Our language is littered with these weird little idioms that we’ve picked up from our parents or heard down the pub, and we just repeat them because everyone else does.
Most of the time, the original meaning is something completely different from how we use it today. Whether it’s a seafaring term that’s somehow migrated to the office or a bit of Victorian trade slang that’s survived long after its context died out, we’re basically walking around speaking in code. It’s a bit of a laugh when you finally look under the hood and see just how much nonsense we’re actually talking on a daily basis.
1. “The proof is in the pudding”
People use this to say that the end result of something will show whether it was a success. But the original phrase is actually the proof of the pudding is in the eating. It’s a subtle difference, but the old version makes a lot more sense. It isn’t that the proof is just sitting there inside the dessert; it’s that you can’t know if the thing is any good until you’ve actually sat down and tried it.
2. “Spick and span”
When we say a room is spick and span, we just mean it’s incredibly clean. Back in the 1600s, a spick was a large nail or spike, and a span was a fresh wood chip. So, saying something was spick and span new meant it was as fresh as a newly forged nail and a freshly cut piece of wood. It’s basically a very old way of saying something has that new car smell.
3. “To turn a blind eye”
Most people know this one refers to deliberately ignoring something you know is happening. It supposedly comes from Admiral Nelson during the Battle of Copenhagen. When he was signalled to withdraw, he held his telescope up to his blind eye and claimed he couldn’t see the flags. It’s a great story about being stubborn and slightly cheeky, but now we just use it when we’re pretending we haven’t seen someone nip into the car park space we wanted.
4. “Damp squib”
This often gets mispronounced as a damp squid, which makes no sense at all unless you’re talking about an animal that’s already underwater. A squib was a small 16th-century firework. If the gunpowder got wet, the firework would just sizzle and fail to go off. So, a damp squib is something that was supposed to be exciting but ended up being a total letdown.
5. “Chock-a-block”
We use this to describe a place that’s absolutely crammed with people or cars. It’s another seafaring term, referring to when two blocks of a tackle are pulled so close together that they’re touching and can’t be moved any further. Once you hit that point, you’re stuck, which is exactly how it feels when you’re trying to get through a city centre on a Saturday afternoon.
6. “To go the whole hog”
When you decide to go all in on something, you’re going the whole hog. While there are a few theories, the most common one is that it refers to an old slang term for a shilling. If you were going to spend the whole thing at once rather than being stingy, you were going the whole hog. It’s a phrase about commitment, even if that commitment is just buying the extra large portion of chips.
7. “Talk shop”
Source: Unsplash We use this whenever we find ourselves gossiping about work while we’re supposed to be relaxing at the pub or having dinner. It’s a very literal phrase that dates back to the 1800s, when shopkeepers and tradespeople literally lived above their businesses. Because their work and their home life were so physically close, they’d often find themselves discussing invoices or stock while sitting in their living rooms. It’s a habit we haven’t managed to shake 200 years later, even if our “shop” is now just a laptop on the kitchen table.
8. “Posh”
Source: Unsplash There’s a popular story that this stands for Port Out, Starboard Home—referring to the best cabins on ships sailing to India. While that’s almost certainly a myth, the word actually started appearing in the late 1800s as slang for a dandy or a swell. It’s a perfect example of how we can use a word for a century without ever really agreeing on where it came from in the first place.
9. “Barking up the wrong tree”
Source: Unsplash We use this when someone is following a completely mistaken line of thought or accusing the wrong person. It’s a very literal image from 19th-century hunting. If a dog thought it had chased a squirrel up a tree, it would sit at the bottom and make a massive racket, completely unaware that the squirrel had actually jumped to the next branch minutes ago. It’s a perfect way to describe that feeling of being incredibly confident while being totally, embarrassingly wrong.
10. “To cost an arm and a leg”
Source: Unsplash When we say something is far too expensive, we claim it’ll cost us a couple of limbs. While some people think this is about painters charging more for portraits that included arms and legs, it’s more likely a simple exaggeration of the price of war. In the 19th century, lose an arm or a leg was a common way of describing the ultimate cost of a conflict. We’ve taken a very heavy concept and turned it into a way to complain about the price of a fancy coffee.
11. “Saved by the bell”
Source: Unsplash This is one of those phrases where the popular legend is much more interesting than the truth. People love to say it comes from bells being attached to coffins in case someone was buried alive, but that’s almost certainly nonsense. It actually comes from the world of boxing. If a fighter was about to lose a round or get knocked out, the ringing of the bell to end the round would literally save them from defeat. It’s a much more grounded way of describing a last-minute escape.
12. “Cold shoulder”
Source: Unsplash If you’re ignoring someone, you’re giving them the cold shoulder. The story goes that in medieval times, if a guest had overstayed their welcome, the host would serve them a cold shoulder of mutton instead of a hot meal to signal it was time to leave. It’s a very polite, very British way of being incredibly rude, and it’s a habit we’ve clearly held onto, even if we’ve swapped the mutton for a pointedly short text message.
13. “To let the cat out of the bag”
Source: Unsplash Everyone knows this means to reveal a secret, usually by accident. It likely comes from old markets where people would try to sell a pig in a poke (a bag). If the seller was a bit of a trickster, they might put a cat in the bag instead, as it was much cheaper. If the buyer was smart enough to open the bag before paying, the cat would jump out, the trick would be revealed, and the secret would be out for everyone to see.
14. “Under the weather”
Source: Unsplash When we’re feeling a bit peaky or just not 100%, we say we’re under the weather. This is another one that started at sea. In heavy storms, if a sailor was feeling seasick, they’d be sent below deck to the part of the ship most protected from the wind and the rain—literally under the weather. It’s a nice reminder that even when we’re just sitting on the sofa with a cold, we’re using the language of 18th-century mariners.
15. “At the end of your tether”
Source: Unsplash We use this when we’ve run out of patience and can’t take any more. It refers to a grazing animal, like a goat or a cow, that’s tied to a stake by a rope or a tether. Once the animal has eaten all the grass within that circle, it’s reached the end of its tether and can’t go any further without starving. It’s a very vivid way of saying you’ve been pushed as far as you can go, and you’ve got nothing left to give.
