Reader Opinions
Don H – (mark my words) October 11, 2023
I am not sure it is literally the first use recorded, but in 1 Samuel chapter 1 of the KJV Eli hearing Hannah’s prayer concerning her vow to God that if the Lord would give her a son (she was barren), she would dedicate this son to the service of God. Of course, Samuel the great prophet was God’s answer to her prayer, but the scriptures tell us that Eli the priest was near, and hearing the prayer “marked” her words. Later, of course, having taken note of this special prayer of great travail remembered it. That reference is what sent me on this search.
Caroline Woolnough – (pain in the neck) October 8, 2023
Harpastum, a game played in the Roman Republic which was similar to modern day rugby. Antiphanes wrote about the game “….damn it, what a pain in the neck I’ve got.” Could this be the source of the idiom?
D. Marshall Cheeks – (the devil is beating his wife) October 8, 2023
East Coast here. I remember being a little boy hearing my Grandmother and her siblings saying this when it was a sun shower. They were all originally from Pittsburgh but my Great Grandparents, their parents of course, came from Florida.
Reece – (rake over the coals) September 25, 2023
I often use this expression at work when I am explaining how certain things went that particular day at work to the other nurses. A lot of them will smile at me when I say this phrase, “raked across the coals”, because it illustrates such accuracy of how we nurses are truly treated from patients, their family members as well as our own allies such as management.
Kenneth L Kaftan – (ahead of the curve) September 24, 2023
A pilot will sometimes, on final approach, operate the aircraft on the “backside the curve” if it especially windy. This is similar to paddling a boat when in the rapids i.e. it provides the pilot with more control essentially forcing the plane through the wind and making a safe landing. Since the throttle is already at high power the pilot, to do a “go around” would just need to reduce the flaps to gain altitude. IMO
Anonymous – (so so) September 20, 2023
So?
It also means “What are you trying to say/convey.”
Marcella – (within earshot) September 20, 2023
My friend from California never heard this word, but I used it, and I’m from Maine.
Avi Leidner – (throw under the bus) September 19, 2023
It’ll throw a couple decades of British journalism and political culture under the bus to uphold its authority over the origin and accounts of heavily traded pop culture currency.
Quite an extensive list and tracing of [to be] “pushed under the bus” has been cataloged with print citations of that exact form dating back to 1971, while antecedent citations with other means of coming to be “under the bus” (including to walk, fall, go, and be dropped) extend through identified citations in print and television media dating back to the early 1960s. But only in the UK.
Aiswarya – (back to the wall) September 18, 2023
I had my back against the wall when I had to bribe a student to get exam answers for a bully who blackmailed me.
Juan Chaco – (run a tight ship) September 17, 2023
To “run a tight ship” vs a “loose ship” actually has much more serious implications. A captain who ran a tight ship was more demanding of the sailors in keeping everything in order and some resented it. However, if there was a storm or other emergency, the “tight” ship was prepared and the “loose” ship was not and many times went down.
