Phraseology Tidbits

[PennLady]

Banquo and the banquet is a Shakespearean reference to 'Macbeth' where the ghost of the murdered Banquo haunts a royal dinner.

The female cuckoo pushes other nesting birds out of their nests in order to lay her eggs.

15 stone is equivalent to about 210 pounds, so a bit of a bruiser.

All this is a reference to the Scottish (capital 'S') ceremony of New Year where a dark-haired male stranger must be a 'first-footer' who brings a 'wee drammy' and a piece of coal to each house to celebrate the New Year. Neighbors knock on eah others' doors.

The song is an allusion to the uninvited guest rather than the welcome ' First footer' of the New Year.

So I guess the translation is, "I'm the person you'd least like to see at your door."

Hope this helps.

Yes, I got the other allusions. The entire song is based on the idea of things you don't want. "I'm the evil in your bloodstream/I'm the rash upon your skin/and you made a big mistake, all right/the day you let me in." I think it can be taken literally, as in one person kind of stalking another, or not quite so literally, as in someone doing something bad that then haunts them. And yes, it comes down to the fifteen-stone first footer being yet one more thing you don't want to see or meet.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

http://aaa

Ok...so what's a brass monkey? Is it indeed some sort of naval cannon(ball?) reference or was this inaccurate?

I still don't know the origin of pony...I've not read the documents others may have.

Pony is an argot term in UK for £ 25, about $ 18.

I'm getting a bit frustrated as Kipfer has been widely denigrated for inadequate research and unsupported theories. Still, sr tries to parade them as facts. For what purpose I don't know.

Even the Wiki link is silly. Try this;

[URL ="http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/cold%20enough%20to%20freeze%20the%20balls%20off%20a%20brass%20monkey.htm"]http:// phrasesl[/URL]

 

[elfin_odalisque]

Yes, I got the other allusions. The entire song is based on the idea of things you don't want. "I'm the evil in your bloodstream/I'm the rash upon your skin/and you made a big mistake, all right/the day you let me in." I think it can be taken literally, as in one person kind of stalking another, or not quite so literally, as in someone doing something bad that then haunts them. And yes, it comes down to the fifteen-stone first footer being yet one more thing you don't want to see or meet.

Absolutely, with a Scottish twang.

 

[NaughtyGingerBoy]

http://aaa

Pony is an argot term in UK for £ 25, about $ 18.

I'm getting a bit frustrated as Kipfer has been widely denigrated for inadequate research and unsupported theories. Still, sr tries to parade them as facts. For what purpose I don't know.

Even the Wiki link is silly. Try this;

[URL ="http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/cold%20enough%20to%20freeze%20the%20balls%20off%20a%20brass%20monkey.htm"]http:// phrasesl[/URL]

I know pony means 25 quid. I asked for the origin of the term.

If you're frustrated then ignore or post your own(with whatever disclaimers you wish).

It's only the internet after all.

 

[sr71plt]

Again and again

The phrase "dribs and drabs" is a repetitive one, as both words appear to mean a "small quantity or amount." So "dribs and drabs" must mean a really, really smal quantity or amount. It's origin goes back at least as far as a letter written by Abraham Lincoln in 1862. Sometimes it can be seen written as "drips and drabs," which makes sense, but isn't the original phrase.

These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

 

[PennLady]

I'm getting a bit frustrated as Kipfer has been widely denigrated for inadequate research and unsupported theories. Still, sr tries to parade them as facts. For what purpose I don't know.

No, he is not parading them as facts. He has said numerous times he's doing this for fun, to throw these out there, and he puts a disclaimer on every one now, saying these are based on Kipfer's book. He doesn't even say he agrees with Kipfer. Quite honestly, I'm tired of your posts -- we're adults (most of us) and we can decide if we believe or not or want to investigate more. Please stop acting like the rest of us are stupid.

 

[sr71plt]

It's in the cards

The phrase "according to Hoyle," used to mean "by the rules" or "within set bounds" comes from Edmond Hoyle (1672-1769), who was the authority of the day in England on the rules for whist (Short Treatise on the Game of Whist), backgammon, and chess. (If you cite him in an American poker game, you might get the horse laugh, though.)

These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

 

[sr71plt]

I'd prefer steak

The phrase "to chew the fat" is said to mean to argue a point (although I've seen it used more often for idle discussion). It has the allusion to mouth movements when trying to chew through fat. The phrase is said to date from 1885 (in a book by J Brunlees Patterson called Life in the Ranks of the British Army in India) and orginally to have meant "to grumble or complain." The use of idle conversation dates to 1907.

