Red Herrings & White Elephants - The Origins of the Phrases We Use Every Day. Albert Jack
One Fell Swoop is used to indicate ‘in a single movement’ or all at the same time, and conjures up an image of a bird of prey swooping down on its target. It is one of Shakespeare’s creations. In the Bard’s 1606 play Macbeth, the character Macduff, on learning his wife and children have all been killed, cries out, ‘What, all my pretty chickens, and their dam, at one fell swoop?’ The word ‘fell’ has been used since then to mean ‘evil’ or ‘deadly’.
Sending someone off with a Flea In Their Ear implies they have been told off, and in no uncertain terms. The analogy is that of a dog with a flea in its ear, running around in distress shaking its head. The phrase has been used since 1579 when the popular Elizabethan author John Lyly (Lillie or Lylie) published Euphues, Or The Anatomy Of Wit. In it he included the line – ‘Ferardo… whispering Philautus in his eare (who stoode as though he had a flea in his eare), desired him to kepe silence’, as he described a scene where the lord of the manor rebuked a servant.
The phrase Going For A Song is used to indicate that something is cheap and priced well below its true value. The actual song, which describes the origin, is in fact a long poem called ‘The Faerie Queene’, presented to Queen Elizabeth I by Edmund Spenser. At the time it was regarded as Spenser’s most popular work but Lord Burleigh, the Lord High Treasurer, was unimpressed. When he heard the Queen intended to pay Spenser £100 for the work, he famously exclaimed, ‘What! All this for a song?’ The Queen, much to Burleigh’s dismay, insisted the money was handed over. The incident was widely reported and the phrase became English slang, although meaning of low value instead of high. The reason for this was the pennies and small change people would toss to buskers and singers entertaining in the hostelries around old London town.
To Kill The Goose That Lays The Golden Egg is to destroy a source of income, or other benefit, through sheer greed. The origin of this saying can be found in one of Aesop’s fables, which was translated into English by William Caxton in 1484. In the story Aesop tells the tale of a peasant who discovered a goose that laid golden eggs. In his excitement, and desire to become instantly wealthy, the hapless peasant immediately cut the goose open in order to retrieve the rest of the hidden fortune, killing it in the process and consequently losing his chance of great wealth. The moral of the fable is to be content and have patience, and to caution against greed.
To Go The Whole Hog means to do something thoroughly and completely without reservation. Although this is unlikely to be the origin of the phrase, the first reference to it can be found in William Cowper’s 1779 poem ‘The Love Of The World; or Hypocrisy Detected’. As Cowper describes Muslim leaders trying to work out which part of the hog was edible, he says, ‘But for one piece they thought it hard, from the whole hog to be debarred.’ The passing of the phrase into wider use came from the sales tactics of American meat men. Starting in Virginia, enterprising butchers offered joints of meat for sale by the pound, but anybody buying the whole animal would be charged a much cheaper rate, pound for pound. Buying the whole hog and then sharing it around friends and neighbours soon became standard practice for those looking for good discounts on their meat prices. In 1828 Andrew Jackson often used the phrase ‘going the whole hog’ in his presidential campaign. The election was notable as being the first involving ordinary Americans and campaign leaders organised rallies, parades, dinners and barbecues in order to win votes. Slogans were also used for the first time and Jackson’s ‘going the whole hog’ (going all the way) became known all over America. Jackson won the election, considered at the time as the dirtiest campaign ever witnessed.
How The Other Half Lives is a friendly phrase alluding to the life styles of the rich. The expression can be traced as far back as 1532 and the French book Pantagruel by Rabelais and was in use in England by 1607. Jacob Riis used the phrase as the title of a book in 1890 but somewhere along the line the saying has completely changed its meaning. Originally it was a condescending expression used by the rich to describe the poor, but these days it is a light-hearted expression used by the less fortunate to describe the rich.
Ignorance Is Bliss is used to suggest that lack of knowledge equals lack of concern. Originally the phrase alluded to the innocence of youth described in 1747 by Thomas Gray in his poem ‘Ode On A Distant Prospect Of Eton College’ in the lines ‘Thought would destroy their paradise / No more where ignorance is bliss / Tis folly to be wise’. The context Gray uses for the word ignorance is one of limited knowledge rather than the impoliteness or arrogance the word can also be associated with.
Living in an Ivory Tower is a mildly pejorative expression used to describe those who live sheltered lives, away from the harsh realities and problems faced by others. It is of French origin and can be traced back as far as the early 1800s, to a poet named Alfred de Vigny. Alfred led a life of disappointment and in his later years withdrew almost completely from society, while continuing to write. In 1837, in a poem called ‘Pensees d’Aout’ (‘Thoughts of August’) written by a critic called Sainte-Beuve, de Vigny’s lifestyle was described as isolated, and it was suggested he lived in a secluded ‘tour d’ivoire’ (an ‘ivory tower’). The phrase was then widely used to describe other academics who had the reputation of living in a world away from harsh realities, suggesting they knew little about real life.
A Jekyll And Hyde character is a person who has two very different sides to his personality. One side is sweet and loving and the other dark and menacing. The Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde is a story by Robert Louis Stevenson first published in 1886 to instant acclaim. In the story Stevenson describes a doctor (Jekyll) who discovers a drug enabling him to create a separate personality to express his own evil instincts. He calls his new personality ‘Mr Hyde’. As the story unfolds Hyde becomes more and more wicked and eventually Dr Jekyll finds the drug too powerful to overcome and he is unable to return to his natural state of calm and reason, leading to his eventual suicide.
A Leap Of Faith or a Leap In The Dark is a step into the unknown where an outcome cannot be reliably predicted. It is famously suggested the final words of English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) were, ‘Now I am about to take my last voyage, a great leap in the dark.’ Almost immediately others picked up his words. In 1697 Sir John Vanbrugh wrote in his play The Provoked Wife, ‘Now I am for Hobbes’ voyage, a great leap in the dark.’ Other celebrated writers, such as Disraeli, Defoe and Byron, later quoted Hobbes, although over the years the phrase has developed to mean any general uncertainty, rather than the leap into eternity.
To be in possession of The Lion’s Share is to have the larger part of something, more than anyone else involved. This phrase is another originating from Aesop’s fables. One story tells of a lion and three other animals, all hunting together, who catch and kill a stag for their supper. The meal was divided into four equal parts but, just as the animals are about to tuck in, the lion stops them. He insists the first portion is for him as he is king of the jungle and therefore their ruler. He then claims a second portion for himself on the basis he is the strongest of them all and finally a third because of his infinite courage. The lion then allows the other three animals to share the last portion between them but warns them only to touch it if they dare.
Namby Pamby is a phrase used to emphasise weakness and childish manner in an adult. The original Namby Pamby was the poet Ambrose Philips (1674–1749), a fellow of St John’s College, Cambridge. Philips had achieved success with both The Distrest Mother (1712) and his later adaptation of Racine’s Andromaque, but his infantile language was ridiculed by the great poets of his day. It was Henry Carey who bestowed on Philips the nickname ‘Namby Pamby’ because his verses were addressed mainly to babies, and it was quickly adopted as part of the English language.
If something is Piping Hot it is extremely hot. The pipes that amplified the sound of the old pipe organs found in cathedrals and large churches would hiss in the same way as water does when it steams. When something was ‘pipe hot’ it was known to be boiling or steaming. The phrase was first recorded during the 1300s and can be found first in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales when he wrote, ‘Wafers piping hot out of the gleed’. A wafer is a kind of thin cake, baked between wafer-irons, and ‘gleed’