The meanings and origins of English sayings

We often use different phrases, but seldom know the meanings and origins of them. The aim of my work is to study the meanings and origins some phrases hich we like to use. I conducted the research in several directions: English phrases and sayings that derive from the Bible, phrases coined at sea, phrases coined by William Shakespeare, misquotes and last words.

There are literally thousands of sayings in English (and all languages). The term saying conveys the idea of any expression of wisdom or truth, usually handed down by earlier generations. The origin of a saying is, in most cases, unknown. Many English sayings have come from other languages, and vice versa.

Most sayings are effective thanks to their shortness and directness. They use simple, vivid language, often based on everyday domestic situations, making them easy to understand and remember.

Sayings may be classified under a number of different terms, of which proverb is probably the best known. Other types of saying are adage, maxim, motto, epigram and aphorism, though frankly the distinction between them is often vague:

proverb: a piece of common-sense wisdom expressed in practical, homely terms ("A stitch in time saves nine")

adage: is a time-honored and widely known saying ("Where there's smoke, there's fire")

maxim: a general rule of behaviour drawn from practical experience ("Neither a borrower nor a lender be")

motto: a maxim adopted as a principal of conduct ("Honesty is the best policy")

epigram: is a brief, witty, or satirical statement that often gains effect through paradox ("The only way to get rid of temptation is to yield to it")

aphorism: similar to an epigram but more profound rather than witty ("He is a fool that cannot conceal is wisdom")

English phrases and sayings that derive from the Bible

The King James Version of the Bible has been enormously influential in the development of the English language. It ranks with the complete works of Shakespeare and the Oxford English Dictionary as one of the cornerstones of the recorded language. After Shakespeare, the King James, or Authorized, Version of the Bible is the most common source of phrases in English. The King James in question was James I of England and James VI of Scotland. He didn't write the text of course, he merely authorized it, hence the name that the book is best known in the UK (King James Version, or KJV, being more commonly used in the USA).

The King James Version was translated by 47 biblical scholars, working in six committees. It was first printed in 1611 and was by no means the earliest English translation of the Bible. It was pre-dated by several other partial or complete translations, notably John Wyclif's translation in 1382 and William Tyndale's in 1528 - the latter forming the basis of a large proportion of the KJV.

What raises that version above other versions of the Bible in terms of its linguistic impact is the fact that the language used has persisted into the present-day. Many of the phrases includeded are still commonplace. Here are some of the many phrases that originated in the Bible (most, but not all from the King James Version):

Can a leopard change its spots?

Meaning

Proverbial question, querying the ability of any person or creature to change its innate being.

Origin

From the Bible, Jeremiah 13:23

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.

In the beginning was the Word

Meaning

The first line of St. John's Gospel, in which he lays out the fundamental nature of God.

Origin

From the Bible, John 1:1 (King James Version):

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

For every thing there is a season

Meaning

There is an appropriate time for everything.

Origin

From the Bible, Ecclesiastes III (King James Version):

3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
3:2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3:3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
3:4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
3:5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
3:6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
3:7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

The piece was set to music in 1952 by Pete Seeger in his song 'Turn!, Turn!, Turn!'

Phrases coined at sea

Many phrases that have been adopted into everyday use originate from seafaring - in particular from the days of sail. Virtually all of these are metaphorical and the original nautical meanings are now forgotten. That association of travel and metaphor is significant in that the word metaphor derives from ancient Greek for 'to carry' or 'to travel'. The influence of other languages and other cultures is evident in many of the long list of English phrases that have nautical origins.

It is an undoubted fact that seafaring is also the source of more false etymology than any other sphere. This can be attributed to the attractiveness of the romantic image of horny-handed sailors singing shanties and living a hearty and rough life at sea. After all, it sounds plausible that 'cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey' comes from brass ship's fittings and that POSH means 'Port out, starboard home', but neither of these is correct. CANOE, the Committee to Ascribe a Naval Origin to Everything, doesn't really exist, but the number of these folk myths makes it seem as though they do..

