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00:00:01
Idioms Unpacked: Where Do These Phrases Really Come From?
4 Plays1 month ago
Why do we say 'steal someone's thunder'? What's the deal with 'making a mountain out of a molehill'? In this episode, we're breaking down the quirky histories and origins of everyday idioms—the ones we use without even thinking about them.
Victoria, Heather, and Shelley each picked their favorites and share the surprising (and sometimes hilarious) stories behind these phrases. Tune in to discover where your go-to expressions actually came from!
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Transcript
00:00:01
Speaker
The 28th Angle Podcast.
00:00:08
Speaker
Hey guys. Hey. Hey, welcome back. Welcome back. Happy Hump Day. Happy Yep. Thanks for joining us again this week and hanging out.
00:00:21
Speaker
um This week's episode, we are going to go over... So each of us have picked out some idioms. um And if you don't know what idioms are, they are... A group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deductible from those of the individual words. That's the definition. Now, that definition would mean nothing to me because it still made no sense.
00:00:46
Speaker
But um some examples are like, it's raining cats and dogs. um Quotes like that. It costs an arm and a leg. um Things like that. So... um yeah and as understand once yeah i'm saying as we go through we'll give them and say what they mean so you'll get the point at at that moment um so yeah you guys ready to get into it yes yeah let's do oh yeah wait i'm just gonna give a heads up to this week it's my turn to be sick um so if you see me mute i will need you guys to take over because i probably am gonna have a coughing fit or something I have ah strep and so I've been taking medicine. I should be okay, but just as a heads up for this week. so all right, now let's get into it. Let's go.
00:01:33
Speaker
Three best friends, twist and spin. Victoria, Heather, and Shelly, let the fun begin. Stories to tell, laughs to ignite. It's the 28th angle, shining bright.
00:01:44
Speaker
Every week, a brand new game. Three voices, one wildfire.
00:02:01
Speaker
right. I think Shelly is going to start us off. Yeah. Okay. so I have picked ones that you I'm sure you've heard. There might be one that you haven't. Okay. So the first one I've been doing is making a mountain out of a molehill.
00:02:17
Speaker
So that means like overreacting to something, right? I'm sure you guys heard it somewhere. Oh, yeah. Yeah. um When someone treats a minor issue, if it were a major crisis. Yeah.
00:02:27
Speaker
So this actually came to be into use in the 16th century. Shelly picked that because that's what she does for everything. Wow. a giig Okay. No, there probably are some things that, yeah, do. so um,
00:02:45
Speaker
sixteenth century in i don't even know greek i think yeah so it was in the sixteenth century it came out some ah Yeah.
00:02:57
Speaker
I don't know. Anyways, when the phrase appeared in 1548, the word mole itself was relatively new. So the word mole wasn't even invented until then. It's weird. It's weird.
00:03:08
Speaker
um Before that, the animal was known by its old English name, want. And a molehill was called Wanting. Want it tump or something. So then it's weird. Then they shortened it down to mole for something. Probably a good idea.
00:03:26
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. So the next one I picked was. It was somebody that couldn't say that. That's what happened. Yeah. I don't know if any of you guys heard this, but if you watch movie elf, then you heard it. If, if, if, ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas.
00:03:44
Speaker
Have you guys ever heard that? Yeah. That's from elf, right? Yeah. I don't think I have until you said it the other day. um It means this phrase used to dismiss excuses, regrets, um and unrealistic hypothetical situations.
00:04:02
Speaker
Wishing or providing reasons why something didn't happen doesn't change reality. So it actually used to be if ifs and ands were pots and pans there'd be no work for Tinker's hands. That's what they used to say back in the day.
00:04:21
Speaker
it's It's really, it's really been twisted around, hasn't it? Yeah. So actually the earliest version that they used, the Christmas version came from a 1970s broadcast of Monday night football, which we all don't watch where ah the host gave a snappy comical response to a fellow commentator's conditional so statements about the game.
00:04:44
Speaker
So, yeah. That's pretty interesting. I thought it came from Elf. So little I know about that one. never heard the other one. The Tinker's hands. I've never heard that.
