See DECEMBER, MAY AND.
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in one ear and out the other
Inattentive; soon forgotten. This vivid image dates from Roman times. “The things he says flow right through the ears,” wrote Quintillian (Institutionis Oratoriae, c. A.D. 80). The sentiment was echoed by Chaucer and joined John Heywood’s 1546 proverb collection (“Went in the tone eare, and out at the tother”). Thomas Hood punned on it
in his “Ode to the Late Lord Mayor” (1825): “He comes in at one year, to go
out by the other!”
in no uncertain terms
Emphatically, very clearly. This double negative appears to have become very popular about the middle of the twentieth century. Lawrence Durrell used it in Balthazar (1958): “I told Abdul so in no uncertain terms.” A slightly slangier synonym is LOUD AND CLEAR.
in high dudgeon
Angrily, resentfully, IN A HUFF. The origin of dudgeon has been lost and today the word is never used except with high—never alone and not even with low. In use from about 1600 on, the term was a cliché by the time explorer David Livingstone wrote “He went off in high dudgeon” (The Zambezi and Its Tributaries, 1865). The phrase may be dying out.
in full swing
Vigorously active. Various etymologists to the contrary, this term comes from a sixteenth-century use of swing for the course of a career or period of time. The only modern vestige of this meaning is in the cliché, which has survived. Indeed, it was already a cliché when George Meredith wrote (Evan Harrington, 1861), “A barrister in full swing of practice.”
have one’s wits about one, to
To be wide awake and alert. Wits in the
plural has long meant keen mental faculties. Ben Jonson so used it in The
Alchemist (1612): “They live by their wits.” About the same time, the
expression of having one’s wits about one—in effect, ready to serve one—
came into use. It appeared in James Mabbe’s 1622 translation of Guzman de
Alfarache (“I had my wits about me”) and has been used ever since. To live by
one’s wits, on the other hand, also implies managing by means of clever
expediency rather than honest work.
have one’s hands full, to
To be completely occupied or very busy, to have more than enough to do. This expression dates from the fifteenth century or earlier. It appears in Thomas Malory’s Morte d’Arthur: “Ye shalle have bothe your handes ful of me.” See also PLATE, TO HAVE A LOT/ENOUGH ON ONE’S.
give one’s eyeteeth for, to
To yearn for; to go to any lengths to obtain. The eyeteeth, the upper canines, have been so called since the sixteenth century, presumably because their nerves are quite close to the eyes and a toothache in those teeth is felt as pain in that area. Since they are extremely useful for biting and chewing, giving up one’s eyeteeth entails a consider- able sacrifice. However, this hyperbole most likely began life as to give one’s eyes, a greater sacrifice still. Anthony Trollope used it in Barchester Towers
(1857): “Bertie would give his eyes to go with you.” Substituting eyeteeth,
it is a safe guess, simply made the expression more colorful rather than
affecting the underlying meaning in any way. It appeared in W. Somerset
Maugham’s Cakes and Ale (1930): “He’d give his eyeteeth to have written a
book half as good.” See also CUT ONE’S TEETH ON; GIVE ONE’S RIGHT ARM.
give me a break
That’s preposterous, you can’t expect me to believe that. This exasperated reply to a statement, usually made half-jokingly, dates from the second half of the 1900s. For example, “She’s planning a luncheon
at the Ritz? Give me a break!” This expression is not the same as to give some- one a break, meaning to give someone an opportunity or special considera- tion, which dates from about 1900.
give it one’s best shot, to
To try one’s hardest; to expend optimum effort. Originally a military term, best shot in the sixteenth century denoted the soldiers who could most accurately shoot the enemy, according to William Safire. However, the word shot also had meant an attempt or a try from the mid-eighteenth century on, casting some doubt on this and other etymologies, which trace the term to billiards and boxing. In any event, in the twentieth century it became commonly used in politics (“The candidate was willing to give it her best shot”), as well as in other contexts. David Bal- dacci had it in Hour Game (2004): “‘If you can wake them up....’— ‘We’ll give it our best shot,’ said King.”
fits and starts, by
In bursts of activity, spasmodically. The fits portion of this expression dates from the sixteenth century, and the pairing with starts came soon afterward, in the early seventeenth century. “Thou hast these things only by fits and starts,” wrote Robert Sanderson in one of his Sermons
(1620). John Ray’s proverb collection of 1670 put it slightly differently: “By fits and girds, as an ague takes a goose.”
fit like a glove, to
To suit or conform extremely well. The analogy dates back at least to the eighteenth century. Tobias Smollett used it in Humphry Clinker (1771): “The boots . . . fitted me like a glove.” See also TO A T.
fit as a fiddle
In excellent health, in good working order. The proverbial likening of human good health to a fiddle dates from 1600 or earlier, but there is no completely convincing explanation of the analogy. It appeared in print in the early seventeenth century and was in John Ray’s proverb collec- tion of 1678. Fit in those days meant “appropriate,” as “fitting” still does, but why a fiddle should be considered especially appropriate is unknown. It was only in the nineteenth century that the meaning of physical fitness was attached to the expression, where it remains today.
fish to fry, to have better/bigger/other
To have other, more important matters to attend to. Referring to fish cookery, this term dates from the seven- teenth century. “I fear he has other fish to fry,” wrote John Evelyn in his Memoirs
(1660). Actually, this term also appeared in an early translation of Rabelais’s
Pantagruel (1552) by Motteux, but it did not seem to catch on until later.
fish story, a
A tall tale. This term alludes to the tendency of sports fish- ermen (and women) to exaggerate the size of their catch, and originated in America in the early nineteenth century. It may have been invented by the journalist who described an event he termed “a fish story,” the appearance
of shoals of whitefish in such large numbers that they choked a channel and prevented a steamboat from passing (St. Louis Enquirer, Dec. 8, 1819).
