*Please note- This site search does not include the Vic. & Tas. BMD's, Lots o' Links & Worth a Look Books
|
Now Sayings get passed on through time,
And wives tales can seem quite sublime;
From whence did they come?
those sayings that Mum
did clearly know all in her prime
And wives tales can seem quite sublime;
From whence did they come?
those sayings that Mum
did clearly know all in her prime
N
Namby Pamby- Meaning something that is excessively sentimental This came from a nickname given to Ambrose Philips, who wrote very unusual and dainty pieces, in the 1700's. -Philips, by a way of writing very peculiar procured to himself the name of Namby Pamby, which was first bestowed on him by Henry Cary, who burlesqued some little pieces of his in so humorous a manner...(The Poetical Works of Ambrose Philips By Ambrose Philips 1781) Ambrose was admired at the time for his pastoral poems. He penned lines like- 'Dimpley Damsel Sweetly Smiling'. The Grub-Street Journal, published from January 8, 1730 to 1738, was a satire on popular journalism and hack-writing in Grub Street, London. While he disclaimed it, writer Alexander Pope was one of its contributors, continuing his satire which he had started with The Dunciad (epic poem, making fun of the poets of the day). Henry Cary, an ally of Pope, published a parody on Philip's poems and named it Namby-Pamby (1726), a comical name, derived from Ambrose's name. Pope decided to include Namby-Pamby in his 1733 version of 'The Dunciad' . Until the early 19th century, Grub Street was a street close to London's impoverished Moorfields district. Famous for its concentration of poor 'hack writers', aspiring poets, and low-end publishers and booksellers. Needle in a Haystack- Something that is or will be, very hard to find. Like trying to find a needle in a haystack. -Her needle in a bottle full of hay (Tom Thumb: A tragedy. As it is acted at the theatre in the Hay-Market By Henry Fielding) Bottle was another word for Bundle. Nest Egg- A sum of money saved for the future. -Nestegg; An egg left in the nest to keep the hen from forsaking it. (A Dictionnary of the English Language By Samuel Johnson 1773). -You shall gather your eggs up once a day, and leave in the gatheting nest but the nest egg, and no more; (Cheap and Good Husbandry: For the Well-ordering of All Beasts and Fowls 1664). -'Tis policy in the Prince not to take away all at once, but to leave a Nest- Egg, if he designs they should lay again (1689) Nine Day Wonder- Something that is exciting for a while and then quickly fades out. A fad. -A book on any subject by a peasant, or a peer, is no longer so much as a nine-days wonder. Ascham, Schoole Master, 1570. (The Proverbs, Epigrams, and Miscellanies By John Heywood) Not a Patch on it- Not anywhere near as good, as the real thing, or the other one. Eg."Your car is not a patch on my Mercedes" Whether this stems from the Biblical verse- (New Testament) Mark 2:21 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. This explained in 1590 -No man saith Christ, patcheth a new peece to an olde garment,& wilt thou patch an olde peece to a newe Louit' garment Not My Cup of Tea- Not my style, not something that I'd like. Plays and books influence the lives of so many people, in the 17th, 18th and 19th century, so this saying may have come from the following play? -This is not my cup ! .. I have constantly used the cup, which John Pringle brought me from China ; and now they have given me another (Family Distress; Or, Self Immolation: A Play, in Three ActsBy August von Kotzebue 1799) No Room to Swing a Cat- Very cramped surroundings. The Cat of nine tails, was a whip with nine knotted thongs and it was used for punishment in the British Navy and also later in Schools. If the area was not large enough to get a good swing on the whip, then dealing out the lashing would prove to be difficult. Not a Sailor's Bootlace- Not even good enough to be the bootlace on a Sailor's boot. If you think you're as good as a Sailor, a Carpenter, a Singer etc., then you're not even as good as their bootlace. This may have come from Fancy Naval uniforms? or a Biblical reference- (New Testament) John 1:27 He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose. Not Over 'Til the Fat Lady Sings- You shouldn't presume to know the outcome of an event which is still in progress. Don't give up hope on something, if it's not finished, it may still work out alright? The "fat lady" is the valkyrie Brünnhilde, who is traditionally presented as a very large lady with horned (or winged) helmet,spear and round shield. Her aria lasted almost twenty minutes and lead directly to the end of the opera. As Götterdämmerung (opera by Richard Wagner) is about the end of the world (or at least the world of the Norse gods), in a very significant way "it is all over when the fat lady sings." No Use Crying Over Spilt Milk- This means that it is no use worrying (or crying) about something that's happened, if you can't change the outcome, it's over, finished! A citation comes from a collection of English proverbs by James Howell (1659): “No weeping for shed milk.” Nutty as a Fruit Cake- Absolutely mad. The origin is unsure, but but being nutty and madness have been associated with each other, for a hundred or so years. This is a suggested origin- The fact that food, during the 1800's, was adulterated with all sorts of ingredients, including plaster. Wine also was adulterated to give it a nutty taste and would most likely have been used in fruit cake. Enough of this adulterated wine would surely make you act like a mad man? -Wines are adulterated with bitter almonds, or leaves of cherry-laurel, in order to impart to them a nutty flavour (The london medical and surgical journal By Micheal Ryan, 1841) |