Q and A - Your Questions Answered

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Q: Tiffy says she was horrified to hear about Rhys Muldoon being vile about so many people. then when she looked at his remark about Jacinta Nampajinta Price being a 'quisling' Tiffy realised that she didn't know what this meant -- "In all my 38 years" she wrote, "I have never come across this."

A: "Quisling' is an extremely offensive term. It means being a traitor to your own people. It comes from Norway in the Second World War. In 1940 the Nazis invaded Norway, and a local man, named Vidkun Quisling (an army officer and politician who had founded the Norwegian Nazi party) collaborated with the Germans and ran a puppet government under their command and control. Thus, he betrayed his own people in the worst possible way -- making his name 'quisling' the word used for such betrayal. 

Q: Kerrie wants to know what 'head over turkey' means and where it comes from?

A: 'Head over turkey' is a variation on 'head over heels.' This is an Australian coinage, invented around 1904. It can sometimes mean 'completely, hopelessly in disarray.' Gerry Wilkes thinks it might come from the fact that the stern of a boat was once called the 'tuck' -- and if you tumbled over the tuck (or 'turkey') you'd be really lost!

Q: Wendy asks for the origin of 'a slow boat to China'.

A: It's not recorded before 1947 -- so not all that old. It originally referred to doing something slowly, over time. It seems to have begun among poker players to say that there was plenty of time to win money out of a player. It was popularized in 1948 by Frank Loesser with his song 'Slow Boat to China': "I'd love to get you on a slow boat to China, All to myself, alone."

Q: Rhon asks for the origin of 'I'll have you guts for garters.'

A: It began during the reign of the Tudors on the English throne. It was really a threat to have you 'hanged, drawn and quartered' a particularly cruel form of the death penalty that involved disemboweling the unfortunate victim -- leaving the intestines exposed. Garters were worn by men during the Tudor period as a way of holding up their stockings, a.k.a. hose.   The punishment of hanged, drawn and quartered remained on the statue book in England until as late as 1790. However, even then, this threat wasn’t meant to be taken literally -- just as a very strong expression of a conditional revenge. 

Q: Jan asks where the word 'savvy' (meaning common sense) comes from.

A: It does mean practical knowledge, shrewdness or common sense. It's recorded in English from around 1785. It came from French word 'savoir' and in 'savoir faire' -- 'savoir' in French originally meant knowledge, and 'savoir faire' knowing the correct way to respond in a situation.  'Savvy' is also related to the older French word 'savant' meaning scholar. So, that group of French words gave us this notion of being 'savvy.'

Q:  From John: 'Hi Kel, where did " gung-ho " come from?

A: 'Gung ho' originally meant 'eager for battle' but these days is used more broadly to just mean eager and ready to go. It comes from a Chinese expression that named the Industrial Workers' Cooperatives set up during the second China-Japan war to support the war effort. The Chinese phrase literally means something like 'working together.'  Gung ho was adopted as an English slogan in the Second World War by a battalion of U.S. Marines under General Evan Carlson (1896–1947); it was subsequently popularized in the title of a Hollywood war movie about the exploits of the battalion in 1943. The movie put the expression into wider circulation. 

Q: Angela writes: 'Hi Kel, what is the origin of the phrase "sleep like a top"?'

A: 'Sleep like a top' means very sound, deep, still sleep. It's recorded in English from 1621. According to the Oxford the expression refers to the apparent stillness of a top when it is spinning very fast. So, our hearts and lungs (and all our other organs) are working away to keep us alive, they are 'spinning' as it were, but we are still in the midst of all that spinning -- just like a top at top speed.

Q:  Aileen writes: “Listening to 6PR and the Queen of Clean on Sunday, plaster of Paris was mentioned. It just made me wonder how plaster of Paris got its name?”

A:  The white powder we call ‘plaster of Paris’ is actually gypsum. And because of its usefulness large deposits of gypsum have been mined for many centuries. And gypsum deposits are especially abundant in the Paris basin, especially around Mon Montmartre. The expression is recorded in English from at least the 1500s. 

Q: Chris asks about the expression 'in the offing.'

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A:  This began life as a nautical expression. It's recorded from about the year 1600 with the meaning of 'The part of the visible sea at a distance from the shore beyond anchorages or inshore navigational dangers.' So, the horizon is well away from us -- it is off in the distance, and that makes it 'in the offing.' Interestingly, in modern usage this has slightly changed, and we are inclined to say that something is 'in the offing' if it is not near, but it is approaching. 

Q: Dee says she would love to know the history of 'duckshove'.