fish out of water, a
A person who is out of his or her element. It pre- sumably was observed in ancient times that fish cannot survive long out of water, because their gills cannot take oxygen from the air if they are dry. St. Athanasius is credited as the first to transfer this idea to human beings out
of their usual environment, sometime before A.D. 373. The simile reappears
in numerous fourteenth-century writings, by John Wycliffe, Geoffrey
Chaucer, and others, and survives as a cliché to the present day.
fish or cut bait
Get on with what you’re doing or quit and give some- one else a chance; stop putting it off. This metaphor, alluding to a fisherman who ties up the use of a boat or rod when he could at least be preparing bait for others to use, originated in nineteenth-century politics. It appeared in the Congressional Record in 1876, when Congressman Joseph P. Cannon, telling the Democrats to vote on a bill that would legalize the silver dollar, said, “I want you gentlemen on the other side of the House to ‘fish or cut bait.’” A ruder twentieth-century American version is shit or get off the pot.
first things first
The most important task should have priority. The implica- tion of this expression, which dates from the nineteenth century, is that there may well be no time to do more than the most important thing. Or, as Shirley Conran put it (in Superwoman, 1975), “First things first, second things never.”
first magnitude/order/water, of the
The best; of the highest quality. Magnitude refers to the grading of the brightness of stars, the first being the brightest. It has been transferred to other matters since at least the seven- teenth century. “Thou liar of the first magnitude,” wrote William Congreve
in 1695 (Love for Love, 2.2). Water refers to a system for grading diamonds for their color or luster (the latter being akin to the shininess of water), the best quality again being termed the first. This grading system is no longer used, but the transfer to other matters has survived since the early nineteenth cen- tury. Sir Walter Scott’s journal has, “He was a . . . swindler of the first water
(1826). Order, which here refers to rank, is probably more often heard today
than either of the others. It dates from the nineteenth century. The OED cites
“A diplomatist of the first order,” appearing in a journal of 1895. A synony-
mous term, first rate, originated from the time the Royal Navy’s warships
were rated on a scale of one to six, based on their size and the weight of the
weapons they carried. By the 1700s this term, along with second-rate, third-
rate, and so on, was later transferred to general use, most often as a hyphen-
ated adjective. For example, “He’s definitely a second-rate poet, nowhere
near as good as his father.”
first come, first served
The prompt get first choice. This idea was stated by Chaucer (c. 1386) in The Wife of Bath’s Tale, “Whoso first cometh to the mill, first grist,” and was cited as a proverb by Erasmus. An early refer- ence with the exact modern wording dates from about 1545, in Henry Brinklow’s Complaynt of Roderick Mors. See also EARLY BIRD CATCHES THE WORM.
duty bound, to be
To be firmly obligated. This term is derived from bounden duty, which dates from the 1500s and was actually redundant, since from the 1400s bound also meant “under obligations.” Nevertheless, it appears in the Communion Service of the Book of Common Prayer (1559):
“We beseech thee to accept this our bounden duty and service.” It also retains this form three centuries later: “It was his bounden duty to accept the office” (Harriet Martineau, The Manchester Strike, 1833). At some point
this locution was grammatically changed to the present participial usage, as
in “I’m duty bound to report this violation to the dean.”
Dutch uncle, talk (to one) like a
A person who reproves or criticizes someone severely. Dating from the early nineteenth century, the term appeared in print in Joseph C. Neal’s Charcoal Sketches (1837). The precise origin is not known, but it is probably safe to presume that the Dutch were considered a stern, sober people, admirably suited to giving someone a talking-to in no uncertain terms.
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Dutch treat
A meal or entertainment in which the participants all pay their own way. It is an American term dating from the late nineteenth cen- tury and may be derived, one writer suggests, from the thrift observed in Dutch immigrants. However, there was an earlier term, Dutch feast, defined by Francis Grose (A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, 1785) as an occa- sion when the host gets drunk before his guests (see also DUTCH COURAGE).
A more recent version of Dutch treat is going Dutch, which has the identical meaning.
Dutch courage
Boldness induced by drinking. The term alludes to the reputa- tion of the Dutch as heavy drinkers, which in the case of the whiskey-loving British is a case of the POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK. The idea dates back at least
to the seventeenth century, when Edmund Waller wrote, “The Dutch their wine, and all their brandy lose, disarm’d of that from which their courage grows”
(Instructions to a Painter, 1665). Sir Walter Scott used the term several times, but it may be dying out.
dumb down, to
To simplify or otherwise revise in order to appeal to someone of less education, taste, or intelligence. This slangy expression dates from the first half of the 1900s. Publishers Weekly used it in a review of The Business of Books by André Schiffrin: “. . . the attempt to appeal to the lowest common denominator of taste, which has, he says, led network tele- vision and movies in such depressing directions, has dumbed down publish- ing to an alarming degree” (Aug. 21, 2000).
dull as dishwater Flat, boring.
This expression began life in the eigh- teenth century as dull as ditchwater, alluding to the muddy color of the water
in roadside gullies. “He’d be sharper than a serpent’s tooth, if he wasn’t as dull as ditchwater,” says Dickens’s Fanny Cleaver (Oliver Twist). This version survived on both sides of the Atlantic well into the twentieth century.
Either through careless pronunciation or through similar analogy it occasionally became dishwater—water in which dishes had been washed and
which consequently was dingy and grayish.
duck soup, like
Extremely simple, easily accomplished. This American collo-
quialism dates from about 1910, and its origin is no longer known. It gained cur- rency after
it became
the title
of one
of the
Marx Brothers’
zaniest motion
pictures (1933).
jack of all trades
A person who is good at everything. This term dates from 1600 or before. An early appearance in print is in Geffray Mynshul’s Essayes and Characters of a Prison (1618). Further, it was pointed out even ear- lier that someone good at everything is not outstanding at anything. This observation occurs in an ancient Roman proverb, but only much later was put as jack of all trades, master of none by Maria Edgeworth (Popular Tales: Will,
1800).
dry as dust
Dull, boring, desiccated. The simile itself dates from about
1500 and has been a cliché since the eighteenth century. Nevertheless,
William Wordsworth deigned to use it in “The Excursion”: “The good die
first, and they whose hearts are dry as summer dust burn to the socket.”