"Chewing the carpet" is different, though--it denotes vociferous anger; losing emotional control (originating, according to Jonathon Green's Dictionary of Slang, as U.S. slang from the 1950s).

These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

I know pony means 25 quid. I asked for the origin of the term.

If you're frustrated then ignore or post your own(with whatever disclaimers you wish).

It's only the internet after all.

Don't get out of your tree.

Pony(£25) and Monkey for £500 are originally from pictures on Indian currency during the British colonial prescence when the Indian banknotes were roughly equivalent to English amounts. Hope this helps.

 

[sr71plt]

Alas, not iron

the phrase "feet of clay," used today to mean having a character flaw or a weakness in someone otherwise thought to be strong comes from the Book of Daniel in the Bible (2:31-33), where Daniel advised Nebuchadnezzar, king of Bablyon, that his kingdom was weak, having both feet of iron (strength) and feet of clay (weakness).

These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

 

[sr71plt]

It's all in the raising

The term "raising cain" can be a head scratcher. It's obvious that the reference is to the biblical story of the first two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, where Cain became the world's first criminal by slaying his brother, Able, out of jealousy. But on the surface, it seems the term makes little sense, because it means to "cause havoc." It's Able who is dead, so how could the raising of Cain (from the dead?) cause havoc? It can do so because the term has its origins in the fourteenth century, when "raise" meant "conjure up." So, havoc can ensue from the "conjuring up" of the world's first murderer. (And those medievalists much loved their conjurings up of evil things--especially from the Bible.)


These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

 

[sr71plt]

Reaching waaay back for that pot

Although the Republican Party used the phrase "a chicken in every pot" (and a car in every backyard) to shovel Herbert Hoover into the presidency in 1928, they stole the term from Henry IV in seventeenth-century France, who boasted to France's peasants that, under his reign, they would enjoy "a chicken in his pot every Sunday" (which, I guess, needed to stretch to the end of the week).


These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

The phrase "to chew the fat" is said to mean to argue a point (although I've seen it used more often for idle discussion). It has the allusion to mouth movements when trying to chew through fat. The phrase is said to date from 1885 (in a book by J Brunlees Patterson called Life in the Ranks of the British Army in India) and orginally to have meant "to grumble or complain." The use of idle conversation dates to 1907.

"Chewing the carpet" is different, though--it denotes vociferous anger; losing emotional control (originating, according to Jonathon Green's Dictionary of Slang, as U.S. slang from the 1950s).

These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

I agree with you. 'Chew the fat' is surely a synonym for 'shoot the breeze' - just idle discussion?

 

[sr71plt]

Speaking of . . .

The term "shooting the breeze" is said to come from the American West in the early twentieth century, when cowboys were too macho to be having chats. Their idle conversations were characterized by taking practice shots in the air while being together for idle talk. This also seems to have been the origin of "talking bull."

These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

 

[sr71plt]

Off stage

The areas just off stage right and left in the theater where actors hover waiting to go onstage are the "wings," and the phrases "waiting in the wings" (off the scene ready to come in) and "winging it" (doing something with little preparation) are generally given the origin of stage terms. The reference to "waiting in the wings" is pretty obvious. "Winging it" probably comes from an actor suddenly being thrown into a stage role and standing in the wings and cramming line memorization so he/she can handle going out on stage and acting a role with little preparation.

These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

 

[elfin_odalisque]

The term "raising cain" can be a head scratcher. It's obvious that the reference is to the biblical story of the first two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, where Cain became the world's first criminal by slaying his brother, Able, out of jealousy. But on the surface, it seems the term makes little sense, because it means to "cause havoc." It's Able who is dead, so how could the raising of Cain (from the dead?) cause havoc? It can do so because the term has its origins in the fourteenth century, when "raise" meant "conjure up." So, havoc can ensue from the "conjuring up" of the world's first murderer. (And those medievalists much loved their conjurings up of evil things--especially from the Bible.)


These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

Well no, not quite, 'raising cain is a 19th c Americanism.

The transitive verb 'to raise' has been used since at least the 14th century to mean 'to conjure up; to cause a spirit to appear by means of incantations'. Geoffrey Chaucer made use of that meaning in The Canon's Yeoman's Tale, circa 1395:


I haue yow told ynowe To reyse a feend al looke he neuere so rowe.

In Modern English - [I have told you enough already to raise a fiend, look he never so savage.]

If you make trouble you are raising, i.e. conjuring up, the accursed spirit of Cain. This is similar to several phrases that allude to calling-up or 'raising' the Devil. There's 'raise the Devil' of course and also 'raise hob' and 'raise hell'.

