How did “one fell swoop” come to mean a single decisive action?

The expression “one fell swoop” was introduced by Shakespeare in Macbeth. When Macduff learns that his wife and children have been murdered he exclaims: “What, all my pretty chickens and their dam / At one fell swoop?” Metaphorically, Macduff compares his wife and children to chickens and their murderer to a bird of prey. During Shakespeare’s time, fell meant “fierce,” and survives today in the word felon.

Why is challenging the odds called playing “fast and loose”?

“Fast and loose” was a medieval street game played by tricksters in much the same way as a shell game is played today. A coiled belt was laid out on a table with what appeared to be a knotted loop in the centre. Then a mark was invited to stab a knife in the loop, sticking it “fast” to the table. When the huckster easily lifted the belt the sucker lost his money for falling for the illusion that he had made the belt fast instead of leaving it loose.

Why is a dirty story said to be “off colour”?

In Britain, “off colour” has always indicated that someone might feel under the weather because the colour of their skin has changed from its normal hue to pale. In America the expression “off colour” has a related but different meaning. When someone says something that is considered sexually shocking or impolite, it will often cause those listening to blush from a rush of blood that changes their skin colour to red, so the story that caused the skin colour change is referred to as being off colour.

What does a handkerchief have to do with “wearing your heart on your sleeve”?

When fifteenth-century French sailors brought back linen head coverings worn by Chinese field workers as protection from the sun, they called them couvrechef, or “head covering,” which when Anglicized became kerchief. Because they were carried in the hand, they became hand kerchiefs. Women began giving scented handkerchiefs to suitors, which the suitors then tucked under their sleeves in a ritual known as wearing his heart on his sleeve.

Why do we say we’re “in stitches” when we laugh hard?

Like the stitches in sewing, those in the side from both running and laughing all come from the verb stick. The expression “to stick someone” is over a thousand years old and means “to stab” or “to prod.” The stabbing or sticking of a needle through cloth in sewing is thus called a stitch, and because both the pain in the side from running and that from laughing feels like you’ve been stabbed or stuck with something, these too are called stitches.

Why is “forty winks” used as a synonym for napping?

In 1571 the Church of England introduced thirty-nine articles which clergymen of the church were required to accept before their ordination. An 1872 publication of the British humour magazine Punch suggested that reading these catechisms was tedious and that their meaning could be missed: “If a man, after reading through the thirty-nine articles were to take forty winks ...” From this point on, “forty winks” has meant a brief nap.

Why do we say a simple procedure is “cut and dried” unless we “hit a snag”?

“Cut and dried” means it’s a finished job and comes from the lumber industry. The two processes for preparing wood for sale are to cut it and then dry it. The same industry gave us the expression “hit a snag,” meaning we’ve got a problem. A snag is a tree trunk stuck on the river bottom with one end protruding just enough to slow or stop the log drive, which can’t continue until the snag is removed.

What’s the difference between “marking time” and “killing time”?

“Marking time” is a military command for soldiers in close-order drill to stop their forward progress but to keep their feet moving in precision so they can quickly resume marching on command. Marking time means that although your progress has been temporarily stopped you are fully prepared to continue when the time is right. On the other hand, “killing time” means that you’re doing absolutely nothing, or, as the proverb says, “You don’t kill time, time kills you.”

Why when someone’s been dispatched do we say they’ve been “snuffed out”?

Snuff, of course, is a pulverized tobacco that is inhaled through the nostrils. During the eighteenth century in Ireland, it was a common custom to place a dish of snuff inside the coffin so that those at the wake could enjoy a pinch while they said their final farewell. One woman loved the tobacco smell so much that she had her coffin filled with snuff and two bushels distributed among the guests. This custom gave us the expression “snuffed out.”

Why does “back to square one” mean starting over?

During the 1930s, the BBC broadcast soccer, or football, games on the radio. As an aid to listeners they published a map of the playing field, which was divided into numbered squares. The commentators would mention the square number of the action after each description of the play. Square one was near the goaltender, so that to score you needed to carry the play the full length of the field.