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drunk as a lord/skunk
Extremely intoxicated. The first expression, known since the seventeenth century and considered a proverb by 1651
(“The proverb goes ‘As drunk as a lord,’” John Evelyn, A Character of En- gland), is based on the idea that the aristocracy could and did indulge in drunkenness more than commoners did, presumably because they could afford to. The more recent drunk as a skunk, American in origin, undoubt- edly became popular on account of its rhyme; it dates from the early 1900s. Both clichés have survived the demise of numerous other similes, among them drunk as an ape (from Chaucer’s time), tinker, fish, goat, owl, emperor, piper, fiddler (because he was plied with alcohol at wakes, fairs, and similar feasts), swine or pig, devil, beggar, blazes, David’s sow (based on an ancient anecdote explained in Francis Grose’s Classical Dictionary, and current from the seventeenth century), and others. See also DRINK LIKE A FISH; TIGHT AS A TICK.
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drum up
To gather, to summon. Alluding to summoning recruits by beating
a drum, this term has been used figuratively since the 1600s. It is often used in
a business sense, as it was by Thomas Gray in a letter of 1849: “I will then
drum up subscribers for Fendler.” An antonym is to drum out, meaning to dis-
miss or oust. In the military this, too, was signaled by beating a drum. This
came to mean being fired from a job but is not heard as often today.
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come what may
Whatever should happen, as in “Come what may, he’ll get to the wedding on time.” This cliché originated in the 1500s as “Come what will” and is known in numerous languages.
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come up smelling like roses, to
To emerge untarnished from a sordid situation. A fuller version of this saying is given by Eric Partridge: “could fall into the shit and come up smelling of roses.” American in origin, it dates from the early twentieth century. It is sometimes shortened to “come up like roses,” as in, “It’s the second spring of George Bush’s ‘Don’t worry, be happy’ presidency, and everything continues to come up roses for the politician who two years ago was a symbol of hopelessness” (Mary McGrory, Boston Globe,
1990).
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come to the same thing, to
To make no difference. “It all comes to the same thing at the end,” wrote Robert Browning (“Any Wife to Her Hus- band,” 1842), the words of a dying wife concerning the likelihood that her widowed husband will remarry. It also has been put as amount to or add up to the same thing.
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come to pass, to
To happen. Probably the most famous occurrence of this phrase is at the beginning of the Christmas story as related in the Gospel
of St. Luke (2:1): “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus.” Eric Partridge said it was already a cliché by about 1700, but this archaic turn of phrase has survived nevertheless.
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come to grief, to
To fail or to falter; to experience a misfortune. A com- mon locution in the early nineteenth century, it rapidly reached cliché sta- tus. “We were nearly coming to grief,” wrote Thackeray (The Newcomes,
1854).
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come to blows, to
To begin fighting, usually physically. “Their controver- sie must either come to blowes or be undecided,” wrote Thomas Hobbes in The Leviathan (1651). It also was sometimes put as “fall to blows,” as in Shakespeare’s HenryVI, Part 2, 2.3.
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come to blows, to
To begin fighting, usually physically. “Their controver- sie must either come to blowes or be undecided,” wrote Thomas Hobbes in The Leviathan (1651). It also was sometimes put as “fall to blows,” as in Shakespeare’s HenryVI, Part 2, 2.3.
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come to blows, to
To begin fighting, usually physically. “Their controver- sie must either come to blowes or be undecided,” wrote Thomas Hobbes in The Leviathan (1651). It also was sometimes put as “fall to blows,” as in Shakespeare’s HenryVI, Part 2, 2.3.
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come to blows, to
To begin fighting, usually physically. “Their controver- sie must either come to blowes or be undecided,” wrote Thomas Hobbes in The Leviathan (1651). It also was sometimes put as “fall to blows,” as in Shakespeare’s HenryVI, Part 2, 2.3.
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come to a head, to
To reach a climax or culminating point. The analogy
is to an ulcer or boil that has ripened to the point of suppuration, that is,
bursting. Indeed, such sores were said to “come to a head” as early as the
early seventeenth century. By then the term had long since been transferred
to other matters (the OED lists the earliest figurative use of it from 1340). In
1596 Edmund Spenser, describing the state of Ireland, wrote, “to keep them
[i.e., these affairs] from growing to such a head.”
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come to a grinding/screeching halt
Stop suddenly. Referring to the noise made by gears or brakes during a sudden stop, these phrases date from the second half of the 1900s. The National Observer of December 4, 1976, had: “A lot of that stuff is going to come to a screeching halt quickly, and we’re not going to do the screeching.” It is also put as grind to a halt.
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brazen it out, to
To face a difficult situation boldly or impudently. The verb (and adjective) “brazen” both mean “brass” (see also BOLD AS BRASS). Classical mythology distinguished four ages of mankind—the Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Iron ages (described by Ovid)—and Thomas Heywood, a play- wright (1572–1650), termed the third the Brazen Age, a period of war and violence. During the mid-sixteenth century the verb “to brazen” meant to act boldly. The precise modern expression was used by John Arbuthnot (“He would talk saucily, lye, and brazen it out”) in The History of John Bull (1712).
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brave the elements, to
To go outdoors in bad weather. To face wind and rain with courage today seems rather an overstatement, but this archaic- sounding locution was common in the nineteenth century. “Brave you storm with firm endeavor, let your vain repinings go,” wrote the poet George Cooper (1838–1927).
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brave new world, a
A bleak and dismal future. The term comes from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, in which Miranda says despairingly, “O brave new world, that has such people in’t” (5.1). British novelist Aldous Huxley bor- rowed it for the title of his 1932 novel, in which human beings are grown in the laboratory and designed to perform particular jobs in society.
