My husband and I enjoy browsing local garage sales on Saturday mornings. We often do not purchase anything. Occasionally, we find an item or two that might, at some point in the foreseeable future, be useful and sometimes we hit upon a gold mine.
In particular, old books and vinyl records draw my attention. I enjoy many different literary genre and drop a quarter on lots of books that look interesting for one of any number of reasons. I might read 1 of every 5 garage sale finds as I am often already reading 3 or more books (although for years it’s taken me a month or longer to finish a book with our busyness) and have 5 or more on my “I want to read” waiting list. I store my garage sale books on a bookshelf in my office, browse the titles when I’m looking for a new read, and sell many unread at our own annual yard sale every summer.
As Franklin and I readied to leave home for a quick 2 day trip to Albuquerque I picked up one of my latest garage sale finds, I Didn’t Know That (Dear Word Press, I can’t find your underline tool anywhere…???) by Karlen Evins. A collection of 300 words, phrases, and expressions with unusual origins, I read this book aloud to Franklin as he drove and we enjoyed learning a little more about several words and phrases in our unique language. I thought I’d share some of the origins we found most interesting with you. You might enjoy them as well.
“Armed to the Teeth” – Today this phrase means, “Being on the attack, prepared for any confrontation.” Its roots can be found in an ancient Nordic tribe known as the Berserkers who were certainly “armed to the teeth”. They filed their teeth into sharp points and savagely attacked their enemies.
“Clean as a Whistle” – The original whistle was a hollowed out reed. For the reed to ring with a pure tone the hollowed out stalk had to be completely free of all debris, perfectly clean and dry.
“Mad as a Hatter” – Many hatters of bygone days developed mental and neurological troubles because of their work with mercury, used for many years as a processing agent in felt hats.
“Jeep” – Originally built as an all-terrain vehicle for the U.S. Army, the first were painted with the letters G.P. on their doors. Short for “general purpose,” the G.P. morphed into the word jeep as the abbreviation was read on the doors as these vehicles drove by.
“Hick” –Dating back to early American schoolrooms and the early public controversy over corporal punishment, “hick,” an abbreviation of “hickory,” was used to describe “country folk” who continued to practice corporal punishment with hickory sticks to discipline students.
“In the Groove” – A more recent expression, “In the Groove,” is a product of the Swing Era and the advent of the phonograph. Upon careful study of a vinyl record, one would notice that a record has just one continuous groove. As long as the needle stayed in the groove, the music would continue without interruption.
“Blackball” – The term was coined initially in the late 1700s in English social clubs, but the practice dates back to ancient Greek and Roman times when white balls were dropped into a “ballot box” for a “yea” vote and black balls were dropped as a “nay”. In fact the word we continue to use today, ballot, refers to voting by little balls.
“Getting One’s Goat” – In the early days of horse racing it was not unusual to place a goat in the stall of a high-strung race horse. The small roommate often helped to calm the horse before a race. On the flip side, it became common place to steal the small friend of an opponent to upset the horse just before the race began.
“Limelight” – Long before technological advances made bright electrical lighting readily available, chemists learned that a stream of oxygen crossed with hydrogen on a lime surface gave out a brilliant white light. Used initially in lighthouses and eventually in stage productions, “standing in the limelight” once had a very literal connotation.
I’ve saved the most base for last. I apologize in advance.
“In a Pickle” – As pickle barrels were transported to America in the cargo hulls of large ships, pickle juice was found to be useful in preserving both pickles and the occasional human who died at sea. To be “in a pickle” was certainly to be in an unfortunate situation.