Did Archive

SAY! DID YOU KNOW...?

We say stuff every day. Where did it come from?
How did it get started?

BIKINI
Men who saw the bikini for the first time reacted as if it were an atom bomb and so the
new bathing suit was named after the Pacific Island where the atom bomb was tested.

GO BANANAS
What makes a person who is normally calm and quiet suddenly "Go Bananas"?
No one knows exactly why, but there's a good reason for saying someone
has gone bananas. Actions of such a person are a lot like that of a
caged monkey in a zoo. The sight of a keeper approaching with a
bunch of bananas can make the animal freak out, or go bananas.

CINCH
Around 1849, in the western gold fields, it was the custom to use a novel saddle
girth for horses. Instead of using English-style belly bands with straps and buckles,
Mexicans of the southwest employed twisted ropes running between two rings.
Such a piece of gear, called a cinch, was far more adjustable than any
eastern gear. A rider who knew how to fasten a Spanish cinch could
lace a saddle so that it stayed in position all day. Clumsy buckles
had to be adjusted frequently. Such is the holding power of the
cinch that its name has come to stand for any sure thing.

JEEP
Elzie Crisler Segar's name is far from a household word.
But comic strip characters he created are known everywhere.
Popeye the Sailor, launched about 1930, made a quick and lasting hit.
Eugene the JEEP, an animal friend of Popeye appeared on March 16, 1936.
Slender but very strong, he was widely admired be readers.
Soon after becoming acquainted with Eugene the Jeep,
soldiers began working with a new vehicle. Small and drab,
the sturdy car had four drive wheels instead of the standard two.
Military supply officers initially stenciled the little heavy-duty car
G.P.-for "general purpose". Inflienced by its initials
G.I.'s compared the new vehicle with Eugene the Jeep.
As a result, both the military jeep and its civilian
relatives prepetuated the name of a remarkable
animal made famous by a comic strip.

RIGHT DOWN ONE'S ALLEY
Most English cities and towns of long ago
had many more narrow alleys than broad streets;
most of them still retain that pattern.
Except for members of the wealthy gentry, people were
more likely to live on a alley than not.
Asked to make a delivery or purchase close to home,
it was natural to respond "that's right down my alley!"
This VERY British expression for "it's close to home"
seemed to early Americans just right as
a way of indicating "that is something I'm just the person to do!"

ADAM'S APPLE
Many a man, such as Abraham Lincoln,
has had a prominent Adam's apple.
Male chauvinism is responsible for the centuries old name.
Pioneer English anatomists were puzzled by the section
of cartilage that refused to stay in one spot.
Folk tales explained that Adam should not have taken that
apple from Eve in the Garden of Eden. When he yielded
to her temptation, apiece of fruit stuck on the way down.
Ever since, it has moved when men eat or talk
in order to warn:"Beware of the temptress!"
In truth, the growth of the visible knot is
stimulated by male hormones. Because women have
a small amount of the hormone, they also
have a small version of the Adam's Apple.

A HIT
Authors and publishers, along with actors and producers
and songwriters, want nothing as much as a HIT. That is
precisely what a contestant engaged in a prededssor to baseball
hoped to get when given an opportunity to swing the bat. A good,
solid hit on the playing field meant an opportunity to advance and
maybe even to score. Consequently, onlookers and athletes applied
the term to any enterprise that has a successful, popular following.

AX TO GRIND
Benjamin Franklin, one of the most widely read of early American
writers, is a central character in one of his own stories. In the tale,
a young Franklin was approached be a fellow who stopped to admire
the family grindstone. Asking to be shown how it worked, the stranger
offered young Ben an ax with which to demonstrate. Once his ax was
sharp, the fellow walked off, laughing. Franklin warned readers to
beware of anyone who has an ax to grind, for they have a hidden motive.

LOCK, STOCK, AND BARREL
When you decide to put everything you have into an enterprise, associates
are likely to comment that you're going for it, "lock, stock, and barrel."
Anyone can take a half-hearted approach, but gumption is required for a
decision to go all the way. Muskets and rifles involved three major components:
a carefully crafted lock, a stock made of wood, and a stout metal barrel. Each
member of the trio was useless without the other two. Collectively, the came to
indicate wholeness, completion and later, unhesitating and unreserved action.

SHINDIG
A veteran square dance caller will tell you that bruised shins
result from the swinging feet of beginning dancers. A dance that leaves
tell-tale marks on the lower legs of participants is a shindig.

TANTALIZE
The Greek god Tantalus was punished by being put in water
up to his chin under a tree with luscious fruit. When he
reached for the fruit, the branch moved upward and when he
bent his head to drink, the water level dropped, tantalizing him.

ALIBI
The word is taken straight from Latin and means
"elsewhere." The perfect "alibi" is to prove one
was "elsewhere" when the deed was done.

GRAVEYARD SHIFT * SAVED BY THE BELL * DEAD RINGER
England is old and small, so about 1500 they started running out
of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and
would take the bones to a 'bone house' and reuse the grave.
When reopening these coffins, one out of 25 coffins were found to
have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been
buring people alive. So they thought they would tie a string on the
wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through
the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in
the graveyard all night 'graveyard shift' to listen for the bell; thus,
someone could be 'saved by the bell' or was considered a 'dead ringer'.

HOLDING A WAKE
About that same time in history lead cups were used to drink ale or
whiskey. The combination would sometimes knock them out for a
couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them
for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the
kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather
around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would
wake up - hence the custom of holding a 'wake'.

DIRT POOR * THRESH HOLD
In the 1500's the floor of the house was dirt. Only the wealthy had
something other than dirt, hence the saying 'dirt poor'. The wealthy
had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet,
so they spread thresh on the floor to help keep their footing.
As the winter wore on, they kept adding more thresh until when
you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece
of wood was placed in the entry way - hence, a 'thresh hold'.

DON'T THROW THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATH WATER!
Also, about that same time in history most people took their yearly
bath in May. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.
The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water,
then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally
the children -- last of all the babies. By then the water was so
dirty you could actually lose someone in it - hence the saying,
'Don't throw the baby out with the bath water.'
Most people got married in June because they still smelled pretty good
since their May bath. However, they were starting to smell so brides
carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.

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