english is as easy as pie

 

                              History of Some Colorful English                 

          Language Idioms

 

We use catch phrases all of the time without even thinking about it. Someone trying to learn English will be very confused when they hear a person say that they are 'broke'. What? Are they sick or have they gotten hurt? Imagine their surprise when they learn it means to have no money. Or how about 'by the skin of one's teeth' or 'drop someone a line'?

Have you ever thought about where these strange sayings originated? Why in the world do they mean what they do today? Well, here's a small list of some of the colorful English language's common idioms with an explanation of their origins.

"Big wigs or bigwigs" 

A big wig is a person of affluence, importance, or authority. 

This refers to members of the British legal system that wore wigs while in court. Actually, they still do.

"Bite the bullet" 

If a person bites the bullet, it means that they take whatever punishment they must in order to end something. 

This came about during war times, probably the Civil War. With very little anesthetic available, patients were operated upon with nothing to numb the pain or to render them unconscious. 

A large number of these operations were amputations. The surgeon would literally saw off a limb. 

The patient was given a bullet to put in their mouth to bite down on when they felt pain. It was used to give the patient something to focus upon and probably also to cut down on screaming so as not to frighten other patients or disrupt the surgeon. 

Bullets were used simply because they were readily available and didn't break the teeth. 

So when a patient agreed to bite the bullet, they believed that the surgery was necessary despite the pain and just wanted to get it finished.

"Black sheep of the family" 

The black sheep of the family is a family member that is unwanted or disowned. 

Shepherds didn't want black sheep because their fleece couldn't be dyed like white fleece. Because of this, black sheep weren't worth as much as white sheep.

"Bought the farm"