It is lucky for us, in our endeavours to distinguish truth from falsehood, that activities at sea have been scrupulously recorded over the centuries, in insurance records, newspaper accounts and, not least, in ships' log books. The term log-book has an interesting derivation in itself. An early form of measuring a ship's progress was by casting overboard a wooden board (the log) with a string attached. The rate at which the string was payed out as the ship moved away from the stationary log was measured by counting how long it took between knots in the string. These measurements were later transcribed into a book. Hence we get the term 'log-book' and also the name 'knot' as the unit of speed at sea.

All at sea

Meaning

In a state of confusion and disorder.

Origin

This is an extension of the nautical phrase 'at sea'. It dates from the days of sail when accurate navigational aids weren't available. Any ship that was out of sight of land was in an uncertain position and in danger of becoming lost.

'At sea' has been in use since the 18th century, as here, in Sir William Blackstone's Commentaries on the laws of England, 1768:

"If a court of equity were still at sea, and floated upon the occasional opinion which the judge who happened to preside might entertain of conscience in every particular case."

The earliest reference to 'all at sea' in print that I can find is from Travel and adventure in south-east Africa, 1893, by Frederick C. Selous:

"I was rather surprised to find that he seemed all at sea, and had no one ready to go with me."

Cut and run

Meaning

Run away.

Origin

This term is the shortened form of the earlier phrases 'cut and run away' and 'cut and run off'. It has been suggested that it has a nautical derivation and that it refers to ships making a hasty departure by the cutting of the anchor rope and running before the wind. That isn't absolutely proven although the earliest known citation does come from a seafaring context. Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, 1590 has this line:

"It [a ship] cut away upon the yielding wave."

It could be that 'cut' doesn't relate to rope actually being cut. It may just be that word was chosen with the allusion to cutting in the sense of passing straight though. Similar recent phrases are (from the USA) 'cut class' and (from Australia) 'shoot through'.

The earliest known citation of 'cut and run' is the 1704 Boston News Letter:

"Cap. Vaughn rode by said Ship, but cut & run."

The 'cutting rope' derivation was certainly accepted later in that century by David Steel, the author of the 1794 tome The Elements and Practice of Rigging and Seamanship:

"To Cut and run, to cut the cable and make sail instantly, without waiting to weigh anchor."

The 'away' and 'off' suffixes to the term were still in use after that and Charles Dickens is good enough to use all three in his works:

1834 - Sketches by Boz: "The linen-draper cut off himself, leaving the landlord his compliments and the key."

1848 - Dombey and Son: "[Mr. Toodle] tapped her on the back; and said, with more fatherly feeling than eloquence, 'Polly! cut
away!'"

1861 - Great Expectations: "I hope, Joe, we shan't find them." and Joe whispered to me, "I'd give a shilling if they had cut and run, Pip."

Taken aback

Meaning

Surprised or startled by a sudden turn of events.

Origin

'Aback' means in a backward direction - toward the rear. It is a word that has fallen almost into disuse, apart from in the phrase 'taken aback'. Originally 'aback' was two words: 'a' and 'back', but these became merged into a single word in the 15th century. The word 'around' and the now archaic 'adown' were formed in the same way.

'Taken aback' is an allusion to something that is startling enough to make us jump back in surprise. The first to be 'taken aback' were not people though but ships. The sails of a ship are said to be 'aback' when the wind blows them flat against the masts and spars that support them. A use of this was recorded in the London Gazette in 1697:

"I braced my main topsails aback."

If the wind were to turn suddenly so that a sailing ship was facing unexpectedly into the wind, the ship was said to be 'taken aback'. An early example of that in print comes from an author called Eeles in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 1754:

"If they luff up, they will be taken aback, and run the hazard of being dismasted."

Note: 'to luff' is to bring the head of a ship nearer to the wind.

The figurative use of the phrase, meaning surprised rather than physically pushed back, came in the 19th century. It appeared in The Times in March 1831:

"Whigs, Tories, and Radicals, were all taken aback with astonishment, that the Ministers had not come forward with some moderate plan of reform."

Charles Dickens also used it in his American Notes in 1842:

"I don't think I was ever so taken aback in all my life."

