’s habit of singing from a very high perch in trees. It came into common usage in the 1940s when Mississippi- born sportscaster Red Barber would use it, for example, for a pitcher who was almost certain to strike out all the batters. Barber said he himself first heard the term in a poker game where he had bluffed all but one player into dropping out, but the remaining player, who had said from the start that he was sitting in the catbird seat, proved to have an ace and an ace in the hole. James Thurber used the expression as the title of a short story about a mild- mannered accountant who was so irritated by a colleague using this and other terms that he planned to murder her.
catbird seat, (sitting) in the
Being in a position of advantage or superi- ority. The term originated in the American South, where the catbird is quite common. It is thought to allude to the bird’s habit of singing from a very high perch in trees. It came into common usage in the 1940s when Mississippi- born sportscaster Red Barber would use it, for example, for a pitcher who was almost certain to strike out all the batters. Barber said he himself first heard the term in a poker game where he had bluffed all but one player into dropping out, but the remaining player, who had said from the start that he was sitting in the catbird seat, proved to have an ace and an ace in the hole. James Thurber used the expression as the title of a short story about a mild- mannered accountant who was so irritated by a colleague using this and other terms that he planned to murder her.
