IDIOM OF THE DAY

[Speros]

Catch 22

Meaning

A paradox in which the attempt to escape makes escape impossible.

Origin

The title of Joseph Heller's novel, written in 1953 and published in 1961, (properly titled 'Catch-22' - with a hyphen). The first chapter was also published in a magazine in 1955, under the title 'Catch-18'.

The paradox is presented as the trap that confined members of the US Air Force. In logical terms the 'catch' was that, by applying for exemption from highly dangerous bombing missions on the grounds of insanity, the applicant proved himself to be sane (after all, that's what any sane person would do). If anyone applied to fly they would be considered insane. Either way; sane or insane, they were sent on the missions. This might be described logically as, 'damned if you do and damned if you don't', 'the vicious circle', 'a chicken and egg situation', or 'heads I win, tails you lose'.

[Speros]

Keep your powder dry

Meaning

Be prepared and save your resources until they are needed.

Origin

The allusion is to gunpowder which soldiers had to keep dry in order to be ready to fight when required. This advice reputedly originated with Oliver Cromwell during his campaign in Ireland. In Ballads of Ireland, 1856, Edward Hayes wrote:

"There is a well-authenticated anecdote of Cromwell. On a certain occasion, when his troops were about crossing a river to attack the enemy, he concluded an address, couched in the usual fanatic terms in use among them, with these words - 'put your trust in God; but mind to keep your powder dry'."

[Speros]

Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth

Meaning

Born into a wealthy family.

Origin

This is commonly thought to be an English phrase and to refer to the British aristocracy. That may well be the case, but the earliest citation in print is from the USA.

Deb. U.S. Congress, 1801:

"It was a common proverb that few lawyers were born with silver spoons in their mouths."

Medieval spoons were usually made of wood. Spoon was also the name of a chip or splinter of wood and it is likely that is how the table utensils derived their name. It has been a tradition in many countries for wealthy godparents to give a silver spoon to their godchildren at christening ceremonies. That may be the source of the phrase, or it may simply be derived from the fact that wealthy people ate from silver while others didn't.

In the keynote speech to the US Democratic National Convention in 1988, the Texas State Treasurer Ann Richards modified the proverb at the expense of the well-born and wealthy George Bush:

"Poor George, he can't help it - he was born with a silver foot in his mouth." 

[rufusredtail]

SICK Sick as a parrot extremely disappointed.

i This expression is a late 20th century British catchphrase, often associated with disappointed footballers or football managers.

[Speros]

Ear-mark

Meaning

To set aside for a particular purpose.

Origin

There ought to be no room on a site dedicated to the meaning and origins of phrase for a single word like ear-mark. It justifies inclusion here because of its origin as two separate words - ear mark. When seeing it as two words, it isn't difficult to guess that the source of the phrase was the marking of ears, and that guess would be correct.

In these days, in western countries at least, most farm animal's ears are fitted with metal tags, which include details of the animal's ownership, date of birth etc. Before the 1950s, when ear tags became commonplace, the ownership of stock like pigs and sheep was denoted by the clipping of the ears. This formed a permanent record and was an alternative to branding.

The practice is old and dates back in the UK to at least the 16th century.

[Speros]

Throw your hat into the ring

Meaning

Make or take up a challenge, or demonstrate one's willingness to join an enterprise.

Origin

The ring in question here is a boxing ring. These, of course used to be circular spaces in a crowd of onlookers, rather than the square, roped 'rings' of contemporary pugilism. Any Jack the lad who fancied his chances in a bout would throw in his hat - presumably this was a more reliable way of putting oneself forward than just shouting over the hubbub of the crowd.

[rufusredtail]

TELEGRAPH
bush telegraph a rapid informal spreading of information or rumour, the network through which tis takes place.

i This expression originated in the late 19th century, referring to the network of informers who kept bushrangers informed about the movments of the police in the Australian bush or outback.

[Speros]

TELEGRAPH
bush telegraph a rapid informal spreading of information or rumour, the network through which tis takes place.

i This expression originated in the late 19th century, referring to the network of informers who kept bushrangers informed about the movments of the police in the Australian bush or outback.

very Aussie...nice one

[rufusredtail]

WOLF

throw someone to the wolves   leave someone to be roughly treated or criticized without trying to help or defend them.

i This phrase probably arose in reference to tales about packs of wolves pursuing travellers in horse-drawn sleighs, in which one person was pushed off the sleigh to allow it to go faster, so enabling the others to make their escape.

[Speros]

Technicolor yawn

Meaning

Vomiting.

Origin

This is one of the many colorful Australian phrases for vomiting. It was coined by, or at least popularized by, Barry Humphries and appeared in his 1965 review A Nice Night’s Entertainment:

When I swallowed the last prawn,
I had a technicolor yawn and I chundered in the old Pacific Sea.

[rufusredtail]

GAMUT

run the gamut  experience, display, or perform the complete range of something.

i Gamut is a contraction of medieval Latin gamma ut, gamma beng the lowest note in the medieval musical scale and ut the first of the six notes forming a hexachord. Together, therefore, they represent the full range of notes of which a voice or an instrument is capable.

[Speros]

Baptism of fire

Meaning

An ordeal or martyrdom. More recently, a soldier's first experience of battle.

Origin

The term refers back to actual martyrdoms by fire, or to the grace of the Holy Spirit imparted through Christian baptism. The second of these is alluded to in the Bible; for example, this version in the King James Version, Matthew 3:11:

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.

That meaning has largely gone out of use and the meaning most often used now is of a soldier's first experience of battle. 'Baptism' because battle is new to him and 'fire' from the firing of guns, i.e. he is 'under fire'. The connection between the earlier religious meaning and the later military meaning isn't clear. It is quite possible that the two are independent of each other.

[rufusredtail]

BIB
your best bib and tucker your best clothes.

i Bib and tucker originally referred to certain items of womens,s clothing. A bib is a garment worn over the upper front part of the body (e.g. the bib of an apron), and a tucker was a decorative piece of lace formerly worn on a woman,s bodice.

[rufusredtail]

BLOW
blow hot and cold alternate incosistently between two moods, attitudes,or courses of action;be sometimes enthusiastic,sometimes unenthusiastic about something.
iThis phrase refers to a fable involving a traveller who was offered hospitality by a satyr and offened his host by blowing on his cold fingers to warm them and on his hot soup to cool it.

[Speros]

Davy Jones' locker

Meaning

The bottom of the sea; the resting place of drowned mariners.

Origin

Davy Jones is the evil spirit of the sea. There are various possible attempts to explain the name by associating it with someone of a similar name:

Jones may be a corruption of name of the biblical seaman Jonah. Jonah denoted bad luck on to seamen.

Davy Jones was a 16th century publican who imprisoned drunken sailors in a locker and press-ganged them to serve on ships.

The name comes from the patron saint of sailors - St. David.

None of these is supported by any evidence - they are little more than guesses.