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boy toy
An attractive younger man who is linked with an older woman, for social activities, sexual favors, or the like. In effect he is the counterpart
of a SUGAR DADDY. This slangy term dates from about 1980 and may be used disparagingly or admiringly, depending on the context. A headline in the magazine Maxim ran “Be Her Boy Toy: Younger Guys and Older Women”
(June 2004). The term, which is on its way to becoming a cliché, may also be applied to a homosexual relationship, that is, a younger man kept by an older man. It is also put as toy boy.
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boys will be boys
Children can be expected to act childishly. As might be expected, the observation is far from new. A Latin proverb held, Pueri sunt pueri, pueri puerilia tractant, translated variously as “Children/boys are boys and do childish things.” The emphasis on boys in the English language probably reflects the sexist view that boys are essentially more mischievous and active than girls. The statement appears with increasing frequency in nineteenth-century literature (Bulwer-Lytton, Thackeray, Mark Twain, Shaw, et al.), when it already must have been a cliché.
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bowl over
Overwhelm, astonish, surprise. This term originated in the mid-
1800s in the game of cricket, where it signifies knocking all the bails off the
wicket. It has been used figuratively since the twentieth century, as in “I was
just bowled over when I learned he’d gotten the million-dollar grant.” See also
BLOW OUT OF THE WATER
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bow and scrape, to
To behave obsequiously, to show too much defer- ence. The term literally means to bow one’s head and draw back one foot, which then scrapes the ground. A cliché since the mid-nineteenth century,
it is becoming as obsolete as the custom of bowing has, at least in the West- ern world.
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in for a penny, in for a pound
Do not stop at half-measures; once involved, even a little, one is involved a lot. This term, which originally meant that if one owes a penny one might as well owe more, dates from the seventeenth century. Thomas Ravenscroft wrote, “Well, that, O’er shooes, o’er boots, And In for a penny, in for a Pound” (The Canterbury Guests, 1695,
5.1). It was quoted over and over. Dickens, always intrigued with debt, used it in at least three of his novels (Nicholas Nickleby, Oliver Twist, The Old Curiosity Shop). Today it is common mostly in Britain and Ireland, where the pound is a unit of currency, but it is still occasionally heard in America.
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in clover, to be/live
To prosper. This expression, with its analogy to cat- tle feeding happily in a field of clover, dates from the early eighteenth cen- tury. It occasionally has been put like pigs in clover, and, in twentieth-century America, rolling in clover. All of them mean “to live well.”
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in a word
Briefly, concisely. This expression, which is usually followed by
a fair number of words—as in, “In a word, the bank is unable to accommo-
date Mr. Brown’s request for a loan”—was used by Shakespeare in Two Gen-
tlemen of Verona (“And in a word . . . he is compleat in feature and in mind”).
It was much favored by various of Dickens’s more verbose characters, such
as Mr. Micawber.
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in at the death/finish
Present at the end, usually meaning at some- one’s ruin, but sometimes only at the climax of an important event. The term comes from fox hunting, where, in the eighteenth century, it denoted the presence of hunters and hounds at the killing of a fox they had run to the ground. By 1800 the term was being transferred to other kinds of demise.
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in a pinch
When hard-pressed. The British version of this expression, “at
a pinch,” dates from the fifteenth century, when William Caxton in his
translation of The Book of Faytes of Armes and of Chyualrye (1489) wrote, “Cor-
ageously at a pynche [he] shal renne vpon hem.” By the time Robert Louis
Stevenson wrote Black Arrow (1888) it also was put as, “It yet might serve
him, in a pinch.” A related expression of more recent provenance is in a
jam, which similarly implies that one is “compressed” or “squeezed,” by cir-
cumstance, into a tight spot.
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in a pig’s eye
Never! Several sources have been suggested for this Amer- icanism from the late nineteenth century. One holds that it is rhyming slang for “when pigs fly,” which of course is never. Another, more probable theory
is that it is a euphemism for “in a pig’s ass,” which came from a bawdy song. Whatever the true origin, it has been on its way to becoming a cliché since about 1950.
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in a pickle, to be/get
In a bad situation; in trouble. Although it sounds very up to date, this expression dates from Shakespeare’s time. “How camest thou in this pickle?” says Alonso to his fellow-conspirator (The Tem- pest, 5.1). The term has been so used ever since.
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in any way, shape, or form, not
Not at all, in no possible manner. Also put as in no way, shape, or form, this emphatic and partially redundant phrase
(shape and form mean the same thing) dates from the mid-1900s. It is gener- ally a reply to a question, such as “‘Are you planning another family reunion?’ ‘No, not in any way, shape, or form.’” Also see NO WAY.
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in a nutshell
Concisely or compactly, usually referring to written or spoken words. The Roman writer Pliny in his Natural History stated that Homer’s great (and very long) epic poem, the Iliad, was copied in such tiny
handwriting that the whole text could be enclosed in a nutshell. This obvi-
ous hyperbole caught the imagination of numerous subsequent writers who
referred to “the Iliad in a nutshell,” among them Jonathan Swift and Thomas
Carlyle. Later “the Iliad” was dropped and anything extremely compressed
was described as being in a nutshell, a cliché since the mid-nineteenth cen-
tury. See also IN A WORD
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in a huff
Angry. The verb to huff in the late 1500s meant to bluster, or blow out puffs of breath in anger. It thus appeared in the nursery tale of The Three Little Pigs, in which the wolf threatened, “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house in” (published in J. Jacobs, English Fairy Tales, 1890). The noun usage with the current meaning of “angry” was first recorded in 1599 and has been so used ever since.
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have it in for, to
To hold a grudge against. The it in this expression pre- sumably means bad things in store. The term became especially common in popular novels of the first half of the twentieth century. “I have had it in for that dog since the second Sunday,” wrote P. G. Wodehouse (Meet Mr. Mulliner, 1927).
drum (something) into one’s head, to
To force an idea on someone by means of persistent repetition. This expression, used since the early nine- teenth century, alludes to performing drumbeats over and over. John Stuart Mill used it in his Political Economy (1848): “This doctrine has been . . . tol- erably effectively drummed into the public mind.”