The phrase is American and is first found there in the late 19th century; for example, this little pun on the word 'raised' from the St. Louis' Daily Pennant, May 1840:


"Why have we every reason to believe that Adam and Eve were both rowdies? Because they both raised Cain."

from phrases.org.uk

 

[sr71plt]

Oh, I see

The phrase "handwriting on the wall," as a message conveyed so clearly that it's like it was painted in big letters on the wall, may have its origins in the Bible. The Book of Daniel (5:5-31) provides a passage in which Daniel interprets mysterious writing that the Babylonian king's court watched a disembodied hand write on the palace wall and that gives King Belshazzar the bad news he would be overthrown. For reasons of his own, King B. thanked Daniel, dressed him in purple, covered him with jewelry, and proclaimed him the third highest ruler in Babylon (no reference to who was number 2; I'm betting it was the queen). That night somebody else celebrated and offed King B.

In a 2fer, this may also be the origin for the term "your days are numbered" (Daniel 5:25-27), because that's what Daniel's translation said was written on the wall.

These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

 

[sr71plt]

Sorry, Kimosabe

Contrary to the obvious first thought, the term "silver bullet" wasn't invented by the Lone Ranger. As it relates to an actual bullet, it popped up about 1908 with the meaning of a "very effective, almost magical remedy." Its antecedent, however, goes way back to ancient Greece and the Delphic Oracle's advice to Philip of Macedon (Alex's daddy), who was told to use silver weapons in his battles and he'd conquer his foes.

These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

 

[desertslave]

Contrary to the obvious first thought, the term "silver bullet" wasn't invented by the Lone Ranger. As it relates to an actual bullet, it popped up about 1908 with the meaning of a "very effective, almost magical remedy." Its antecedent, however, goes way back to ancient Greece and the Delphic Oracle's advice to Philip of Macedon (Alex's daddy), who was told to use silver weapons in his battles and he'd conquer his foes.

This reminds me (for some quirky reason) of a 'silver rod,' an item which was used to treat syphilis from the Renaissance until the advent of antibiotics. The rod was actually a slender wire which was heated and used like a urethral sound. There's a scene in the film "Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday" where a cowboy teases his Indian buddy about the treatment. It probably would have slipped from my mind entirely had I not moved to Brooklyn, NY a year later. There was a chain of drugstores throughout the NYC area called the Silver Rod Pharmacy.

 

[Pure]

a phrase seen in Lit stories is "peaking my curiosity"... cute.

 

[sr71plt]

a phrase seen in Lit stories is "peaking my curiosity"... cute.

Yes, that's cute. Wonder why, trying to be logical, they don't render it "peeking my curiosity," though. That would be just as cute.

It would be great to see a story that correctly used all three variations.

 

[sr71plt]

Nothing new

The phrase "you are what you eat" isn't some new fad term. It was used as early as 1825 in a book, Physilogie du gout, by Anthelme Brillat-Savarin.

These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

 

[TimothyM]

The female cuckoo pushes other nesting birds out of their nests in order to lay her eggs.

Ehm sorry to correct you, but it is not the adult female cuckoo who does the pushing. She finds a nest of some small bird and lays one egg in it. After hatching the cuckoo chick pushes the other eggs (and/or hatchlings) out of the nest until it is alone. The poor birds who have now lost their own brood then feeds the cuckoo. I'm not sure how many egg the female cuckoo can lay, but she only puts one in each nest. Very smart but nasty way of getting someone else to do all the hard work. So the cuckoo in your nest is the parasite you got tricked into taking care off after he or she destroyed your own children.

 

[sr71plt]

A mean in a minute

The origin of the phrase "cold turkey" is really hazy. It has been taken over by the alcoholics and drugees to refer to the side effects of trying to kick their habits--cold sweats and gooseflesh, but before the dregs took it over, it was used to mean "suddenly without preparatin or warning, and it may have slid over from a nineteenth-century term, "talk turkey," meaning “to speak directly and frankly, without beating around the bush”--something like slapping the turkey on the table so fast you didn't take time to heat it up.

These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.

 

[sr71plt]

I think I prefer the cat

The use of the phrase "letting the cat out of the bag" as revealing a secret of some sort is said to trace back to the Middle Ages when pigs were considered so unclean, although they were eaten, that they were sold in bags. When someone bought a bag of pork and discovered that the bag contained a cat instead, which presumably was cheaper than a piglet, and fooled the owner, he was said to have let the cat out of the bag.

These tidbits are mainly based on Barbara Ann Kipfer’s book, Phraseology. Where other sources are used, they will be given. Observations from other sources are quite welcome, preferably with the source identified.