I'm Michael this 25 and in today's list
we're gonna explore 25 truly shocking
origins of common phrases
I hope these sayings don't rub you the
wrong way 25 bite the bullet
meaning accepting something difficult or
unpleasant history there was no time to
administer anesthesia before emergency
surgery during panel the surgeon made
patients bite down on a bullet in an
attempt to distract them from the pain
24 blood is thicker than water
meaning family comes before everything
else history in ancient Middle Eastern
culture blood rituals between men
symbolized bonds that were far greater
than those of family the saying also has
to do with blood brothers
because warriors who symbolically share
the blood they shed and battled together
were said to have stronger bonds than
biological brothers 23 break the ice
meaning to commence a project or
initiate a friendship history before the
days of trains or cars port cities that
thrived on trade suffered during the
winter because frozen rivers prevented
commercial ships from entering the city
small ships known as icebreakers would
rescue the ice townships by breaking the
ice and creating a path for them to
follow before any type of business
arrangement today it's now customary to
break the ice before beginning a project
22 butter someone up meaning to flatter
someone history an ancient Indian custom
involved throwing balls of clarified
butter at statues of the Gods to seek
favor 21 cat got your tongue meaning
something said when a person is at a
loss for words history there are two
possible sources for this common short
say the first refers to the katadyn
tales a whip used by the English Navy
for flogging the whip caused so much
pain
that the victims were left speechless
the second refers to the practice of
cutting out the tongues of liars and
blasphemers and feeding them to cats
20 caught red-handed meaning to be
caught doing something wrong
history this saying originated because
of a law if someone butchered an animal
that didn't belong to him
he had to be caught with the animal's
blood on his hands to be convicted being
caught with freshly cut meats did not
make the person guilty 19 don't throw
the baby out with the bathwater meaning
hang on to valuable things when getting
rid of unnecessary things history during
the 1500s most people bathed once a year
even when they did bathe the entire
family used the same tub full of water
the man of the house bathe first
followed by other males than females and
finally the babies you can imagine how
thick and cloudy the water became by
that time so the infant's mothers had to
take care not to throw them out with the
bathwater when they emptied the tub 18
eat humble pie meaning making an apology
and suffering humiliation along with it
history during the Middle Ages the Lord
of a Manor would host a feast after
hunting he would receive the finest cut
of meat at the feast but those of a
lowered standing were served a pie
filled with the entrails and innards
known as humbles therefore receiving
humble pie was considered humiliating
because it informed others in attendance
of the guests lower status 17 give the
cold shoulder meaning a rude way of
telling someone they aren't welcome or
to ignore someone history although
giving someone the cold shoulder is
considered rude today it was actually
regarded as a polite gesture in medieval
England after a feast the host would let
his guests know it was time to leave by
giving them a cold piece of meat from
the shoulder of beef mutton or pork 16
go cold turkey meaning to quit something
abruptly history people believe that
during withdrawal
the skin of drug addicts became
translucent hard to the touch and
covered with goose bumps like the skin
of a plucked turkey 15 go the whole nine
yards meaning to try one's best history
world war ii fighter pilots received a
nine-yard chain of ammunition therefore
when a pilot used all of his animation
on one target he gave it the whole nine
yards 14 jaywalker meaning one who
crosses the street in a reckless or
illegal manner history J birds that
traveled outside of the forest into
urban areas often became confused and
unaware of the potential dangers in the
city like traffic amused by their
erratic behavior people began using the
term jaywalker to describe someone who
crossed the street irresponsibly 13 kick
the bucket
meaning to die history when a cow was
killed in a slaughterhouse
a bucket was placed under it while it
was positioned on a pulley sometimes the
animals legs would kick during the
adjustment of the rope and it would
literally kick the bucket before being
killed 12 let your hair down meaning to
relax or be at ease history
Parisian Nobles risked condemnation from
their peers if they appeared in public
without an elaborate hairdo some of the
more intricate styles required hours of
work so of course it was a relaxing
ritual for these aristocrats to come
home at the end of a long day
and let their hair down 11 more than you
can shake a stick at meaning having more
of something than you need history
farmers control their sheep by shaking
their staffs to indicate where the
animal should go when farmers had more
sheep than they can control it was said
they had more than you can shake a stick
at 10 no spring chicken meaning someone
who has past their prime
history New England chicken farmers
generally sold chickens in the spring so
the chickens born in the springtime
yielded better earnings than the
chickens that survived the winter
sometimes farmers tried to sell old
birds for the price of a new spring
chicken clever buyers complained that
the fowl was no spring chicken and the
term came to represent anyone past their
prime 9 pleased his punch
meaning to be very happy history a 17th
century puppet show for children called
Punch and Judy featured a puppet named
Punch who always killed people the act
of killing brought him pleasure so he
felt pleased with himself afterwards aid
rub the wrong way meaning to irritate
bother or annoy someone history in
colonial America servants were required
to wet rub and dry rub the oak board
floors each week doing it against the
grain caused streaks to form making the
wood look awful and irritating the
homeowner 7 rule of thumb meaning a
common ubiquitous benchmark history
legend has it that 17th century English
judge Sir Francis Buller ruled it was
permissible for a husband to beat his
wife with a stick given that the stick
was no wider than his thumb 6 run amok
meaning go crazy history this short
saying comes from the Malaysian word
amok which describes the behavior of
tribesman who under the influence of
opium became wild rampaging mobs that
attacked anybody in their path five
Saved by the Bell
meaning rescued from an unwonted
situation history as scary as it sounds
being buried alive was once a common
occurrence people who feared succumbing
to such a fate were buried in special
coffins that connected to a bell above
the ground at night guards listen for
any bells in case they had to dig up a
living person and save them by the Bell
for show your true colors meaning to
reveal one's true nature history
warships used to fly multiple flags to
confuse their enemies however the rules
of warfare stated that a ship had to
hoist it's true flag before firing and
hence display its country's true colours
3 sleep tight
meaning sleep well history during
Shakespeare's time mattresses were
secured on bed frames by ropes in order
to make the bed firmer one had to pull
the ropes to tighten the mattress to
spill the beans meaning to reveal the
secret history in ancient Greece beans
were used to vote for candidates
entering various organization one
container for each candidate was set out
before the group members who had place a
white bean in the container if they
approved of the candidate and a black
bean if they did not sometimes a clumsy
voter would accidentally knock over the
jar revealing all of the beans and
allowing everyone to see the otherwise
confidential votes one waking up on the
wrong side of the bed meaning waking up
in a bad mood
history the left side of the body more
anything having to do with the left was
often associated with something sinister
to ward off evil
innkeepers made sure the left side of
the bed was pushed against the wall so
guests had no other option but to get up
on the right side of the bed so what's
your favorite common phrase let us know
in the comments below or tweet your
answer to us at least 25 what's your
favorite common phrase that's probably
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