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have another guess coming, to
To be wrong or mistaken. This phrase also implies that though one is wrong, one has a chance to reconsider and correct one’s error. It dates from the first half of the 1900s. C. Day Lewis used it in Child of Misfortune (1939): “If you think that’s your doing, you’ve got another guess coming.”
have a nice day
A cordial good-bye to you. This intrusive imperative became extremely common after 1950 among U.S. truckers who used it on their citizens-band radios. In Britain it often is put as have a fine day or have a good day. The latter, which may have its origin in the Middle English have good day (c. 1200) and was frequently used by Chaucer, apparently died out for some centuries and then was revived. It is often heard in America and occasionally is altered to have a good one. Since the late 1960s these phrases have become ubiquitous. They often are used ironically, either knowingly or unconsciously. Following a precipitous drop in the New York Stock Market
in October 1987, the telephone clerks employed by Pacific Brokerage con- tinued to report to the company’s clients, as they always had, “This is Pacific Brokerage Calling. You just sold 30,000 shares of Widget Manufacturing at
$1. Have a nice day.” Conceivably this message might have driven the investor who bought Widget at 32 straight out of the nearest window. Or take the insurance agent who said, “I’m sorry to hear about your husband’s death. Have a nice day.” By about 2000, however, have a nice/good day had largely become a synonym of “good-bye,” and was taken no more literally than the “God be with you” that was the original source of that word. A related term increasingly heard in restaurants is Have a nice meal, which sim- ilarly induces teeth-gnashing irritation when voiced by a particularly incom- petent waiter.
give a wide berth to, to
To avoid. This term, which in the eighteenth cen- tury literally meant to give a ship plenty of room to swing at anchor, was transferred to other objects of avoidance and soon became a cliché. “I recom- mend you to keep a wide berth of me, sir,” wrote Thackeray (The Newcomes,
1854).
give (someone) an inch and they’ll take a mile
Yield only a little and you’ll be taken advantage of. This expression began life as a proverb, “Give him an inch and he’ll take an ell,” cited in Heywood’s 1546 collection. Around the turn of the twentieth century mile entered the picture, as in W. D. Steele’s The
ManWho Saw Through Heaven (1927): “Give these old fellows an inch and they’ll take a mile.”
give and take
Mutual concessions; a fair exchange. Used as a noun, this expression dates from the eighteenth century. (The verbal form, to give and take, dates from the early 1500s.) One writer believes the phrase originated
in British racing and denoted a prize for a race in which larger horses car- ried more weight and smaller ones less than the standard. “Give and take is fair in all nations,” wrote Fannie Burney in Evelina (1778), echoed in T. C. Haliburton’s Wise Saws (1843): “Give and take, live and let live, that’s the word.” See also LIVE AND LET LIVE.
give a bad name to, to
To speak ill of someone or something in order
to give it a bad reputation. This term comes from the proverb, “Give a dog
an ill name and hang him,” quoted in James Kelly’s collection of Scottish
proverbs (1721). It has been a cliché since about 1800.
girl/man Friday
Trusted assistant. This term comes from Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe (1719), in which Crusoe found a young savage on a Friday, and this man became his faithful servant and companion on the desert island.
“I take my man Friday with me,” said Crusoe. Some mid-twentieth-century advertising pundit invented “girl Friday”—or gal Friday—to describe the female clerk-of-all-work, presumably on the assumption that it lent some glamour to a low-level, poorly paid position. It caught on mainly through being used as the title of a 1940 motion picture starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, His Girl Friday. In the 1970s, when affirmative action came
to the American labor market, the term fell into disrepute.
gird (up) one’s loins, to
To prepare for action (hard work, a journey, warfare). The term comes from the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, and uses gird in the sense of “encircle with a belt or band.” The ancient Jews wore loose clothing and put on a girdle, or belt, only when they went to
work or set out to travel. Thus, “He girded up his loins, and ran” appears in
I Kings (18:76), and “Gird up now thy loins like a man” in Job (in several
passages). It had already become figurative in the New Testament, where 1
Peter has it, “Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober” (1:13).
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first blush, at
Without prior knowledge; at first glance. The earliest use
of this expression dates from the sixteenth century, when blush meant not a
reddening of the cheeks with embarrassment but “glimpse.” Thus, “Able at
the first blushe to discearne truth from falsehood,” wrote Philip Stubbes
(The Anatomie of Abuses, 2:7) in 1583.
first and foremost
Most notable, most important. This tautological expression—first and foremost mean just about the same thing—has survived since the fifteenth century, when it was recorded in a work by William Cax- ton (1483). Deemed a cliché by the mid-nineteenth century, it is still popu- lar with lecturers and others who like to enumerate the various points of their argument or elements of a list.
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fire on all cylinders
Go all out. The term comes from automobiles, where
it means all of a car’s cylinders have been ignited and the engine is fully pow-
ered. It has been used figuratively since the second half of the 1900s, as in
“That was a great speech; he was really firing on all cylinders.” See also PULL
OUT ALL THE STOPS.
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fire away
Go ahead; say what you must say; ask what you will. This expression, referring to a gun loaded to the muzzle, dates from the early days of firearms and was transferred to other proceedings by the eighteenth century, as in “Mr. Burney fired away in a voluntary [on the organ]” (Freder- ick Marryat, Poor Jack, 1775).
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finishing touch(es)
The final stroke(s) that ensure completion or per- fection. The term is derived from painting, that is, the last stroke of the artist’s brush, and was soon transferred to any creative effort, ranging from cake-baking to assembling a costume. Its earliest appearance in print dates from the mid-eighteenth century, and Eric Partridge concluded it became a
cliché within a hundred years.
