The Origin of Phrases

Here are some well-known English language expressions and how they originated.

Tongue in cheek

Meaning

• To pretend to be serious while joking

Origin

• Probably came from the practice of biting one’s tongue to suppress either a smile or outright laughter.

Pushing the envelope

Meaning

• To approach or exceed known performance boundaries.

Origin

• This expression came from the USAF test pilot program of the late 1940’s. It meant flying an aircraft at or beyond its known performance envelope or recommended limits.

Fit to be tied

Meaning

• To be furious.

Origin

• This refers to the practice of bounding uncontrollable, dangerous people into strait-jackets.

Wing and a prayer

Meaning

• Hopeful but unlikely to succeed.

Origin

• An expression from the First World War. From an American Flyer who returned safely despite a badly damaged wing – he had been praying throughout, he said.

Pass the buck

Meaning

• Pass off responsibility to someone else.

Origin

• A marker known as a buck is used in card games to mark the player who is the current dealer. When the buck is passed to the next player, the responsibility for dealing is passed.

The buck stops here

Meaning

• To take responsibility for something.

Origin

• This expression is the opposite of the previous phrase “Pass the buck”.

Stink to high heaven

Meaning

• To have a very strong odor.

Origin

• This expression probably originated from the well-known Shakespearean play ‘Hamlet’. From a dialogue uttered by Hamlet’s Uncle, the King of Denmark – “O, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven; It hath the primal eldest curse upon it, A brother’s murder.”

Ducks in a row

Meaning

• To have things in order.

Origin

• This expression arises from the tidy habit that baby ducklings have of swimming in a straight row behind their mother.

Hell’s half acre

Meaning

• A long and frustrating trip.

Origin

• This expression originates from the place in Idaho that is known as Hell’s half acre that is a lava flow and has an irregular, surreal-looking terrain that is no picnic to navigate.

Face the music

Meaning

• To accept the truth.

Origin

• Originates from the British Military practice of playing the drums when someone was court marshaled.

Egg on your face

Meaning

• To be embarrassed.

Origin

• Yellow egg shows up vividly well on your face if you don’t wipe your mouth after eating, and, unless you’re really thick-skinned, that’s embarrassing.

Sell yourself short

Meaning

• Having a woeful amount of confidence in oneself.

Origin

• This expression comes from short selling of stocks in the belief that their value is going down.

Crocodile tears

Meaning

• Phony tears, usually shed to manipulate or exploit.

Origin

• Sunning crocodiles often keep their mouths wide open and this pressurizes the tear glands to shed tears. It is thought that these fake tears – not produced from any emotional response – help in digesting the meal.

Sitting duck

Meaning

• Vulnerable, easy prey.

Origin

• A duck resting on the ground is easier to shoot than one that happens to be flying away.

Flash in the pan

Meaning

• A thing of great promise that doesn’t live up to expectations.

Origin

• This expression comes from the Gold Rush days when prospectors glimpsed a flash of gold in their pan, but it actually came to nothing.

Albatross around your neck

Meaning

• Weighed down by a past misdeed or deep shame.

Origin

• This expression comes from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner”. The captain in the poem killed an albatross (a symbol of good luck) and this was thought to be the reason for the wind dropping and the ship being rendered motionless.

Roll with the punches

Meaning

• To brave through the hard times.

Origin

• This is a boxing term – it means deflecting a direct hit.

When the chips are down

Meaning

• Bleak times.

Origin

• This is a gambling expression. Chips are used for money – if you’re winning, you have a lot of them; if you’re down on your luck, you don’t have many.

Between a rock and a hard place

Meaning

• Not left with any good choices.

Origin

• This expression arises from the Greek Classics. Odysseus had to pass between the monster Scylla and the deadly whirlpool Charydbis.

I’ll be a monkey’s uncle

Meaning

• Get off, it can’t be true, I can’t believe it, how can it be true?

Origin

• We must blame Darwin for this one. Or rather the non-believers in his theory.