00:04:56
Speaker
No. a um Okay. So the third one I have, we've all heard it. I've said it a million times. So hit the hay or hit the sack or hit the old hay, you know?
00:05:09
Speaker
So that can obviously means to go to bed. um But it came from the old practice of sleeping on mattresses stuffed with hay. With hay, and I assumed. And they legit had to hit the hay to flatten their bed. Yeah.
00:05:25
Speaker
so I would assume that's where that came from. Yeah. yeah And then the sack was also the same thing. These flower sacks or something. you want me to do my bonus now? Yeah, might as well.
00:05:41
Speaker
Okay, so Break the Ice. We've all heard that one, right? Yeah, I guess. A little bit. Yeah. um means to relieve tension, stiffness or shyness in a social setting.
00:05:54
Speaker
Comes from the old age need for river and sea transport. So this came, it says the literal meaning the problem during the winter rivers and harbors would freeze over. This is probably from Canada or up north.
00:06:07
Speaker
um Blocking all trade and travel by boat. The solution to open up a frozen waterway, smaller, sturdier boats would be sent ahead to literally break the ice.
00:06:18
Speaker
creating a clear path for the larger, more valuable valuable merchant ships to follow. So in the mid 16th century, um the phrase first appeared to make a beginning in an undertaking or enterprise, especially in the face of difficulty.
00:06:35
Speaker
Oh, okay. Yeah. To break through coal reserve. so how did we get that? to I don't know. that's just, yeah It's weird.
00:06:47
Speaker
It meant to be the person who took the de difficult first step paving the way for others. And then that goes to breaking the ice. i Now every new job and energy stuff has icebreakers. Thanks.
00:07:01
Speaker
yeah Yeah. I was going to say our job, um some of our managers do icebreakers during interviews. Oh, really? Yeah. And then we used to do them at every meeting. They're the worst. Yeah.
00:07:16
Speaker
We don't anymore because we don't do morning meetings. I got rid of the whole meeting. I just got rid of the whole meeting. I don't know. That's rude. So those are mine. all right. So I'll do mine then.
00:07:30
Speaker
Did we learn anything from Shelly's? No, I didn't. Breaking the ice makes no sense. That's what I learned. Yeah, that's what I learned too. Those Northerners causing us icebreakers. That's what I learned. So...
00:07:46
Speaker
I, the one that I have is it costs an arm and a leg, which is means it's something very expensive. um The history of it, it it says it's surprisingly modern, but it didn't come, it didn't become popular until after World world War II. So late 1950s.
00:08:09
Speaker
um It's widely believed to be a dark reference to the high cost paid by soldiers in the war, many of whom return home without returning home with literally losting losing an arm or a leg.
00:08:23
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:27
Speaker
But it's likely a mashup of two older phrases. People used to say, like, in the 1600s, I would give my right arm, um which I think I've heard before. um and then the other i've heard the other ones If it takes a leg, which is a 19th century phrase, meaning even if I have to run, walk until my leg breaks. So it's likely a mashup of both of those together. um And then over time, inflation hit our language and giving an arm wasn't enough. So you had to give a leg too.
00:09:02
Speaker
So now we have to, costs an arm and a leg. You can't even just do one or the other, you know, which makes sense. Yeah. The second one I have is a bone to pick.
00:09:18
Speaker
So that means most you probably know, but a complaint or dispute that needs to be settled with somebody. It's usually like I have a bone to pick with you. um So this one takes us back to the 16th century um around 1565.
00:09:36
Speaker
So forever ago. It
00:09:41
Speaker
it is entirely literal and relates to dogs. So imagine a dog trying to get the last bit of meat off of a bone. It is difficult.
00:09:53
Speaker
It takes a long time and the dog is usually singular and focused. Originally, the phrase was slightly different. I have a bone to gnaw with you, which would be funny if somebody said that to me. um it implies a problem that is difficult to chew on or resolve. Um, the feud connection, this phrase is the younger cousin of an idiom, a bone of contention, which I've never heard of that one.
00:10:24
Speaker
I mean, I mean I think maybe I've heard it once or twice, but not enough to remember it. A bone of contention. I don't know. Um, So a bone to pick usually implies a discussion between two people, like two dogs snapping at the same bone.
