Comments on: Weekend Word Wrap: the origin of a phrase

By: Rachel

Rachel — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:52:37 +0000

Amy,
I’ve heard it originated in printing. Each individual metal letter had to be placed on a printing press to form a page. However, the pieces of movable type appeared to be the mirror images of the letters they printed. So, since a lowercase P, when backward, looks like a lowercase Q and vice versa, typesetters would have had to be attentive to which one they were putting where. Hence, “mind your p’s and q’s”.

By: Nick

Nick — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:43:51 +0000

I love this topic because it is just as likely to generate apocryphal stories as genuine word origins.:)

“Put your nose to the grindstone”: Millers needed to take care not to over-grind their grain and end up with scorched flour. Thus, they put their nose to the grindstone to check for a burning smell when they wanted to concentrate closely on the quality of the grain.

By: Amy

Amy — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:52:22 +0000

The phrase “minding your p’s and q’s” comes from bar maids having to remember how many Pints and Quarts their customers were ordering.

By: David

David — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:47:57 +0000

these are awesome! keep ‘em coming. and… he he. thank alice… me brain is cloudy these daze. ;-)

By: Alice

Alice — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:25:48 +0000

Marquis–a French nobleman
marquee–a sign outside a theater

By: Roger

Roger — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:05:58 +0000

Cool post! One of my favorite aspects of my lit classes in college was when we would come across a well-known phrase buried in its original form in a classic. Some of the more memorable ones were “the best-laid schemes of mice and men” (Robert Burns), “no man is an island” (John Donne), and Chaucer’s original mention of a “fish out of water” (actually, I think it was something to the effect of a ‘fish being waterless’) in The Canterbury Tales.

By: chris

chris — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:18:12 +0000

“Balls to the wall” refers to early day fighter pilots pushing their throttle (sticks with balls on top) to the max (against the front of the side display).

By: Doc

Doc — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:07:26 +0000

Many phrases come from gunsmithing or related firearms vocabulary:

“Flash in the pan”

“Misfire”

“Lock, stock, and barrel”

There are lots more, but I have to get to work…

By: LorinJuliet

LorinJuliet — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:06:09 +0000

Well, anyone who has seen The Boondock Saints will be familiar with the origin of “Rule of Thumb.” Apparently it used to be legal to beat your wife with a stick, as long as it was the width of your thumb or less.

By: Jim

Jim — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 12:30:12 +0000

aparently the phrase ‘having a chat’ comes from the trenches in WWI where they would sit talking to each other while picking the ticks/lice off each other – the phrase came from the ‘chatting’ sound made by the ticks when burnt off with a lit match… so i was told in Ypres some years ago!