You
ever hear these expressions: cost an arm and a leg; long in the tooth; three
sheets to the wind; wear your heart on your sleeve?
Sure
you did. Ever wonder their origins?
Wonder
no more. The Illustrated Histories of
Everyday Expressions by James McGuire, reveals the stories behind
some of the most popular idioms of the English language.
Here
are a few of my favorites explained:
Riding
Shotgun
This
refers to someone calling dibs on sitting upfront in a car’s passenger
seat. It stems from the Wild West days
when travel was dangerous. Robberies took
place on the highway often. So, to
defend against crime, coach drivers would hire someone to sit next to them,
armed with a shotgun.
Let The Cat Out Of The Bag
This
indicates a secret was carelessly revealed.
It comes from 1700s Europe when street vendors sold baby pigs in burlap
sacks. Some dishonest salesmen would
substitute a cat for the more valuable pig.”
When one of these cats managed to wriggle free – letting the cat out of
the bag - the deceit was revealed,” writes McGuire.
Pull
Someone’s Leg
Joke
around or play a prank. Back in 1800s
England, street children turned to pick pocketing to survive poverty. They worked in tandem. One kid pulls on your pant leg to distract
you, while another grabbed a wallet, watch, or jewelry. The confused victim didn’t even know which
kid stole from him or her.
Paying Through The Nose
No
one wants to pay an excessive amount for something, right? Back in the day of the Vikings after they
conquered a village, they demanded citizens pay taxes to them. If someone didn’t pay, their nose was slit as
punishment. Around the same time, the
Danish levied a tax against the just-conquered Irish and if one failed to pay,
their nose was busted open.
Not
only does the book deliver plausible explanations for phrases we’ve all
uttered, it reminds us of these very idioms that can be used in our
writings. Will you turn a blind eye to
what I’m saying? Do I rub you the wrong
way or am I barking up the wrong tree?
My
Favorite: Heard it straight from the
horse’s mouth. This means to receive
irrefutable information from a reliable source.
Origin? In the past, horse
traders often lied about a horse’s age to increase its value. But savvy buyers know that one can tell the
age of a horse by looking at its teeth. Their length tells all.
These
idioms long outlive their original meaning because new circumstances arose to
keep them relevant and applicable. The
fact that these terms survived for centuries shows they express a truth that
rings true through the generations. This
book helps you to spot red herrings, know the ropes, bring home the bacon, and
avoid burying your head in the sand.
“Always
be reading. Go to the library. There’s magic in being surrounded by
books. Get lost in the stacks. Read bibliographies. It’s not the book you start with, it’s the
book that book leads you to. Collect
books, even if you don’t plan on reading them right away. Nothing is more important than an unread
library.”
--Steal
Like an Artist, by Austin Kleon
“But
we need books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the
death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests
far from everyone, like a suicide. A
book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us. That is my belief.”
--Franz
Kafka
“Literature
duplicates the experience of living in a way that nothing else can, drawing you
so fully into another life that you temporarily forget you have one of your
own. That is why you read it, and might
even sit up in bed till early dawn, throwing your whole tomorrow out of whack,
simply to find out what happens to some people who, you know perfectly well,
are made up.”
--Barbara Kingsolver
“People
wonder why the novel is the most popular form of literature; people wonder why
it is read more than books of science or books of metaphysics. The reason is very simple; it is merely that
the novel is more true than they are.”
--G.K. Chesterton
“We
read novels because we want to see the world through other experiences, other
beings, other eyes, other cultures.”
--Orhan Pamuk
DON”T
MISS THESE!!!
New
Year's Resolutions For Every Author
https://bookmarketingbuzzblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/new-years-resolutions-for-all-authors.htmlThe Book Marketing Strategies Of Best-Sellers
How Authors Can Sell More Books
No. 1 Book Publicity Resource: 2019
Toolkit For Authors -- FREE
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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views,
provocative opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are
his alone and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should --
follow him on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He
feels much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is
copyrighted by BookMarketingBuzzBlog ©2019. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now
resides in Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and
IBPA’s Independent. This was named one of the best book marketing blogs
by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and
recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the top book marketing blogs. Also
named by WinningWriters.com as a "best resource.” He recently hosted a
panel on book publicity for Book Expo America.
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