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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
O
Off the Beaten Track- To be out of the ordinary, or your ideas are way off the track of what we're talking about. Originally- Off the beaten path. The beaten path was the main track used by horses and carriages and the soil was beaten or compressed, by constant use. -There is a degree of pleasure, of self-gratification, in striking off from the beaten path, and rambling in the untrodden paths of speculation and experiment (The Oriental Herald, Volume 16, 1828) -Where an open and well beaten path led from the travelled part of the road to an apparently safe and convenient watering place, by the side of the way, and within the limits of the road as laid out (Maine Reports: Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Judicial Court, 1839) Old Battle Axe- A term usually used in reference to a domineering, unagreeable old woman. Battle axes were used in war by the Barbarians and not by the politer nations. BATTLE-Axe, an ancient military weapon, which, at different periods, formed a principal part of the offensive armour (The Cyclopædia; Or, Universal Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Literature, 1819) Once Bitten, Twice Shy- If you've had a bad experience once, then you're not very keen & are very hesitant to do it again. -Once bitten twice shy is an old proverb — may it prove true; it remains for us to say, whether we shall be again defrauded.(The Republican: A Magazine Advocating the Sovereignty of the People, Volume 122 edited by C. G. Harding, 1848). -But some may say, if men be once bitten and devoured one of another, what is there remaining of them to be consumed ? (An Exposition with Practicall Observations Continued Upon the Eighteenth,Nineteenth,Twentieth and Twenty-first chapters of the book of Job, By Joseph Caryl, 1658) Once in a Blue Moon- Something that happens not very often, or hardly at all, very rarely. Seven times in every nineteen years there will be thirteen full moons in a year, instead of only twelve. In 1937, the Maine Farmer’s Almanac, mentioned that each full moon was marked in red & the odd extra moon marked in blue. This sounds good, but the term was in use long before the Almanac came to light. The first known recorded use of the phrase is in something by William Roy & Jeremy Barlowe, published in 1528 , where one person says to the other- “Yf they say the mone is blewe, We must believe that it is true.” It was then known that a Blue Moon was a preposterous notion & only a fool would believe such a thing to be true. The moon may appear to be blue after volcanic activity, as the dust particles from the ash, diffract red light, making the moon appear slightly blue and sometimes greenish. This occurred after the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, when the moon appeared blue for approximately two years in many regions. So where ever the origin came from, it is certainly true to it's modern meaning of being very rare or hardly ever. On Cloud Nine- In absolute ecstasy, unbelievably happy. Some say that the origin is from large clouds being 8 miles high, so to be on cloud nine, would be going one higher, others have different explanations. This could be a possible origin- (painting) An Assumption of the Virgin. By Rubens.(cir. 1620) -In the Arundel Catalogue it is said, that his Lordship desired Rubens to paint for him a fine finished Closet Picture, which is this Picture -, being an old Flemish Board, most beautifully coloured. There is a Group at Bottom of nine Angels, all in different Postures, as raising the Cloud under the Virgin Mary (A Description of the Earl of Pembroke's Pictures ...By conte Carlo Gambarini, 1731), or 'Cloud of nine Angels' On the Bread Line- Just surviving, barely eating, almost totally destitute From people queuing and waiting to receive free food, during the great depression. On the Cards- If something is on the cards, it is most likely that it will happen. This saying comes from early fortune telling and the reading of tarot cards. "Les Amusements des Allemands, or The Diversions of the Court of Vienna, in which the Mystery of Fortune-Telling is unravelled, by means of 32 playing-cards having on them emblematic designs of various character and a book of suitable instructions.(The Monthly Magazine, Or, British Register, Volume 4, 1798) Out of the Blue- Something unexpected or a complete surprise. Like a bolt of lightning out of a clear blue sky. Thomas Carlyle in his book 'The French Revolution', written in 1837, was the first recorded use of the term- "Arrestment, sudden really as a bolt out of the Blue, has hit strange victims." Over a Barrel- You're at someone's mercy, if they have you over a barrel, helpless. -For the Recovery of Persons apparently Dead by Drowning - In removing the body to a convenient place, great care must be taken that it be not bruised, nor roughly handled, nor shaken violently, nor carry over anyone's shoulders with the head hanging downwards, nor rolled upon the ground, or over a barrel, nor lifted up by the heels, except with extreme caution (The Life and Writings of the Rev. William Dodd, 1777) Apparently, these were all methods used in trying to resuscitate a drowning victim. Over the Moon- Extremely happy or elated. We know that Venus is the next brightest object in the sky, after the Moon. It reflects 65% of the sunlight that hits it. The following is from- 'A Discovery of a New World, Or, a Discourse: Tending to Prove, that 'tis Probable that there may be Another Habitable World in the Moon' By John Wilkins, in 1684 -Venus may bestow some Light when she is over the Moon Of course, the cow jumped over the moon in Hey Diddle, Diddle. -Some think the cow, exhilarated by the music, would jump over the moon. The most probably conjecture is, that Hugh Diddle's fiddling, took place in a new moon, when the horns of that planet were visible. A highly poetic idea.(The Literary Gazette and Journal of Belles Letters, Arts, Sciences, Part 1, 1819) -Hie, Diddle,Diddle written circa 1603 |