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finger itches to, one’s/my
I am (one is) extremely eager to do some- thing. The use of “itch” for “desire” is almost as old as the desire to scratch something that itches. “Our fingers wyll itch at hym,” wrote John Stubbs
(The Discoverie of a Gaping Gulf, 1579), and soon afterward Shakespeare wrote, “If I see a word out, my finger itches to make one” (The Merry Wives of Windsor, 1601, 2.3). Considerably later came Charles Kingsley with his “The men’s fingers are itching for a fight” (Hypatia, 1853), which subsequently was shortened to itching for a fight. See also ITCHY PALM
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finger in every pie, to have a
To be involved in numerous activities, usually in the sense of meddling. This metaphor from finger-licking in the kitchen dates from the sixteenth century. Shakespeare used it in Henry VIII
(1.1), where the Duke of Buckingham complains of Cardinal Wolsey, “No man’s pie is freed from his ambitious finger.”
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drug on the market
An overabundant commodity or service for which there is little or no demand. This expression clearly predates modern times, since drugs on the market, both illegal and legal, now are very profitable indeed. The English clergyman Thomas Fuller (The History of the Worthies of England, 1662) wrote, “He made such a vent for Welsh cottons, that what he found drugs at home, he left dainties beyond the sea.” The OED suggests that “drug” here has some different meaning but does not come up with a convincing explanation. Another writer suggests it may come from the French drogue, for “rubbish,” which makes more sense.
drowned rat, like a/wet as a
Thoroughly soaked and utterly bedrag- gled. Despite their frequent presence in sewers and similar wet places, rats do not like water, a fact observed for many centuries (“It rained by the bucket and they came home wet as drowned rats,” Petronius, Satyricon, c. A.D. 60). See also SOAKED TO THE SKIN.
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drop like flies, to
To collapse rapidly, referring to a group rather than an individual. Although this term calls to mind flies that are hit with a spray of insecticide and is, in fact, used for human beings subjected to gunfire or an epi- demic of disease, like flies has meant in large numbers or quantities since Shakespeare’s time. “The common people swarm like summer flies” wrote the bard (HenryVI, Part 2 6.8).
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drop like a hot potato, to
To abandon as quickly as possible; to ditch. The simile is based on the fact that potatoes, which hold a fair amount of water, retain heat very well, as anyone who has so burned his or her fingers will testify. The figurative hot potato is likely to be an embarrassing subject or ticklish problem. The term originated as a colloquialism in the early nineteenth century. It probably was a cliché by the time W. Somerset Maugham wrote, “She dropped him, but not like a hot brick or a hot
potato,” meaning that she let him down gently (Cakes and Ale, 1930).
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drop in the bucket
A negligible amount, something that makes little difference. This expression is found in the King James version of the Bible:
“Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket and are counted as the small dust of the balance” (Isaiah 40:15).
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drop dead I hate you, you are contemptible.
This rude imperative dates from the early 1900s. An early example appeared in John O’Hara’s novel Appointment in Samarra (1934): “‘Let’s put snow on his face.’ ‘Oh, drop dead.’” Interestingly enough, in the second half of the 1900s the term, now hyphen- ated drop-dead, began to be used as an adjective or adverb meaning “very” or
“exceedingly” and usually in a positive context. It was frequently paired, espe-
cially in the phrase drop-dead gorgeous. For example, “She arrived at the screen-
ing in furs and diamonds, looking drop-dead gorgeous.”
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drop a bombshell, to
To announce sensational news. This metaphor dates from World War I and likens the devastation caused by falling bombs
to the shock of suddenly receiving unexpected tidings. “The letters do not drop any historical bombshells,” wrote a Manchester Guardian reviewer in
1928. See also BOLT FROM THE BLUE.
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bounden duty
A firm obligation. The adjective bounden, which survives only in this cliché, means being indebted to someone. The term dates from the early 1500s and appears in the Book of Common Prayer: “We beseech Thee to accept this our bounden duty and service.”
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bound and determined
Firmly resolved, as in “She was bound and determined to pay off the mortgage this year.” This cliché is a redundancy, since both participles here mean “fixed” or “resolute,” but they serve for emphasis.
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bottom of the barrel, scrape the
Obtain the last dregs, the least desir- able remains. The sediment of wine was likened to the lowest, most despi- cable elements of society nearly two thousand years ago by Cicero. The metaphor remains current.
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bottom of it, at the/get to the
To discover the origin of a problem, or the fundamental truth of an issue or event. The word “bottom” has been used in this way (to mean ultimate cause) since the sixteenth century.
Shakespeare used it numerous times, as in “Is there no pity . . . that sees
into the bottom of my grief?” (Romeo and Juliet, 3.5). Several early proverbs
also refer to “bottom” in this way: “If thou canst not see the bottom, wade
not”; and “He brought the bottome of the bag cleane out” (John Heywood,
1546). The pioneer anthropologist James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, wrote
in 1773 (Of the Origin and Progress of Language), “In order to get to the bot-
tom of this question.”
bottom line
The ultimate result; the most important element. The term comes from accounting, where the bottom line of a financial statement shows the earnings figures. In the mid-twentieth century the term began to be transferred to the outcome of any kind of undertaking, and soon after- ward it was extended to mean the crux of any problem or the consequences
of any issue. It is well on its way to becoming a cliché.
bottomless pit, the
Hell; also, something or someone that uses up all one’s energy or resources. The expression appears several times in the Bible, most notably in the Book of Revelation (“and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit,” 9:1; “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit,” 20:1). In the eighteenth cen- tury the term was humorously used for the English statesman William Pitt the younger (1759–1806), who was very thin, and it still is jocularly used for a seemingly insatiable individual of huge appetite.
bottle up feelings, to
To hold one’s
emotions
under
tight
control. This
metaphor for containing oneself dates from
the
mid-nineteenth
century,
although by
the
early 1600s the term “bottling up” had been transferred to
containing things other than liquid in bottles
(for example, “Vapours bottl’d up in cloudes,” T. Scott, 1622).