Why do we say that something deteriorating is either “going” or “gone to pot”?

If a relationship or a career is going to pot, it means its glory days are over. The expression originated in 1542, long before refrigeration, and came from the urgency to save leftovers from a substantial meal before they went bad. As a metaphor, “going to pot” means that like the leftovers from a great meal, circumstances now assign the subject to something more humble, like a stew.

What does it mean to say that you wouldn’t give “one iota” for something?

If someone doesn’t care one iota, they don’t care very much. Like the letter “i” in English, an iota is the ninth and smallest letter of the Greek alphabet, and because the English letters “I” and “J” were often confused, iota became jot, with both words meaning something very small. That’s why to “jot something down” means to condense information, while an iota is just a little bit more than a tittle, which is the dot over the “i.”

Why might you say that someone irrational is “mad as a hatter”?

Years ago, manufacturers of felt hats used mercury to treat the wool, which made it easier to pound the fibres into felt. Mercury poisoning attacks the nervous system, which caused many hatters to develop tremors and then madness. In Alice’s Wonderland tea party, she met not only a Mad Hatter but also another descriptive expression, “mad as a March hare.” The hare breeds during March, so he might be excused for his absurd antics.

Why is the person with the least significance called the “low man on the totem pole”?

First Nations tribes told their history through the elaborate carvings of creatures on tall totem poles, but the idea that the bottom image was the least important is wrong. It originated with comedian Fred Allen, who, in 1941, wrote, “If humorist H. Allen Smith were an Indian he’d be low man on the totem pole.” Smith later used the phrase as a book title, and the expression caught on.

Why do we say that people who have overcome the odds have “pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps”?

In the sixteenth century, bootstraps were leather loops sewn into the top, sides, or back of high-fitting boots. These were so difficult to put on that it required the help of a device with a handle and a hook and required so much energy that the vivid image of people lifting themselves up during the process — although impossible — became a figure of speech for accomplishing what appeared to be unachievable.

Why is a jilted person said to have been “left in the lurch”?

To be left in the lurch means to have been put in an embarrassing or difficult position; it is most commonly used when either a bride or groom fails to show up for a wedding. Lurch was originally spelled lurche and was the name of a card game now known as cribbage. The first player to score sixty-one won the round, and if this was accomplished before an opponent scored thirty, the loser was said to have been “lurched,” or left so far behind they had no chance of winning.

Where did the expression as “drunk as blazes” come from?

To be drunk as blazes comes from a feast day created by the Orthodox church to honour a sainted Armenian bishop named Blais who was beheaded by the Roman Emperor Licinius for refusing to deny his faith in 316 A.D. The excessive drinking on St. Blais’s day caused the revellers to be referred to as “drunken Blaisers,” and soon anyone anywhere who was overly intoxicated was said to be as drunk as blazes.

Why do we say that someone lost is going from “pillar to post”?

Going from “pillar to post” means moving from one bad situation to another. The expression comes from the Puritans of New England, who punished those who strayed from their strict moral code by taking them to the pillory where, in public view, their hands and feet were tied until they repented. If they refused to repent, they were taken to a whipping post and flogged until they acknowledged their sins ... Thus, they had gone from pillar to post.

Why is something ordinary said to be “run of the mill”?

Since the dawn of the industrial age, anything that is unspectacular yet functional has been called “run of the mill.” When a raw product is to be mechanically processed, whether through a gristmill or the mill of a mine, it emerges in bulk before the different sizes and qualities have been separated by value. Worth can’t be determined until further refining and so everything looks the same — and that’s why anything ordinary is called run of the mill.

What’s the origin of the expressions “rough and ready” and “rough and tumble”?

Both “rough and ready” and “rough and tumble” are expressions that came from the sport of boxing. Rough still means “crude,” so “rough and ready” meant a semi-pro or amateur who, although unpolished and perhaps not as well trained as he should be, was still considered good enough to enter the ring. If a contest was “rough and tumble,” both fighters had agreed to throw away the rules, which led to a lot of tumbling.