Sometimes we just say things. Mindy Aleman was talking to her husband when she blurted it out.
“This morning I said ‘Hold your horses’ in response to Gary’s request to do something,” she explained. “I said it almost automatically as if it was my usual response … like where the heck did that come from?”
That got Aleman wondering about the origins of idioms.
People have been saying “Hold your horses” for a long, long time. Ancient Greek poet Homer included it in “The Iliad,” an epic poem that dates back to at least the 7th century B.C.
According to a common translation, King Menelaus tells Trojan War hero Antilochus to slow down during a chariot race: “Antilochus — you drive like a maniac! Hold your horses! The track’s too narrow here — it widens soon for passing — watch out — you’ll crash your chariot, wreck us both!”
English poet Alexander Pope’s original 1598 translation had it as “Contain thy horses.” It’s too bad that one didn’t endure, huh?
“Contain thy horses, Gary.”
Aleman, who retired from Kent State in 2020, thought it might be fun for Beacon Journal readers to submit some of their go-to sayings that “warrant demystifying.”
She got us started with a few examples:
∎ “Beat around the bush.”
∎ “Barking up the wrong tree.”
∎ “Bite the bullet.”
Linguist Scott Matthews offered some answers in the 2021 book “Why Do We Say That?”
During medieval times, bird hunters would beat around a bush in an effort to flush out fowls or quails.
In the early 19th century, houndsmen used trained dogs to chase game, but sometimes the canines barked up the wrong tree when their prey leaped to adjacent branches and escaped.
Before the development of anesthetics, soldiers sometimes had to bite a bullet to endure impromptu surgeries on the battlefield.
The idiom that bewilders me: “You’re pulling my leg.” How the heck did that ever come to be?
According to Matthews, it dates back to the Middle Ages when thieves worked in teams. One ruffian would grab the leg of an intended victim and trip him up while accomplices would swoop in to rob him.
I guess it’s better than “You’re pulling my finger.”
So, readers, what do you think? If there’s a favorite idiom that you’ve always wondered about, send it to mprice@thebeaconjournal.com and we’ll try to decipher it.
Keep the change
Now that the United States has stopped producing pennies, Stow resident Craig Erskine worries that we’re going to round up our vocabulary.
Common sayings will need to change to keep up with the times, so he suggests:
“A nickel for your thoughts.”
“A nickel saved is a nickel earned.”
“Find a lucky nickel, put it in your pocket.”
“Nickel loafers.”
“He’s a nickel-pinching skinflint.”
“Nickel wise, dollar foolish.”
“Nickel ante.”
“He’d steal the nickels from a dead man’s eyes.”
“He died without a nickel to his name.”
“Nickel arcade.”
“Here’s my 5 cents’ worth.”
“Looks like the cost of everything is going up — even those sayings now that there is no longer the measly old penny to kick around,” Erskine wrote. “What’s next? Signs on wishing wells saying: ‘Exact change only, please.’ ”
Worth every penny, Craig.
I mean nickel.
Just Asking
Brian McCormick suggested a topic for the Beacon Journal’s “Just Asking” feature.
“Do we know who came up with the name Rex’s Erection?” he wondered. “They deserve recognition!”
For those new to the area, that’s the colorful nickname for the unfinished landmark that the Rev. Rex Humbard built in 1971-1972 at the Cathedral of Tomorrow on State Road in what is now Cuyahoga Falls.
The Cathedral Tower was supposed to feature a 250-seat restaurant, television studio, observation deck and maintenance floor in a round, four-level structure atop a 494-foot concrete column.
The project halted when the church ran into financial difficulties. Humbard later sold the complex to Ernest Angley Ministries. Today, the giant column serves as a cellphone tower.
Until today, the phrase “Rex’s Erection” appeared only twice in the Beacon Journal. An editor added it to a 1991 article unbeknownst to a reporter, which led to a reader’s irate letter about a vulgarity appearing in print.
Come on now. Any old dictionary will tell you that “erection” is a perfectly acceptable synonym for “building” or “structure.”
Anyway, Brian, we don’t have a record of who gave the tower its infamous nickname.
“Oh, well, I guess we’ll never know,” he replied.
Maybe not. Anyone want to confess?
Mark J. Price can be reached at mprice@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hold your horses! Why do we say these things? | Mark J. Price
Reporting by Mark J. Price, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
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