15 Fantastic English Factoids and Idioms

English is a funny old language, influenced by centuries of history and wonderful writers. Our language has evolved many times through the centuries, and continues to evolve still, and sometimes sayings and idioms live on after the language changes, which means they don’t always make much sense.

Today I’m taking a look at some of our favourite sayings and idioms, and looking where they may have originated. Some of these are definite facts, but we appreciate that facts are lost and idioms are given retrospective meanings over the years and so we’re calling this a factoids blog!

Bury the Hatchet

In the 1600s, when native Indians agreed on peace, they would bury two axes in the ground beneath them as a symbol; they would literary ‘bury the hatchet’.

Freeze the balls off a brass monkey

My favourite I think (and the one I most doubt to be true).

On ships, cannonballs were balanced ready for firing on something called a monkey, piling all the cannonballs in a triangular, pyramid shape. When the weather was cold, the monkey made of brass would freeze and contract making all the cannonballs roll off; hence freezing the balls off a brass monkey

Honeymoon

During the 14C When a couple got married, the bride’s father was expected to give the groom enough mead to drink for a month. The mead was made from honey, this was known as the honey month, or as everyone worked to lunar months then, the honeymoon.

Hysteria

During ancient Greek times, the Greek doctor Hippocrates discovered a condition called hysteros (congestion of the womb) and so hysteria was only a woman’s complaint, treated by being massaged to Paroxysm, or orgasm. This practice was continued until less than 100 years ago.

Left on the Shelf

In Shakespeare’s time, fathers would build bunks into the bedroom wall for daughters who lived at home. As they married they would leave home, but you would always be worried that you would be the one ‘left on the shelf’

Leonardo Da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci wrote everything backwards. He also drew up the first plans for a helicopter and invented scissors

Lunatic

When you look at old thatched house, you may notice the windows have their own ‘thatched rooves’ this is because it was believed that if the moon shone on your face while you slept, it would make you crazy, or turn you into a lunar-tic – lunatic.

Ne’ever cast a clout ‘til May is out

In Shakespearian times, it was not considered that one needed to bathe too often, in fact bathing in the winter was considered unhealthy. Hence the saying ‘ne’er cast a clout ’til May is out’ meaning, never cast your heavy winter clothing until May is over.

It’s also where the UK tradition for June brides came about, you can see how appealing a lady would have looked after her first bath for 12 months.

Parma Violets

Parma violets are a traditional, perfumed, sherbety sweet available in the UK. Parma violets were originally given out by the man who came to empty your toilet. The sweets would be given to everyone in the house as the perfume in your nose would act to cover the smell of the latrine as it was emptied. (this has nothing to do with English, I just think it’s interesting)

Piss Poor

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in the same pot to collect as much urine as possible. Why? Because once a day, someone from the family took the pot to the tannery and sold the urine. If a family had to do this to survive financially, they were called “Piss poor.”

Didn’t have a pot to piss in

Worse than the above were some people who were too poor to buy even the pot to collect their urine. And so they were the poorest and lowest of the low.

Raining Cats and Dogs

You’ve heard of thatch roofs, well that’s all they were. Thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. They were the only place for the little animals to get warm. So all the pets; dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs, all lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery so sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Thus the saying, ‘it’s raining cats and dogs,’

Runcible Spoon

Edward Lear added the word runcible to the dictionary due to his frequent use of it in stories and poems. However, although he mentions it many times (a runcible spoon in the Owl and the Pussy cat for instance) he never explained what it meant. The Oxford dictionary now list it as a spoon with prongs, so Edward Lear invented the Spork

Threshold

Before people had carpets, it was difficult to keep in heat with the stone floor, floors also got greasy with fat from the fire, and so straw and threshings were thrown on the floor, mixed with herbs for a nice smell, more would be thrown down each week until summer when it would be swept up and you would start again. The step out of the room helped keep the threshings in, which is why husbands carry their wives over the ‘Threshold’

Throw the baby away with the bathwater

Earlier we spoke of Shakespearean bathtimes and tradition would have it that the man of the house would be the first to bathe, followed by the women, children, then servants. You can see how dirty the water might get and how you might have to be careful not to throw the baby away with the bathwater.

We hope you enjoyed our selection of English factoids, and if you have any other interesting facts or idiom origins please tell us about them in the comments.