Research #8 – The Dictionary of Clichés defines our phrase “hang in there” as sticking with something, even when the going gets tough. It further explains the expression to have come from the boxing world. When a fighter who is getting the worst of the fight would “hang in there”. He would hold on to the ropes or the arms of his opponent for a break, or breathing space. I haven’t been able to find more evidence to this being true. Actually, I haven’t been able to find any birthplace on the expression, only affirmation is from this book. The Dictionary of Clichés goes on to give an example of the expression being used in a 1971 passage from The Atlantic-“He has a long history of coming from behind, they say, and it would be in his nature to hang in there and fight.”

I did find some information, not origin history necessarily, but it links the phrase to an image titled “Hang in There, Baby”, the image is shown to the right. This image is associated with coming from the 70’s as a motivational poster. Again, this isn’t the origin, or  the “who said or wrote it first” story I try to find. However, it is the only story that comes up when I continue the research for the origination history.

I hoped I could have found more information on where this figure of speech came from. We have these sayings we use regularly, especially ones like “hang in there”, but I guess we can’t  always get to find out who said them first.

 

 

 

 

Research #7 – Last blog post I interviewed Toni and Lewis, each of whom come from the south where figures of speech are regularly used as part of the dialect. From these interviews I chose two new expressions to research.

1. “What goes around, comes around”
2. “The pot can’t call the kettle black.”

Let’s start with “what goes around, comes around”. This phrase is used most commonly to express what we know as karma; the law of cause and effect. Many online sites have
coined this as the definition; ‘a person’s actions (whether good or bad) will often have consequences or benefits for that person’. However, the more and more I dig for an origin for, “what goes around, comes around” the more I find multiple conflicting stories, resulting in our first unknown origin. It is a wonderful expression because it is a lesson unto itself. When Toni was explaining this phrase to me she said, “It was used in many ways, as a threat sometimes, and other times as a truth.” That is the perfect way to explain the expression’s uses. A lesson to warn or protect.

Our next phrase is, “the pot can’t call the kettle black”. This figure of speech demonstrates that a judgement  a person makes of another can equally apply to themselves. Dating back to the 1600’s, several writers printed wordplays on this figure of speech. It wasn’t until the founder of Pennsylvania,William Penn, wrote it this way in his Some Fruits of Solitude, 1693: “For a Covetous Man to inveigh against Prodigality… is for the Pot to call the Kettle black.”

When thinking back to the late 1600’s the meaning of this expression is quite obvious when you consider the conditions of kitchens back then. Most pots and kettles were made of cast iron to make certain that they would hold up to heat and wear. Cast iron has a tendency to turn black with hard use. Collecting oils, food residue, and smoke from open fires in a kitchen, the cast iron pots and kettles would have become stained with black smoke. Both are the color black, so by “the pot calling the kettle black” it would be an act of hypocrisy. “It takes one to know one,” advocating a particular blindness to one’s personal characteristics.

 

Thank you again to my interviewees for participating! I hope everyone has a great weekend.

 

 

 

This is such a fun word, so first let me thank you for allowing me to share my 2 cents with you! First of all it is small, comprised of two sounds, a vowel and a consonant that give it the ability of meaning so many things and adapting to so many languages. It’s no wonder that there can be so many interpretations. When we say “OK” we could be talking about Oklahoma, but let’s not go there as that is just an abbreviation. Recently, a friend of mine told me a story that I thought to be true until I did a little research.

His version of the provenance of the word ‘OK’ came from World War I, when squadrons of planes were sent out on a mission. Communication in those days was not as instantaneous as it is today so the people back at the home base would have to wait for the return of the first few planes to find out what had happened, who survived and who didn’t. Generally the first pilot back delivered the summary first and the most important piece of news was to let the people know, how many of the planes and pilots did not survive the mission. When that first pilot would hold up his hand making a circle with the thumb and forefinger, and the other three fingers extended, this was the sign of ‘OK’ which meant ‘zero killed’. This was the sign that all were hoping for and the message spread across the base like wild fire. I don’t want to be misleading so again, I remind the reader that this story was obtained by word of mouth and upon doing a little research, I did not find confirmation of it.

