 Where Did That Come From, Word/phrase .. Origins |
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 Mar 2 2006, 08:16 PM
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#1
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 To INSANITY and BEYOND !!  Group: Moderator Posts: 21,869 Joined: 10-September 04 From: NJ USA Member No.: 2,608  |
What is the origin of that word or phrase? For example, the first one is: Working the Graveyard shift This refers to the attendants who monitored graveyards during the 1800's. They listened for bells attached to caskets in case the buried awoke. The could notify the attendant they were alive. -------------------- Can you spare some PC cycles to help FIND A CURE .. BC FOLDING TEAM Click me /info..
ThoughtVent a goodplace to discuss.<<>>>Staying Updated Calendar of Updates. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.... Become a BleepingComputer fan: Facebook |
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Mar 4 2006, 05:07 AM
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#2
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: 14-October 05 Member No.: 37,279 |
nursery rhyme
ring a ring rosie, a pocket full of posie atishoo, atishoo, we all fall down. from Middle Ages -- people carried a pocket of herbs to ward off the BlackPlague. |
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Mar 4 2006, 02:56 PM
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#3
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To INSANITY and BEYOND !! Group: Moderator Posts: 21,869 Joined: 10-September 04 From: NJ USA Member No.: 2,608 |
Cool penny
dead ringer In association with the graveyard shift ( from post 1): if the attendant heard the bell ringing,then they had a dead ringer to deal with. -------------------- Can you spare some PC cycles to help FIND A CURE .. BC FOLDING TEAM Click me /info..
ThoughtVent a goodplace to discuss.<<>>>Staying Updated Calendar of Updates. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.... Become a BleepingComputer fan: Facebook |
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Mar 7 2006, 12:31 AM
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#4
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: 14-October 05 Member No.: 37,279 |
Dog-day
We had another dog-day afternoon at work today from when Sirius, the Dogstar, rises with the sun---wrongly supposed to be when dogs are succeptible to hydrophobia (rabies=madness) |
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Mar 7 2006, 11:04 AM
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#5
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To INSANITY and BEYOND !! Group: Moderator Posts: 21,869 Joined: 10-September 04 From: NJ USA Member No.: 2,608 |
and my last one in this group
Saved by the Bell Well if the attendant working the graveyard shift, actually saved the deadringer, welll then you were Saved by the Bell -------------------- Can you spare some PC cycles to help FIND A CURE .. BC FOLDING TEAM Click me /info..
ThoughtVent a goodplace to discuss.<<>>>Staying Updated Calendar of Updates. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.... Become a BleepingComputer fan: Facebook |
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Mar 8 2006, 08:14 PM
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#6
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To INSANITY and BEYOND !! Group: Moderator Posts: 21,869 Joined: 10-September 04 From: NJ USA Member No.: 2,608 |
honeymoon
It was thought that if newlyweds drank mead (a wine made from honey) every evening for one month (the cycle of one moon) they would surely have a male heir in that year. That one-month period is called the ‘honeymoon.’ -------------------- Can you spare some PC cycles to help FIND A CURE .. BC FOLDING TEAM Click me /info..
ThoughtVent a goodplace to discuss.<<>>>Staying Updated Calendar of Updates. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.... Become a BleepingComputer fan: Facebook |
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Mar 9 2006, 06:27 AM
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#7
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: 14-October 05 Member No.: 37,279 |
He was drooling like PAVLOV'S DOG at the thought of food
Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936) a Russian physiologist studied digestion and "conditioned" or acquired reflexes. He rewarded a dog with food when the bell was rung. Eventually the dog would salivate at the sound of the bell with no food in sight. This post has been edited by jgweed: Mar 24 2006, 02:16 AM |
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Mar 9 2006, 02:57 PM
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#8
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To INSANITY and BEYOND !! Group: Moderator Posts: 21,869 Joined: 10-September 04 From: NJ USA Member No.: 2,608 |
'The whole nine yards'
This term referred to a 9 yard long machine gun ammo belt in WW1. To fire it until empty meant going the whole nine yards. -------------------- Can you spare some PC cycles to help FIND A CURE .. BC FOLDING TEAM Click me /info..
