Where Does It Come From? Origins Of Phrases & Expressions
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Indeed.
And is the following action supposed be instigated upon the release of the hat, or at the moment it touches the ground?
(That is of course assuming the hat is going to be released and not just 'swooped' down through the air in an arms-length arc.)
If it was for enacting a 'duel' then that sort of information is essential!
I think mostly, though, the phrase is used, as you suggested, to indicate something happening upon the slightest provocation because the person doing so is already keen to perform such an action.
(eg) "I'd eat a bacon sandwich at the drop of a hat"
maximus otter
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I’ve heard the expression “Round Will’s mother’s” used to mean an unnecessarily circuitous route or a wild goose chase. It’s probably just a local variant.
maximus otter
Max doesn't go on any 'wild goose chase' though.
It's easier to shoot the goose before it can run off.
ChasFink
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Getting back to duct/duck tape vs. gaffer's tape, there is definitely a difference. Gaffer's tape will pull up more easily, with less damage or residue. Being sold primarily by show business suppliers, the price is relatively high, so many filmmakers and musicians wind up buying cheap duct tape.
I remember on a wedding video shoot once we used the cheap stuff and wound up ruining an expensive tile floor.
I remember on a wedding video shoot once we used the cheap stuff and wound up ruining an expensive tile floor.
'Wild Goose Chase:' comes from the 1500s, actions, like following horses on a cross-country run, as the riders fan out like that of wild Geese that fly in 'V' formation.
Following, but not really knowing if going in the right direction.
Or, like playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order!
"Close but no cigar"
This is a common phrase often uttered when someone tries to do something but fails. Sometimes accurately when someone very almost achieves what they were attempting, sometimes sarcastically when the attempt fell well short.
But why do we choose to use the 'cigar' as the award for achieving the attempted result?
I've heard also 'Close but no biscuit'.
Not many years ago I was playing pool with a mate of mine, and he missed a shot, and I said 'close but no cigar', and he was adamant that he had never heard the phrase before.
I used to think it was a fairly recently invented phrase which came about through 'The A Team' in which George Peppard's character would spark up a cigar when an activity worked properly and say "I love it when a plan comes together", hence the fact that not achieving the intended goal would not yield a puff on a stogie.
This is a common phrase often uttered when someone tries to do something but fails. Sometimes accurately when someone very almost achieves what they were attempting, sometimes sarcastically when the attempt fell well short.
But why do we choose to use the 'cigar' as the award for achieving the attempted result?
I've heard also 'Close but no biscuit'.
Not many years ago I was playing pool with a mate of mine, and he missed a shot, and I said 'close but no cigar', and he was adamant that he had never heard the phrase before.
I used to think it was a fairly recently invented phrase which came about through 'The A Team' in which George Peppard's character would spark up a cigar when an activity worked properly and say "I love it when a plan comes together", hence the fact that not achieving the intended goal would not yield a puff on a stogie.
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The common (but not absolutely confirmed ... ) explanation of the phrase derives from American carnivals and fairgrounds at least as early as the first third of the 20th century (and perhaps even earlier).
A century or more ago these venues' skill-based (e.g., shooting; throwing) games frequently offered a cigar as the top prize. In this context the phrase basically means "Nice try."
Coal
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Why do we say 'pushing the boat out' when describing something being done in it's most extravagant fashion?
I can't think that I have ever 'pushed a boat out', other than a rowing boat, and I would have been in the boat, pushing off from the bank.
And if you're going to tell me it comes from the action of launching ships then surely the phrase we should be using would be "launching the ship".
I can't think that I have ever 'pushed a boat out', other than a rowing boat, and I would have been in the boat, pushing off from the bank.
And if you're going to tell me it comes from the action of launching ships then surely the phrase we should be using would be "launching the ship".
brownmane
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Perhaps for us commoners, a ship is beyond us lol.
Ermintruder
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No, precisely for the reasons of scale & hierarchy stated:
Indeed it is; for we are all in that same metaphorical boat. Ships are synonymous with substantial size, and can/do often contain boats (whereas a boat can never contain a ship).
Ships are never owned (or controlled) by individuals, other than pirate captains (meaning in matters maritime & metaphysical). They are owned by nations, companies, lines or navies. They are sleek swift sharp racehorses of executive intent: the polar opposite of utilitarian basic boats.
I'd always felt that the expression 'pushing the boat out' had connotations with unusual/extreme effort or expenditure (physical or financial): certainly entailing uncertain unassured outcomes.
Instead of staying safe& close to the shore, bounded by the humble harbours of home, we are getting into some kind of deeper water, uncharted lands or challenging circumstance.
An allied thought: is a yacht an ostentatious boat, or an understated ship?
EDIT - oooh, wait a mo: the British idiom "taking a punt".....this perhaps has a bit of a bravura resonance alongsidewith 'pushing the boat out' (albeit in a relatively less-assured way). Isn't a 'punt' also a type of boat as well?
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A Sailing Yacht, a sail-Boat, a sailing Ship ~ all floating Vessels?
