Episode 15: Common Phrases

We say them, but where did these phrases come from? 

Transcript

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Hey everybody, I'm Shannon, and welcome to the They Hid What Podcast. On this podcast, I explore parts of history that have been kept hidden or swept under the rug. In this week's episode, I will be discussing common phrases. Let's get into it. You know, the ones we use all the time, know how to use them in the right context, but have no idea where they came from? Well, you're in luck because I wonder the same thing. So today I've put together a list of just a few of these phrases, and I think maybe we might just stop using some of them once we understand what they actually mean. First up, devil's advocate. We all know it. Hell, we've all played it. But did you know the devil's advocate is an actual job? For those that are unfamiliar with the phrase, being the devil's advocate is to argue against someone's idea to invoke discussion or debate. It helps the person think of all sides of the idea. The addocatus diaboli is an official position within the Catholic Church who argues against someone becoming a saint. In the Christian faith, a saint is considered a holy one and one who is set apart for God's special purposes. Five years after the person's death, a formal request can be made for the person to be considered for sainthood. The request is submitted to the bishop of the diocese, which is defined as a district under the pastoral care of the bishop, where the person died. The request would list all the reasons why the person is a candidate for sainthood, and if the bishop feels there's enough evidence, they ask the Vatican for permission to open a special tribunal or court proceeding. Witnesses are called in, and if the candidate passes this step, they're then named a servant of God. The next step is the determination stage, which is where the devil's advocate comes into play. This person points out any flaws or unfavorable behaviors or acts of the candidate. The advocatus diaboli, also known as the promoter of the faith, is a church lawyer, tasked with arguing against the individual nominated for sainthood. The devil's advocate, arguing the cons, goes against God's advocate, who argues the pros. The term devil's advocate was first used in the early 1500s when Lawrence Justinian was up for sainthood under Pope Leo X. After the devil's advocate stage, the person becomes venerable, then blessed, and then finally a saint. Fun fact, the last saints to be canonized occurred in 2018. Next up, rule of thumb. I'm sure many of you have seen the movie Boondock Saints and remember the scene in the beginning of the film where the history of the term rule of thumb is told before Sean Patrick Flannery is kicked in the groin. The story is told that a man could beat his wife as long as he didn't use a stick that was wider than his thumb. Friends, I'm here to tell you that this isn't true. While yes, it was legal for men to beat their wives, there weren't sets of rules as to what they could and could not use to do it. Rule of thumb is actually a unit of measure. In the Middle Ages, the width of the base of the thumb's nail was deemed equivalent to an inch. Rule of thumb was to mean a rough measurement. This was used to measure cloth or even the heat of a brewing vat of beer. Rule of thumb being linked to domestic violence didn't happen until 1782 when an English judge allegedly stated that a husband could beat his wife with a stick no wider than his thumb. There's no actual record of this happening or being said. It's all a rumor. There was never a law or a doctrine or a rule. It was simply a rumor that took off. Rule of thumb was only ever a unit of measure for those working individuals that didn't have measuring sticks or rulers because they weren't invented yet. You gotta use what you got. When we use that term today, it's to say we don't want to hear any hecklers or naysayers. Yet we have no idea what the term really means. It all goes back to the vaudeville days, or traveling shows for the working class. Shows worked much the same as they do today, where the more expensive seats were closest to the stage and the less expensive seats were in the back. Those who sat in the back rows had a tendency to throw their concessions at the acts they didn't like. Since peanuts were a cheap snack, they were the most popular, and thus the most likely to be thrown from an area that became known as the peanut gallery. Since the less expensive seats were in the back or high up in the theater, this all crossed over with where black patrons were seated. Segregation was everywhere, and there were certain sections of theaters designated for black patrons. So today this term can be deemed as a racial slur. However, those seats were also occupied by less affluent people, so then it's also a derogatory term. So while it's used as a term to describe a group of hecklers or naysayers, some may see it as a slight. The festivities continued until a hand appeared and began to write on the wall. The men couldn't understand the writing, so it was suggested that Daniel, who was known for his wisdom, be brought in. Perhaps Daniel could read what was written. Daniel read, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end. You have been weighed and found wanting. Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medid and Persians. Later that night Balthazar was killed, and Darius the Mead took his kingdom. A little bit more backstory is needed. Balthazar's father Nebuchadnezzar was a powerful man and thus a bit arrogant. God humbled him until Nebuchadnezzar learned that God rules the kingdom of men, and old Nebi was then restored to his throne. Balthazar, on the other hand, learned nothing of his father's history with God, blasphemied him, and gave parts of the kingdom out to other people. Finally, God sent the hand to Balthazar's party to tell him his fate. So the writing on the wall came to mean being able to see from available evidence that doom or failure is inevitable. If Bell had seen the similarities between his and his father's actions, or had seen the writing on the wall, he could have avoided his fate now for the speed round. Dead ringer. We use it today to say something is identical to something else. Did you know it originated in horse racing? Horse owners would switch out their horses and present them under a false name and credentials to defraud bookies. Why ring? Ring was a slang term, which meant to exchange or substitute something counterfeit for something real. Dead just makes it sound more dramatic. Now a horse owner couldn't take a black and white horse and swap it out for an all-brown one. The two horses would have to look the same. Hence they use the term dead ringer. Break a leg. We all know it means good luck, but why? Or how? There are a few theories as to why this phrase is used in the theater, but the most common one is. There used to be something called a leg line. This was a space backstage where actors would line up before performing. If you weren't acting that night, you would be behind the leg line, which meant you weren't getting paid that night. To break a leg meant to break the leg line, meaning you get to perform, meaning you get paid. You were wishing the person luck and success. Some of the other theories include spectators breaking chair legs or breaking their own legs when they chose to stomp instead of clap. But I like the leg line theory best. Cloud nine. In the 1800s, cloud types used to be classified. The ninth or best cloud is the Cumulonimbus, which is the tallest of all clouds and reaches up to 30,000 feet. To be on cloud nine is to be at your highest point. Mad as a hatter. To say someone was as mad as a hatter or a mad hatter was to say that the person was wild and unpredictable. However, there was a time when someone could actually be a mad hatter. A hatter was a person that made hats. Shocking. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the toxic chemical compound mercury nitrate was used in the process of turning the fur of small animals into felt. That felt was used to make a hat. The hat makers that were in the factories making this felt began to show signs of mercury poisoning. They had tremors, known as hatters shakes, speech problems, mood swings, loss of coordination, and hallucinations. Danbury, Connecticut was the leader in hat making to the point that it became known as the hat capital of the world. Something else Danbury became known for was the Danbury Shakespeare, which were the tremors the hatters developed from the exposure to the mercury nitrate. The United States banned the use of mercury nitrate in the production of felt in the 1940s. Back to square one. This one actually doesn't have a confirmed origin, but the story most people believe is kind of interesting. Back in the day, soccer games were listened to on the radio. To help the listener follow the game, the field was divided into a grid of eight boxes. The person reporting on the game could then describe where the play was by saying what part of the grid the players were in. Square one was to the left of one of the goals. If a ball went out of play, a player would have to get the ball and kick it into the field from square one. And so the commenter would say, back to square one. However, the squares were actually drawn as rectangles and weren't referred to as squares. Also, it's reported that the phrase wasn't found in any print format before 1952, which is many years after the visual aids stopped being used. It's more likely that the phrase comes from either playing hopscotch or shoots and ladders. Close, but no cigar. Carnival games are there to make money. But people won't play the game if they don't care about the prize. The top prize at some 1920s carnivals would be a cigar. If an adult played the game and lost, the person running the game would say, Close, but no cigar. Eventually they swapped out cigars as prizes, but the saying stuck. Run out of sorts. If you were to tell someone that you were out of sorts, you're saying to them that you are out of it, not yourself, a bit scattered. However, the phrase was actually a statement that meant you were out of something. It all goes back to printing. Each letter type was sorted in its own box called sorts. Letter types were pretty expensive, and printers usually only kept what they thought they would need on hand. So it became common to run out of sorts, thus run out of a specific letter needed for printing. Some research was done into this theory, and there's some debate about when it originated as an idiom. Another more likely theory is the original Latin word sort meant a piece of wood and later developed in the idea of someone's condition. It then evolved to mean rank, order, or class, and was used to describe people and their standing. That's all for this story. Come back next week to learn what else has been hidden.