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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.”

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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).

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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).

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dry behind the ears, not (yet)

See WET  BEHIND THE  EARS.

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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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