Bite Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘hard’ and now look at ‘bite’.

Bite the bullet first appears in the 1891 novel The Light That Failed by Rudyard Kipling. It is often said to originate in a bullet being bitten on by a patient undergoing an operation in times when anesthetics were unavailable – while this sounds good and is likely of military origins, records show the leather strap was employed nearly all the time. In the 1975 film Bite the Bullet, one character breaks a tooth and exposes the nerve, but with treatment unavailable uses the casing from a bullet to perform a repair.

Bites, as slang to describe something one doesn’t like, has unclear origins but doesn’t seem to have been in use before the 1960s.

Bite the dust is first known in 1748, appearing in Tobias Smollett’s translation of The Adventures of Gil Blas of Santillane.

Bite off more than one can chew is said to originate in the early 19th century when American’s would more often chew tobacco. Greedy tobacco chewers hoping to get a good return for their money would do just what the phrase says.

Bite one’s head off has been used since the original early sixteenth century version of ‘bite someone’s nose off’ fell out of favour.

Bite the hand that feeds you is first seen around 600BC by the Greek poet Sappho; while English had to wait until 1711 when political writer Edmund Burke wrote “having looked to the government for bread, on the first scarcity they will turn and bite the hand that fed them.”

Bitten by the bug has been seen since 1739, when it appeared in the writings of J. Douglas.

Bite one’s tongue is first seen in the 1590s, yet it replaces an earlier 14th century phrase ‘bite one’s lip’ with the same meaning.

Another bite at the cherry is thought to have originated with the cherry pickers – that’s people who actually picked cherries by hand, and not a rising platform – who were said to have eaten a good proportion of what they picked.

Bark is worse than his bite is first seen in English from the 16th century, yet the Roman historian Quintus Curtius Rufus used it in the first century AD.

Hair of the dog that bit you, often abbreviated to ‘hair of the dog’, began as an actual medical treatment where hair from the rabid dog that bit a person would be applied to the wound in the belief it would help cure the patient. Having a drink to cure a hangover uses the same logic.

Sound bite has only been seen since the 1970s, although it took a decade or two to come into popular usage.

Love bite, also known as a hickey, is first described in 1855 by the German romantic poet Heine, who wrote “And at the shoulder looked she too; And them she kissed contented; Three little scars, joy; Wounds her love in Passion’s hour indented.”

Bite me, a slang term suggesting discontent or disapproval, originated in American campuses during the 1980s.

Hard Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘French’ and now look at ‘hard’

Hard of hearing is a reminder of the other and earlier use of ‘hard’, as in ‘difficult’; this seen from the beginning of the 13th century.

Hard liquor also uses the original sense, the term seen from 1789 (when the phrase is actually ‘hard cider’).

Hard drugs, like ‘hard liquor’, uses the earlier sense, although this term is not recorded before 1955.

Hard facts is first seen in 1853.

Hard news is a journalistic phrase first seen in 1918.

Hard copy – printed rather than electronic – comes from 1964.

Hard disk is first documented in 1978.

Hard drive appears six years later than the above in 1983.

Hard rock, the musical reference and not any geological term, is first seen in 1967. Sadly I could not find which act first earned this appellation, although despite his name it won’t have been Neil Diamond.

Hard times is first documented in 1705, this reference to a period of poverty also used as a title for the 1854 novel by Charles Dickens. (And I’ll read it when he reads one of mine.)

Hard cash originally referred to solid coin rather than bankers’ drafts (first) and paper money (later). Indeed, ‘hard money’ was the original term, this seen from 1706.

Nobody played hard to get until 1945 – and I won’t comment on loose morals, as this is not the meaning here at all.

Nobody did anything the hard way until as recently as 1907.

Hard-hearted was first used to describe people like me in the early 13th century.

Nobody was said to be hard-working until 1708.

Hard-line was first used to describe Soviet communist policies in 1958.

Hard-wired was first used in 1969 in reference to computers, but two years later had also been used to refer to the human brain.

Hard-boiled eggs were first described in 1723, later used in the sense of ‘tough’ from 1886.

Hard-cover books were first described in 1949, which makes perfect sense as although books had hard covers since early days of writing, they were simply ‘books’ until the paperback version appeared and required clarity. However, they took their time, for the first paperbacks appeared in 1841, although not until 1934 did Albatross and Penguin produce paperbacks.

Hard-bitten was used from 1715 to mean ‘tough in a fight’, earlier still to describe hunting dogs.

Hard fought first appears around 1660.

Hard-up, as in financial difficulties, is seen from 1821.

Hard-headed, as an insult, was first used in 1520.

Hard-nosed, or stubborn, first appears in 1927.

Nobody wore a hard hat until 1935, but then it was only used to refer to a Derby and not the helmet of today.

Hardwoods are known as such from 1560.

