August 20, 2024 • 9 mins
On this episode of Our American Stories, Andrew Thompson shares another slice of his guide to understanding the baffling mini-mysteries of the English language. The book is Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town Red: The Wonderful Origins of Everyday Expressions and Fun Phrases.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
And we continue with our American stories. And now it's
time for our recurring series with Arthur Andrew Thompson. His
book is Heir of the Dog, to Paint the Town
Red the curious origins of everyday scenes and fun phrases.
He continues here to share another slaves from his ultimate
(00:31):
Guide to understanding these baffling mini mysteries of the English language.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
The expression fair game means a legitimate target for a
tackle pursuit, and it's an expression that began in the
eighteenth century in England. King George the Third was a
keen hunter and introduced a raft of new laws in
an attempt to reduce a poaching and protect livestock that
the upper class landowner has had. The king wanted to
(00:57):
keep the hunting as a privilege of the aristocracy, and
he made it illegal for anyone apart from the landowner
and his eldest son to kill any game animals such
as pheasants or deer. The punishments were severe for breach.
Only certain animals were exempt and allowed to be killed
by others, such as vermin or birds that were harmful.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
To the land, known as crops.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
These animals were referred to in the laws as fair game.
Feather in your cap means a symbol of honour or achievement,
and its origins are owed to the times of early warfare.
In medieval England, knights who exhibited battlefield bravery were awarded
feathers to be worn on their helmets. These were considered
symbols of state, as similar to modern day medals that
(01:40):
soldiers receive. In the first major Battle of one Hundred
Years War in thirteen forty six, Prince Edward, the Prince of.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Wales, showed bravery.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
He was known as the Black Prince and he was
only sixteen years old when he was awarded the crest
of John of the Bohemia, his defeated enemy. The crest
consisted of three oss Bridge feathers, which remains the crest
of the Prince of Wales today. The expression feather in
your cap was used figuratively by the early eighteenth century,
and was popularized in Yankee Doodle, the children's nursery rhyme
(02:12):
in the seventeen eighties. Fifteen minutes of fame means a
brief period of celebrity or publicity, and it was first
coined by the American artist Andy Warhol in the catalog
for a nineteen sixty eight exhibition of his work in Sweden,
he included the words in the future, everybody will be
(02:33):
famous for fifteen minutes.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
While Wallhole is credited.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
With the expression, a photographer named Nat Finkelstein claims he
first said it when working with the artist in nineteen
sixty six. A crowd had gathered and was trying to
get photos of Warhol, who remarked that everyone wants to
be famous, and Finkelstein replied, yeah, for about fifteen minutes.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Andy.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
The expression first rate means in something of their very
best quality, and it's a naval expression dating from the
time of King Henry the Eighth. It was during his
reign that the British Navy began organizing its ships according
to their size and strength. The warships were rated on
a scale of one to six. A small ship with
little armory was considered sixth rate, while a large and
(03:19):
well armed ship was classed as first rate. The expression
soon came to refer to anything of the highest quality.
Fit as a fiddle means to be very fitten in
good health, and it's actually a shortened version of the
original saying as fit as a fiddler A fiddle is
a cloaquoral name for violin, and in medieval times in England,
(03:39):
fiddlers would play energetic street performances to throngs of people.
They would dance and weave through the crowd as they played.