Phrases coined by William Shakespeare

Shakespearean quotations such as "To be, or not to be" and "O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?" form some of literature's most celebrated lines and if asked to recite one of William Shakespeare's most famous quotes or quotations the majority of people would choose one of these. However, many expressions that we use every day originated in William Shakespeare's plays. We use the Bard's words all of the time in everyday speech, however, we are often totally unaware that we are 'borrowing' sayings from his work! William Shakespeare is attributed with writing 38 plays, Famous Shakespearean sonnets and 5 other poems and used about 21,000 different words. William Shakespeare is credited by the Oxford English Dictionary with the introduction of nearly 3,000 words into the language. It's no wonder that expressions from the works of William Shakespeare have become 'anonymous' parts of the English language.

The words and quotes of the William Shakespeare can be found everywhere! Shakespearean quotations can be heard on the radio and television on a daily basis. The advertising media love to make use of William Shakespeare quotes and sayings. Famous authors have even used Shakespearean quotations as titles for their books such Aldous Huxley and 'Brave New World'. And speaking of famous authors did you know that "What the dickens" was one of the quotes used by William Shakespeare, long before Charles Dickens was born? Other famous Shakespearean quotations such as "I'll not budge an inch", "We have seen better days" ,"A dish fit for the gods" are all used frequently and, almost as a parody, the expression it's "Greek to me" is often used to describe a frustrated student's view of Shakespeare's work! Politicians dig deep into their pool of William Shakespeare quotes and quotations such as "Fair Play", "Foregone Conclusion ", "One Fell Swoop", and "Into Thin Air ". Furthermore, other Shakespearean quotes such as "to thine own self be true" have become widely spoken pearls of wisdom. So quotes from William Shakespeare have now become household words and sayings - and just to emphasise the point "household word" is also one of the Bard's 'anonymous' quotations!

Milk of human kindness

Meaning

Care and compassion for others.

Origin

From Shakespeare's Macbeth, 1605:

"Yet doe I feare thy Nature, It is too full o' th' Milke of humane kindnesse."

The Queen's English

Meaning

The language of the United Kingdom.

Origin

Shakespeare used the phrase in The Merry Wives of Windsor, 1600, but it was in common use before that. 'The King's English' is used when the United Kingdom has a king.

Seen better days

Meaning

To have been more wealthy or in better condition in former times.

Origin

When it was first coined this phrase referred to people who had fallen on hard times, having previously been wealthy. More recently, the phrase is more often used to describe objects which are worn-out than people who are impoverished.

The line is first recorded in the play Sir Thomas More, 1590:

"Hauing seene better dayes, now know the lack Of glorie that once rearde eche high-fed back."

That work is anonymous but has been, at least in part, attributed to William Shakespeare. Shakespeare certainly did like the line and used it in several plays, for example, Timon of Athens, 1607:

FLAVIUS:
Good fellows all,
The latest of my wealth I'll share amongst you.
Wherever we shall meet, for Timon's sake,
Let's yet be fellows; let's shake our heads, and say,
As 'twere a knell unto our master's fortunes,
'We have seen better days.' Let each take some;
Nay, put out all your hands. Not one word more:
Thus part we rich in sorrow, parting poor.

Misquotes

Many phrases and sayings have entered the language as quotations by known authors. Some of these are accepted into the language with scant evidence linking the phrase and the person, and some are just plain misquotations. These false attributions, although generally quite easy to disprove as many of them as supposed to derive from films or works of fiction, join the popular fallacies as the most difficult to remove from the popular consciousness.

There are some untruths which people prefer to believe than to have refuted. It seems that, for a large enough percentage of the population to keep a phrase in circulation, the sense that a quote sounds appropriate for a particular author or fictional character is sufficient, regardless of whether they actually ever said it.

There are a startlingly large number of 'quotations' which, on investigation, turn out to be false. Some of these probably wouldn't persist apart from their 'misquote' notoriety. Here are a few examples:

Dreams are the royal road to the unconscious.

Sigmund Freud, in 'The Interpretation of Dreams', 1909.

The line doesn't appear in this book, or any of Freud's works. It derives from others' summaries of Freud's theories.

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

The Wicked Queen in Disney’s animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, 1937.

The actual line is " Magic Mirror on the Wall, who is the fairest one of all? ".

England and America are two countries divided by a common language.

George Bernard Shaw.

This supposed quotation doesn't appear anywhere in the copious writing of GBS. A similar idea was expressed by Oscar Wilde in The Canterville Ghost, 1887, some years earlier than Shaw was supposed to have said it:

"We have everything in common America nowadays except, of course, language".

