Bees Knees and Barmy Armies - Origins of the Words and Phrases we Use Every Day. Harry Oliver
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effect of making his colleagues look sluggish by comparison. Hence, the mildly derogatory connotations of the expression. Clearly the phrase is rooted in the widespread perception of the beaver as a tireless and enthusiastic worker, what with all that impressive dam-building, and phrases such as ‘busy as a beaver’ and ‘beaver away’ came into use in England as early as the eighteenth century. ‘Eager beaver’ itself was first recorded in use in the 1940s, by the army of a country that bristles with the creatures – Canada.
Grin like a Cheshire Cat
To grin like a Cheshire cat is to smile broadly and without inhibition. We can thank Lewis Carroll for the popularity of this expression. In his 1865 classic book Alice in Wonderland, his fictional cat is most commonly remembered for its almost complete disappearance – save for its grin. While Carroll certainly boosted the saying’s currency, there are published instances of it in the work of the eighteenth-century English writer John Wolcot. Beyond this, the origins of the phrase are hard to pin down. To start with, the Cheshire cat isn’t a breed of cat, but one idea is that the cats in Cheshire were grinning with satisfaction at living in a dairy-farming county famous for its cheeses as well as producing plenty of cream. Another version of the cheese theory is that in Cheshire, cheese was once sold in a mould that looked like a grinning cat. Staying with Cheshire but forgetting the cheese, another school of thought is that the paintings of grinning lions that once graced the signs of various inns throughout the county gave birth to the ‘Cheshire cat’. Why grinning lions is another question.
Have a Gander
When about to take a close look at something we might say we’re going to ‘have a gander’, a phrase that has been with us since the early twentieth century. A gander is, of course, a male goose – but just what does a goose have to do with it? Well, back in the seventeenth century ‘to gander’ meant to ‘stretch your neck to see’, as the male goose would. Now, if you were to have a gander at a gander as it waddles about, peering at everything and sticking its beak into other people’s business, you’d see why we still associate the bird’s name with an inquisitive look. The only difference is that we stopped using the verb ‘to gander’ long ago – instead we have, or take, a gander.
High Horse
Someone who gets on their ‘high horse’ is behaving overbearingly in a superior manner. Many an opinionated know-it-all has been told to ‘get off your high horse’. The phrase dates back to the eighteenth century and alludes to army officers’ practice of riding horses whose size reflected the riders’ position in the military. A high-ranking officer rode a higher horse than an officer of more modest rank.
Hold Your Horses
If you’re told to ‘hold your horses’ you’re being advised to wait, hold on a moment, exercise a little patience. The phrase dates back to nineteenth-century America, first appearing as the rurally inflected ‘hold your hosses’. Originally rooted in a literal instruction to a horserider to hold steady to stop the animal getting too excited, it soon became used as a more general piece of advice not to become agitated oneself. The first such recorded instance occurred in 1844, when it was employed in an attempt to placate someone on the verge of losing their temper.
In the Doghouse
Many a man reading this will know what being ‘in the doghouse’ is all about – any man, that is, who has endured his partner’s wrath as a consequence of his actions. Forgetting a wedding anniversary or a birthday is a perfect example of such a lapse in standards. Just as a misbehaving dog is banished to the doghouse, the misbehaving man will find himself in disgrace and languishing in the metaphorical doghouse. Bad boy!
In Peter Pan, the children’s father, Mr Darling, is particularly unpleasant to the family dog, Nana, despite her acting as a nurse to the kids. As punishment for his rotten ways, his wife sends him to live in Nana’s Doghouse. J.M. Barrie wrote the book in 1904, and from that moment on the phrase ‘in the doghouse’ acquired a new meaning. No infallible means of getting out of the doghouse has been found, though flowers, jewellery and getting on all fours like a real dog and begging have all been attempted.
Jinx
When you feel you’re in the grip of a ‘jinx’, or jinxed, you’ve succumbed to a superstitious belief that bad luck is on the cards or that a spell of some sort has been cast on you. The word is thought to come from iunx, the Greek word for the wryneck bird. This species was very much bound up with superstition and witchcraft simply because of the way it behaves when in the resting position, staring and twisting its neck slowly, as if very suspicious.
Keep the Wolf from the Door
To ‘keep the wolf from the door’ is to have enough food and money to avoid starvation and financial ruin – in short, to get by. The wolf has long been associated with a ravenous appetite – it is used in other phrases such as ‘wolf (down) your food’ – and as a symbol of fear and danger. The expression ‘keep the wolf from the door’ dates back to the fifteenth century, and various unlikely claims have been made about its origin being the tale of The Three Little Pigs.
Lame Duck
Used of a person who is incapacitated or ineffectual, the phrase ‘lame duck’ alludes to a duck being unable to keep up with the rest of the flock through lameness. It first occurred in the eighteenth century at the London Stock Exchange, where it was used to describe brokers who could not afford to pay their debts. In an industry where animal terminology features often – bulls and bears, for example – the duck is in stark contrast to these aggressive beasts.
Today the expression has come to be used widely of a person in office who is destined to be replaced but remains in the role for the time being. Usually they stay either because, as in the case of American Presidents in their second term, they are unable to be re-elected, or because they choose not to be. Tony Blair, for example, could have been seen as a ‘lame duck’ British prime minister once he announced that he wouldn’t fight another election and Gordon Brown was waiting in the wings to succeed him.
Lead by the Nose
To ‘lead by the nose’ is to have control over someone – to have them do exactly what you want. The phrase derives from the practice of leading cart-drawing animals such as horses, donkeys and mules, whose nose would have a ring pierced through it so that a rope could be attached with which to control them. Cart animals have been led by the nose for millennia, but figurative reference to it dates back to the sixteenth century.
Lion’s Share
This phrase, meaning the largest or most desirable portion of something, owes its origin to one of Aesop’s fables. A lion and three of his friends – a fox, an ass and a wolf – go hunting. After they make a kill the lion says that he is going to keep three-quarters of the meat for himself. The reasons he provides for keeping the ‘lion’s share’ are as follows: one quarter is for him, one quarter for his lioness and cubs, and the other quarter is for his courage. The lion then goes on to inform his friends that he is prepared to part with the remaining quarter provided one of them challenges him to a fight and defeats him. The three friends refuse to take him on, preferring to leave the entire kill to the King of the Beasts.
More than You Can Shake a Stick at
If I had an abundance of cash and someone were to ask me how much cash I had, then I could well reply with the curious phrase ‘more than you can shake a stick at’. I’ve never seen anyone shake a stick at anything, let alone be faced with something that they could not shake a stick at. The phrase is certainly intriguing. Obviously, shaking a stick is not a friendly gesture, and you would probably only start waving one at somebody or something to