A:   It was coined in Australia -- by competitive cab drivers trying to get to the front of the rank. It's first recorded in The Age in 1859. It may come from the observed behaviour of ducks bumping into one another as they waddle over the land toward water.  

Q: Pim asks: 'Why do we say (and where does it come from) -- "When Push Comes to Shove"?

A: It means when things get really tough -- when pushing won't get you there, when you have to shove really hard. It's American, recorded from 1889 -- and it always meant a call to firm and decisive action. The earliest version was 'IF push comes to shove' which appeared in (of all places!) a women's magazine The Home Circle in February of 1889 in a story about how a farm girl found success in the big city.

Q: Michelle asks: 'Where does the term "Nth Degree" derive from please?'

A: From mathematics. Since 1756 N has been used to indicate an unspecified number. It's usually employed to suggest a large number. If you square a number this is shown by the number to the power of 2; if you cube the number that is to the power of 3; if it is multiplied to a very high but unspecified level this is to the power of N -- hence to the Nth degree.

Q: Graham writes: 'A wonderful old word, increasingly applied to me, is curmudgeon. Origin?

A: Originally, it meant a mean or miserly person, but these days it means any crusty old bloke.  It goes as far back as 1587. The suggestion is that the first version of the word was 'cornmudgin -- meaning someone who hoarded corn and refused to share with others. 

Q: Sue says that given the push to shut down so-called 'misinformation' on climate she would like our views on this word.

A: 'Misinformation' just means 'wrong.' It goes all the way back to 1587 with the meaning it still has today of 'wrong or misleading information.' However, my observation is that the people who use this are avoiding debate over facts -- over what is factually right or wrong. If you say that something is 'wrong' you are expected to produce evidence or arguments to support your claim. But if you simply classify it as 'misinformation' then you just shut it down without further discussion. So, it is being used as a censorship word.

Q: David asks about the expression 'taken with a grain of salt.'

A:   This means accepting something only with reservations--being sceptical. This is very old and is said to go back to Pliny the Elder in his book of Natural History--in which he referred to an old recipe which it was claimed would make you immune to poison. The last ingredient in that recipe was "a grain of salt." So, the idea was you could be immune to the poison of misleading claims if you took them with 'a grain of salt.' In British English it's usually a pinch of salt, in American English a grain of salt--which is historically more accurate, since that's how Pliny phrased it. 

Q: Linda and Glenn have asked me to look at the word "mythomania" which they say correctly labels the current Albanese Labor government.

A:   Mythomania is a psychological condition characterized by a compulsive, abnormal, and uncontrollable urge to lie, exaggerate, and fabricate elaborate stories. The term 'mythomania' was coined by a French doctor Ernest-Charles Laseque in the 20th century. It first appears in dictionaries in 1909. The concept was further developed by his colleague Dr Valetin Magnan, a psychiatrist, who viewed it as a form of moral degeneracy or temperamental instability. In America, it seems that 'mythomania' is not normally used. There they seem to prefer a diagnosis of 'pathological lying'. Does that fit any members of the current federal government? You may very well think that -- I couldn't possibly comment.

Q:   Bruce says he likes the song “Heard it on the Grapevine” but where does the expression come from?

A: I thought it might come from the similarity of vines to telegraph or telephone wires. But it turns out to be too early for that. It is first recorded in an American newspaper (in Baton Rouge Louisianan) in 1855.  And it already meant 'an unofficial or informal means of transmitting information or news rapidly and discreetly'. From the date and the meaning, I suspect it started among those running escape routes for runaway slaves from the South to reach safety in the north. Bear in mind the American Civil War began in 1861--just six years after this was first recorded. It probably comes from the way that grapes cluster together, and the same vine feeds many grapes with nourishment. 

Q: Susie says that in the trial of Lindsay Clancy she kept hearing about the lone juror who would 'stick to his guns' no matter what. She asks where does 'stick to your guns' come from?

A: It comes from the army, from the world of the artillery. The original form of the expression was 'stand to your guns' and over the years this became 'stick to your guns' -- in both versions it meant the same thing: maintain your position in the heat of battle, do not retreat.

Q: Graeme writes: 'I am amused by the use of the word "pant" by the fashion industry, eg a pant with a Mediterranean influence. Was there ever a word "pant" that had anything but breathing in its meaning?  I couldn't find one.'

A: All the 'pant(s)' words seem to come from 'Pantaloon' -- a character in the old Italian Commedia dell'arte. From the character the word 'pantaloon' was applied to men's loose breeches extending below the knee. This was shortened and applied to what we call men's 'pants' today. This word was always in the plural because 'pants' have two legs--and are often called 'a pair of pants.' However, in the 1800s it was possible to refer to one trouser leg as a 'pant' (singular). And there is some evidence that American English has started to use the singular form of the word -- although why they would do such a bizarre thing is beyond me.

