40 Common Sayings And Their Unexpected Origins

Yet its more “modern” use — if you can call the 17th century modern, that is — comes from Samuel Butler’s 1664 classic Hudibras, which read, “At last broke silence, and the Ice.” Its more straightforward meaning later came right back around when bespoke ice-breaking ships were dreamed up in the 19th century.

It’s actually a bit more literal than that, though. When a soldier was punished with a multi-headed whip called a cat o’ nine tails, some would take pride in stopping themselves yelping — or becoming a “nightingale” — by chomping down on a bullet. But they probably later suffered both lash wounds and toothache.

It’s obviously a reference to a tennis game, where once the ball comes across to your side of the net, it’s your turn to play. Perhaps it’s surprising this idiom took so long to come into use, considering the first official tennis tournament took place in 1882. And its precursor, real tennis, dates back further still: it was invented in medieval times.

The phrase actually originates from the early days of the U.S. movie industry, specifically Hollywood Girl in 1929. Joseph Patrick McEvoy wrote in the script direction, “Jannings escapes... Cut to chase.” Just the important parts, please, time is money!

Lots of people claim to know where the saying comes from, but the truth is, no one can be sure! Possible explanations include the measurements of a fully-rigged sailing ship, or the length of a machine-gun ammunition belt. Ironically though, to date when anyone has tried to find the metaphor’s true meaning, they’ve failed to go the whole nine yards.

According to Grammarist, it actually comes from 19th-century America, when chewing tobacco was popular. Taking too much on would make you sick, and it’s since been associated with food, too. Both work as an explanation, but they sure are a mouthful!

It’s a reference to when Odysseus journeys across the sea and finds himself trapped. There’s a whirlpool called Charybdis on one side, and a monster called Scylla on the cliff opposite. These days most of us don’t tend to find ourselves in mortal peril from monsters or maelstroms, of course, but modern life can still throw plenty of analogous situations our way — chances are you’ll hear this phrase quite a bit as time goes by.

The true origin might be more literal, though: it could be a reference to servicemen who lost their limbs in the line of duty. But there are similar phrases in the 1800s simply stating that the speaker would give an appendage to own something precious. They should have tried a secondhand store!

Indeed, way back when, people used materials like hay and straw to stuff their mattresses to make them softer. And their bedding was made of sacking, so if you’ve ever heard the term “hit the sack” you know where that comes from now, too!

In fact, Francis Quarles’ Emblemes was one of the earliest authors to use it in 1635. Although some people still employ the phrase as a metaphor, it tends to crop up less often these days. Perhaps we’ve seen the light?

It was a 1913 match between boxers Murphy and Burns and things weren’t looking great for the latter. The crowd were appealing to the referee to step in when Burns’ corner threw a towel into the ring as a signal of submission. The phrase came into common use after that, and there was no fighting it!

It’s thought that Welsh author James Howell first wrote about it in his proverbs book, Paramoigraphy. His version ran, “No weeping for shed milk.” It’s not the best analogy if you’re lactose-intolerant of course: in that case spilling milk would be preferable to drinking it!

Enslaved people invented competitive dance competitions called cakewalks to poke fun at the elaborate “manners” of rich plantation owners. The winners of these contests would earn — you guessed it — a cake; the saying evolved from the apparent ease of movement the victors displayed.

Whether these events are even fact or fiction is up for debate, though. Another explanation might be the “cat” actually references a multi-lashed whip, or cat o’ nine tails, once used as a form of corporal punishment. The truth is unclear, but nobody’s ‘purrfect!’

Apparently, the most well-known example comes from the Roman leader Caesar, who is said to have ordered the bridges of the Rubicon river burned once his men had crossed them, preventing both possible retreat and attack from behind. Please note, this doesn’t work well when said crossings are made of stone!

It was used commonly in the 19th century, so we’ll throw caution to the wind here and predict it most likely arose in a nautical context. Sailors’ livelihoods depended to a great extent on the weather, so the idiom makes intuitive sense in that scenario. And even for everyday citizens, breezy England required some forward planning!

The wording is quite interesting, though. Back then, a penny was a large sum of money, so the implication was that thoughts were valuable things indeed. That was before internet forums of course, where you can get them for free whether you want them or not!

Curiously, many people only know the first half of the phrase; it actually ends, “...but satisfaction brought it back.” When used in full, it means taking risks might just be worth it. Not when it comes to internet histories though: some things are better left untouched!

There are records of the saying being used back in the 1300s, and you could even argue a version of it featured in the Bible’s Old Testament Book of Proverbs. Chapter 26, Verse 17 says, “He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears.” Sound familiar?

For example, according to Knightley William Horlock’s letters, hunters used it back in 1852. It was familiar to coach drivers too, who risked upending their carriage if they took an ill-advised shortcut. And these days, it can also refer to the occasional craftsman who skimps on quality.

