Where Do Sayings Come From

[kopend]

i heard the other day (on QI) that the phrase "clean pair of heels" comes from cockfighting. are the any other less well know reasons where popular sayings come from ??

[Marshwarble]

Cockpit from planes also comes from cock fighting.

[sandyRoe]

Wigs on the green from the time men wore them and would throw them down on the grass before having a fight.

[Svejk]

Kick the bucket is from dying pigs in France.

[Loren1]

Just had a quick read up, it's really interesting stuff! Bite the bullet - There was no time to administer anesthesia before emergency surgery during battle. The surgeon made patients bite down on a bullet in an attempt to distract them from the pain.

Back to work..

[MargoTester]

My favourite is 'doolally tap' it comes from a town (Deolali) in India where troops were sent to wait for transport home. There was nothing to do there so they went doolally. I originally thought that the 'tap' came from the Welsh word tup which means daft, but it may have come from the Hindustani word tap (fever) either way it's a great saying I think.

[ToraToraTora]

"dead ringer" comes from victorian times when many where terrified of being buried alive so they would rig up a bit of string to the coffin tied to a bell above ground and anyone thus buried could become a "dead ringer".

[Svejk]

^bit dodgy that one, ttt, I reckon.

[retrocop]

Tons of sayings come from shooting and firearms
Lock stock and barrel
Keep your powder dry
half cock
short fuse
taking a powder
I could go on :-)

[ToraToraTora]

possibly svejk, just what I heard, not verified

[bhg481]

My favourite one is "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey". A monkey was a brass tray with a lip around the edge on which cannon balls were stacked in a pyramid. If it was very cold the tray would shrink and the cannon balls would roll off.

[MargoTester]

Brilliant! Like that one.