Q: From Ray: 'Hi Kel, why do people claim to be on "tenterhooks". Where does that come from please?'

A:   'Tenterhooks' were hooks (sometimes bent nails or spikes) on which fabric was stretched to dry and cure. This often happened in the open air -- hence the New South Wales town of Tenterfield. If you feel stretched and taut then you are (metaphorically) 'on tenterhooks.' Hence, also, canvas structures held in place by hooks or spikes are called 'tents.'  

Q: Hans asks for the origin of 'cold shoulder.'

A:  One suggestion is that it is serving 'cold shoulder' instead of fresh, hot roast beef (or lamb or pork) to unwanted guests. Or it might just mean turning your shoulder coldly towards those you shun. Either explanation is possible. But when it's first recorded in 1816 the full expression was 'to show the cold shoulder' meaning 'to appear cold and reserved' -- so it probably always had a figurative meaning, and the suggestion about cold rather than hot meat is a later invention.

Q: Aileen says that long before the Bond movie of that name the “living daylights’ could be bashed out of you – so where is this from? 

A: According to the Oxford ‘daylights’ has been slang for the eyes since at least 1747. And to give some black eyes was to ‘darken their daylights’ since at least 1752 (when the expression appears in one of Henry Fielding’s novels). In the 1800s they had expressions such as ‘knocking the daylights’ out of someone. In the late 1800s this was expanded into ‘the living daylights’ (using ‘living’ as an intensifier). So, if someone is so enraged as to bash your eyes out—they will ‘bash the living daylights’ out of you.

Q: Gai writes: ' We look forward to your segment each week with Peta Credlin, not sure if you have had this query before, I was wondering where the saying "food for thought" originated from?'

A: It means 'Something warranting discussion or consideration or serving as a creative stimulus.' And as such it seems to have been coined by a poet (and it's the job of poets to be clever and original with language). It seems to have coined by Robert Southey in 1825. But he may have been drawing on a similar expression coined by the poet Robert Herrick in 1648 when he referred to 'the food of poets'. Mind you, Herrick was referring not to 'thought' but to kisses as 'the foot of poets.'

Q: Roger wants to know the origin of the expression "for crying out loud."

A: It's usually uttered as a cry of exasperation. It began life as a softened blaspheme (of which there are many in the English language). This one softened the phrase 'for Christ's sake' into another expression with similar sounds and rhythm. It was coined by popular cartoonist Thomas Aloysius Dorgan (who signed his cartoons as 'TAD') in New York in the early years of the 20th century. He is said to have coined a number of expressions, including 'hot dog.'

Q: Alison asks where the expression "within a bull's roar" comes from.

A: This is ours--an Australian coinage, first recorded in an Adelaide newspaper called The Chronicle in 1936. It means 'close' or 'near' -- but it's usually used in the negative, as in 'not within a bull's roar' meaning nowhere near, not even close. There is no suggestion from the experts as to where it comes from, so I can only assume that a bull's bellow is not loud enough sound to carry very far. And when I've been in farms, I seem to remember that bulls were not especially loud -- more like a grumbling snort than a trumpet blast.

Q: Christopher writes: 'The word "Pretty" appears in the dictionary as "appealing pleasing, charming, delicate etc." Why then, is it so often used in a negative way in phrases such as -- it's a pretty bad storm; this is a pretty bad road; I have a pretty bad cold -- and so on. Does this make sense?' 

A: 'Pretty' has been used as a qualifying adjective or adverb since 1565 meaning 'to a considerable extent.' It's meaning seems to vary from 'a slight degree' to 'a moderately high degree.'  The reason why the existing word 'pretty' was chosen to use this way is unclear. The older meaning of 'attractive' goes back to the days of Old English. But back in those days 'pretty' had a wider range of meanings -- it could imply being 'clever, or crafty, or ingenious.' And it was probably those wider, older, meanings of 'pretty' that opened the door for it to be used as a general adjective or adverb of intensity. 

Q: Gordon raises the issue of why someone drinking alone is said to be a "Jimmy Woodser" (or, sometimes, a "Jimmy Wood").

A: The name comes from "Jimmy Wood" a character in a bush ballad of that name by Barcoft Boak (published in 1892 in The Bulletin). The poem talks about anyone who drinks alone is drinking a toast to "Jimmy Wood." But Boake may have been using an earlier expression that had been around for a while. In which case, there is no record of the original solitary drinker who became immortalised in this way.