comes with the territory
Is part of specific conditions or circumstances. For example, “You may not like dealing with difficult customers, but it comes with the territory.” The term, which originally alluded to traveling salesmen who had to accept whatever they found in their assigned region, or
“territory,” soon came to be extended to other areas. It dates from the sec- ond half of the twentieth century.
come out of the closet
Reveal one’s homosexuality. This term began to be widely used in the second half of the 1900s and also has been shortened
to come out. It refers to the older usage, closet homosexual, that is, one who is well concealed. It is occasionally used in a nonsexual sense, as in “Cathy’s come out of the closet about her peanut-butter binges.”
come out of one’s shell, to
To overcome one’s shyness or inhibitions. Ebenezer Brewer believed this saying alludes to the tortoise, which hides from danger by retreating under its shell. It might equally well allude to a newly hatched bird. “The shell must break before the bird can fly,” wrote Tennyson (The Ancient Sage, 1885).
come on board
Join an organization or other kind of group. This transfer from the nautical meaning of getting on a ship or boat dates from the twenti- eth century. It is often expressed as a hearty invitation to join a business organization, as in “The personnel officer was very impressed with you, so we hope you’ll come on board.”
come off it
Quit pretending or acting foolish or lying. Originally Ameri- can slang dating from about 1900, it may, as one writer suggests, be related
to coming down from a high perch or position of lofty pompousness (see ON ONE’S HIGH HORSE). W. Somerset Maugham, a master of realistic dialogue, wrote, “Come off it, Roy . . . I’m too old a bird to be caught with chaff ”
(Cakes and Ale, 1930).
come in from the cold
Return to safety and acceptance. This phrase became popular following the publication of John Le Carré’s bestselling espi- onage novel, The SpyWho Came in from the Cold (1963) and the motion picture based on it (1965).
come-hither look
A seductive or flirtatious glance, a come-on. This cliché represents one of the few surviving uses of the adverb hither, for “to this place” or “here,” which was commonplace in Shakespeare’s day (“Come hither, come hither, come hither” is in the song “Under the Greenwood Tree,” As You Like It, 2.5). The cliché dates from the first half of the 1900s and was frequently applied to film stars in romantic movies, in an era when a blunter sexual approach was frowned on.
come hell or high water
No matter what happens; COME WHAT MAY. The origin of this expression has been lost. One authority claims it is a variation
of BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA, “hell” and “high water” repre- senting similar great obstacles. It appears to have originated shortly after
1900. In 1939, at the outbreak of World War II, A. Keith wrote about impe- rialism, “Let empires be built—come hell or high water, they build ’em.”
come clean, to
To tell the whole truth, to confess. A slangy Americanism dating from the early twentieth century, it most often appeared in crime novels and pertained to confessing guilt. Listed in a collection of argot pub- lished in 1919, the term became a cliché through its overuse in murder mys- teries. P. G. Wodehouse played on it in Sam the Sudden (1925): “You’d best come clean, Soapy, and have a showdown.”
comeback, to make/stage a
To return to one’s former standing, after a withdrawal or a lapse in popularity or ability. This term originated in Amer- ica about 1900 or so. “With a little effort you could still stage a comeback,” wrote F. Scott Fitzgerald in This Side of Paradise (1920).
come apart at the seams, to
To become disordered; to go to pieces. This graphic analogy to a garment becoming, as it were, unsewn, is Ameri- can and dates from the mid-twentieth century. “In a few instances when I thought that I would come apart at the seams . . . I managed to make the director listen” (Josef von Sternberg, Fun in a Chinese Laundry, 1965, an account of making a movie).
come again?
What did you say? Did I hear you correctly? This phrase, dating from about 1900, usually implies surprise or disbelief, as in “ ‘Her science teacher doesn’t believe in evolution.’ ‘Come again? That can’t be true.’”
bosom buddy/friend
An intimate friend. This turn of phrase for denoting
a very dear associate is found in both the Old and New Testaments. Nathan says
it “lay in his bosom and was unto him as a daughter” (2 Samuel 12:3), and in
the Gospel of St. John, John, often called the “beloved disciple,” is described as
the bosom friend of Jesus. In his “Ode to Autumn” John Keats wrote, “Season
of mists and mellow fruitfulness, close bosom-friend of the maturing sun.” By
this time “bosom friend” was also a euphemism for body lice, and Jonathan
Swift’s Polite Conversation (1738) includes the pun, “I’m afraid your Bosom
Friends are become your Backbiters.” The alliterative bosom buddy is of later
provenance; the word “buddy,” for comrade or chum, dates from the mid-nine-
teenth century and originated in America. See also BOON COMPANION.
borrowed time, on
An unexpected extension of time. It often refers to someone terminally ill or in great danger but surviving longer than was anticipated, on time that is in effect borrowed from Death. The term dates from the late 1800s. Raymond Chandler used it in The Big Sleep (1930):
“Brody was living on borrowed time.” James Patterson also had it, referring
to the 48-hour deadline for a threatened bombing attack: “We were defi-
nitely operating on borrowed time” (London Bridges, 2004).
born with a silver spoon
Born rich, or lucky, or both. Several writers believe this phrase comes from the custom of godparents giving their god- child a silver spoon, and only the wealthy could afford this gift. However, the spoon here may simply be symbolic of wealth, and indeed, other locu- tions, such as “He was borne with a penny in ’s mouth” (John Clarke, Parœmiologia Anglo-Latina, 1639), also occurred. The silver spoon was cited
in Peter Motteux’s translation of Don Quixote (1712), as well as in two proverb collections of the same period.