Ermintruder
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Well... a 'boat' is a small ship, and we all think of a yacht as having (using) a sail which does separate yacht from boat & ship, yet yachts can also be motor yachts - so it is difficult to literally distinguish them unless you're viewing and describing one particular vessel is what I'm trying to explain.
Side note: In the Royal Navy there are no surface vessels called 'boats' (unless you count support vessels associated with larger craft), they are all ships of various classifications (Cruiser, Destroyer, Minesweeper, etc). The only 'boats' are submarines, which technically are 'ships' but are referred to as boats as their origins were based on tiny vessels operated by just one or two people in general, and the term stuck as they were developed into larger vessels.
Additionally there are a number of Royal Navy 'shore/land establishments' which carry the HMS title, such as HMS Neptune, which is the Faslane naval base.
Additionally there are a number of Royal Navy 'shore/land establishments' which carry the HMS title, such as HMS Neptune, which is the Faslane naval base.
A yacht is a craft used for pleasure and sport. The name comes from the Dutch word jaght, which translates as ‘hunter’, a fast, light sailing vessel used in the past by the nation’s navy to chase pirates and other ne’er do wells. When the English King Charles the Second was carried by ‘jacht’ from the Netherlands back home, in 1660, the word soon came to mean a vessel in which important people were carried, not just any old boat.
https://www.princess.co.uk/2018/09/what-is-a-yacht/
Beats me - in my experience the phrase isn't used when an actual murder has happened, but to describe an event in which someone is exceedingly painfully annoyed about something.
As in "When I ran over his foot with the sack-barrow he screamed blue murder"
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This particular usage doesn't seem to be the original application of the phrase. "Pushing the boat out" seems to have been used in a number of senses since the early 20th century. The connotations of lavish / extravagant spending and / or investing maximum effort seem to be later attributions to a phrase originally meaning no more than buying a round of drinks or providing a drink.
It's not clear that writers a century ago had a clear idea what the phrase may mean or suggest. There seems to be general agreement its origin lay in British military slang, but even within that context there's no single explanation for the phrase's original meaning.
The most detailed explanations I've found are in:
https://wordhistories.net/2019/04/20/push-boat-out/
Other (less detailed / comprehensive) explanations can be found in, e.g.:
https://www.grammar-monster.com/sayings_proverbs/push_the_boat_out.htm
https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/push+the+boat+out
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The "bloody" version is American (in usage if not origin), and the "blue" version is British. The "blue" bit apparently derives from French.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
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Screaming until your blue in the face, I believe means 'you're wasting your time' even though you're screaming your head off, and even if you continue until your face turns blue.
blessmycottonsocks
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I was perusing the "Ever Met Anyone Famous?" thread earlier and saw that, a year or so back, it had sparked a debate over the origins of the Australian pejorative term for the English - "Poms".
That never seemed to be satisfactorily resolved.
The most popular explanation seemed to be that it was a contraction of Pomegranate - either because the newly-arrived English would be burnt as red as pomegranates by the harsh Australian sun:
... or because the Aussie slang for immigrant at the time - Jimmy Grant or Jimmigrant somehow morphed slightly into Pommie Grant.
There are also those who claim it derives from "Prisoner of (Her) Majesty" or "Prisoner of Mother England” or because a small breed of dog known as a Pomeranian was popular amongst the English upper class.
But Google invariably leads to the conclusion that "the term dates from around the turn of the 19th/20th century and the origin is still obscure."
I guess we will never know for sure.
That never seemed to be satisfactorily resolved.
The most popular explanation seemed to be that it was a contraction of Pomegranate - either because the newly-arrived English would be burnt as red as pomegranates by the harsh Australian sun:
... or because the Aussie slang for immigrant at the time - Jimmy Grant or Jimmigrant somehow morphed slightly into Pommie Grant.
There are also those who claim it derives from "Prisoner of (Her) Majesty" or "Prisoner of Mother England” or because a small breed of dog known as a Pomeranian was popular amongst the English upper class.
But Google invariably leads to the conclusion that "the term dates from around the turn of the 19th/20th century and the origin is still obscure."
I guess we will never know for sure.
It seems to have a more interesting history that generally known. . .
https://www.kew.org/read-and-watch/surprising-pomegranate-facts
Lb8535
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I suspect that blue was substituted for bloody in the UK early on as bloody was considered profanity in the late 19th century. (Such bad language in fact that W S Gilbert found to his major indignation that the title of his work "Ruddygore" was strongly criticized because nice ladies would not be able to say it, because "ruddy" sounded a lot like "bloody." So he changed it to "Ruddigore" which didn't help much. ) In morbleu the bleu is actually a substitute for Dieu, as "Death of God!" was considered profanity (cf "Sacre Bleu!") And the US has any number of workarounds like "gosh dang it." Any other good workarounds in British English?
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maximus otter
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Mythopoeika
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Bloomin'!
Tunn11
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Sweet Fanny Adams! Not sure where the sweet came from but I always assumed it meant sweet F**k All
There's also all the WW2 Snafu, Foobar, etc.
I've also heard "sugar" as a substitute for "shit"
Making a horlicks of something? (sounds like bollocks)
And what does "balderdash" mean?