Debra writes: “I had cause to use the phrase ‘to vent your spleen’ the other day and I thought of you. How on earth did this come about?”
The spleen is an organ near your stomach that controls the quality of your blood.
That is how modern medicine understands it—however it was not always thus.
In the days before modern medicine, the ancients were basically guessing when they cut open a corpse and tried to work out what each organ did.
This was back in the days when the body was thought to be controlled by the four fluids called ‘humours.’
These four fluids that controlled your health and your temperament were: blood, bile, black bile, and phlegm.
These they thought (back in the days before modern medicine) had to be kept in balance—too much of one or another would mean you were unwell or behaving badly.
Back then it was wrongly believed that the spleen produced bile (it’s actually the kidneys that make urine, or yellow bile as the ancients called it).
Yellow bile was also called ‘choler’ and was believed to be the source of irritability and anger.
That’s why people who are irritable are often called ‘choleric.’
(Or used to be—is this word ever used these days? Or has this been lost in the dumbing down of the English language?)
For that reason, the spleen was assumed to be the source of rage and anger.
From this belief comes the notion of venting, or letting out, your anger—venting your spleen.
The origin of the idiom ‘to vent your spleen’ seems to date back to Hippocrates in 400 BC.
And for the reader who is often writing in, or calling in to 2GB, to claim that everything in modern English comes from Greek—well, this one did, so this should make you happy!
The latest issue of The Spectator Australia is now at newsagents -- with my 'Language' column in the back.
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* My latest book is called Pray Like This. To look at prayer I do what I do in these Ozword columns: I go through the most famous prayer in the world (The Lord’s Prayer, also known as the Our Father) and unpack it word by word—each chapter being a short word-study on a key word in that prayer. There is a total of 21 words studies in all. To find out more, here’s a link to the publisher’s website (where you can buy a copy if you wish): Pray Like This – matthiasmedia.com.au
* My book is Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries -- containing 50 new stories I have written about the great detective. You can find it on Amazon. Just go to Amazon and type in Sherlock Holmes: 5-Minute Mysteries in the search panel. Or use this link: h Amazon.com.au : Sherlock Holmes 5-Minute Mysteries Kel Richards
* My book "Defending the Gospel" is now in a second, fully revised, edition. You can find it here: Defending the Gospel – matthiasmedia.com.au
* If you're looking for my recent book "Flash Jim" you'll find it here -- Flash Jim, The astonis
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BY THE WAY...
If you'd like to see my A-Z list of Aussie slang, you'll find it here in the Australian Geographic website -- A-Z list of Aussie slang. Here’s the link: The A-Z of Aussie slang - Australian Geographic
The liveliest part of this website is usually the Q and A page -- be sure to check it out from time to time.
