“Alexa, What Does This Phrase Mean?”
WORD ON THE STREET FOUND OUT THE ORIGINS OF SOME ODD PHRASES.
Horse a piece? Many ways to skin a cat? Why, oh why, do certain weird phrases roll right off of our tongue without knowing where they come from or what they even mean? Skip Alexa and let us help you dive deeper into some commonly used phrases.
“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.” Translation: Don’t get your hopes up solely based on assumptions since that can lead to disappointment. This saying goes back to at least the 16th century.1 The earliest known appearance in print is in the book New Sonnets and Pretty Pamphlets by Thomas Howell, 1570.
“A piece of cake.” Translation: Something easily done. There is quite a bit of controversy surrounding how the phrase came about. One side believes it comes from a dance or celebration in which slaves in the South would compete in dances that imitated and subtly mocked the gestures of the slave owners. The most elegant couple or team would be given a cake as an award.6 Another take on the origin relates it to the Royal Air Force in the late 1930s in which it meant an easy mission.7
“An arm and a leg.” Translation: Used to describe something which costs an exorbitant amount or is at least perceived to. It is thought to have origins before the 1600s. The phrase started to appear in newspapers in 1901.3
“By the skin of my teeth.” Translation: A situation in which one barely escapes a disaster. The phrase can be found word for word in the book of Job:“My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth” (Job 19:20, KJV).2
“Beating around the bush.” Translation: Avoiding the main point in a conversation. This phrase evolved from the literal meaning. People would beat the bushes in a bird hunt to rouse the birds.4 The phrase first appears in a 1440 medieval poem “Generydes—A Romance in Seven-line Stanzas.”5
“Take it with a grain of salt.” Translation: To accept something but still be a little skeptical about its truth. The origin is unknown but there are some hypotheses. For example, one instance can be found in writing by Pliny Elder where he translated what some suggest is an antidote to poison dating back to the Roman Empire.8
“Close but no cigar.” Translation: A person who fell short of a successful outcome and therefore receives no reward. This phrase most likely originated from the 1920s when fairs and carnivals would hand out cigars as prizes.9
1knowyourphrase.com/don’t-count-your-chickens-before 2www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/83000.html 3mentalfloss.com/article/56017/10-wacky-whoppers-about-origins-popular-18th-century-phrases 4knowyourphrase.com/beating-around-the-bush 5phrases.org.uk/meanings/beat-around-the-bush.html 6english.stackexchange.com/questions/431679/the-conflicting-origin-of-a-piece-of-cake 7idioms.thefreedictionary.com/piece+of+cake 8phrases.org.uk/meanings/take-with-a-grain-of-salt.html 9rd.com/article/close-but-no-cigar-origin/