ThoughtVent a goodplace to discuss.<<>>>Staying Updated Calendar of Updates. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.... Become a BleepingComputer fan: Facebook |
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Mar 11 2006, 11:06 PM
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#9
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: 14-October 05 Member No.: 37,279 |
Tennis 15-love (zero)
It seems to have been adapted from the phrase "to play for love (of the game)" that is to play for nothing from AskOxford.com OED |
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Mar 15 2006, 11:17 PM
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#10
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To INSANITY and BEYOND !! Group: Moderator Posts: 21,869 Joined: 10-September 04 From: NJ USA Member No.: 2,608 |
Teddy Bear
This term cme about in 1902 when President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was hunting. The object game wasn't present and the guides brought him a stunned bear cub to finish. Roosevelt declined this unsporting solution and spared the animal. The next day the act of mercy was cartooned in the Washington Post. A New York candy store owner, Morris Michtom, saw this and asked his wife to sew up a Teddy Bear to put next to the cartoon in his window. Everyone wanted one. Within a year they sold so may they closed the candy store and opened the Ideal Novelty and Toy company, now one of the largest in the world. -------------------- Can you spare some PC cycles to help FIND A CURE .. BC FOLDING TEAM Click me /info..
ThoughtVent a goodplace to discuss.<<>>>Staying Updated Calendar of Updates. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.... Become a BleepingComputer fan: Facebook |
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Mar 18 2006, 03:31 AM
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#11
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: 14-October 05 Member No.: 37,279 |
Lukewarm
back to the 14th century the word luke seems to be an alternative form of lew (Old English, hleow) meaning tepid |
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Mar 23 2006, 12:31 AM
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#12
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To INSANITY and BEYOND !! Group: Moderator Posts: 21,869 Joined: 10-September 04 From: NJ USA Member No.: 2,608 |
Cut to the chase
Cut to the chase means to get to the point without wasting time. The phrase originated from early silent films. Such films, particularly comedies, often climaxed in chase scenes. An inexpert screenwriter or director, unsure how to get to the climax, would just make an abrupt transition, known as a cut or jump cut. -------------------- Can you spare some PC cycles to help FIND A CURE .. BC FOLDING TEAM Click me /info..
ThoughtVent a goodplace to discuss.<<>>>Staying Updated Calendar of Updates. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.... Become a BleepingComputer fan: Facebook |
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Mar 24 2006, 02:12 AM
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#13
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 Member Group: Members Posts: 104 Joined: 21-February 06 Member No.: 56,267 |
The Bees Knees
this had no anatomical connection but instead originated from the phrase "The be all and end all" shortened to "the Bs and Es" and with a slippery tongue "the bees knees". |
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Mar 25 2006, 10:53 PM
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#14
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 5 Joined: 14-October 05 Member No.: 37,279 |
Midas touch
Some wealthy people are said to have the Midas touch. from Greek mythology-- King Midas was known for his ability to turn into gold, all that he touched. This included his food. When he realized that he'd made a bad choice he asked the gods to be delivered from this gift and ultimately starvation. |
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Apr 5 2006, 07:50 PM
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#15
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To INSANITY and BEYOND !! Group: Moderator Posts: 21,869 Joined: 10-September 04 From: NJ USA Member No.: 2,608 |
Kissing cousins is a term understood in a number of ways, including:
Cousins who know each other well enough that they greet with kisses. Cousins who actually marry each other; There are many famous cousin couples, for example Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and her consort Prince Albert. There are several cousin-marriage support and advocacy web sites. In some jurisdictions this would be considered illegal as incest. Cousins who are related not by blood but by virtue of being part of the same extended family (i.e. cousins by marriage but not marriage to each other). For example, if Alice and Brenda are cousins, and Alice marries Charles, then by this definition Charles and Brenda become kissing cousins; this despite the fact that Charles is already married. -------------------- Can you spare some PC cycles to help FIND A CURE .. BC FOLDING TEAM Click me /info..
ThoughtVent a goodplace to discuss.<<>>>Staying Updated Calendar of Updates. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.... Become a BleepingComputer fan: Facebook |
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