Surprising origin stories of three commonly used phrases in English!
You might be using quite a few phrases in your daily conversations without even realizing that these were not part of English a couple of centuries ago! Some of these phrases might not make literal sense but convey your emotions perfectly. Some examples of these commonly used phrases include barking up the wrong tree, buttering someone up, breaking the ice and catching someone red-handed. Though we use them frequently, we hardly think about how and why they are used a certain way or how old they are. Some of these phrases have exciting origin stories that make up for a good icebreaker or a conversation starter! So, let us take you through the interesting the origin stories of some of these catchy phrases.
Mad as a hatter
This phrase is used to describe someone who is completely insane or crazy. You might have heard this idiomatic expression in Lewis Caroll’s famous book Alice in Wonderland. However, it’s not the brainchild of this world-renowned author. The origin of this phrase is way too old, dating back to the 17th century. And the story is quite interesting. In 17th century France, hat makers used mercury for making felt hat. Mercury is a poisonous chemical for us humans which triggered the ‘mad hatter disease.’ The symptoms of this ailment were irritability, shyness and tremors in the body, because of which the affected person appeared mad. So, wearing hats actually drove people crazy! No wonder why the phrase is used to describe a crazy person!
Cat got your tongue
When someone is short of words or abnormally quiet, this phrase is used to describe the situation. So, it has two possible stories of origin – the cat got your tongue, and both are really interesting. This is how the first one goes. The English Navy used to have a whip called “Cat-o’-nine-tails” used for flogging offenders, as a punishment. The pain after the flogging used to be so intense that the victims stayed quiet for a long time, not speaking a word. The second story says that in ancient Egypt, the people accused of lying and blasphemy had their tongues cut out and fed to cats. Though a treat for cats, the victims could not speak for the rest of their lives. In both the stories, the victims were left speechless (quite literally) and thus, the phrase was born. However, neither humans nor cats know which of these stories is for real!
Turning a blind eye
The origin story of turning a blind eye is a glorious one! The phrase means to ignore the facts or reality at a given time and this is what Admiral Horatio did. Admiral Horatio Nelson was a part of the British Naval Forces. Once during a fight with the Danish, the British forces signalled Horatio to stop attacking the Danish ships. Unfortunately, he was blind in one eye. So, after holding the telescope to his blind eye, he said, ‘I do not see the signal.’ Thus, ignoring the countless signals, he attacked the Danish ships and came out victorious regardless. So, turning a blind eye to the circumstances helped him come out a winner! As a result, ignoring things got nicknamed – to turn a blind eye!