00:10:41
Speaker
And then just as a heads up, if you use that, you're basically saying, i have if you say I have a bone to pick with you, you are metaphor medical metaphorically so calling yourself a dog who won't let go of a chew toy until you get what you want.
00:10:57
Speaker
So no okay just just note it. oh at them All right. And then my last one.
00:11:11
Speaker
i'm so hungry i could eat This one's usually a person very hungry and could eat a lot of food.
00:11:22
Speaker
So the earliest recorded version of this phrase is around 1824. And it's it was much weirder then compared to what we say today the original version was often i could eat a horse behind the saddle so historians debate what this meant something something it meant eating a horse's rear end while others think it means um you were so hungry you could eat the horse and the leather leather saddle bags attached to it so both of them was weird i don't know ah
00:12:02
Speaker
Um, right then so the reason this phrase works is because in English and American history, eating horse meat was a huge cultural taboo. Horses were pets, transport, and workers, not food.
00:12:17
Speaker
Um, if you said I could eat an ox, nobody would care because people eat Um, But so saying you could eat a horse in the 19th century is the equivalent of saying, I'm so hungry I could eat my car.
00:12:38
Speaker
It emphasizes that you have lost your mind with hunger and are willing to do something socially unacceptable. So, yeah, and that's all mine.
00:12:50
Speaker
It makes sense. Okay. so my first one is spill the beans, which I'm sure we've all heard. um Definitely. i Which is to reveal a secret prematurely is what it means. um It actually has two different meanings, I guess. And I didn't even realize that until I was just looking some up.
00:13:11
Speaker
um But it obviously, so it started... with voting. It actually started in with ancient Greece um when they voted.
00:13:22
Speaker
White beans, they used I guess they used to use white and black beans and white beans signified yes vote and black beans signified a no vote. And so it was like a literal meaning of if someone accidentally knocked over the jar, the beans would spill out.
00:13:38
Speaker
So in the results, the secret would then be revealed. Yeah. You spilled the beans. I didn't know that. I thought it was kind of cool. That actually makes sense. Yeah. Yeah. So, but I guess...
00:13:51
Speaker
In 1902, it was the first time it was actually like written out, and it had a totally different meaning, which I thought was kind of interesting. um So I guess the first time Spill the Beans was written out for the American slang, um which had nothing to do with secrets. It was actually um um an American slang for ruining a gamble.
00:14:15
Speaker
um I guess reporters used it a lot to describe a long shot horse winning a race, meaning it was to upset the apple cart or ruin the plan.
00:14:31
Speaker
So it says, imagine you're holding a plate of food and beans in parentheses. If someone bumps you, you spill your meal. It's a mess. In racing, if the underdog horse won, he spilled the beans for all the gamblers who bet on their favorite horse. ah Therefore, they lost their meal or yeah so That's funny. i thought that was kind of cool.
00:14:58
Speaker
Yeah, that is kind of cool Obviously, that has evolved in a lot of ways. It says 1902, it was ruining the situation. And 1919 is when it switched to ruining a situation or ruining a secret situation.
00:15:17
Speaker
And then phase three, as like today, is just telling a secret or ruining part of whatever. see a surprise. Yeah. So, or just gossip it mainly means no, I guess.
00:15:33
Speaker
My second one would be barking up the wrong tree. I do feel like most of us probably know where this came from, maybe. Maybe not. I could be wrong. um I feel like it might make sense when I hear it.
00:15:47
Speaker
Yeah, it will, because it's so, like... Like, oh, yeah. Like, duh. um Anyways, barking up the wrong tree means to pursue a mistaken or misguided line of thought or course of action. course I would assume that a dog was like barking up a tree looking for something, but it was the wrong tree.
00:16:05
Speaker
Yeah, so history comes from, this is an early American raccoon hunting in the 1800s. Like, hunting dogs were trained to chase raccoons up trees and then bark at the base of the tree to alert the hunter where the prey's location is.
00:16:22
Speaker
But because raccoons are so smart, they often often hop from tree to tree, therefore leaving the dog or... you know, whatever it is, barking up the wrong tree. So literally barking up the wrong tree.