English Christian mystic Margery Kempe wrote, via translation, “If I hear any more of these matters repeated, I shall so smite the nail on the head that it shall shame all her supporters.” She may have been a trendsetter, because 200 years later it was all the rage.

He spoke about going from the smoke to the flame, but the more recognizable version of the proverb popped up in Sir Thomas More’s 1532 pamphlet, The Confutacyon of Tyndales Answere. Its popularity reached new heights in the 1980s and now it’s so well-known most people just say, “Out of the frying pan…” and let the second half hang.

Barnum originated the word bandwagon as a vehicle that carried a circus band, but politicians later jumped on the bandwagon, so to speak, by using the phrase — and the vehicles — themselves. They carried supporters for political campaigns; other potential backers could jump on to show solidarity. 

Benjamin Franklin invented a character called Poor Richard for his almanac in the 1700s. Franklin wrote, “‘A watched pot is slow to boil,’ as Poor Richard says.” Curiously, the phrase as we know it didn’t feature in Franklin’s Poor Richard Almanack, but our modern phrase did evolve from his reference to it!

The theory goes that the usage stems from an even earlier work, Jonathan Swift’s 1710 poem City Shower, where he describes floods so violent that any unfortunate pets left out in the rain would drown. When the weather cleared the bodies were discovered, appearing as though they’d fallen from the sky.

In 1634 Milton wrote a poem called A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle which made use of the phrase. And in the years since, clouds backlit by the Sun with silvery, glowing edges are still quite commonly referred to as Milton’s clouds.

English author William Camden first used a rather lengthy version of the expression in his 1605 book of proverbs, and the shortened form has been popular ever since. Ever heard of early-bird specials in restaurants and cafes? Well, they come from the same source. And they’re probably “cheep” too!

The phrase has its roots in hunting, when slingshots were used to kill birds. If you tried to kill two at once — which was almost impossible — you were trying to do something unachievable. Soon, the joke flipped on its head, and now it means efficiency is something to aim for, if you’ll pardon the pun.

William Shakespeare’s responsible for the original phrase back in 1596 when he used it in The Merchant of Venice. But some people forget the aspect of danger in the saying, and they use it simply to describe a powerful attraction.

In the 1700s the idiom was “walking on eggs,” but clearly they weren’t generally deemed fragile enough! It was updated the following century to eggshells, and that practically rendered the previous version of the saying, ahem, “eggstinct.”

In the 16th century when two people faced each other and their line of sight met, it was considered a gesture of an agreement or understanding. That’s where this idiom comes from, and the metaphor has persisted even after the general practice has faded away.

It’s said Pliny was talking about a poison antidote in his quote “take it with a grain of salt” and it was then adapted to its current use. But since it’s almost impossible to trace this idiom back to its roots, you should… hmmm. If only there was a relevant saying with which to end this sentence!

Ancient Greek storyteller Aesop mentioned it in his famous fables. It was later reused by Thomas Howell in his 1570 work New Sonnets. He wrote, "Counte not thy Chickens that unhatched be, Waye wordes as winde, till thou finde certaintee." We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!

The boxing ring, specifically. American boxing lays claim to the first recorded use of this phrase, with the sport’s rules — which were published in the 1850s — clearly stating you shouldn’t strike an opponent below the waistline. Now it’s a metaphor too. All you male readers should feel safe to uncross your legs!

In fact, there’s no evidence this occurrence ever actually happened in medieval times, as some people believe. What we do know is that the idiom was used as far back as 1512 at least, in Thomas Murner’s satire Narrenbeschwörung. It was also illustrated, just in case readers didn’t get the point!

We can’t say for sure that he coined the phrase, but The Bard featured it in his play Othello in 1604. Another possible origin is the manner in which jousting medieval knights wore colors to display for which lady they were fighting, but each potential source is just as likely as the other.

As for the originator of the phrase, you need look no further than famous author Miguel de Cervantes in his novel Don Quixote. The exact quote is, “It is the part of a wise man to keep himself today for tomorrow, and not venture all his eggs in one basket.”

Alain de Lille, a French poet in the Middle Ages, wrote a similar phrase which translates as, “A thousand roads lead a man forever toward Rome.” It dates back to when Rome was the hub of everything, from trade to politics. And those Romans built a lot of roads!

“Hold your horses” doesn’t mean to hold onto them but to hold them back with reins, which is generally done by pulling back on them firmly. It was used in a literal sense during the 19th century, but now away from actual horse riding, it lives on only in the rolling fields of metaphor.

As for the less literal term, you can find an example of it from Piers Plaines Seaven Yers Prentiship, a 1595 romance by Henry Chettle which mentions “nip it in the bloom.” Also, don’t misquote the phrase as “nip it in the butt,” because that might lead to some uncomfortable situations!