Mental Floss

The Forgotten Sources of 12 Phrases

From ‘albatross around your neck’ to ‘bucket list,’ many everyday idioms and phrases have surprising origins.

Bethel Afful|
”Egg on my face.”
”Egg on my face.” | Emma Innocenti/Getty

You might assume the movie The Bucket List (2007) was named after the phrase. However, the movie The Bucket List is actually the main reason we have the phrase bucket list at all.

The English language is bursting with colorful expressions that come from strange and surprising places. Many of them once had literal meanings that the general public has long since forgotten.

This episode of The List Show is all about why we say what we say—from the poem that gave us albatross around your neck to the hands that gave us hands down.

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