Bean Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'food' last time and this time it's 'bean'.

Baked beans have been (pun intended) since 1803.

Kidney bean is first recorded in the 1560s, so called because of its shape.

Runner bean is seen from around 1900, a reference to the long shoots which run out from the parent plant.

Bean counter, a slang term for an accountant, is first recorded in 1971.

Bean shooter, an Americansism for a catapult, is recorded from 1876.

Bean bag appears in print from 1871.

Lima beans are first seen in 1756, although mispronounced as it should rhyme with ‘beamer’ and not ‘timer’, the vegetable named after the capital of Peru where the vegetable is held to have come.

Old bean, a term of endearment but usually restricted to those of the upper classes and to males, came into being during the First World War. Sadly nobody knows where it started.

Food Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'horse' last time and this time it's 'food'.

Food chain is first recorded as recently as 1915.

Food poisoning is first described in 1864.

Nobody used a food processor before 1973.

Seafood is not described as such until 1836.

Foodstuff is a term unknown before 1870.

Foodoholic is first used in 1965.This seen as a negative, unlike …..

Foodie, which was used as a synonym for ‘gourmet’ from 1982.

Food stamps, a US scheme to help the more impoverished feed themselves, is first seen in 1962.

Fast food is not seen until 1951. I’ve always thought it something of an oxymoron, as ‘fast’ is also used to mean ‘avoid food’.

Horse Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'water' last time and this time it's 'horse'.

Horseradish is not recorded as such before 1590. Now this is nothing to do with an equine, the first element is used to denote ‘strong, coarse, large’. Indeed. Once English also featured the terms: horsemushroom (1866), horsebalm (1808), horseparsley, horsemussel, horsemint, horseemmet (a large any) and horse marten (a large bee).

Horse latitudes is first used in 1777, although where it came from is anyone’s guess, but does refer to subtropical latitudes known for calm winds and low rainfall.

Horse pistol is seen from 1704, a large pistol used by those on horseback.

A dead horse is something no longer useful, and was used from the 1630s.

Flogging a dead horse, as in trying to revive something without success, is first seen in 1864.

Horsegodmother was a woman seen as rather masculine, first recorded in 1829.

Horse’s mouth, as in information directly from the source (or claimed to be) is first attested in 1921 – thought to have been a racing term first of all.

To swap horses midstream, indicating a bad move, seems to have come to the fore in the American Civil War and some maintain it is a direct quote from the writings of Abraham Lincoln (although Honest Abe never claimed to have coined the phrase, and doubtless won’t now).

Hold your horses – ie slow down a little – first appears in 1842.

Horse play, to lark about, is first seen in 1893.

Horse chestnuts were first named as such in a document from around 1590. Thought to have been named as these were fed to horses.

Clotheshorse, which is something used for drying the washing, dates from 1788. From 1850, the same term was applied to those who liked to show off their attire – also known as a clothes screen in 1830.

Getting on your high horse is first seen in the early 14th century.

Water Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'leg' last time and this time it's 'water'.

Salt water is first described as such in Old English and thus around since the 6th or 7th century. Whilst an American term, it is worth noting the term salt water taffy is seen only since 1886 and was only known as such as it was sold at seaside resorts, particularly Atlantic City.

Waterpipe is not recorded until 1400, and then applied to a conduit (thus not necessarily an enclosed pipe).

Water closet, more often abbreviated to simply WC, described a privy with a waste pipe where the privy was emptied by a flush of water. The term is first recorded in 1755.

Water ice, is a reference to the (usually) flavoured water in a frozen state – first recorded in 1818.

Waterlilies have only been described as such since the 1540s,

Waterski first appeared as a noun in 1931, not used as a verb for another 22 years.

Watertable, this used to describe the level of saturated ground, is first seen in 1879.

Water moccasin, a snake indigenous to the Southern United States, is first described as such in a document dated 1821.

Waterwheels have been recorded since the early 15th century, although the technology is much older.

Rosewater, a tincture or perfume, came to English from the Dutch in the late 14th century.

Watermarks, used to identify paper as genuine, first appears in 1708. Not until 1866 was it used as a term to say the paperwork had been spoiled.

Watergate began as a channel to carry water, principally for irrigation. Of course the Wategate scandal of 1972, it the name of the building housing the Democrats during the presidential election, has given the suffix ‘–gate’ to every scandal in the modern era.

Leg Idioms

Several words have found themselves used in a number of phrases. We looked at 'arm' last time and this time it's 'leg'.

Leg in a cricketing sense probably began in the earliest days when cricket was played, thought to be in the 16th century. Although there is also the phrase ‘to take leg bail’ found in 1774, which had no connection with cricket but slang for running away.

Leg referring to furniture is not used before 1670s.

Legs in clothes are not recorded as such before the 1570s.

Nobody had a leg up until 1837.

Last leg, first leg, referred to parts of a journey, became popular during the 1920s. Prior to that it referred to a a run made on a single tack when sailing into the wind and more often said to be a long leg or a short leg.

Shake a leg may mean to rise from one’s bed today, but in 1869 you would be expected to dance.

On one’s last legs is a phrase first seen in the 1590s.

Leg work is first recorded in 1891, and originally applied exclusively to news reporters.

Leg room only came into use in 1846.

Leg warmers are not seen before 1974.

Leg man has one meaning today, but when first recorded in 1923 it described an assistant who was the more mobile of the two.

Bootleg is used to refer to unauthorized recordings in the modern era, but when was first used in the 1630s it referred to the upper part of the boot, and as a reference to illegal alcohol in 1889.

Blacklegs were originally swindlers in the 1770s, and not until 1865 was it used to refer to strike breakers.

Dogleg was chosen to describe the bent shape from 1843, but earlier the term dog legged described a staircase without a well hole and consists of two flights with or without winders.