The best performers were physically fit and agile.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Hence, the expression.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Fits to a t means it fits exactly and is
very appropriate. The expression derives from medieval Latin. The tea
in the phrase stands for tittle, which comes from the
Latin word to tillus, meaning tiny. A tittle is a
small stroke or point in writing or printing.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Originally fits to a tittle.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
The expression was first used by the English theologian John
Wycliffe in the thirteen hundreds to refer to very minor
differences in his version of the New Testament. The saying
flash in the pan means that something is a disappointment
after a promising start, and it has military origins from
the eighteenth century. Flintlock muskets contained small priming pans that
(04:36):
held charges of gunpowder. When the gun's trigger was pulled,
a spark ignited the priming powder, which usually set off
the main powder charge in the musket's bore.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
And fired the weapon.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
In some cases, the priming powder failed to light the
main charge. The priming powder would flash in the pan,
but no shot would be discharged, resulting in disappointment after
a positive start. Flavor of the month means something that's
in fashion for fleeting time or the latest thing, and
it began in the nineteen thirties with the American advertising
(05:08):
campaigns for ice cream companies. To encourage customers into their parlours,
ice cream companies ran slogans promoting reduced prices on certain
flavors that were less popular. The price of a particular
flavor would be dropped for a month long period in
an attempt to increase sales. The price reduced ice cream
would be promoted as the flavor of the month, and
(05:29):
this method of advertising was so successful in increasing sales
that by the nineteen fifties, every major ice cream company
was using the slogan to flog. A dead horse means
to engage in a fruitless effort, and it's a mariner's
term and derives from what's known as the horse latitudes,
which is an area with irregular and unreliable winds about
(05:50):
thirty degrees to either side of the equator.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
It's an air of high pressure.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
That can result in weak winds and long periods of calm.
Sailors were paid in advanceants wage at the start of
a voyage, and the time it took to pay the
advance off was known as dead horse time. Because of
the lack of wind, it sometimes took months to pass
through the horse latitudes. This was advantageous to the sailors
as they had already received a payment, so they saw
(06:15):
little point in working hard.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
To get clearer of the area.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
To do so would have been flogging a dead horse.
To fly by the seat of your pants is to
do something without planning or deciding on the course of
action as you go along, and it's an expression that
derives from the world of aviation in the nineteen thirties.
Early aircraft had few navigational aids or sophisticated instruments, and
flying was predominantly based on the pilot's judgment and feel
(06:42):
of the plane. The largest point of contact between the
pilot and the plane is the seat, so most of
the feedback comes through the seat to the pilot, and
it was through the seat that the pilot could feel
the reactions of the plane and flight. Accordingly, the expression
came into prominence in relation to Douglas Corrigan's nineteen thirty
eight flight from America to Ireland. In that flight, some
(07:03):
of the plane's systems failed and Corrigan was forced to
fly by the seat of his pants. To fly off
the handle means to lose one's temper or get very angry,
and it's an expression that began with the early American
frontier settlers. The iron head of an axe as a
hollow area into which the.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Wooden handle is inserted.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
The handle is fitted tightly, but in conditions where the
atmosphere is very dry, like in Middle America, the wood
can shrink and the axe head loosens. When being vigorously swung,
the axe head can sometimes fly off the handle in
an uncontrolled manner.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
To foot the bill.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Means to pay the check, normally to restaurant or something
like that, and it began in the fourteen hundreds and
derived from the simple method of adding up the various
components of a check or bill and writing the total
at the bottom or foot, originally meaning the total of
the account at the foot. By the eighteen hundreds, it
had changed to today's colloquial use which means to pay
(08:00):
the check rather than to add it up. To be
footloose and fancy free means to be free from care
or responsibility, and it's an expression that lies in the
early sailing boats. The foot is the bottom part of
a sail that is connected to the boom. Sometimes, in
strong winds, it would become detached from the boom and
was regarded as footloose. A footloose sail would flap around
(08:23):
and be free to move whichever way the wind blew.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
It was considered footloose and fancy free.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
To freeze the balls off a brass monkey means very
cold weather conditions, and while many people think that this
has vulgar origins, it's actually one of the many phrases
from the nautical world. Naval artillery guns in the eighteenth
century required gunpowder and were manned by so called powder monkeys,
(08:49):
who were usually young, agile boys able to move easily
through tight passages. They would ferry the powder from the
ship's holed to the guns, and next to the guns
were brass triangles that supported stacks of cannonballs.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
By association with these young.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Boys, these became known as brass monkeys. The advantage of
brass was that it wasn't as corrosive as iron, but
in cold weather it would contract more than other metals.
On particularly cold days, the brass racks would contract, increasing
their openings and causing the balls to fall through.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
And great job is always to Greg Hangler for producing
the piece and for finding the book. And a special
thanks to Andrew Thompson, author of Hair of the Dog.
