FUN FACTS CAPSULE

There are so many things in life that we do without even knowing the reason or story behind it. Especially the language we use and how we use it. English is the most globally used language. And many coin phrases used today have been coined by the language so much so that they are used very regularly to form our sentences without giving much thought to the origin. Phrases like ‘meeting a deadline’ to ‘letting your hair down’ have become part of our daily rapport and quite frankly, a shortcut for our delivery to get our points home. Check out the origin of some of these common phrases.

Showing Your True Colour

Meaning: Revealing one’s real character or intentions, especially when they are disreputable or dishonourable. Origin: To confuse their enemies, warships would use multiple flags. However, warfare rules dictated that the ships must show its actual flag before firing and hence, the ships would then have to display its true colours.

Close But No Cigar

Meaning: Almost, but not quite successful. Origin: In the late 19th century, carnival games were targeted to adults and not children, so the winners would get a cigar as a prize instead of stuffed animals. If the person was close to winning but did not succeed, they’d say it was ‘close but no cigar’.

Waking Up on The Wrong Side of The Bed

Meaning: Starting the day in a bad mood. Origin: Throughout history the left side of basically anything was considered to be ‘the evil side,’ so waking up on the left side was also considered a sign of bad luck. To ward off evil, house owners would push the left sides of the beds to the corner, so their guests would have no other option than to get up on the right side.

Butter Someone Up

Meaning: Flatter or otherwise ingratiate oneself with someone.

Origin: The people ancient India used to throw balls of clarified butter at the statues of gods in order to seek a favour.

Put A Sock in It

Meaning: Stop talking. Origin: In the late 19th century, people would use woollen socks to stuff the horns of their gramophones or record players to lower the sound, since these machines had no volume controllers.

Son Of A Gun

Meaning: A jocular or affectionate way of addressing or referring to someone.

Origin: Back in the day, sailors would sometimes take their wives on long ocean voyages. It is believed that if the woman gave birth on a ship, it should take place between the cannons on the ship’s gun deck, since it was the most secluded place. Because of this reason, a child that was born on a ship would be called ‘a son of a gun’.

Best Man

Meaning: A male friend or relative chosen by a bridegroom to assist him at his wedding. Origin: It is said that during feudal days, it was possible that a rival Lord would try to break up a wedding ceremony and steal the bride for political reasons. To avoid any trouble, grooms would ask their bestfriends to stand next to them during the ceremony so they would help during the possible battle. The man, standing next to the groom was named ‘Best Man’.

Born With a Silver Spoon in Your Mouth

Meaning: Being born into a wealthy family of high social standing. Origin: It is an old tradition for godparents to gift a silver spoon to a christened child. However, not everyone was able to afford this type of luxury gift so those who did receive the spoon as a gift were considered to be wealthy, sometimes even spoiled.

Steal One’s Thunder

Meaning: Win praise for oneself by pre-empting someone else’s attempt to impress. Origin: You think that you’ve done something awesome and unique, but someone gets in there first and takes your credit! Spare a thought for playwright John Dennis who, back in the 18th Century, made a machine that could nicely mimic the sound of thunder for his play. Sadly, his play wasn’t a success, but somebody had taken note of his clever invention. When, later on in another theatre, Dennis found somebody had copied his thunder machine and was using it without credit, he got mad. Really mad. Somebody had stolen his thunder!

Get One’s Goat

Meaning: Irritate someone. Origin: During horse racing some horses would get anxious, so owners would place goats in the stalls with them to calm them down. Rival horse owners would sometimes steal these goats therefore upsetting the horse and making it more likely to lose.