“Home Alone”
In segments in January 2024 and February 2023, we chased down the origins of clichés, idioms and dumb words people use every day. We’ve got more.
1. Loon: We always believed this description of a mentally ill person (crazy no longer is politically correct!) had nothing to do with the beautiful water birds whose haunting “whooooo” echoes across the North Woods. We figured it was a corruption of “lunatic,” itself likely inspired by the superstition that the moon’s movements could cause mental illness. But language is a messy science, with misty origins. We’re seeing perhaps “loon” came from both; “lunatic” for the moon and the bird for its wild cry. You’ll recall from our October 23, 2023, segment that the loon is Canada’s national bird and graces $1 and $2 coins, nicknamed “loonies” and “toonies.” If you never have heard a loon in the dark, you are really missing out.
2. Ad Hoc. From the Latin for “for this,” it usually refers to a government program, panel or investigation designed to deal with a short-term problem or issue.
3. Penny wise and pound foolish. This phrase for being frugal on little things, but foolishly overspending on big ones, refers not to weight but to British currency.
4. Fighting tooth and nail. This overused sports cliché is suggested by a cornered animal who desperately will fight an attacker with teeth and claws.
5. A broken record. We talked back in January 2023 about phonograph records and record albums. A record’s a disc in which music signals have been imbedded; as it spins, a needle picks up the data. Grooves spiral toward the middle. Records are very fragile. Scratching them could cause a break in a groove. Then the needle either jumps to another spot on the disc, or in most cases, back into the same groove. Again and again. Until you stop it. Thus the expression “broken record” for someone saying the same thing over and over. (Special thanks to audiophile Jim Guido.)
6. Red herring: This phrase for a false clue dates to the 1400s and the practice of, when wanting to prolong a fox hunt, dragging dead fish across a trail to confuse hounds. Smoked and salted herrings turned bright red and really stunk, so they were the preferred option.
7. “That’s the $64,000 question.” One of America’s earliest TV game shows premiered on June 5, 1955, and soon became a phenomenon. Over several weeks, a contestant needed 10 consecutive — no multiple choice — correct answers, first winning $1,000 and doubling each time, to get to the final round. The player then either took the $32,000 or risked everything to win $64,000 — a staggering $744,000-plus in 2024 dollars. That made the $64,000 question a huge deal.
8. Ringer: A college football team gets in big trouble when one of its players is revealed to be Patrick Mahomes in disguise. Whoops! The term “ringer,” for a contestant who secretly is far more talented than allowed, is said to date to the old British term “ring-in,” for “exchange.” Fast horses were snuck into a race to replace slower ones.
9. Stock in trade: “Lying was the politician’s stock in trade.” This phrase, for the usual part of a person or company’s behavior or work (sometimes hyphenated, and often butchered as “stock and trade”) goes back to 1600s England, where it referred to someone’s inventory.
10. Nook and cranny. Searching every nook and cranny means you looked everywhere, even in hard-to-reach places. It dates to the 14th century British word nook, an out-of-the-way corner, and the 15th century cranny, a crack or crevice.
11. Unhinged. Back to olde English. According to etymologists, this originally referred not to a door coming off its hinges, but instead to a meaning of “mental disorder.”
12. Take with a grain of salt. This term for viewing something with healthy skepticism has several possible origins. Quillbot.com mentions two: Pliny the Elder used the term about an antidote, leading to the idea that the antidote meant any threats involving that poison could be taken less seriously. Another says Roman general Pompey believed that he could gain immunity to poisons by consuming small amounts with a grain of salt.
https://hustleandgroove.com/
13. Inbox. The internet was a brave new world. People had to make up new terms. So they borrowed some old ones. In “the old days” (and now as well), in offices, desks would have two trays. Items brought to the worker for attention were put in the inbox, and completed items went in the outbox. You get the idea.
grammar-monster.com
14. Hand over fist. Eliot always had believed this referred to selling stuff so fast all you were doing was reaching for money with one hand and pulling it in with your other hand in a fist. But this is why you do research! Turns out it’s an old nautical term for the way you successfully pull yourself up a rope, and later morphed into a term for making money.
15. In stitches. This one was fun. Eliot always presumed it was a gruesome hyperbolic idiom about laughing so hard your sides split open and you have to have them stitched together. He was wrong! It goes all the way back to Shakespeare, and refers to a “stitch,” the pain or cramp you get in your side while jogging. Or laughing too hard. Eliot’s wife said, “Duh. Everyone knew that.” Readers?
16. Out and about. We never did find out how this phrase came “about.” It’s a cute colloquial, even though we don’t know how you would be just “about.” Readers?
Watch this on video: https://youtu.be/tIDat7o2efM?si=CPPy13BdQAhatcV4
Next time: A company makes a really dumb public statement. Wow. That never happens!
Readers: "Something Went Horribly Wrong" features samples of bad writing we see nearly every day. You can participate! Be our duly deputized “grammar police.” Your motto: “To protect and correct.” Send in your photos of store signs, street signs, menus, TV news graphics, newspaper headlines, tweets, and so on. It doesn’t have to be a grammatical error. It can be just what we call “cowardly writing.” Include your name and home town so we can credit you properly. You're free to add a comment, although we reserve the right to edit or omit. Now get out there! Send to Eliot@eliotkleinberg.com
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NOTE: Eliot and Lou Ann are available for speaking engagements, and can travel. Reach us through the comments section. Just think of all of your employees getting back to work on a Monday, their heads filled with all the ways we’ve shown them to be better communicators!