“Wild Goose Chase” & “Wrong End of The Stick” and the Wonderful Origins of Everyday Expressions (Pt. 25)

00:00:10
Speaker 1: And we continue with Our American Stories. Up next, we continue with our recurring series about the curious origins of everyday scenes. You’re to join us again is Andrew Thompson as he continues to share another slaves from his Ultimate Guide to Understanding the stories, the mysteries of the English language. Take it away, Andrew.

00:00:34
Speaker 2: “The whole nine yards” means the entire amount, or as far as much as possible, and that’s a phrase with disputed origins. It’s similar to the expression “dressed to the nines,” and some say it relates to the best suits being made from nine yards of fabric, but the more likely origin is actually military-based. During World War II, the American fighter planes used fifty-caliber machine guns that were fired from the doors by the gunners. The ammunition used by these guns was linked together on belts that were exactly nine yards long, so if a target was shot at with the full belt of ammunition, it was said that they were being given “the whole nine yards.” “A wild goose chase” is a fruitless chase for something, or a hopeless quest, and it has its origins in early horse racing. The sport developed in England in the sixteenth century, and its earliest form was much different from what we see today, because a race began with a lead horse being set off, the rider taking any direction he chose, and then the other riders were sent off in pursuit, leaving at precise, regular intervals. The pursuing horses and riders didn’t know exactly which route the lead rider had taken, so they all set off in different directions, like wild geese trying to follow their leader. Shakespeare then used the expression in his play Romeo and Juliet, and that popularized it. “To win hands down” means to win easily with little effort, and it’s another phrase that comes from horse racing. When riding, a jockey needs to keep a tight rein on his horse to encourage it to rine. But when a jockey is so far ahead of the competition that he can loosen the reins and still win without needing his whip, he can place both hands back on the reins and wrest them down comfortably. He can then canter to the fringish line and win hands down without batting. An eyelid means to take a situation in your stride or not show any emotional response, and it’s always used in the negative, and it’s another expression that derives from the linguistic world. The world “bat” comes from “bait,” an obsolete English word which comes from the Old French word “butcher,” meaning to beat the wings or flutter. So when a person reacted to something of note without showing any surprise or motion to the extent that they didn’t even blink or flutter an eyelid, it was said that they didn’t “bat an eyelid.” “To wreak havoc” means to cause major destruction or confusion, and it began in 13th-century France, where the expression “cry a havot” was a military call that battlefield generals would yell “havot,” meaning plunder. So, to cry a havot meant the battle was won and the soldiers could begin looting. The phrase then reached England by the 14th century, where it evolved to “cry havoc.” And then the expression was used by Shakespeare in a number of his plays, which brought it to the mainstream, where it was adapted to “wreak havoc.” “The wrong end of the stick” means to misunderstanders situation entirely, and it’s got pretty disgusting origins. It began with the toilet habits of Ancient Rome. The Romans used communal toilets, where people sat side by side to discuss the day’s events. Toilet paper hadn’t been invented, so to address personal hygiene issues, a cloth or sponge was tied to one end of a short stick, which was passed from person to person. It was obviously important to pay close attention when picking up or being passed the stick, because nobody wanted to get “the wrong end of the stick.” “To get out of the wrong side of the bed” means that someone’s in a bad mood, and it’s an expression that began in Ancient Rome, and it’s very similar to the saying “to set off on the wrong foot,” where the Romans believed that anything on the left was evil, including the bed. They had a real superstition that nefarious spirits lay on the left-hand side of the bed during the night, and if someone was to get out on that side, they would be forced to pass through those spirits, whose sinister ways would influence the person during the day, affecting their judgment and putting them in a bad mood. This negative influence would continue until the next morning when the person got out of the bed on the right. “You can run, but you can’t hide” means you can try to escape something, but you’ll eventually be caught, and it owes its origins to the great heavyweight boxer Joe Louis, known as “The Brown Bomber.” In 1941, he fought Billy Conn, a much lighter and faster boxer, and behind on the scorecard. Lewis eventually knocked Conn out in the 13th round. Then, still champion, in 1946, Lewis fought a rematch with Conn. Remembering how close Lewis had come to losing his belt in the first bout, boxing writers asked Lewis how he could combat Conn’s fast hit-and-run strategy. Lewis responded, “He can run, but he can’t hide,” and Lewis won the fight by knockout in the eighth round. “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” means to do someone a favor if they do one for you, and it has its origins with the British Navy. During the 17th century, the punishments meted out to sailors for being drunk, grabs, and/or disobedient were severe, and one of the main forms of punishment was the lashing with the cat-o’-nine-tails whip, which had multiple strands that caused severe pain. The common practice was to tie the offender to the ship’s mast in full view and have him flogged by another crew member. The crew members came to an understanding that they would only deliver light lashes and merely scratch the other’s back, knowing that they would receive similar leniency if their turn came to be flogged later in the voyage. “Your name is Mud” means a person who is unpopular or out of favor, and it began in 1865 when John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln by shooting him in Ford’s Theatre in Washington. Booth broke his leg while escaping and managed to ride his horse to the house of Dr. Samuel Mudd. That’s Mudd. Mudd was ignorant of the grave events that had just unfolded and provided Booth with the medical assistance he needed. Mudd learned of the shooting the next day and contacted the police, but he was arrested, convicted of conspiracy to murder, and sentenced to life in jail. He was pardoned and released in 1869, but the public never forgave him, and his name was forever tarnished. “To say your ship has come in” means you become rich and successful, and it dates from the mid-1800s and is a seafaring expression. As the expression suggests, a man might spend all his money in building a ship, fitting it out, and hiring a crew. The ship would then set sail for a long voyage in the hope of recouping the money. It may be away for years at a time, and the investor, unable to communicate with the captain, would never be sure if he’d seize money again, or even the ship again. It would only be when the ship reappeared that he would know the outcome. If laden with cargo valuables from far away places, it would be said that his ship had “come in.”

00:07:07
Speaker 1: And a terrific job on the production and editing by our own Greg Hengler, and a special thanks to Andrew Thompson. His book, Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town Red. Get it at Amazon or the usual suspects. You won’t put it down. You can open it up to almost any letter in the alphabet, and you’ll just start laughing. The story of the origins of everyday sayings. Here on Our American Stories. Lee Habib here, the host of Our American Stories. Every day on this show, we’re bringing inspiring stories from across this great country—stories from our big cities and small towns—but we truly can’t do the show without you. Our stories are free to listen to, but they’re not free to make. If you love what you hear, go to OurAmericanStories.com and click the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Go to OurAmericanStories.com and give.