Die-hard, no not the non-Christmas film but one who is deemed difficult to defeat, is recorded in 1844 to describe the 57th Regiment of Foot of the British Army, and later as an adjective from 1871. Incidentally, there is also a DieHard, - no, not the film(s) – this is a brand of car battery introduced in 1967.

And if you’ve got this far and wondered why I haven’t discussed the hard-on, it’s because nobody had until 1893.

French Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘Chinese’ and now look at ‘French’ – albeit many of these will have little association with our neighbours across the English Channel.

French dressing is first seen in 1860 and, as with most of these, the meaning is really ‘foreign’ (try replacing ‘French’ with ‘foreign’ for some of the following, mildly amusing).

French toast has been known since the 1630s.But just what is French toast? As a youngster we always referred to French toast as bread only toasted one side (grill or using a toasting fork) with the untoasted side then buttered. Latterly it is bread dipped in a egg and milk mixture and fried (also known as eggy bread, Bombay toast, gypsy toast, or best of all Poor Knights of Windsor), which I would argue isn't even toast.

French letter has been used since 1856 – and when I say ‘used’, I am referring to the phrase, of course.

French kiss is first seen in 1749 when it appears in the phrase ‘French novel’. Note in the late 19th and early 20th centuries a ‘French kiss’ was a kiss on each cheek.

French doors (or French windows) were first described as such in 1847.

French leave, that is to depart without informing the host, is first seen in 1771 – while the French use filer a ‘l’anglaise meaning ‘to take English leave’.

French fries appears for the first time in 1903, these originally referred to as ‘French fried potatoes’ in 1856. Furthermore, in 1944 the term ‘French frieds’ was used, although it did not catch on, unlike simply ‘fries’ which dates from 1973.

French stick might be a little dated today, we tend to use ‘baguette’, although the French use ‘unsandwich’ to describe the same thing - correctly it isn't a sandwich but a roll of bread stuffed with a filling, while a sandwich is 'sandwiched' between two slices of bread.

French maids are stereotypically wearing that black and white uniform from the 19th century, although the term did not become popular in Britain until the advent of the bedroom farce.

French beans are first described as such in the middle of the 19th century, although these were introduced to Europe and Africa by the Spanish and Portuguese.

French poodles were first bred in Germany in the 15th century for duck hunting. They are known as ‘French’ because the poodle was first identified as a distinct breed in France.

French braid is first used in the 1871 issue of Arthur’s Home Magazine, although the hairstyle was certainly known 3,500 years ago in Greece and Egypt.

French cleaner was an early term for dry cleaning, an error around 1850 by Jean Baptiste Jolly.

French knickers were first worn and known as such in the 1920s.

Chinese Idioms

Several words have become part of the language in being used in phrases. Last time we looked at ‘spring’ and now look at ‘Chinese’ – albeit many of these will have little association with the Orient.

Chinese lantern is first seen in 1825.

Chinese chequers is not recorded before 1938.

Chinese homer – also known as a Harlem home run, Polo home run, or a Pekinese poke – is a derogatory term used in baseball to describe a ball clearing the nearest point to the base for a home run, first seen in the Los Angeles Times when reporting on a minor league game in August 1919.

Chinese whispers is first found in 1939 when appearing in the Derbyshire Times.

Chinese fire-drill is US military slang first heard in 1962, and describes people running about in a disorderly or chaotic fashion and achieving nothing.

Chinese burn first appears in print in 1936 in the Thames Star, a New Zealand newspaper.

China, as in the porcelain, is first seen in 1650, although this is a shortened form of the earlier China-ware (1630) and China-dishes (1570), and none of these were sold in a China-shop before 1750.

China doll – ie a doll made from china – is first seen in 1756, although it did not become common until the middle of the 19th century.

China plate is unrecorded before 1880.

China syndrome is first recorded in 1970, it refers to the theoretical idea that a nuclear disaster or meltdown would result in it sinking through the Earth and create a hole leading to China and has since been used as a synonym for ‘meltdown’.

China white, a euphemism for very pure form of heroin, is first seen in 1791.

Chinaman’s chance, now considered offensive, first came to prominence in the early 19th century; today we are more likely to say ‘ghost of a chance’.

Chinaman is a cricketing term referring to a ball delivered by a left-arm bowler which spins the wrong way from the natural delivery, ie in to the right-handed batsman. The term comes from what would today be regarded as a highly offensive comment made during a match in 1933 between England and the West Indies. England’s Walter Robins was stumped by the wicketkeeper having been beaten by the ball delivered by Ellis ‘Puss’ Achong who had Chinese ancestry. As he passed the umpire on his way to the dressing room, he said to the umpire “Fancy being done by a bloody Chinaman.” On reflection it is probably a good job Robins didn’t refer to the bowler by his nickname, it may have led to all manner of complaints when naming the delivery.