00:16:38
Speaker
So yeah, it's pretty literal in its term. um My third one is stealing someone's thunder, um which is to take credit for someone else's idea or to draw attention away from someone else's big moment.
00:16:56
Speaker
um I guess the history started... in the 18th century theater. picked this one because I feel like I have a lot of theater surrounding me, whether we go see him them or my kids are in them or do something with them anyway. So I thought it was kind of cool. um The 18th century, i guess there was an actual playwright um named John Dennis invented a new machine to create a realistic thunder sound effect, which it was just a rattling sheet of tin for his play.
00:17:30
Speaker
I don't even know how to say it, but it was a night in 1709. don't know how to say the name. And then I guess his play flopped and was canceled immediately. However, shortly after, Dennis attended a performance of Macbeth in the same theater and heard them using his sound machine.
00:17:49
Speaker
He stood up in the audience and yelled, damn them, they will not play. They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder because it was an actual thunder machine. literally stole his thunder. Yeah, they literally stole his thunder. That's kind of funny, actually, yeah.
00:18:06
Speaker
yeah um my bonus one will be um sleep tight and i picked it just because i thought it was cool and i i started thinking about it after shelly had read hers that me and her both ended with sleeping ones sleep on one onus so sleep tight which is obviously means a a wish for a good night's sleep um the history takes us back to the 1600s before invention of box springs. So beds were essentially wooden frames with grid of rope woven, woven. I don't know why I can't say that word right now.
00:18:46
Speaker
um Across them to support the mattress, which was usually stuffed with straw or feathers, or I guess, hey, would still be the same as straw. um over times the over time the rope would stretch and sag making the bed uncomfortable to fix this you had to use a special iron tool or a bed key to physically tighten the ropes to make the bed firm again so sleep tight was a literal instruction for a comfortable night's sleep that's crazy imagine doing that now I better go get the bed key laughing
00:19:25
Speaker
do you know where that bed cue went? I swear you had it last. i have a go over where it went I'd be screwed.
00:19:34
Speaker
Your kids would have ran off with this.
00:19:39
Speaker
I found some um a couple here that if you want I can read real quick. um I have a game to end on if you want as well um but go you can go ahead and read yours. Okay.
00:19:55
Speaker
So the lights are on, but nobody's home. Have you heard that one? h The literal image, a vacant house with the porch light glowing, but what it means used to describe a person who is not very bright, slow-witted, or simply daydreaming and not paying attention.
00:20:13
Speaker
I have that happen to me sometimes. ah I daydream or not pay attention. um I never heard this one. To have Van Gogh's ear for music.
00:20:27
Speaker
So the literal image is an artist with a self-mutilated ear listening to a song, meaning to be completely unmusical, to have no ability to judge or appreciate musical tones.
00:20:39
Speaker
okay Okay. So I've heard the one I'm going to say next, I've heard somebody say, and I didn't know what the heck they meant. i do.
00:20:50
Speaker
To chew the fat. Have heard that? I think I've heard it before. Yeah. I feel like I've heard of it before. Literally putting a mouthful of animal fat to chew on.
00:21:03
Speaker
Gross. What it why actually means to chat in a friendly, leisurely way, especially about trivial things to have a long gossip session. I like long gossip sessions. They're quite fun.
00:21:17
Speaker
so i don't i don't get how those two coincide yeah i know right it's chewing fat for me would be something disgusting like yeah oh i think we've heard this i say it different but running around like a headless chicken i say like running around with your head cut off like chicken head cut off or whatever yeah literal meaning chaotic image of chicken after its head has been chopped off which i have actually seen It's crazy.
00:21:45
Speaker
And it means to be acting frantically, disorganized, or in a state of panic.
00:21:55
Speaker
That's it.
00:21:57
Speaker
So i have a game we can end on. So it's kind of like true truth two truths and a lie, but it's with idioms. So I'll give you guys an idiom and then I'll give you three options and you have to pick which one you think is the truth on where it came from. Okay. You guys want to do that?
00:22:17
Speaker
Yeah, let's do it. All right. So saved by the bell. So option one, yeah option one in the 19th century, people were terrified of being buried alive. So safety coffins were invented with a string attached to the corpse finger that led to the bell above ground. If you woke up in the coffin, you rang the bell and you were saved. Okay.
