Popular Idioms Where Did They Come From?

Have you ever wondered the origination of rather non-sensical phrases but whose meanings are organically understood by the general public? ‘I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth’ or ‘Made it by the skin of my teeth.’  I was curious so I looked a few up for us.

Getting up on the wrong side of the bed – Its surprising how long some of these phrases have been around.  This one indicates a person is grumpy because they got up on the wrong side of the bed.  The expression originated during the Roman Empire, which began its growth in 753 BC and met its demise in 476 AD.  I had no idea they ruled for 1000 years, unbelievable. They are considered the most advanced civilization with their revolutionary innovations in societal structure, city planning, engineering, sanitation, governance and education, and its greatest achievement, their unsurpassed military might.  Despite being the most modern society of the time, they were still quite superstitious. Perhaps because the Roman’s religion for centuries was polytheism until 325 AD, though by then most citizens had converted to Christianity. Anyway, their belief was simple, they needed to get up on the right side of the bed because the left side was wrong.  (The Latin word for “left” is “sinistram,” i.e., “sinister.”) Hmmm, I’m not a grumpy person, but I get up on the left side of the bed every day. Maybe it’s okay because I’m lefthanded; two lefts make a right!

Straight from the horse’s mouth – This phrase is understood to mean absolute truth, what is said comes from the source of the facts.  Horses have been valuable to man for centuries, for various uses. Buyers look for the best quality, of course, while some sellers are less than honest and, for example, try to foist off an older horse as a younger stronger one.  However, just like a tree has rings that give away its age, a horse’s teeth size and shape track its age. So, the truth about the horse’s age is literally straight from the horse’s mouth. Therefore, if you know who Mr. Ed is, he always told the truth!

Gets my goat – Another fun horse related non-sensical expression.  The definition of ‘gets my goat’ is that someone or something is very irritating, frustrating.  Surprised again, I did not know that goats have a calming effect on horses, especially nervous or easily excitable ones, i.e. racehorses (apparently more so with the girls, the boy horses can get too rough and hurt itself and/or the goat).  Why? Not explainable. Could be because the goats keep horse pastures free of weeds since that is their preferred food versus the grass the horses eat. Personally, I’m not convinced on this one because the horse probably doesn’t care it has to eat around the weeds, it’s the owner who doesn’t want to pick out the weeds who is pleased with the goats’ appetite.  Another theory is that it’s hard for the horse to be taken away from the herd it has been with since birth and put into a small stall by itself. As another herd animal, a goat with the horse gives the sense of a ‘mini herd’ that helps calm the horse. All that is interesting, but where is the ‘getting of the goat?’ Well, horse racing in England has been around for centuries, since the Romans brought it over during the Ancient World.   Until more recent times, it was primarily a sport enjoyed by royalty. Of course royalty was used to things going their way; perhaps it was the less honorable of the upper echelon who tried to ensure their win by sneaking into a rival’s barn and swiping the racehorse’s goat, hoping to get the horse rattled and nervous so it does not perform as well in the race. Lesson learned, don’t let anyone get your goat in order to make you nervous.

By the skin of my teeth – Isn’t this a strange one.  It’s understood to mean barely getting through something.  For example, it could be barely passing a test, or barely making it out of a car accident alive.  It comes from the Old Testament story of Job. In the beginning of the story, Satan comes before the Lord, and God compliments Job’s righteous life, which Satan counters with Job only serves God because He has put a hedge about him, protecting his prosperity.  Confident in Job’s devotion, God allows Satan to afflict Job with any number of calamities. In one afternoon, all his children are killed, all his animal stock is stolen, the servants caring for them slaughtered either by invading forces or supernatural means.  Not long after that, Job is afflicted with a terrible skin disease, painful boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head (Job 2:7). His three friends came to ‘comfort’ him, however, despite his utter despair and being so afflicted physically they could not recognize him at first, they still lectured him how he must have brought this upon himself.  After many lamentations, accusations, suggested sins, flaring tempers, ad nauseam, Job pointed out his intolerable physical condition ‘I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth (Job 19:20)’ and asked his friends for pity. Bible scholars are still unclear about what Job meant by the phrase. The simple interpretations suggest Job’s suffering had left him just skin and bones, covered in boils, and perhaps only his gums, the ‘skin on his teeth,’ are free of boils; or he was referring to his lips, the ‘skin over his teeth.’  Whatever the literal meaning of his phrase, the underlying implication is he is barely making it. Because he held on, in the end the Lord restored what he lost and then some. Something for us to remember when facing difficult circumstances or impossible odds, hold on until you make it through.

