Some interesting facts on how few idioms were born
There are umpteen idioms, but have you any idea of their origin? I bet you don’t. Idioms are everybody’s favorite; we just read them and understand their meanings, but have never wondered about their history or birth.
It is not that idiomatic expressions are chosen by one person, and boom! The trend begins! Everything takes time, now let’s say, some of the recent trends are healthy living, blurring of gender roles, and wearable technology; does it mean all the changes just heave into view overnight?! It all has its own reasons to creep in.
Isn’t it interesting to know something different from the usual subjects? I would love to bring forth stories you may have not heard of. Well, now, I will start with an idiom which goes like this, “Often a bridesmaid, never a bride!” So, there’s an amusing story behind this. A girl named Eleanor had no clue why men would conveniently drop her after a few months of relationship; she always wondered what’s wrong with her? Why isn’t she finding the right groom that suits her abilities and passion? And her best friend knew the reasons behind things not working in Eleanor’s favor, but he/she just zipped their mouth. The reason is still unknown. The phrase became popular after the promotion of Listerine mouthwash in 1924. The product’s slogan back then was “Often a bridesmaid, but never a bride” which accompanied an image of a forlorn ‘Edna’ because she would never find a groom for her bad breath.
Okay! Now this is not all! I have a few more idioms with their origins:
Steal someone’s thunder came into being since 1700’s. A dramatist named John Dennis constructed a device that could mimic the sound of thunder for a play he was then working on. Well, he very soon realized that it was stolen and used for another play. It was then he irately said, “That is my thunder, by God; the villains will play my thunder, but not my play.”
Once in a blue moon was coined in a weird existence of a second full moon in the same month, it is rarely visible, like once in every 2.7 years— which is how the term was actually popular. A blue moon usually looks gray or white, but on rarer occasions the moon does not change its color and apparently, the smoke that comes out of the volcano or forest fires makes the color of the moon look blue, as per the information provided by NASA.
Under the weather was not originally used as the same phase! Puzzled? Yes, it was “under the weather bow”. It was referred by the sailors to the side of the ship which would get the thrust of the storms. For defense, the sailors would get down to their cabins, when under the weather—allow the storm to pass.
Blood is thicker than water is not an originally complete phrase. You might have thought that this means you keep family before friends, but no. The complete phrase goes like this: “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb” which means friends or siblings are the ones who stay with you through your rough and smooth.
Meeting a deadline is the term that has its roots from prison camps. It was a civil war and a line was drawn defining the boundaries for the prisoners, finally, anyone who crosses the line was straightly shot. From then the term deadline was born.
Hunting raccoons for fur was a popular sport back then and hunting dogs were used for this purpose to sniff the trees. Hunting usually took place at night and dogs would every now and then choose a wrong tree, this is when the idiom “Bark up the wrong tree” was originated.