00:22:44
Speaker
Option two or B. I don't know if i said a or one the first time. I don't um In 17th century London, a guard at Newgate Prison had to ring a specific bell 12 times before hanging before a hanging. There was a famous case where the bell's clapper broke on the first ring. The silence was seen as an act of God and the prisoner was saved by the bell.
00:23:14
Speaker
And then option C. It comes from a professional boxing. It comes from professional boxing in the late 1800s. If a fighter is knocked down and the referee is counting them out, but the round ending bell rings before the count reaches 10, they are saved by the bell and get a minute to recover.
00:23:37
Speaker
It's A. Yeah, I think it's A too because I've heard of that. The bells on the grave. Yeah. so I see it actually, I think in a TikTok too. It's actually C. Is it really? What?
00:23:52
Speaker
So the safety coffin story is a massive internet myth. So while the safety coffins were real inventions, yeah there's no record of that phase ever being used to describe them.
00:24:04
Speaker
I feel like I've heard of it before. It is purely sports slang in the 19th century. That's crazy. Oh, okay. Yeah. Yeah. I liked that because I would have guessed A too. So A would have been like, oh yeah, I've heard of that many times. so Yeah, because I've seen the bells. like And it fits. You're saved by the bell, I guess.
00:24:20
Speaker
Literally saved by the bell. so knew How would they know if somebody was buried alive? Like they didn't do embalming back then. Yeah, I mean, the bell that's a real thing. It's just the the idiom saved by the bell didn't come from yeah from that. so But that yeah that's 100% a real thing.
00:24:38
Speaker
Which I guess thinking about it, it makes sense. It didn't come from that. But I had just heard that story before. so Well, we got zero. Zero so far. i There's only two, so we'll see. So we're failing here. We either go zero or 50 or not. We're failing either way. Zero or one at this point.
00:25:02
Speaker
So but the second one, it and you guys turning a blind eye. Did you guys do it? I don't think so, right? No. Okay, good. Because I had to, the second one was barking up the wrong tree, which you did. So I'm skipping that one. I just wanted to make sure I didn't blank out for a second. um So turning a blind eye.
00:25:22
Speaker
So it means to pretend not to notice something basically. So option A. Pirates often wore eye patches, not because they were missing an eye, but to keep one eye adjusted to the dark for when they went below deck. If a pirate wanted to ignore a captain's orders, he would move the eye patch to his good eye, claiming he couldn't see the officer giving the command.
00:25:48
Speaker
So option B in medieval courts, um, so statues of justice were not yet blindfolded.
00:26:00
Speaker
um corrupt judges would often physically cover one eye with a hand when a wealthy friend was on the stand signaling, signaling they would turn a blind eye to the evidence. Um,
00:26:14
Speaker
That would be weird. um Option C. It comes from the famous British Admiral, I'm not even going to try, Horatio Nelson. I'm sure I said that wrong. um he He was blind in one eye.
00:26:29
Speaker
During the Battle of Copenhagen in 1801, his superior signaled him to retreat. Nelson wanted to keep fighting, so he held his telescope to his blind eye and famously said, I really do not see the signal.
00:26:44
Speaker
And he kept fighting and won the battle. ah Oh.
00:26:53
Speaker
I don't know. I kind of want to go with B, but... I want to go with I'm going to go with A a and B? Yeah. The truth is c
00:27:07
Speaker
I almost told you, but I felt like it was such a weird... It was, yeah. But I felt like it gave so much detail, it was almost giving it away. Like, I don't know. Maybe it's just because I'm reading it here. But yeah, the truth is C. Admiral Nelson. It is a badass historical moment. Nelson actually disobeyed orders by using his disability as an excuse. He won the battle, so he wasn't punished.
00:27:31
Speaker
So yeah. Interesting. turned a blind eye. Okay. Okay. And then I asked, um I looked, I did some research on like the the most uncommons just to finish it off.