My research did come up with many other explanations from scholars far better than I. One theory: it came from the Greek phrase “ola kala,” which means all good. And then there’s the Choctaw word “okeh,” which sounds like and means okay. President Woodrow Wilson reportedly thought it was the “correct” spelling of the word, and would OK documents with “okeh.”

And finally, the most famous OK origin story was attributed to Martin Van Buren, the eighth president of the United States of America, as he was from Kinderhook, New York. He was part of a club, a men’s club, called Old Kinderhook. And if you were cool, you were in the club, they’d say, ‘That guy’s OK.’ ‘Cause he was in the Old Kinderhooks.”

In 1839, an abbreviation craze was sweeping Boston. Charles Gordon Greene, editor of the Boston Morning Post, came up with an abbreviation — o.k. — which he indicated meant “oll korrect” if you didn’t know how to spell “all correct.”

In German it had been used as the initials of ohne Korrectur (without corrections). Or the initials of Otto Kaiser, who was an industrialist certifying his factory’s produce for shipping. Even the initials of Ober Kommando (the high command).

In French, the two distinct sounds of “O” and “K” are the same as “aux quais” (on the quays) said to be used during the American Revolutionary War of French Sailors making appointments with American girls. Or “Aux Cayes” – Les Cayes, Haiti is a port form which high-quality rum was exported.

As you see, the possibilities are numerous. Such a small expression with only two sounds can be claimed by so many cultures and languages. I suggest that the reader choose their favorite.

– Brian Barton

Research #5 – “All that glitters is not gold; Often have you heard that told: Many a man his life hath sold: But my outside to behold, Gilded tombs do worms enfold.” Written by William Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice, 1596. In the original editions where the phrase was written, Shakespeare wrote “glisters” then later in a misprint “glitters” was printed. The change was only accepted because the two words mean the same thing.

I discovered that our second guess to the meaning of “all that glitters is not gold” was correct. The phrase suggests that appearances and surfaces of things can be misleading. People or objects that sound and seem up-scale could be worthless and a waste of your time. Often people have used the expression to describe politicians or hypocrites.

Before Shakespeare made his permanent mark on the way we express the idea today, there were many renditions of the phrase. In the 12th century Alain de Lille, the French theologian wrote for us, “Do not hold everything gold that shines like gold”. In the poem The House of Fame, 1380 Geoffrey Chaucer wrote, “Hit is not al gold, that glareth”. It makes sense why and how Shakespeare’s version stuck and is still used today. It is clear and concise. This expression like itself has a clear and concise history. We don’t know how any of these writers thought up the idea, but it’s an idea and expression that will never dull.

 

 

Research # 4 – A definition of our phrase “to wear your heart on you sleeve” is that without saying anything people can tell the way that you feel because you can’t hide it. Your facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice give away how you truly feel. Well we were sort of close about the definition but what about the origin? 

I actually found three different stories or possibilities for the expressions origins. The first one I enjoy the most. Back when Emperor Claudius II was in ruling during the Roman Empire he declared marriage illegal. He thought unattached men would be better soldiers for battle. He only allowed temporary coupling. Annually at the Roman festival that honored Juno, men drew names of women who would then be their partners during the coming year. There was no romance involved. In fact “love” was not considered a real quality on which to base a relationship.

Each man would wear the name of the woman whose name he had drawn on his sleeve for the remainder of the festival. We don’t know how men drew the woman’s name but we do know it was a ritual that did not involve anything like courtship, dating, or prior knowledge of a friendship. It was a very superficial and primitive method of finding a mate.

Later on, it is speculated that knights who jousted in the King’s Court would fight for the honor of a woman by tying a token of hers around his sleeve. By doing so he was defending his lady’s honor in a public display that spoke of his dedication to her. This may or may not have spoken to his emotional attachment to his lady. In days of yore a man’s display of respect toward a lady’s honor didn’t necessarily speak for his true emotion.

The first found documentation of the expression was by William Shakespeare in his play Othello, written in 1604. In a scene Iago acts as if he’s “wearing his heart on his sleeve” to relate to the audience that he is open, honest and faithful.  He states, “The native act and figure of my heart | But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve | For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.” I think it is hard for us to imagine a world like this, but wearing one’s heart on one’s sleeve has been obviously translated through generations of time.

          Images Included From: Smithsonian.org