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born, not made
Describing an innate ability or talent. The original phrase was a translation of the Latin Orator fit, Poeta nascitur (Orators are made, Poets are born), quoted by Sir Philip Sidney in his Apologie for Poetrie
(c. 1521). Later it was extended to include other occupations. Harriet Beecher Stowe (Uncle Tom’s Cabin, 1851) provided an interesting twist on it when she had Topsy say, “I ’spect I growed. Don’t think nobody never made me.”
born and bred
Describing a native, a person born and raised in the same place. The alliterative appeal of this phrase no doubt led to its overuse. Joseph Addison paired the two early on (The Spectator, 1711): “Being bred to no business and born to no estate.” The precise locution appears in Fanny Kemble’s travel book (1863), “Born and bred in America.”
bore to death/tears, to
To be extremely tedious or dull. The literature abounds with epigrams concerning bores. Both of these clichés for being exceedingly boring allegedly date from the nineteenth century and are much duller than, for example, “Society is now one polished horde, formed
of two mighty tribes, the Bores and Bored” (Byron, Don Juan), or “Bore, n.
A person who talks when you wish him to listen” (Ambrose Bierce, The
Devil’s Dictionary).
boonies, the
The provinces, a remote rural area. This slangy term is an abbreviation of boondocks, which comes from the Tagalog word bundok, for “hill”
or “mountain.” It was coined by U.S. Marines fighting against Filipino guerril- las after the Spanish-American War (1899–1902) for the rough hill country there. Later American troops in the Philippines during World War II shortened
it, and after the war it began to be used more widely as an equivalent for another such term, the sticks, which dates from the early 1900s. W. C. Handy
used it in Father of the Blues (1957), “I continued playing for dances, touring on
the road and through the sticks.”
boon companion
A favorite friend, a convivial associate. Now on its way
to obsolescence, the adjective “boon” comes from the French bon, for
“good,” and has meant “jolly” since the twelfth century. As for the pairing
with “companion,” several sources cite the Roman epigrammist Martial,
who wrote nulli tefacias nimis sodalem, which has been translated as “to no
man make yourself a boon companion.” The association with drinking was
made explicit by John Arbuthnot (The History of John Bull, 1712): “A boon
companion, loving his bottle and his diversion.”
born yesterday, not (I wasn’t)
Not naive; more experienced than one might think. Already a popular saying by the early nineteenth century, it appeared on both sides of the Atlantic. “I warn’t born yesterday,” said Thomas Haliburton’s Sam Slick in one of his Wise Saws (1843). Approximately a cen- tury later Garson Kanin used the phrase for the title of a Broadway play that became extremely popular, as did the later (1950) film version. In both, actress Judy Holliday played the quintessential dumb blonde who, despite seeming unsophistication, is graced with enormous good sense.
bone of contention, the
The central point of a dispute. The phrase alludes to two dogs fighting over a single bone, and originally was a bone of dissension (“This became a bone of dissension between these deere friends,” William Lambarde, 1576). The current cliché dates from the early eigh- teenth century, although the metaphor of dogs fighting over a bone had been transferred to human quarrels long before (“The devil hath cast a bone
to set stryfe between you,” John Heywood’s Proverbs, 1562).
bone dry
Very thirsty; extremely dry. The simile dry as bone, referring to the bones of a dead creature, dates from the sixteenth century and has sur- vived to the present day, while others of the same period (dry as a sieve, dry
as a chip, dry as a red herring) have long since died out. See also DRY AS DUST.
bolt from the blue, a
A sudden, unexpected event, usually of a cata- strophic nature. The term refers to a bolt of lightning or thunder that comes from a blue (cloudless) sky and hence is not anticipated. Although “blue” was a poetic allusion to the sky by 1700, the precise expression dates from the early nineteenth century. It appears in Thomas Carlyle’s description of chaotic events of the French Revolution: “Arrestment, sudden really as a bolt out of the blue, has hit strange victims” (1837).
in a heartbeat
Extremely quickly. This hyperbolic expression—what could actually happen in the space of a single heartbeat?—dates from the late 1800s.
in a dither, all
In a jittery, agitated state. This expression dates from the early 1800s, when it also was put as of a dither. The noun dither comes from the Middle English verb didderen, meaning “to tremble.” A newer synonym
is in a tizzy, dating from the first half of the 1900s. Its origin is not known.
I’m from Missouri, you’ve got to show me
I won’t believe it without proof. This expression, signifying shrewd native skepticism rather than provincial stupidity, has been traced to a number of sources. The oldest source of the thought suggested to date is the Missouri Compromise of
1820, a proviso that the constitution of the then new state would not pro- hibit slavery, which was reached after several years of dickering. As for the wording, one writer cites a speech made by Congressman Willard D. Van- diver in 1899; another refers to a song from the same period, “I’m from Missouri and You’ve Got to Show Me,” with lyrics by Lee Raney and music by Ned Wayburn. Thomas Oliphant, describing Senator Edward Kennedy’s doubts about a Supreme Court nominee, wrote, “Kennedy has become the leading Show Me Senator” (Boston Globe, Sept. 29, 2005).
ill wind that blows no one any good, it’s/’tis an
Someone or other usually benefits from a misfortune or loss. This expression appeared in John Heywood’s 1546 proverb collection and several of Shakespeare’s plays. Today it remains current, often shortened simply to an ill wind. Laurence McKinney punned on it in People of Note (1940), saying of the notoriously difficult oboe, “It’s an ill wood wind [sic] no one blows good.”
ignorance is bliss
It sometimes is better not to know one’s fate, or the outcome. Although the idea was stated by the Greek playwright Sophocles
(c. 409 B.C.) and quoted by Erasmus in the early sixteenth century, the pre-
cise wording of the cliché comes from the closing lines of Thomas Gray’s
poem, “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College” (1742): “Where igno-
rance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise.” Both it and blissful ignorance became
clichés in the nineteenth century, but the latter has died out.
if worst comes to worst
If the most unfavorable or injurious circum- stances should occur. This term would make more sense as if worse comes to worst (comparative to superlative), but it has been used in its present form since the late sixteenth century. It generally is followed by some expedient solution, as in “If worst comes to worst he’ll declare bankruptcy.” The Restoration dramatists had fun with it. John Dryden said (Sir Martin Mar- All, 1667), “If worst comes to the worst, he leaves you an honest woman,” and William Congreve (The Way of the World, 1700) wrote, “If the worst comes to the worst, I’ll turn my wife to grass.”
