Chew the Fat

"Chew the Fat"

Chewing the fat means having a conversation with someone, or informal talk, or chat in a relaxed way. It also meant to grumble or complain. It was most popular in the 1800's with the British army. It slowly made its way to the United States. They think it originated by the army men being given tough meat to eat and they had to chew the fat of the meat. Chewing is like the action of speaking so that is how it got interpeted. The phrase is also known as chew the rag which means the same thing.

Examples: Let's chew the fat some time, and I had a great time chewing the fat with my old friend.

Its Raing Cats and Dogs

Its Raining Cats and Dogs

According to Richard Lederer, in England in the 1500's, when it was raining hard the streets

were like rivers. So the peoplewere known to throw their dead cat's and dog's into the street to wash away. This is the literal explanation during the middle ages why its raining cats and dogs.

Also back then, the houses had thatched roofs and the animals would seek shelter there. They went there to stay warm and dry, but when it rained they came sliding off the roof. That is also where it's raining cat's and dog's came from. Back in the dark ages, cats were veiwed to be associated with storms, especially the Norse storm.The black cat was connected to witches. Dogs were associated with winds because of the howling. During this era, most explanations delt with death. The orgin of this phrase is still not fully documended.

Http://www.idiomsite.com/raincatsand.htm

Http://www.jewishworldeveiw.com.0203/lederer022003.asp

Redneck

The term redneck dates back to around the 1830's.

Redneck originally started out being a tale that referred to striking coal miners who wore red bandannas as a means of group identification.

Another way that the tern redneck is used from those who had sunburn necks from working in the fields all day.

Today's modern term redneck means more Southern, rural, white member of the laboring class and a disparaging reference to the dialect.

A redneck is often portrayed as slow, shallow in thought, and regulated to the rural areas.

Fit as a Fiddle

Fit as a Fiddle

This Idiom date's from the early 1600. Fit has always meant something similar to good health or in good shape. Now the fiddle being joined to fit has many possible reasons that could have been chosen for. First, a fiddle that is well tuned can make music that is pleasing to the ear. Another possibilities is that the shape of the fiddle is quite beautiful in some peoples eyes, and a third reason could be that as fiddles were very expensive at this time and were well maintained in good condition. In any event, to say "He is Fit as a Fiddle" is to say he is in good physical condition.

Stubborn as a Mule

Stubborn as a Mule

While visiting Disneyland in 1957, former president Harry Truman refused to get on the Dumbo the Elephant ride, because he considered it to be "a symbol of the Republican party". This incident coined the phrase "stubborn as a Mule"
Stubborn as a Mule means that a person will not change for anything and do whatever they want.
Example: We tried to stop Jimmy from walking on his broken ankle, but he is as stubborn as a mule.

Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed

"Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed"

Through my investigation I found no documented origin on my idiom. However I did find out that it started to be used sometime in the 1930's.

From my research "Bright eyed and bushy tailed" means to be awake and alert, and sometimes even excited. I found in my study that this phrase refers to a squirrel or maybe other animals. When they feel a sense of danger or being threatened, they get up on their haunches, swish their tails and book around. Others say that this phrase means to be awake, alert, and ready for whatever is coming.

Chippy

"Chippy"

The slang term chippy, also spelled chippie, means a "promiscous young woman"or a prositute. The dictionary meaning for the French word chipie is shrewish woman or vixen. Chipe and pie in French means thieving magpie.

In the nineteeth century, New Orleans recognized the word chippy. Louis Armstrong used the word chippy often and he also used it in his 1954 autobiography.

In the dictionary of American Slang, the word chippy is a shortened way of saying chippy sparrow, a bird that is found in urban areas. Women were referred to as chick, hen, or hen or bird. In America, it means the sounds that a squirrel or some other small animal makes.


I got the information from the book DOG DAYS and DANDELIONS

Author: MARTHA BARNETTE

Buy The Farm

Buy The Farm

One origin appeared in an issue of American Speech in 1955. Jet pilots say that when a jet crashes on a farm the farmer sues the government for damages done to his farm by the crash, and the amount demanded is always more than enough to pay off the mortgage and then buy the farm outright. Since this type of crash is nearly always fatal to the pilot, the pilot pays for the farm with his life.

Another origin was told by a World Wide Words Subscriber. It dates back at least World War II. Each member of the US armed services was issued a life insurance policy in the amount of $10,000. Many of the young men named their parents as beneficiaries. The parents were often living on a farm that was mortgaged. If their son was killed, the $10,000 would be used to pay the farm off.

The specific phrase " to buy the farm" turns out to be recorded in the 1950's. From the evidence that Jonathan Lighter has compiled in the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, it comes from the US Air Force where it was a slang for a fatal crash.

The tail is wagging the dog

Origin:
The tail is wagging the dog originated in the US. There is nowhere that we can locate this saying from, other than prints of papers/magi zines from the US.

"Calling to mind Lord Dundreary's conundrum, the Baltimore American thinks that for the Cincinnati Convention to control the Democratic party would be the tail wagging the dog."--The Daily Republican, April 1872

Meaning:
Something small controls the whole situation.

Reference:
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/341850.html
http://www.loreenleedy.com/images/01wag.jpg

CATCH MORE FLIES WITH HONEY THAN WITH VINEGAR

Catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!

First used as an analogy, it doesn't literally mean to catch flies although you will find flies in a bowl of honey if it is left uncovered (more than you will in a bowl of vinegar). It means when you are nice to someone you are more likely to get a positive response than if you were not so nice.

To avoid the annoying task of chasing flies in enclosed areas, an alternative was used to lure flies to traps with little effort. Flies are repelled by sour smells such as vinegar, but are attracted to sweet smells like honey. To capture a fly, pour honey on something and set it out in the open. When a fly lands on the honey, it becomes stuck. I could not find the origin after searching many websites but this information is commonly known.

Cup Of Joe

"Cup of Joe" is an American nickname for a cup of coffee. Although the origins of the phrase are unclear, there area few stories circulating about it's origen.

The first and most interesting explanation of the phrase's origin is when Josephus “Joe” Daniels, Secretary of the Navy during World War I, banned serving alcohol aboard US Navy ships, except on very special occasions. Coffee, it is said, became the beverage of choice and started to be called Joe in reference to him. The problem with this story is the dates.

The second most popular story is that Stephen Foster's song Old Black Joe caused a mental link between Black and Coffee. There is no mention of coffee in that song so it is an unlikely explanation.

The last and probably most likely story is Joe comes from Java or Jamoke for coffee, or may be a reference to the common man, an "ordinary Joe" or "GI Joe".

Although the origin of the phrase is uncertain, I am certain there is nothing better than a cup of joe in the morning.

references

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cup_of_joe
• http://www.idiomsite.com/cupofjoe.htm
• http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-joe1.htm

In the Pink

The earliest known reference to this phrase was in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (1597). There are several variations on this phrase as time has gone on. 'In the pink of the mode', and other words at the end of the phrase can be used to describe being the best of something. In the pink of health, in the pink of condition, and even in the pink of sickness.

It is speculated that the phrase is derived from British fox-hunters, but their coats were red, and thus is a very poor definition. The more generally accepted origin is from the Dianthus flower, which is nicknamed 'Pinks'. This is because the flower itself is pink. There is an argument that the color pink was named after the flower, much like the color orange and plum take their names from fruit.

The reason that pink was associated with excellence was because of Queen Elizabeth I's fondness of the flower. This is around the same time the phrase was first known to be used.