That word means what??

[Clint]

Ever wonder where word, phrase, or saying comes from? Like “balderdash” or “stool pigeon”?

Here’s a fun game to find out...

I’ll start by giving the meaning and/or origin of a word orsaying, and then add one for the next person to tackle.

Once a person has posted the meaning/origin, they must leave a word or saying for the next person to solve, and so on.

(Note that there may be several meanings or origins to the word/saying, so just pick the one you like best.)

Here we go…..

Word/saying: “The whole 9 yards”

Meaning/Origin: This phrase (possibly) originated with W.W.II aircraft .50 caliber machine guns ammunition belts. The .50 caliber, both in heavy bombers and in fighter aircraft had 27 foot ammunition belts. It became a common phrase to say that a pilot or gunner "gave 'em the whole nine yards" when they had run out of ammunition.

Next: “Red Letter Day”

 

[Fitze55]

“Red Letter Day”

Meaning: A red letter day is any day of special significance.

The term originates from Medieval church calendars. Illuminated manuscripts often marked initial capitals and highlighted words in red ink, known as rubrics.

Many current calendars have special dates and holidays such as Sundays, Christmas Day and Midsummer Day rendered in red color instead of black.


Next: "Wet Your Whistle"

 

[coastalgriff]

"Wet Your Whistle" : Centuries ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. 'Wet your whistle' is the phrase inspired by this practice.

Next: "Bang For Your Buck"

 

[Clint]

bump!

 

[JP8]

"Bang for your buck"

Origin: The earliest confirmed mention of bang for the buck is found in 1968 in the first edition of William Safire's New Language of Politics. Mr. Safire claims that the phrase was coined in 1954 by Charles E. Wilson, the Secretary of Defense, in reference to the "massive retaliation" policy of John Foster Dulles

Next: "Eleventh Hour"

 

[FireDoc83]

Eleventh Hour
This expression comes from the Bible. The 11th hour is the last hour before the ed of the world. In the Bible, the 11th hour was the last hour of sunlight with the 12th hour bringing darkness.

Next : THREE SHEETS TO THE WIND!

 

[beercritic]

Word/saying: “The whole 9 yards”

Meaning/Origin: This phrase (possibly) originated with W.W.II aircraft .50 caliber machine guns ammunition belts. The .50 caliber, both in heavy bombers and in fighter aircraft had 27 foot ammunition belts. It became a common phrase to say that a pilot or gunner "gave 'em the whole nine yards" when they had run out of ammunition.

Next: “Red Letter Day”

I thought it referred to an entire truckload of concrete, as tend to have a capacity of 9 cubic yards.

Joe

 

[beercritic]

Three sheets to the wind. : Sailing term, a sail is a ssheet, most boats of the time had 3 sails, when was no longer controlled by robe , but lost to the wind, the ship was not steerable.


Next: "Mind your p's and q's . (There are 2 answers)


joe

 

[ciggy]

One origin of the story of "mind your Ps and Qs" comes from early printing presses. Printers placed individual letters on a frame to print a page of text. The letters were reversed, making it easy to mistake lowercase p's and q's in setting the type. A reminder to stay watchful of the details could have come from this time as well. In a similar setting, this expression has been attributed as an adage for teaching children to spell.

Another origin comes from English pubs and taverns of the seventeenth century. Bartenders would keep a watch on the alcohol consumption of the patrons; keeping an eye on the pints and quarts that were consumed. As a reminder to the patrons, the bartender would recommend they "mind their Ps and Qs". This may also have been a reminder to bartenders not to confuse the two units, written as "p" and "q" on the tally slate.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
...I like this game!

 

[Cigar Cowboy]

Meaning
It's better to have a small real advantage than the possibility of a greater one.

Origin
This proverb refers back to mediaeval falconry where a bird in the hand (the falcon) was a valuable asset and certainly worth more than two in the bush (the prey).

Ride Roughshod Over...

 

[beercritic]

And Ciggy scores with both definitions!

joe

 

[ciggy]

Ride Roughshod Over...

To act in a bullying or inconsiderate manner; to display disregard towards someone or something.

rain cats and dogs

 

[Fourtotheflush]

To rain cats and dogs - meaning raining very heavily

The much more probable source of 'raining cats and dogs' is the prosaic fact that, in the filthy streets of 17th/18th century England, heavy rain would occasionally carry along dead animals and other debris. The animals didn't fall from the sky, but the sight of dead cats and dogs floating by in storms could well have caused the coining of this colourful phrase.

Next: the buck stops here.

