As I’ve mentioned 15 times before, I like seeking out the possible origins of the many strange sayings and phrases that frequently pop up in every day use of the English language but pretty much go unnoticed and are largely taken for granted.
• Fair to middlin’. I think this one was more common decades ago, but you’ll still here it now and then when you ask someone how they’re doing (in fact, I have a friend who says it a lot).
Basically, it means “not bad.”
The word “middling” was (and still is) one of several terms used by English farmers to describe the quality of farm produce or livestock: “good,” “fair,” “middling,” “ordinary” and “poor.”
Middling is an old Scottish word in use since about the 1400s, with the same meaning of “medium or moderate size, strength or quality.” A common mispronunciation has even been adopted as the name of a U.S. rock band: Fair to Midland.
• Pass the buck. When you hear someone say this, you probably understand they’re referring to a person or organization involved in shirking responsibility or shifting blame.
The phrase actually got rolling when poker became very popular in America during the second half of the 19th century. Players were highly suspicious of cheating, so the deal changed hands during games to avoid unfairness.
The next dealer would typically be given a marker that was often a knife, and knives often had handles made of buck’s antler, so the word “buck” was used to refer to the marker. When a dealer’s turn was done, he (or she) “passed the buck.”
Silver dollars were later used as markers, and that’s probably where the word “buck” began being used as a slang term for dollar.
• Cut the mustard. It’s a phrase that denotes high quality or top-notch performance, but when preceded by “doesn’t” or “can’t,” we all recognize this phrase as describing someone or something that doesn’t measure up or isn’t good enough.
Its origins are sketchy, but maybe it began from mustard plants, which grow tough and dense and have tiny seeds that are hard to cut with a knife.
It might also have come from the military idiom “to pass muster,” an expression for assembling military troops for inspection.
For example, a soldier who has achieved excellent performance in an inspection might be allowed to skip, or “cut” having to stand for a formal muster or formation and instead go on liberty.
• Make no bones about it.
We all know this phrase means there’s no doubt or objection with regard to whatever is being spoken of, or that something is referred to without hesitation.
It’s apparently a very old expression, with versions dating back to the mid-1400s. While its original meaning has been lost in all those centuries since, it might have referred to a boneless stew or soup that could be consumed without hesitation. Conversely, someone might have expressed their dissatisfaction with something by exclaiming they “found bones in it.”
Then again, it might also relate it to dice – which were usually made from bones – that were thrown without hesitation.
• The cards are stacked against you (or the deck is stacked against you).
When facing this situation, you know you’re in for a tough go of something.
The term originated in gambling, where “stacking” the cards (or deck) meant to arrange them secretly and dishonestly to gain an advantage over an opponent.
• The proof is in the pudding.
This is certainly an easily recognizable expression referring to the fact that to know if something is good or functional, it must first be tried or used.
It can be traced back to an old proverb from the 1300s: “The proof of the pudding is in the eating.”
• Close, but no cigar.
We’ve probably all heard someone say this when someone else was close to getting something right or completing a task or – as would be said nowadays – when someone almost “nailed it.”
The phrase likely originated in the U.S. in the early to mid-1900s, when cigars were given as prizes to adults playing games at carnivals and fairs. Obviously, the words were said to someone who failed to win.
• Two cents worth.
Most of us know that when someone shares their opinion on a subject, they provide this.
Like many of its cohorts in old sayings and expressions world, the phrase could have originated in one of several plausible ways.
It might stem from card games featuring betting, like poker, where players must make a small bet or “ante,” before beginning play.
Another possibility is that “my two pennies worth” is derived from a 16th century English expression, “a penny for your thoughts,” which is likely a sarcastic response to receiving more opinion than was wanted (“I said a penny for your thoughts, but I got two pennies’ worth”).
The phrase might also have begun with the early cost of postage in England, when two pennies was the normal charge for sending a letter to someone.
• Beaucoup.
Used frequently as a clever method of saying “much,” “many” or “a lot,” it’s simply a French word meaning much, many or a lot that made its way into English slang in the early 1900s.
Not surprisingly, the word’s pronunciation gets butchered in America. It’s correctly pronounced “bow-coo” (and that’s bow as in a bow tie, not the front end of a boat), but you’ll hear all kinds of fouled-up versions, like “boocoo,” “boocooz” and “booco.”
So there you go. Another look at another bunch of sayings that the English language is chock full of.
Hmm; I wonder where that one came from?
Doug Davison is a writer, photographer and newsroom assistant for the Houston Herald. His columns are posted online at www.houstonherald.com. Email: ddavison@houstonherald.com.