It’s time for another foray into the past to answer the question: Why do we say the things we say?
Phrases
When you use certain phrases, you know what they mean, but if you stop and consider the actual words, they often don’t make sense . . . not unless you understand when and why the phrase was first used.
Makeup and Wax
Lose Face. Today when you “lose face,” you’re not literally losing your face. It simply means you’ve done something to embarrass yourself, ruin your reputation, or lose the respect of others.
DYK: In the late 1700s, ladies and gentlemen seldom bathed. That meant they didn’t wash off the makeup they wore to impress others. Over time, the makeup got thicker and thicker, and if they sat too close to a fire, their makeup could begin to melt. If that happened, a servant would quickly block the heat by placing a screen in front of the fireplace so the person wouldn’t literally “lose face.”
Mind Your Own Bee’s Wax. When you use this phrase, you’re telling someone to mind their own business, because what you’re saying or doing doesn’t concern them.
DYK: People who survived the once common disease, smallpox, were disfigured with pockmarks. Ladies often filled the pockmarks on their faces (and bodies) with bee’s wax. An ingenious solution, except when the weather got hot and the wax started to melt. Protocol of the day was not to tell a woman her makeup was melting but to—literally—mind your own bee’s wax.
Crack a Smile. Today this phrase simply means someone smiled.
DYK: In the “old” days, if you had too much wax on your face (and especially if the weather was really cold), you could literally crack the wax when you smiled.
Business
Worth/Cost an Arm and a Leg. This phrase is another way to say something is very expensive.
DYK: Hundreds of years ago, painting arms and legs properly was difficult and expensive. Some patrons considered the high price acceptable, worth the cost of an arm and leg. However, if the price quoted was too high, the artist might agree to paint the portrait for a lower price if few or no limbs were included. This lowered price cost you an arm and a leg.
Cut through the Red Tape. We’ve all dealt with red tape, i.e., bureaucratic procedures that must be followed. It’s both a hassle and time-consuming. So, cutting through red tape means saving time.
DYK: This phrase originated with lawyers. (Who’d have guessed?) Back in the day, solicitors (or attorneys) used a file folder to hold client’s papers. To keep the papers from falling out, these folders were tied closed with a red ribbon. To open a folder, the solicitor had to cut through the red tape (ribbon).
Medical
Mad as a Hatter. This phrase isn’t as widely used today as it was in the past, but when you use it, you’re saying someone is crazy.
DYK: This phrase comes from the hat-making industry of the 18th and 19th centuries. Today’s hat styles run more to baseball caps and cowboy hats, but back then, hats using small animal pelts for felt were very popular. Unfortunately, the process of creating the felt exposed the workers to mercury nitrate, a poison. Over time the exposed employees developed various physical and mental illnesses, including problems speaking, tremors, hallucinations, and emotional instability.
Did You Know…
- In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the city of Danbury, Connecticut, was labeled the “Hat Capital of the World” because it was the leading center for hat-making. The mercury-induced tremors or “hatter’s shakes” were called the “Danbury shakes.”
- It wasn’t until the early 1940s, the U.S. finally banned the use of mercury in the production of felt.
- Researchers believe Boston Corbett, the Union soldier who shot John Wilkes Booth, had mental health problems because of his years working as a hat maker. (FYI: If you’re interested, there’s a fascinating book—if slightly irreverent and funny—by Jesse Joyce called Killing the Guys Who Killed the Guy Who Killed Lincoln: A Nutty Story About Edwin Booth and Boston Corbett. I highly recommend listening to the audiobook. The writer is also the narrator, and he’s great.)
Frog in Your Throat. Most of us have probably used this phrase at least once when a choking feeling clogged the throat.
DYK: Back in the 1500s, medieval doctors thought coating a patient’s throat with frog secretions could cure a cough. (I can’t imagine where that idea came from!) So how did they do it? Forget collecting and drinking the secretions. No, the remedy called for a frog to actually be placed in the poor patient’s mouth. If that wasn’t bad enough, it had to be kept there until the doc decided the job had been accomplished and the treatment completed. (Gag!)
The End
Thankfully, it’s time to end this DYK. (In the nick of time, some might say, after the frog DYK above.) But first, here’s one last idiom explained.
In the Nick of Time. This means something happens at the last possible moment before it’s too late to change the outcome. (Often a very bad outcome.)
DYK: Businessmen once carved notches (i.e., nicks) on a “tally stick” to keep track of time and transactions. If you arrived to pay your debt just before the businessman carved the next nick, you arrived in the nick of time and saved yourself the next day’s interest. This business practice of carving nicks continued into the 18th century.