Wash your hands of a matter – When you’re fed up with something, you’re done participating and will not take further responsibility for its completion, you wash your hands of the matter.  Its origin was during one of the most defining, pivotal events in Christian History, in World History. Matthew 26 and 27 in the New Testament tells the story of Jesus’ arrest, the Sanhedrin’s bogus trial, Pilate’s unsuccessful attempts to free Jesus, and ultimately condemning him to the cross.  A quick Bible lesson reminder, the Sanhedrin were the pious religious council which ruled over Jewish affairs, but since they were under Roman rule, the Jews did not have the power to condemn anyone to death. They wanted to condemn Jesus to death for an age-old reason: jealousy. They didn’t like his popularity, that the people believed him and were in awe of his teachings, nor did religious leaders want to believe he was the Messiah because that would interfere with their power, which was truly of paramount importance to them, rather than the fulfillment of prophecy.  So, they held a protracted mock trial complete with false witnesses, convicted him of blasphemy for admitting he is the Christ, then marched him to the Roman governor’s home, Pontius Pilate, to demand he condemn Jesus to death for heresy. After several conversations with Jesus, consulting with the King of Judea, Herod Antipas, Pilate found no fault with Jesus, so he told the Jews he should be let go, but the people shouted all the louder for him to be crucified. Pilate figured out this was all about envy and continued to ask the crowd to release Jesus. Meanwhile, his wife had troublesome dreams about it so insisted he have nothing to do with condemning Jesus; when the Jews said their law was broken when Jesus claimed he was the Son of God, Pilate become even more frightened of condemning him.  However, once the crowd accused Pilate of not being a friend of Caesar’s if he freed Jesus, whose teachings stirred up trouble and opposed paying taxes, he essentially gave in. He took a bowl of water, washed his hands, and proclaimed he was innocent of this man’s blood, it was the Jews’ responsibility what happened to him, then turned Jesus over to the angry crowd. Whether or not you prescribe to the religious significance of this event, you can recognize the conundrum Pilate was facing. Press on to do the right thing or relinquish influence to effect a better outcome. Which would you choose?

Heard it through the grapevine – Moving on from the previous phrase, which was drawn from a grim, barbaric event, this last phrase for discussion is on the other end of the spectrum and definitely one of my favorites.  It is understood to mean learning something through unofficial channels, or simply through gossipy conversation. Its historical origin was surprisingly during the Underground Railroad. The ‘grapevine’ was the Underground Railroad’s communication system per se, also nicknamed the’ clothesline’ telegraph, used to describe passing on secretive messages by word of mouth. Theorizing further, actual grapevines may have substituted for rope to string a clothesline, on which hanging different colored clothes could covertly communicate more information. The phrase further evolved with the invention of the telegraph system, visualizing the many miles of wires sweeping from poles and trees, resembling grapevines.  During the Civil War, the Underground Railroad grapevine telegraph was extremely useful and reliable for the Union Army, whereas the soldiers passing verbal communication through the ranks was a less reliable grapevine, but important, nevertheless. While these are interesting facts, they are not why the phrase is one of my favorites. I just love the Motown song. In 1967 Gladys Knight and the Pips successfully released the gospel-influenced soul sounding recording. The next year, Marvin Gaye’s recorded version was released, and instantly became even more successful with its Motown sound, thrumming bassline and soulful anguish drawn from Marvin Gaye’s distinctive voice. The coup de grace? When the California Raisins sang it for commercials.  I thought that was so clever! You need to listen to it.

Marvin Gaye 
California Raisins 

Rebecca Wetzler, originally a California girl, has lived in Alaska since she was eight years old. From early in life she was an avid reader, and subsequently developed an interest in someday writing her own books. Her favorite school subject was English writing assignments. To support her two children, she completed an accounting degree, towing her interest in writing along by minoring in English. Her successful career included advancing from an accounts payable clerk to a financial analyst–a far cry from the Christian author of her heartfelt dreams. 

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