Old saying and their origin
- Thread starter TennVet
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gruntlabor
Well-known Member
- Location
- Last Frontier, Age 83
derives from the imagery of someone whose feet are stuck in wet clay and is unable to progress. --Quora
Capt Lightning
Well-known Member
- Location
- Historic Buchan, Scotland
The phrase 'Stick in the mud' first appeared in a thesaurus of 1565 and subsequently was used as a name by a number of criminals. The current meaning of 'someone who is slow or reluctant to accept new ideas', probably does derive from carriages and ships getting literally 'stuck in the mud'.
A “shot” of whiskey.
Back in the days of the wild west, ammo was in short supply, so if the cowboys heading west wanted a drink they could by a small amount of whiskey for a .45 bullet. When this got around, someone developed a glass the size of what is now a “shot glass” and exchanged a shot of whiskey for a bullet. They were both worth 12 cents.
My dad told me that story years ago. Whether it’s accurate or not, I never researched it to verify the story.
Back in the days of the wild west, ammo was in short supply, so if the cowboys heading west wanted a drink they could by a small amount of whiskey for a .45 bullet. When this got around, someone developed a glass the size of what is now a “shot glass” and exchanged a shot of whiskey for a bullet. They were both worth 12 cents.
My dad told me that story years ago. Whether it’s accurate or not, I never researched it to verify the story.
Paco Dennis
SF VIP
- Location
- Mid-Missouri
"Caught red-handed."
What does red-handed symbolize?
A fancier way to say red-handed is the Latin phrase in flagrante delicto, or "in blazing offense." Aside from this legal term, you can also say "caught in the act." Red-handed comes from legal terminology too — specifically, a Scottish legal term that was inspired by the grisly image of a murderer who's been caught ...
What does red-handed symbolize?
A fancier way to say red-handed is the Latin phrase in flagrante delicto, or "in blazing offense." Aside from this legal term, you can also say "caught in the act." Red-handed comes from legal terminology too — specifically, a Scottish legal term that was inspired by the grisly image of a murderer who's been caught ...
Pappy
Living the Dream
Out behind the barn…
Self explanatory.
Self explanatory.
jujube
SF VIP
"Caught between the devil and the deep blue sea", meaning you had two outcomes and neither of them was going to be good.
The "devil" was the area of the hull of a sailing ship where it curved toward the keel. The devil collected barnacles, which had to be removed occasionally.
At sea, the way to do that was to heel over the ship as far as possible and lower a sailor on a rope to scrape as fast as he could until the ship had to come to again.
If he wasn't raised fast enough, the wave (deep blue sea) would smack him against the barnacle-encrusted "devil" and he'd lose some skin or perhaps his life.
Thus, you never wanted to be caught between the two.
The "devil" was the area of the hull of a sailing ship where it curved toward the keel. The devil collected barnacles, which had to be removed occasionally.
At sea, the way to do that was to heel over the ship as far as possible and lower a sailor on a rope to scrape as fast as he could until the ship had to come to again.
If he wasn't raised fast enough, the wave (deep blue sea) would smack him against the barnacle-encrusted "devil" and he'd lose some skin or perhaps his life.
Thus, you never wanted to be caught between the two.
Capt Lightning
Well-known Member
- Location
- Historic Buchan, Scotland
The origin of the phrase is, like may others, uncertain.
The first recorded citation of ‘the Devil and the deep sea’ in print is in Robert Monro’s 'His expedition with the worthy Scots regiment called Mac-keyes,' 1637: “I, with my partie, did lie on our poste, as betwixt the devill and the deep sea.”
If the maritime origin was true, then the expression must have preceded 1637. I'm not sure about the idea of removing barnacles while under way. If a dry dock was not available, then ships would be careened. This involved beaching a ship on a steeply sloping beach and securing it with ropes to the shore. The hull would then be accessible at low tide for barnacles to be removed and repairs carried out.
I was told that the expression came from touching a cross or rood screen in a church.
The first recorded citation of ‘the Devil and the deep sea’ in print is in Robert Monro’s 'His expedition with the worthy Scots regiment called Mac-keyes,' 1637: “I, with my partie, did lie on our poste, as betwixt the devill and the deep sea.”
If the maritime origin was true, then the expression must have preceded 1637. I'm not sure about the idea of removing barnacles while under way. If a dry dock was not available, then ships would be careened. This involved beaching a ship on a steeply sloping beach and securing it with ropes to the shore. The hull would then be accessible at low tide for barnacles to be removed and repairs carried out.
Yes Really. No more unlikely than current beliefs.
I was told that the expression came from touching a cross or rood screen in a church.