Q: Jenny raises the question of taking something "with a grain of salt."

A: This means accepting something only with reservations--being sceptical. This is very old and is said to go back to Pliny the Elder in his book of Natural History--in which he referred to an old recipe which it was claimed would make you immune to poison. The last ingredient in that recipe was "a grain of salt." So, the idea was you could be immune to the poison of misleading claims if you took them with 'a grain of salt.' In British English it's usually a pinch of salt, in American English a grain of salt--which is historically more accurate, since that's how Pliny phrased it. 

Q: Jeffrey writes to suggest a new definition of an old word. He says: "Socialism is just communism holding a puppy."

A:   A clever image! I might use it sometime! (With Jeffery's permission.) 

Q: Harry asks for the origin of 'stirring the possum.'

A: Stirring (or rousing) the possum is recorded from 1888 with the meaning of 'to excite interest or controversy; to liven things up.' It first appeared in the Town and Country Journal in June of 1888. The suggestion is that this was a deliberate play on, and reversal of, the earlier expression 'playing possum' -- which came from the observed behaviour of possums who (when they know they are observed) will freeze completely still (total immobility) in the hope that they will not be noticed. 'Playing possum' is keeping your head down and hoping to be unobserved. 'Stirring the possum' is the intentional reversal of this idea.

Q: Phil asks for the originally meaning of the word 'litany' -- which Peta (and most other commentators) use to mean a list of some kind, as in 'a litany of errors.'

A: Strictly speaking, this type of figurative use of 'litany' means 'a repetition of...' The word itself goes back to the ancient Greek word for prayer. In the Book of Common Prayer there was the 'liturgy' (most of it) in which the congregation responded to spoken prayers in a variety of ways. However, in the part called the 'litany' the congregation spoke exactly the same words in response to each part of the spoken prayer. So, anything with that kind of constant repetition is metaphorically called 'a litany.'

Q: Suzanne writes: ' Kel...can you please give some insight as to where the phase "dance the light fantastic" originated?' 

A: It's most often recorded as 'trip the light fantastic' meaning to dance nimbly or gracefully. It's the notion of being light on one's feet--gliding lightly as Fred Astrair and Ginger Rogers--rather than have 'heavy' feet that clump awkwardly. It was coined by poet John Milton. He used it in two of his poems, first in 1637 and then again in 1645. In Milton's day the word 'trip' meant to be nimble.  

Q: Suzie writes, 'I know that being on "cloud nine" means being in a blissful state, but where did it come from?'

A: It's certainly American, from the late 1940s or early 50s. It most likely comes from the US Weather Bureau. This organisation once described clouds by a number sequence. Level nine was the highest cumulonimbus, which can reach 30,000 or 40,000 feet and appear as impressive white mountains in the sky. The US Weather Bureau still reports cloud levels with numbers, but these days the highest is level ten. But despite this, our familiar idiom has remained unchanged. These days they say the highest clouds (cloud ten) are cirrus clouds in the form of white, delicate filaments, mostly in patches or narrow bands. They also use numbers for the amount of cloud cover--from zero for no cloud to eight for total cloud cover. But it was the US Weather Bureau with its clouds allocated numbers that seems to have given us 'cloud nine.'

Q: Belinda writes: 'Where does “beyond the pale” come from?'

A: It means: 'outside or beyond the bounds, outside the limits of acceptable behaviour; unacceptable or improper.' The word 'pale' originally meant a fence or barrier made from pointed stakes of wood driven into the ground. 'Pale' comes from an Anglo-Norman French word meaning 'stake.' Our word 'pole' comes from the same source. And the notion of this kind of wooden fence is the source of our 'paling fence.' From this the expression 'The Pale' came to mean a demarcation or limit around a Medieval city--outside of which the laws of the city did not prevail. One of the most famous was the Irish Pale -- an area of several counties centred on Dublin (mentioned from 1446). But it was not the only one. From these 'boundaries to civilisation' it came to be used in the figurative sense in which we use it today.

Q: John asks for the origin of 'hullaballoo.'

A: It's recorded from 1762 with the meaning of 'Tumultuous noise or uproar.' It's a word that seems to have begun in Scot and Northern English dialects. The experts say it's a rhyming reduplication of the shouted salute 'hulloo.' But there is another suggestion which is quite interesting. The claim has been made that it was originally a French wolf-hunting cry -- because the French cry of 'bas le loup' means 'down with the wolf.' Well, it's possible I suppose.

Q: Aileen asks for the origin of 'fumble' which (she says) she hears football commentators using all the time.

