And why do we say ……?

Bite the bullet is used to speak of how it is better to accept the painful or stressful situation rather than complaining or crying out. It is a modern version of the original ‘bite the cartridge’ dating from the Indian Rebellion of 1857 when British soldiers were subjected to medical procedures without anesthetic.

Cry over spilled milk – a warning not to linger over something which can’t be changed – possibly dates from 1659 and James Howell’s Paramoigraphy, where he speaks of ‘No weeping for the shed milk’.

Break the ice – to begin a conversation in an otherwise difficult situation – undoubtedly comes from the ship ploughing through ice fields. The first record of the metaphorical sense comes from 1678, when Samuel Butler used it in his poem Hudibras when he writes ‘The Oratour, at last broke the silence and the ice’.

A bite at the cherry – a second chance, especially after a missed opportunity – comes from the UK in the early 20th century, likely a reference to those who picked the cherries and the number which were eaten when the opportunity arose.

Cutting corners – not fully completing a task – dates from the horse-drawn vehicles of the early 19th century, and when a sharp turn involved negotiating a kerb the driver would clip it with the rear wheel of his vehicle.

Actions speak louder than words – or get on with it instead of just talking about it – came into general use following John Pym’s writings about the English Civil War in 1628; although the phrase was around earlier and even appears in the New Testament – John 3:18.

At the drop of a hat – to begin something – dates from the 19th century when dropping a hat signaled the start of many a sporting contest: a fight, or race, for example.

Hit the sack – to take to one’s bed – comes from the time when beds were often sacks stuffed with hay, ‘hit the hay’ would also be from the same time, around the late 18th century.

Go back to the drawing board – a comment on a failed design which needs to be rethought – it can be dated to a cartoon by Peter Arno in New Yorker Magazine published on 1st March 1941. A engineer walks away from a crashed aeroplane and utters the now very familiar line.

Call it a day – let’s stop work – first recorded in 1919 as the end of the day’s work (in 1938 we see ‘call it a night’ for the first time); but we also see it in 1838 when ‘call it half a day’ spoke of leaving work early.

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.

Silver Idioms

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

Silverware, ie articles made from silver, is first seen in the early 14th century.

Silver age was a term used to describe the years 18AD to 133AD and the literature produced during those years, it clearly wasn’t as good as the golden age which reigned for the previous 88 years.

Silver spoon in the literal sense is seen from the early 15th century, the metaphorical sense in referring to affluence is seen from 1719.

Silver hook may not be in general use these days, but from 1600 it was used to refer to anyone (or anything) can be lured if the potential prize is seen as worth it. Daniel Defoe wrote “The Golden Bait and the Silver Hook will catch Fish upon dry land” in 1708.

Silver bullet is a reference to a remedy so effective as to be almost magical, while weapons of silver have been lauded as guaranteed to defeat the foe since Greek times.

Silver lining, which as we all know every cloud has, is first recorded in 1843, when John Milton wrote Comus.

Silver star was a US military decoration from 1918, when a small badge was given to be worn on the campaign ribbon, then the medal itself was established on 8 August 1932.

Silver screen, a reference to the movie industry, is seen from 1924. However, the term had been recorded for the three preceding years and referred to the colour of the projection screens as the metallic paint gave a better result by being more reflective.

Quicksilver, an alternative name for mercury, is seen in late Old English cwicseolfor meaning ‘living silver’ as it is a liquid at normal temperatures and pressures. Thus this dates from around 1200 years ago.

Silverfish, that insect also known as the bristletail and which tends to eat paper, is recorded from 1855. References prior to that are simply generic terms for any fish.

Pete, Jack, Minnie, et al.

Last time I looked at the origins of 'even-steven' and I started thinking of other phrases with names. Here's the result of my searches, starting with ....

For Pete’s sake - which is simply an alternative to 'For Christ's sake', which could be seen as blasphemy. It is not overly clear when Pete, a reference to St Peter, began to replace the Lord.

Jack of all trades is seen from the 17th century. Almost two hundred years earlier, Jack was a term used to describe the lower classes. Perhaps this came from the French, where Jacque was used to refer to peasants - and their very basic short coat was called a "jacket". As the phrase ends "and master of none" the original inference described one with no specific skill.

Moaning Minnie is one with a rather more interesting story. Indeed, we can even date it to a specific year and a known individual. The year is 1846 and the man is Captain Claude Etienne Minie, and he introduces a soft lead bullet for use in his army's rifles. On firing, the bullet would distort and the bullet made a distinct sound as it flew through the air toward its target. Hence the moaning Minne was originally a bullet - or so one story would have us. There is also the thought of a German mortar, but there is no record of the phrase Moaning Minnie being used during World War I, the phrase only becoming popular during WWII.

Plain Jane first appears in print in the play Doing for the Best by M. Rophino Lacy in 1861. It was once thought to be a reference to Jane Eyre but, while there are some plot similarities, it has latterly been dismissed as coincidental. As a stand-alone phrase it first appears in 1912, which appears to have been coined simply because of its rhyme.

Contrary Mary is another rhyme, but this undoubtedly originated in the nursery rhyme Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary. The oldest known version dates from 1744 in Tommy Thumb's Pretty Song Book, which tends to refute suggestions this is a reference to Queen Mary or Mary, Queen of Scots who were both alive in the 16th century and no known written versions of the rhyme date from anywhere near the Tudor period.

Jack the lad is likely dateable back to the early 18th century and Jack Sheppard, a notorious thief who managed to escape from gaol no less than four times. Eventually, when imprisoned for the fifth time, he was hanged at Tyburn. This hardened criminal, he was just 22 years old at the time, had a career in crime lasting just two years.

Johnny on the spot is first recorded in the April 1896 issue of the New York Sun. In that piece, the writer speaks of how the phrase had suddenly become very popular in the New York area, but had no idea where it originated.

Jack Robinson, a figure who appears and disappears very quickly, is first referred to as such around 1700 and even has an entry in a dictionary in 1785.