Phrases, idioms, sayings, or whatever you want to call them, are commonly used by people everyday. Have you ever wondered where they came from, or what some of them actually mean? Of course you do, that's why you are here now.
The number of phrases on this website will constantly be growing, so don't panic if you can't see a certain common phrase you know of.
Note: For most old phrases, sayings, and idioms, finding the precise person or the precise date a phrase was created is next to impossible. What's provided is the earliest known date the phrase or saying was being used in.
Often enough, the phrase will come from an old newspaper, book, poem, play, etc. Think about that for a second, if the phrase or saying is already popular enough for newspapers or books to use it, then it's obvious the origin of this phrase/saying goes further back.
For instance, if someone from 1660 is being quoted using a particular phrase or saying, you can assume that the saying must be older, as it's already popular and being commonly used in 1660. How far back exactly varies from phrase to phrase.
There are some cases though where determining the origin from an exact person is possible, however these are not common.
In short, most of the origins for these phrases and sayings give you a date so you can get a rough idea on how far back these phrases were in common use.
Phrase Definition:
1. A sequence of words intended to have meaning.
2.
a. A characteristic way or mode of expression.
b. A brief, apt, and cogent expression.
3. A word or group of words read or spoken as a unit and separated by pauses or other junctures.
4. Grammar Two or more words in sequence that form a syntactic unit that is less than a complete sentence.
5. Music A short passage or segment, often consisting of four measures or forming part of a larger unit.
6. A series of dance movements forming a unit in a choreographic pattern.
Common Phrase of the Week: Greased Lightning
What Greased Lightning Means: Very fast or quick.
Where This Phrase Came From:
Lightning has been used to describe something as being fast for quite some time. It is a natural phenomnenon known throughout the world and history for its speed. Why, all you'd have to do in order to witness such a marvel is to observe a thunderstorm for a moment and wait for that white flash in the sky. Faster than a blink of an eye, lightning travels from the clouds to the ground, and vanishes shortly after. It's no mystery as to why it is used as a synonym for speed.
One of the earliest known speed-related uses for the word lightning was in 1676, by an English churchman named Thomas Comber. He wrote the phrase in A Companion to the Temple and Closet, and said:
"Now if the Attendants be bright as the Sun, quick as Lightning, and powerful as Thunder; what is He that is their Lord?"
Now comes the phrase "greased lightning." Some people believe that lightning already travels at the speed of light, so greasing the lightning up isn't going to help it go any faster. This is wrong! Lightning does not travel at the speed of light, it's actually substantially slower. The speed varies depending on the atmospheric conditions, so it is possible for the speed to be turned up a few notches. Thus the phrase "greased lightning" was born. Getting the grease onto a piece lightning is the tricky part.
One of the earliest uses of the phrase "greased lightning" was by an English newspaper, The Boston, Lincoln, Louth & Spalding Herald, on January 1833. They wrote in one of their stories:
