Desk

American Speech

analysistrainingsystems

50 entries. Real origins. The joke that still runs in speech, and the soft name that hides the hard thing.

50 of 50

idiomdisputedThe whole nine yardsEverything. No remainder.
Origin
The Mitchell Commercial, May 1907, has “the full nine yards.” The same paper has “the whole nine yards” in 1908. “The whole six yards” appears in the Mount Vernon Signal, Kentucky, 1912. Concrete trucks, WWII ammo belts, and Scottish kilts are later stories. What the yards were has not been shown.
More than one serious candidate
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedBite the bulletEndure something painful without theater.
Origin
Figurative print: Kipling, 1890–91 (“Bite on the bullet”). Earlier military: a soldier biting a bullet during a flogging (Grose, 1788). The operating-table story is the usual retelling, not the documented source.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdisputedKick the bucketDie. Comic register. Do not put it in a eulogy.
Origin
English, 18th century. Candidates: the beam (“bucket”) a slaughtered pig was hung from, or a bucket kicked away in a hanging. Neither case is closed.
More than one serious candidate
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedSpill the beansReveal the secret too early.
Origin
US print from 1908. First used as “upset the situation,” then as “talk out of turn.” “Spill” already meant “divulge” in the 1500s. The Greek-voting-beans story has no trail into the American phrase.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
Note
If a tour guide says “ancient Athens,” smile and keep walking.
idiomplausibleLet the cat out of the bagReveal a secret by accident.
Origin
English, 1760s. Likely a market fraud: a cat substituted for a piglet in a closed sack. Related to “a pig in a poke.”
Fits the evidence; not proven
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedBarking up the wrong treePursuing the wrong lead with great confidence.
Origin
American hunting print, 1832–34 (Paulding; then Crockett-era papers). Coonhounds baying at a tree the raccoon already left. Not “raccoon dogs” — that is a different animal.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedBeat around the bushTalk adjacent to the point so you never have to touch it.
Origin
Medieval bird-hunting: beaters flush game from bushes while someone else takes the shot. The coward’s job became the metaphor.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedCaught red-handedCaught in the act, evidence still wet.
Origin
Scottish law, 15th century: “red hand” — blood still on the hands. English inherited it; Americans kept the stain.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomplausibleClose, but no cigarAlmost. Not a win.
Origin
Probably fairground prizes: a cigar for a win, nothing for a near miss. That story is likely, not proven. First print in the 1935 Annie Oakley screenplay. Applause is not a cigar.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedCut to the chaseSkip the throat-clearing. Go to the action.
Origin
Hollywood silent-film editing, 1920s. If the reel dragged, you cut to the chase scene. American attention, industrialized.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedFly off the handleLose your temper with no remaining grip.
Origin
American print: Thomas Haliburton, 1843–44. A loose ax head leaving the handle mid-swing. Everyone nearby becomes a witness.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomplausibleMad as a hatterErratic, chemically so.
Origin
Mercury nitrate was used to felt hats. Chronic mercury poisoning — tremor, irritability, slurred speech — is a real mill-town disease in England and New England. Carroll later borrowed the wreckage. The disease is documented; whether it coined the English phrase is not a closed case.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The joke that still runs in speech
Note
This is occupational disease wearing a joke.
idiomdocumentedOnce in a blue moonRarely. Not never.
Origin
English “blue moon” as absurdity, then American almanac usage for an extra full moon in a season. The “second full moon in a calendar month” definition is a 20th-century magazine error that stuck.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdisputedPaint the town redA loud night out that leaves a mark.
Origin
US slang by the 1880s. Often pinned to the 1837 Melton Mowbray riot, where drunk fox hunters painted doors red. Cute if true; not required.
More than one serious candidate
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedSaved by the bellRescued at the last second.
Origin
Boxing. The round ends; you are still standing. Victorian “safety coffins” with bells are a separate panic. Wrong sport.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedSteal someone’s thunderTake the effect they built, and use it first.
Origin
Playwright John Dennis devised the thunder effect for Appius and Virginia in 1709, saw it reused in someone else’s Macbeth, and complained they had stolen his thunder. A rare case of a metaphor with a named inventor.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomplausibleUnder the weatherMildly ill. Not dying. Not fine.
Origin
Nautical English. Early US print (1803) is sailors’ slang for being in difficulty. The sick-bay story — sailors sent below deck, out of the weather — is the usual retelling and is poorly supported.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedA dime a dozenCommon enough that price is not the point.
Origin
American, 20th century, after the dime stopped buying much. If they are a dime a dozen, stop collecting them.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomplausibleCold turkeyStop a habit with no taper and no ceremony.
Origin
First meant blunt plain talk (1914). The withdrawal sense came by 1921. The clammy, pale, pimpled skin of withdrawal looks like cold turkey. That reading is later and neat.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedHold your horsesWait. Do not launch.
Origin
American, 1840s. Cavalry, wagons, and anyone whose transport had opinions. Survived the engine.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedPass the buckMove responsibility to the next chair.
Origin
American poker: a buckhorn knife (the “buck”) marked the dealer. Passing it passed the duty. Truman’s “The buck stops here” is the refusal.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomplausibleRule of thumbA rough practical measure, not a statute.
Origin
Origin unknown. In print by 1658. The “legal stick no thicker than a thumb for beating a wife” story is a late-20th-century false etymology.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedThree sheets to the windDrunk enough that the walk has a list.
Origin
Sailing: sheets are ropes, not sails. Loose sheets let the sail luff and the ship stagger. One sheet is sloppy. Three is a spectacle.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomplausibleWhite elephantA gift or project too sacred — or too expensive — to dump, and too useless to want.
Origin
English, 1800s, from stories of white elephants kept by kings of Siam: holy, unworkable, ruinous to keep. American fairs later ran “white elephant” gift swaps for the same reason.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdisputedBuy the farmDie, especially in a crash.
Origin
US military slang, WWII–Korea. Explanations: insurance paying off a family’s farm, or “the farm” as the grave. None of the tidy versions is nailed down.
More than one serious candidate
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedHeard it through the grapevineThe rumor arrived before the briefing.
Origin
Civil War “grapevine telegraph”: unofficial, twisting, faster than command. Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong wrote the song in 1966; Gaye made it national memory.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomfolkRaining cats and dogsA hard rain. Hyperbole, not a forecast of livestock.
Origin
English, 17th century. Thatched-roof animals, Norse weather gods, and Greek catadupe are all later decorations. The real origin is unsolved.
Popular, usually wrong
The joke that still runs in speech
Note
Do not cite the thatched roof in print.
idiomplausibleOff the cuffImprovised. Notes, if any, lived on a shirtsleeve.
Origin
Early 20th-century American: speakers and waiters jotting on cuffs because paper would have looked like effort.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedPiece of cakeEasy. Slightly insulting to the task.
Origin
US print: Ogden Nash, Primrose Path, 1936. RAF-easy-job and cakewalk stories are later overlays, not the Phrase Finder trail.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedStraight from the horse’s mouthFrom the source that would know, not from the cousin of a friend.
Origin
Racing: a tip from those closest to the animal. Print by 1896. Age-in-the-teeth is a related market fact, not the documented phrase trail.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedTake it with a grain of saltBelieve it only after discounting.
Origin
English, 17th century (Trapp, 1647). Later readers tied it to Pliny’s poison recipe, which adds a grain of salt to an antidote. Pliny did not write the idiom. American English kept “grain”; British often says “pinch.”
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedThrow in the towelQuit while you can still walk out.
Origin
Boxing. The second throws in the towel — or the sponge — to stop the beating. American sports pages made it civilian.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedUntil the cows come homeA long time, at livestock pace.
Origin
English print from 1593 (Eliot: “till the Cow come home”). Cows return at their own pace. Evening milking is the usual farm picture, not a documented coining.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedAll hat and no cattleCostume of competence. No herd behind it.
Origin
Later form of “big hat, no cattle.” Phrase Finder: Oklahoma News, February 1937 for the older form; “all hat and no cattle” in print by 1977 (Kingsport Times), with a Texan gloss. A hat is cheap. A ranch is not.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomplausibleDon’t take any wooden nickelsDon’t be the mark.
Origin
American, early 20th century. Wooden nickels were souvenirs and, sometimes, slugs. Frontier-flavored advice that outlived the frontier.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdisputedIn like FlynnInstant access. No line.
Origin
US, early 1940s. San Francisco Examiner, 1942: “your name is Flynn, meaning you’re in.” First print of “in like Flynn”: 1946. Air Force slang later pinned it to Errol Flynn. New York boss Ed Flynn is an etymologist’s retrofit.
More than one serious candidate
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomplausibleMonday-morning quarterbackHindsight with a headset, after the hit landed.
Origin
American football, 1930s. Sunday’s game, Monday’s mouth. The cheap seat’s favorite rank.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedOn the wagonNot drinking. For now.
Origin
American temperance: the water wagon. To be on it was to drink water, not whiskey. Falling off is the same joke in reverse.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdisputedThe real McCoyThe genuine article, not the tribute act.
Origin
Claimants include boxer Kid McCoy, inventor Elijah McCoy’s lubricators, and Scottish Mackay whisky. Several good stories. No winner has been sworn in.
More than one serious candidate
The joke that still runs in speech
idiomdocumentedTwo bitsA quarter. Also: a small opinion, cheaply offered.
Origin
US Mint: Spanish milled dollars were cut into halves, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths. An 1874 Mint report: “two bits” named a fraction of the Spanish dollar — the 25-cent piece. American money slang that outlived the coin.
Print or a clear institutional source
The joke that still runs in speech
euphemismdocumentedPassed awayDied. Softened for the living.
Origin
English, 15th century. Lay Folks Mass Book, circa 1400: rest and peace to Christian souls passed away. Originally a literal picture of the soul’s departure after the rites — not a soft word. American funeral English kept the phrase and made it the default volume knob.
Print or a clear institutional source
The soft name that hides the hard thing
euphemismplausibleRestroomThe toilet. A room in which nobody rests.
Origin
Phrase Finder lists restroom among US lavatory euphemisms, with john, little boys’/girls’ room, and comfort station. No closed coining date is cited. British English still finds the word funny.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The soft name that hides the hard thing
euphemismplausibleBetween jobsUnemployed, with an implied next act.
Origin
American mid-century manners. Work is identity, so joblessness must be framed as transit, not arrival.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The soft name that hides the hard thing
euphemismplausibleLet goFired. The hand opened; the body hit the floor.
Origin
American corporate speech, late 20th century. Violence removed so the memo can be read aloud.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The soft name that hides the hard thing
euphemismplausibleDownsizingLayoffs, described from the org chart’s point of view.
Origin
US management English. The firm gets smaller. The people get the bill. Related: “right-sizing.”
Fits the evidence; not proven
The soft name that hides the hard thing
euphemismplausiblePre-ownedUsed. Someone else already extracted the new-car smell.
Origin
American auto retail, late 20th century. “Used” tells the truth. “Pre-owned” sells the leftover.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The soft name that hides the hard thing
euphemismplausibleThe birds and the beesA child’s first briefing on sex, delivered sideways.
Origin
Coy sex-ed talk for children. The origin of the pairing is uncertain. First print in a sex-education context: Charleston Gazette, November 1929. Coleridge (1825) and Cole Porter (1928) are atmosphere, not a closed coining.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The soft name that hides the hard thing
euphemismplausiblePowder roomWomen’s restroom, or a small guest toilet.
Origin
Phrase Finder lists it among lavatory euphemisms, with ladies’ room, cloakroom, and facilities. The wig-or-nose picture is the usual gloss, not a documented coining. American house plans still use it for the half-bath by the door.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The soft name that hides the hard thing
euphemismplausibleAdult beverageAlcohol, in a voice that could also sell juice boxes.
Origin
American advertising and restaurant menus. “Drink” would have been enough. “Adult” is the wink.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The soft name that hides the hard thing
euphemismplausibleCorrectional facilityPrison. The theory is correction. The building is a cage.
Origin
US institutional English, 20th century, replacing “penitentiary” the way “penitentiary” once replaced “jail.” Each generation renames the same lock.
Fits the evidence; not proven
The soft name that hides the hard thing
Note
Name the function. Then name the architecture. They are not the same claim.

Assimilation: Public Manners and Hygiene