Culture Reflection #2

Culture Reflection

The meaning and origin of 7 idioms that are used every day

By Josiah Sapp

Idioms are a part of our everyday lives. We say them without giving them a second thought and they roll off the tongue (there’s an example of one!). Sayings play a big part in our day to day speech enhancing the way we communicate to others. If you’re trying to get a point across, an idiom can be the most effective way of letting somebody know what it is you’re describing. I have two reasons for these monthly culture reflections; first, I think it’s important to look into the mirror of our culture to try and understand where we come from in order to better where we’re going. Second, I want to create better conversations with those that you interact with. Idioms come and go without hesitation but hopefully this list will give you something interesting to talk about next time you throw an idiom out there. If you’re wanting any more information about a particular idiom, make sure you click the links attached to each phrase. Let’s get to it.

• Cat out of the bag: Meaning to let out a secret or fact that was previously hidden. The humorist Will Rogers is quoted saying “It’s a lot easier to let a cat out of a bag than to get it back in.” This definitely rings true especially about secrets but the origin is muddied. The phrase could derive from shady merchants who would sell pigs in bags but give them a feral cat instead of a pig. The merchant would warn the unsuspecting customer to not open the bag until they got home for fear of the pig getting out. Another possible explanation comes from the Royal Navy. A punishment for sailors not performing their duties would be lashings from a cat o’ nine tails that would be kept in a red bag on the main deck. The punishment was done publicly so that no one would wonder why “the cat’s outta the bag”.
• Drop of a hat: Meaning to be readily available for a task at a moment’s notice. This origin is pretty straight forward and came from the USA's wild west. When a fight or race would start, it would be signaled by dropping a hat. During a fight, it would be the first article of clothing to come off. Much like taking off a jacket or rolling up your sleeves in a fight. A race would be sometimes signaled to begin by taking off your hat and swinging it close to the ground .
• Jump the gun: Meaning to begin something before you were supposed to. Most popularly originated in track and field athletic events. The start of a race would be signaled by the starting gun shot but racers would try to anticipate the shot and take off prematurely.
• Toe the line: To stand poised at a line or to conform to a set of standards/rules. Most would attribute the origin to old British parliament where opposing views, when given the opportunity to present their case, could go no further than the line designated on the floor. As clear cut as that sounds, it’s not true. There are a group of phrases that had similar phrasing with the same meaning but this one survived the test of time. Other iterations included toe the scratch, toe the mark and toe the crack all with the meaning of military men standing at attention at a particular mark.
• Bee line: Meaning to go directly towards. Originating in the US, the phrase emulates the characteristics of a forager bee. Once a bee found nectar, they would take their spoils directly back to the hive finding the shortest and fastest route.
• Out of the frying pan and into the fire: Meaning to leave a bad situation and end up in a worse one. This is an old phrase dating back to as early as the 15th century and just about every culture with any literary abilities has a similar saying. The earliest documentation of the phrase comes from an Italian scholar Abstemium who wrote a couple hundred fables. One such story as a group of fish still alive being cooked in hot oil. One of the fishes says to the others “let’s leave this place” and they all leap out of the pan only to land in the coals finding a worse fate than the pan.
• Water under the bridge: Meaning to let something go and to not consider it again. Old phrases are hard to track down but the earliest example I found was in 1847 from an old magazine clipping call Manzoni. It’s a more literal use of the term but the same meaning is implied. Most cultures are documented using a phrase like this but changes for each region. The “bridge” comes from Britain but in America it used to be “water over the dam”.