Last words

Dying words are a very special form of quotation. Some are rehearsed and contrived; others are spontaneous and witty. Whatever the motivation or preparedness, 'famous last words' may be in the form of epitaphs, letters or even suicide notes, but are often impromptu sayings coined by and spoken by the dying person for the first (and, of course, last) time on their deathbed.

The list below gives us a glimpse into the character of the celebrated individuals who uttered their 'famous last words' before expiring.

I'm shot. John Lennon

My God. What's happened? Diana, Princess of Wales

This, is the last of earth. I am content. John Quincy Adams

I hope I haven't bored you. Elvis Presley

Relax - This won't hurt. Hunter S. Thompson

One of us must go. Oscar Wilde

Conclusion

Cliches and expressions give us many wonderful figures of speech and words in the English language . Many cliches and expressions - and words - have fascinating and surprising origins, and many popular assumptions about meanings and derivations are mistaken. These cliches, words and expressions origins and derivations illustrate the ever-changing complexity of language and communications, and are ideal free materials for word puzzles or quizzes, and team-building games. . Some expressions with two key words are listed under each word.

I loved working on this topic because I learned a lot of new and interesting things.

My hypothesis was confirmed- all used phrases have a very interesting origin. Language is so infinitely diverse that no-one can be an expert in all of it. Enticingly at the same time the endless variation and development of language - and especially of slang and cliches and expressions - means that anyone with the right tools and a relatively determined and creative effort can become a world-leading expert authority in one particular aspect of language, even if it is just the history of a single word or phrase. Read more and you will know a lot of wonderful things!

The list of the literature

Permiakov, Grigorii. 1979. From proverb to Folk-tale: Notes on the general theory of cliche. Moscow:

Mitchell, David. 2001. Go Proverbs (reprint of 1980). ISBN 0-9706193-1-6. Slate and Shell.

Finch, G. 2000. Linguistic terms and concepts. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Chambers, Edmund Kerchever (1944). Shakespearean Gleanings. Oxford University Press.

Germaine Greer «Past Masters: Shakespeare» (Oxford University Press 1986,

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/index.html

Appendix

Phrases coined by William Shakespeare

A countenance more in sorrow than in anger

A Daniel come to judgement

A dish fit for the gods

A fool's paradise

A foregone conclusion

A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse

A ministering angel shall my sister be

A plague on both your houses

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet

A sea change

A sorry sight

Age cannot wither her, nor custom stale her infinite variety

Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio

All corners of the world

All of a sudden

All one to me

All that glitters is not gold / All that glisters is not gold

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players

All's well that ends well

An ill-favoured thing sir, but mine own

And shining morning face, creeping like a snail unwillingly to school

And thereby hangs a tale

As cold as any stone

As dead as a doornail

As good luck would have it

As merry as the day is long

As pure as the driven snow

At one fell swoop

Bag and baggage

Beast with two backs

Beware the ides of March

Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks

Brevity is the soul of wit

But screw your courage to the sticking-place

But, for my own part, it was Greek to me

Come the three corners of the world in arms

Come what come may

Comparisons are odorous

Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war

Dash to pieces

Discretion is the better part of valour

Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn, and cauldron bubble

Eaten out of house and home

Et tu, Brute

Even at the turning of the tide

Exceedingly well read

Eye of newt and toe of frog, wool of bat and tongue of dog

Fair play

Fancy free

Fie, foh, and fum, I smell the blood of a British man

Fight fire with fire

For ever and a day

Frailty, thy name is woman

Foul play

Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears

Good men and true

Good riddance

Green eyed monster

Hark, hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings

He will give the Devil his due

Heart's content

High time

His beard was as white as snow

Hoist by your own petard

Hot-blooded

Household words

How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child

I bear a charmed life

I have not slept one wink

I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips

I will wear my heart upon my sleeve

If music be the food of love, play on

In a pickle

In my mind's eye, Horatio

In stitches

In the twinkling of an eye

A list of phrases that derive from seafaring

Many phrases are falsely claimed to be of a nautical origin. The list below are those with documentary evidence to support the claim of an association with the sea:

A shot across the bows

All at sea

Anchors aweigh

Batten down the hatches

Between the Devil and the deep blue sea