A DOG took a nap in a manger. He became annoyed at the oxen who
awakened him and by his growling and snapping prevented the oxen from eating the hay which had been placed for them.
"What a selfish Dog!" said one of them to his companions; "He cannot eat the hay himself, and yet refuses to allow those to eat who can."
Received with thanks from Jack Fretwell.
"Ye are the salt of the earth ...Ye are the light of the world."
| The expression give and take is first recorded (1769) in British horse racing as "a prize for a race in which the horses which exceed a standard height carry more, and those which fall short of it less, than the standard weight." By 1816 we find the phrase being used on and off the track for making allowances or concessions, the practise of compromise. In an interesting study of the words give and take, researchers found that over a given period among an observed group |
The expression may someday become "give him a millimeter and he'll take a meter," or something similar. It has already been put this way humorously and might someday be standard English. Which shouldn't be surprising. In fact, the above expression was originally give him an inch and he'll take an ell, a very old proverb that goes back before the 16th century. An ell, the word deriving from the Anglo-Saxon eln, "the forearm to the tip of the middle finger," varied in length from 27 to 48 inches, depending on in which country you were measuring forearms (the English had it at 45 inches).No matter what the measurement, past or present, the expression means the same - give him a small concession and he'll take great liberties. |
| There are several theories about the origin of this very common practice.
"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." The theory here is that if you have made an exaggerated boast you will be forgiven if you turn your thoughts to the Cross.
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Raining cats and dogs goes back many hundreds of years to the Dark Ages, when people believed in all sorts of ghosts, goblins and witches and even thought that animals, like cats and dogs, had magical powers. The cat was thought by sailors to have a lot to do with storms, and the witches that were believed to ride in the storms were often pictured as black cats. Dogs and wolves were symbols of winds and the Norse storm god Odin was frequently shown surrounded by dogs and wolves. So when a particularly violent rainstorm came along, people would say it was raining cats and dogs - with the cat symbolizing the rain and the dogs representing the wind and storm. |
| Houses had thatched roofs. Thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the pets... dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying, "It's raining cats and dogs." |
New addition:
Another theory is that it is possible that the word cats is dirived from the Greek work catadupe meaning "water-fall" or it could be raining cata doxas, which is latin for "contrary to experience," or an unusual fall of rain.
After Lord Horatio Nelson, Britain's greatest naval hero, was killed at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805 by a sniper firing from the top of the French ship Redoubtable, his body was brought back to England to be buried in St. Paul's Cathedral. The fabled hero became the subject of many legends, including one that his body was brought home pickled in rum. Needless to say, it wasn't long before British sailors were calling rum Nelson's Blood. |
An Americanism first recorded in 1924, but probably dating back earlier, for crying out loud is what is called a "minced oath," a euphemism that may have originated when someone started to say "For Christ's sake!" but got only as far as the first syllable of the second word, realized the curse was inappropriate in the circumstances, and changed the offensive word to "crying." It's hard to believe that this common expression was consciously invented by someone. But it has been traced to American cartoonist and prolific word coiner Thomas Aloysius (TAD) Dorgan. |
You must suffer in order to progress. This dictum, long uttered by athletic coaches urging player to train harder, is far more ancient than most of them probably realize. Indeed, "Without pains, no gains" was in John Ray's proverb collection of 1670, and some versions reinforce it by adding, "No sweat, no sweet." Modern physical therapists, especially those who help rehabilitate athletes after injury, dispute the truth of the saying and insist that it is just such overdoing that causes the injury in the first place. Nevertheless, many exercise addicts believe it, and it has been transferred to other enterprises as well.
No gain without pain."
Leonard Wright, Display of Dutie
(1589)
Punchline refers most assuredly to the vaudeville acts commen in the thirties and late twenties (twentieth century of course). When the joke climaxed, the straight man was usually actually hit by the funny man.
The earliest recorded use of shebang is by Walt Whitman in Specimen Days (1862), and Mark Twain used it several times as well. Meaning a poor, temporary dwelling, a shack, this Americanism possibly derives from the Anglo-Irish shebeen, "a low illegal drinking establishment," older than it by a century or so. In the expression the whole shebang, first recorded in 1879, shebang means not just a shack but anything at all, that is, any present concern, thing, business - as in: "You can take the whole shebang," you can take all of it. |
To enter a contest or announce one's candidacy. The term comes from boxing, where throwing a hat into the ring once signified a challenge. John L. Sullivan, who after an exhibition bout with sparring partners would sometimes throw his hat in the ring as a challenge to all comers, offering a prize to anyone who would stay upright with him for a specified length of time. The term dates from the early 19th century and was used figuratively from about 1900 on. Today it nearly always signifies political candidacy.