 

[strife]

Rain cats and dogs seems to have a few beginnings, here's one from Norse mythology.
It seems that cats were at one time thought to have influence over storms, especially by sailors, and that dogs were symbols of storms, often accompanying images and descriptions of the Norse storm god Odin. So when some particularly violent tempest appeared, people suggested it was caused by cats (bringing the rain) and dogs (the wind).

Buck stops here:
Colonel A. B. Warfield was quartermaster supply officer and general superintendent of the US Army Transport Service of the New York General Army Depot. During WWII, Warfield was commandant of the Lathrop Holding and Reconsignment depot at Stockton, California and he had such a sign on his desk and was photograph with it in October 1942 for a story in the Reno Evening Gazette. He may have used the sign as early as 1931 but, as the photo makes evident, his use of the phrase clearly predates Truman's.

By the Skin of Your Teeth

 

[Jwrussell]

To act in a bullying or inconsiderate manner; to display disregard towards someone or something.

rain cats and dogs

Not to be picky, but I thought we had to come up with the origin of the phrase?

 

[Jwrussell]

Rain cats and dogs seems to have a few beginnings, here's one from Norse mythology.
It seems that cats were at one time thought to have influence over storms, especially by sailors, and that dogs were symbols of storms, often accompanying images and descriptions of the Norse storm god Odin. So when some particularly violent tempest appeared, people suggested it was caused by cats (bringing the rain) and dogs (the wind).

Buck stops here:
Colonel A. B. Warfield was quartermaster supply officer and general superintendent of the US Army Transport Service of the New York General Army Depot. During WWII, Warfield was commandant of the Lathrop Holding and Reconsignment depot at Stockton, California and he had such a sign on his desk and was photograph with it in October 1942 for a story in the Reno Evening Gazette. He may have used the sign as early as 1931 but, as the photo makes evident, his use of the phrase clearly predates Truman's.

By the Skin of Your Teeth

Meaning: to narrowly escape.

It's origin comes from the Bible;

My bone cleaveth to my skin, and to my flesh, I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.

As to the above "the buck stops here", it's origin is entangled with:

Pass the Buck

 

[Cigar Cowboy]

Ride Roughshod Over...

To act in a bullying or inconsiderate manner; to display disregard towards someone or something. [/B]

That is the definition, but not the origin of the term. The term "ride roughshod" was originally used because Stalin would shoe his horses with horseshoes made with spikes and run the horses into crowds of people causing grave injuries.

Note: Roughshod hourseshoes were designed for icy roads.

 

[Cigar Cowboy]

Pass the Buck

The buck in this case was a buck knife. Poker became very popular in America during the second half of the 19th century. Players were highly suspicious of cheating or any form of bias and there's considerable folklore depicting gunslingers in shoot-outs based on accusations of dirty dealing. In order to avoid unfairness the deal changed hands during sessions. The person who was next in line to deal would be given a marker. This was often a knife, and knives often had handles made of buck's horn - hence the marker becoming known as a buck. When the dealer's turn was done he 'passed the buck'.

Get Off Your High Horse

 

[GolfNut]

Three sheets to the wind. : Sailing term, a sail is a ssheet, most boats of the time had 3 sails, when was no longer controlled by robe , but lost to the wind, the ship was not steerable.


Next: "Mind your p's and q's . (There are 2 answers)


joe

Just a little clarification on this one. In sailing terms, a "sheet" is a rope, not a sail. Here's a little more:

"The “sheets” in the phrase are the lines (ropes) that hold a sail in place. If one of the “sheets” (from the Old English “sceata,” meaning the corner of a sail) comes loose, the sail flaps in the wind and causes the ship to lose power. If two sheets are loose and fluttering in the wind (or “to the wind”), you’re in major trouble, and “three sheets in the wind” means the ship is uncontrollable, reeling like a drunken sailor. Thus “three sheets to the wind” was the perfect metaphor for, at first, a sailor who had celebrated a bit too much on shore leave, and eventually anyone who was too drunk to walk steadily."

 

[ciggy]

Get Off Your High Horse

'High' has long been a synonym for 'powerful'; 'remote from the common people'. This usage isn't limited to being on one's 'high horse' but has also persisted in terms like 'high and mighty', 'high-handed' and 'high finance' and in job titles like 'high commissioner'.

When we now say that people are on their high horse we are implying a criticism of their haughtiness. The first riders of high horses didn't see it that way; they were very ready to assume a proud and commanding position, indeed that was the very reason they had mounted the said horse in the first place. The first references to high horses were literal ones; 'high' horses were large or, as they were often known in mediaeval England, 'great' horses. John Wyclif wrote of them in English Works, circa 1380:

Give No Quarter