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.

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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 of a hat

See AT THE DROP OF A HAT.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.”

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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).

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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.”

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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).

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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).

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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.

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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.”

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come full circle

See FULL CIRCLE.

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come down on, to

See LIKE A TON OF BRICKS.

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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.”

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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).

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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).

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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.’”

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