00:27:42
Speaker
um The most uncommon or unknown idioms. um And the first one is stealing someone's thunder. So it's funny that you did that one. And that it was such a good story. Yeah. Which is funny because I've i've heard that one a lot. So that seems a pretty common one. I've heard it when it came to like a wedding or whatever. I don't want to steal her thunder. That's when I've always heard it Yeah. Like you don't get engaged at somebody's wedding. Yeah. You're still there. Thunder. Yeah.
00:28:11
Speaker
Um, paint the town red, which I have heard, but I've never used it. Cause I don't know what that means. comes from, I guess. Does it come from a song? No, I'm not saying it comes from the song, but I know it from a song. Yeah. I'm used to go out and have a wild rowdy time. So yeah, I've never used it obviously, but, um,
00:28:32
Speaker
I think if we were like maybe in our 60s or 70s, we might use it. It came from 1837. Yeah, there is. i know what you're talking about.
00:28:44
Speaker
It's a popular song like nowadays. Yeah. can't I can hear it in my head, but I don't. I have no idea. i Never heard it. yes you have i'm sure you have um to give someone the cold shoulder yep i've heard that one yep i heard that one a lot pleased as punch i definitely haven't heard that one as much so i could see that one being a little unknown think i've heard it heard maybe from my old people that i used to take care of please as punch yeah your old people how many old people you own chili
00:29:14
Speaker
and It means to be extremely proud or delighted. It's funny because that's probably where I've heard it though. Yeah, I think it's where I've heard it too. Yeah.
00:29:27
Speaker
um So this one actually is quite dark. It refers to the Punch and Judy puppet shows that have that has been popular in England since the 1600s.
00:29:39
Speaker
The character Mr. Punch is a horrific villain in the puppet show. he beats his wife. Seriously? Drops his baby, fights a policeman and tricks the devil. Throughout the show, after committing these terrible acts, he squawks his catchphrase. That's the way to do it.
00:29:56
Speaker
Wow. What? He is always portrayed as gleeful and proud of his violence. So saying you are pleased as punch actually meant you were smiling about something surprisingly wicked. Just so you know. If you're pleased as punch, you're happy, but it's not about a good thing. Those residents, they probably were up to something. I was going to say that in the literal term. Sounds about right with them. older people it's probably at a doctor at the doctor's office and who knows what they were up to and then the last one to butter someone up so i've heard that one a lot but i don't use it so i think i've said it a couple of times so i gotta butter them up i guess all of these lesser known or whatever that this is just the research here doesn't mean it's true um
00:30:45
Speaker
I've never used any of them, so I guess I could see why they're lesser or they're unknown or are uncommon because people don't use them as much. Maybe that's what it means more so than anything else. Yeah. So, yeah. To butter someone up.
00:30:57
Speaker
To flatter someone excessively to get something. so Did you hear my kids screaming in the background? Oh, that was your kid? I thought it was a cat. No, that was... thought it was one of Heather's cats. That was my kid. Oh. Who knows what he's screaming about. So I'm sorry. But yeah, feeling that was the last one. It, uh, it came, it comes from an ancient Indian custom of throwing balls of clarified butter at the statues of gods to ask for favors or forgiveness. So, Oh, wow.
00:31:29
Speaker
That's weird. Here's some butter. Yeah. Yeah. If you wanted the gods to listen to your prayer, you literally buttered them up first. Okay. Wow. The phrase traveled and evolved to me slathering someone with compliments to make them soft and pliable to your request.
00:31:49
Speaker
That's funny, actually. But yeah, I think that will be the end of that. So, yeah. Thanks for listening.
00:32:00
Speaker
Yeah, it was interesting. It was fun. Yeah, thanks for hanging out, guys. Thanks for being here. um We will be back next week. so ye Remember to follow, subscribe, share, like, comment, all the things.
00:32:16
Speaker
Concerns. All the things. If you have concerns. You know those concerns. Questions, concerns, comments. and what are you concerned about? And Christmas is next week.
00:32:30
Speaker
And then next week is Christmas. Yep. So we'll do something Christmassy next week for sure. So make sure you join us for that.
00:32:41
Speaker
And we'll see you guys next week. Yep. Thanks for the laughs, the time we spent. Every every moment, man.
00:32:52
Speaker
Take it in, let it tango.
00:32:58
Speaker
Always remember, look at life from me