Today I wanted to take some time and look at how we ended up doing some of the things we do.
Let's start out with the custom of shaking hands. It is a strange idea. It was believed that you extendedd your hand to shake to ensure that the other person was not carrying a weapon. It was a chance to 'shake' out hidden weapons. It was the right hand because everyone was right handed. People who were left handed were considered to be evil.
The phrase 'dead as a door nail' came from the following. Doornails are the large-headed studs that were used in earlier times for strength and more recently, as decoration at door openings.
The practice was to hammer the nail through and then bend the protruding end over to secure it. This process, similar to riveting, was such that the nail could not be used for other parts of the jamb thus it was a dead doornail.
Let's take a look at the term 'with bated breath.' It is so much simpler than we imagine. First of all, the phrase used is from, the word abated. It has been shortened to bated breath. It is the moment when our breathing is very subdued because of the anticipation. The incorrect word 'baited' often has been used. This mis-use of the word even occurred in the Harry Potter books.
"Butter him up" is used to flatter someone. It comes from ancient India. One of the customary religious acts involves devotees throwing balls of butter at the statues of their gods. This was meant to ask for the gods' forgiveness and favor.
"Cat got your tongue" was used when a question was thrown at a person and they had no response. In the English Navy flogging with a whip of cat-o-nine-tails was a form of punishment. Often the pain would be so much that the victim would stay mute for an extended period of time.
"Caught red-handed" was about catching someone in the act of doing something wrong. An old English law stipulated that anyone who butchered another person's animal would be punished. The condition meant he would still have bloody hands or be caught red-handed.
"Straight from the horse's mouth" was about getting information from a relliable source. During the 1900's in order to determine the age of a horse, a buyer would examine its teeth. This would confirm the age of the horse.
Finally we have 'go the whole nine yards' which is about giving your all toward something. Fighter pilots during World War II had nine yards worth of automatic ammunition. When they gave their all in the battle, they would use up the whole nine yards of ammunition.
So you can see there is always a story behind idioms that tell us where they came from. Language is built upon the past to get to the present. It is the same for all parts of the process. Nothing comes from a vacuum!
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