To paint the town red, the curious origins of everyday
scenes and fun freezes and by the way, we've done
a really good series. Go to our American stories dot
(09:47):
com and just put in the words Andrew Thompson or
Hair of the Dog and you can listen to the
Hall series here on our American Stories
And we continue with our American stories. And now it's
time for our recurring series with Arthur Andrew Thompson. His
book is Heir of the Dog, to Paint the Town
Red the curious origins of everyday scenes and fun phrases.
He continues here to share another slaves from his ultimate
(00:31):
Guide to understanding these baffling mini mysteries of the English language.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
The expression fair game means a legitimate target for a
tackle pursuit, and it's an expression that began in the
eighteenth century in England. King George the Third was a
keen hunter and introduced a raft of new laws in
an attempt to reduce a poaching and protect livestock that
the upper class landowner has had. The king wanted to
(00:57):
keep the hunting as a privilege of the aristocracy, and
he made it illegal for anyone apart from the landowner
and his eldest son to kill any game animals such
as pheasants or deer. The punishments were severe for breach.
Only certain animals were exempt and allowed to be killed
by others, such as vermin or birds that were harmful.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
To the land, known as crops.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
These animals were referred to in the laws as fair game.
Feather in your cap means a symbol of honour or achievement,
and its origins are owed to the times of early warfare.
In medieval England, knights who exhibited battlefield bravery were awarded
feathers to be worn on their helmets. These were considered
symbols of state, as similar to modern day medals that
(01:40):
soldiers receive. In the first major Battle of one Hundred
Years War in thirteen forty six, Prince Edward, the Prince of.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
Wales, showed bravery.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
He was known as the Black Prince and he was
only sixteen years old when he was awarded the crest
of John of the Bohemia, his defeated enemy. The crest
consisted of three oss Bridge feathers, which remains the crest
of the Prince of Wales today. The expression feather in
your cap was used figuratively by the early eighteenth century,
and was popularized in Yankee Doodle, the children's nursery rhyme
(02:12):
in the seventeen eighties. Fifteen minutes of fame means a
brief period of celebrity or publicity, and it was first
coined by the American artist Andy Warhol in the catalog
for a nineteen sixty eight exhibition of his work in Sweden,
he included the words in the future, everybody will be
(02:33):
famous for fifteen minutes.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
While Wallhole is credited.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
With the expression, a photographer named Nat Finkelstein claims he
first said it when working with the artist in nineteen
sixty six. A crowd had gathered and was trying to
get photos of Warhol, who remarked that everyone wants to
be famous, and Finkelstein replied, yeah, for about fifteen minutes.
Speaker 3 (02:56):
Andy.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
The expression first rate means in something of their very
best quality, and it's a naval expression dating from the
time of King Henry the Eighth. It was during his
reign that the British Navy began organizing its ships according
to their size and strength. The warships were rated on
a scale of one to six. A small ship with
little armory was considered sixth rate, while a large and
(03:19):
well armed ship was classed as first rate. The expression
soon came to refer to anything of the highest quality.
Fit as a fiddle means to be very fitten in
good health, and it's actually a shortened version of the
original saying as fit as a fiddler A fiddle is
a cloaquoral name for violin, and in medieval times in England,
(03:39):
fiddlers would play energetic street performances to throngs of people.
They would dance and weave through the crowd as they played.
The best performers were physically fit and agile.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
Hence, the expression.
Speaker 2 (03:52):
Fits to a t means it fits exactly and is
very appropriate. The expression derives from medieval Latin. The tea
in the phrase stands for tittle, which comes from the
Latin word to tillus, meaning tiny. A tittle is a
small stroke or point in writing or printing.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
Originally fits to a tittle.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
The expression was first used by the English theologian John
Wycliffe in the thirteen hundreds to refer to very minor
differences in his version of the New Testament. The saying
flash in the pan means that something is a disappointment
after a promising start, and it has military origins from
the eighteenth century. Flintlock muskets contained small priming pans that
(04:36):
held charges of gunpowder. When the gun's trigger was pulled,
a spark ignited the priming powder, which usually set off
the main powder charge in the musket's bore.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
And fired the weapon.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
In some cases, the priming powder failed to light the
main charge. The priming powder would flash in the pan,
but no shot would be discharged, resulting in disappointment after
a positive start. Flavor of the month means something that's
in fashion for fleeting time or the latest thing, and
it began in the nineteen thirties with the American advertising
(05:08):
campaigns for ice cream companies. To encourage customers into their parlours,
ice cream companies ran slogans promoting reduced prices on certain
flavors that were less popular. The price of a particular
flavor would be dropped for a month long period in
an attempt to increase sales. The price reduced ice cream
would be promoted as the flavor of the month, and
(05:29):
this method of advertising was so successful in increasing sales
that by the nineteen fifties, every major ice cream company
was using the slogan to flog. A dead horse means
to engage in a fruitless effort, and it's a mariner's
term and derives from what's known as the horse latitudes,
which is an area with irregular and unreliable winds about
(05:50):
thirty degrees to either side of the equator.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
It's an air of high pressure.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
That can result in weak winds and long periods of calm.
