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What ? Words: Run Amok
Meaning To ‘run amok’, which is sometimes spelled ‘run amuck,’ is to behave in a wild or unruly manner. Origin ‘Run amok’ is now synonymous with the term ‘go crazy,’ but originally had a specific meaning. The term originated in Southeast Asia, where ‘amok’ (variously spelled amuk, amuck, amuco) meant ‘a murderous frenzy or rage.’ ...
What ? Words: Break the Ice
To break the ice (1) to relax a tense or formal atmosphere or social situation; (2) to make a start on some endeavor. This came into general use, in sense (1), in English through Lord Byron’s “Don Juan” (1823) in the lines: And your cold people [the British] are beyond all price, When once you’ve ...
What ? Words: Cat Got Your Tongue
Theory #1 The saying comes from the Middle East, where as punishment, liars had their tongues ripped out and fed to the king’s cats. Theory #2 Fear of a whipping with a cat-o’-nine-tails, or “cat” for short, could paralyze a victim into silence. Theory #3 The expression comes from the Middle Ages when witches were ...
What ? Words: The Whole Shebang
Meaning All of it; the whole thing. Origin This is an American phrase, from the 1920s. The first question for those of us not living in the USA, and I suspect quite a few that do, is, what’s a shebang? That isn’t so easy to answer. The earliest known citation of the word uses it ...
What ? Words: Pass The Acid Test
Referring to an absolute, demanding, or ultimate challenge or measure of quality or capability – deriving from very old times, several hundreds of years ago – when nitric acid was used to determine the purity or presence of gold, especially when gold was currency before coinage. Gold does not dissolve in nitric acid, whereas less ...
What ? Words: Cost An Arm And A Leg
In George Washington’s days, there were no cameras. One’s image was either sculpted or painted. Some paintings of George Washington showed him standing behind a desk with one arm behind his back while others showed both legs and both arms. Prices charged by painters were not based on how many people were to be painted, ...
What ? Words: Gung Ho
This unofficial motto of the US Marine Corps is an abbreviation for the Mandarin Gongye Hezhoushe, or industrial cooperative. The term was used in China, starting in 1938, to refer to small, industrial operations that were being established in rural China to replace the industrial centers that had been captured by the Japanese. The phrase ...
What ? Words: Flash In The Pan
Meaning: Something which disappoints by failing to deliver anything of value, despite a showy beginning. Origin: There’s reason to believe that this phrase derives from the Californian Gold Rush of the mid 19th century. Prospectors who panned for gold supposedly became excited when they saw something glint in the pan, only to have their hopes ...
What ? Words: Read Between the Lines
To “read between the lines” is to discern a meaning which isn’t made obvious or explicit. This expression derives from a simple form of cryptography, apparently used for centuries, in which a hidden meaning was conveyed by secreting it between lines of text, often with invisible ink. This process was apparently “cracked” in the mid ...
What ? Words: Limelight
The term “limelight” today refers to any position of public attention. The word can be traced back to the 19th Century, when lighting fixtures that burned lime were used to illuminate theatrical stages. Thus, performers were literally “in the limelight” when they were on stage. Although lime is no longer used in this way, being ...
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