Sailors were paid in advanceants wage at the start of
a voyage, and the time it took to pay the
advance off was known as dead horse time. Because of
the lack of wind, it sometimes took months to pass
through the horse latitudes. This was advantageous to the sailors
as they had already received a payment, so they saw
(06:15):
little point in working hard.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
To get clearer of the area.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
To do so would have been flogging a dead horse.
To fly by the seat of your pants is to
do something without planning or deciding on the course of
action as you go along, and it's an expression that
derives from the world of aviation in the nineteen thirties.
Early aircraft had few navigational aids or sophisticated instruments, and
flying was predominantly based on the pilot's judgment and feel
(06:42):
of the plane. The largest point of contact between the
pilot and the plane is the seat, so most of
the feedback comes through the seat to the pilot, and
it was through the seat that the pilot could feel
the reactions of the plane and flight. Accordingly, the expression
came into prominence in relation to Douglas Corrigan's nineteen thirty
eight flight from America to Ireland. In that flight, some
(07:03):
of the plane's systems failed and Corrigan was forced to
fly by the seat of his pants. To fly off
the handle means to lose one's temper or get very angry,
and it's an expression that began with the early American
frontier settlers. The iron head of an axe as a
hollow area into which the.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Wooden handle is inserted.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
The handle is fitted tightly, but in conditions where the
atmosphere is very dry, like in Middle America, the wood
can shrink and the axe head loosens. When being vigorously swung,
the axe head can sometimes fly off the handle in
an uncontrolled manner.
Speaker 3 (07:37):
To foot the bill.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Means to pay the check, normally to restaurant or something
like that, and it began in the fourteen hundreds and
derived from the simple method of adding up the various
components of a check or bill and writing the total
at the bottom or foot, originally meaning the total of
the account at the foot. By the eighteen hundreds, it
had changed to today's colloquial use which means to pay
(08:00):
the check rather than to add it up. To be
footloose and fancy free means to be free from care
or responsibility, and it's an expression that lies in the
early sailing boats. The foot is the bottom part of
a sail that is connected to the boom. Sometimes, in
strong winds, it would become detached from the boom and
was regarded as footloose. A footloose sail would flap around
(08:23):
and be free to move whichever way the wind blew.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
It was considered footloose and fancy free.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
To freeze the balls off a brass monkey means very
cold weather conditions, and while many people think that this
has vulgar origins, it's actually one of the many phrases
from the nautical world. Naval artillery guns in the eighteenth
century required gunpowder and were manned by so called powder monkeys,
(08:49):
who were usually young, agile boys able to move easily
through tight passages. They would ferry the powder from the
ship's holed to the guns, and next to the guns
were brass triangles that supported stacks of cannonballs.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
By association with these young.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Boys, these became known as brass monkeys. The advantage of
brass was that it wasn't as corrosive as iron, but
in cold weather it would contract more than other metals.
On particularly cold days, the brass racks would contract, increasing
their openings and causing the balls to fall through.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
And great job is always to Greg Hangler for producing
the piece and for finding the book. And a special
thanks to Andrew Thompson, author of Hair of the Dog.
To paint the town red, the curious origins of everyday
scenes and fun freezes and by the way, we've done
a really good series. Go to our American stories dot
(09:47):
com and just put in the words Andrew Thompson or
Hair of the Dog and you can listen to the
Hall series here on our American Stories
Host
Lee Habeeb
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