A: The verb 'to fumble' goes back to at least 1450. It seems to belong to a family of old Germanic words, all resembling each other, and all meaning 'clumsy, awkward, inept.' In very early English the vowel sometimes changed (to 'fimble' or 'famble'). And this makes me wonder if the word might not have been born as what linguists call a 'vocal gesture' -- that is, a collection of sounds that suggest, just by their sound alone, what they name.

Q: Dorothy wrote about the use of 'they' as a singular pronoun, saying that even if it was so used in the 1300s, English has now developed to only using it as a plural.

A:  I think there are acceptable ways to use 'they' as a singular that are reasonable, even today. E.g. "If someone wins the lottery they should..." not knowing what individual is meant by the subject of the sentence makes the 'they' in this case acceptable to most ears.  

Q: On the subject of the indefinite article ("a" or "an") Stuart writes: 'The Exhortation in the Morning Prayer Service of Anglican 1662 Book of Common Prayer contains the direction that we should confess (our sins) with an humble, lowly, penitent and obedient heart…… '

A:  Back in those days 'humble' was pronounced without the H (as 'umble'). In a similar way British toffs at one time said 'hotel' without the H (as 'otel'). Odd, but there you are. 

Q: Chris writes that when he was a schoolboy, he used to buy food at the 'tuck-shop; and wants to know how food came to be called "tuck"? 

A: The compound noun 'tuck-shop' is recorded from 1857, and a related Aussie slang word for food 'tucker' is recorded from 1833. Both seem to come from the ancient verb 'to tuck' which meant to insert one thing into another. Which is what we do with food--we insert it, or tuck it, into ourselves. 'Tuck-shop' was used in English schools, but the word 'tucker' it is distinctly ours--it is an Australian coinage. 

Q: Barry asks why Australians (usually older Australians) call petrol pumps 'bowsers.'

A: The word comes from the American man who invented the very early type of petrol pump -- Sylvanus Bowser of Fort Wayne. Indiana. His pump was launched onto the market in 1905. The first petrol pumps used in Australia were marked 'S. F. Bowser and Company.' Hence, the name. 

Q: Win writes: 'Wondering where the phrase "a brass razoo" came from.'

A: From the First World War. It was soldier's slang for an imaginary coin of very small value. It's first recorded in 1919, just after the end of the war. It seems to come from a time when the diggers were fighting in France, so the name of this fictious coin is probably a jocular variation on 'sou' -- the smallest French coin in circulation.

Q: Brian writes about my piece on the word 'grenade' and now wants to know the source of 'shrapnel.'

A: It comes from Major General Henry Shrapnel (1761–1842), a British army officer, who invented the fragmenting bomb. 

Q: Roy writes: 'Some of us have trouble with the words, "secular" and "non-secular" as they appear to be contradictory. The word " secular" to us seems to indicate a singular group or gathering -- please help. P.S. We make a special effort to view your segment with Peta on Wednesday evening.'

A:  'Secular' came into English from Latin via French in the 13th century. Its source meaning is 'the world' -- so, anything which is 'secular' is mundane, ordinary, commonplace related to the world around us. In that sense, governments are secular because they deal with the everyday world. And everyone lives in the secular (or mundane) world. So, it's not a singular group--it's everyone! But some of those people in addition have another level to their lives. Everyone is 'secular'--seeing the world as physical, material and natural, but some people while embracing and working in the secular see the world has having another dimension: beyond physical to metaphysical, beyond material to spiritual, beyond natural to supernatural. 

Q:  Graeme writes: "I enjoy watching you and Peta Cradling Can you tell me where the term ‘Buckley Chance ‘came from."

A:   This means no chance at all; a snowball’s chance in hell: “You’ve got two chances, mate – yours and Buckley’s!” (meaning: “Give up – you haven’t got a chance”) There are various suggestions as to the source of the expression Buckley’s chance – including the notion that it came from one William Buckley (1780-1856) who lived for 32 years with Aborigines in southern Victoria. However, here is the true story behind the phrase: In 1851, a certain Mr Mars Buckley, in partnership with one Crumpton Nunn, set up a store in a small shack in Melbourne. The business of Buckley and Nunn flourished. Then in 1893 a depression hit Melbourne and there was a run on the banks. Wily old Mars Buckley accompanied by four assistants carrying four leather suitcases, pushed through the crowds around the bank (who were demanding their money) and withdrew 10,000 gold sovereigns which he then locked away in a safe in his shop – leaving no chance that the bank might fritter away his fortune among other anxious depositors. Three years later, in 1895, the expression Buckley’s chance first appeared in print, leading to the expression that you have two chances: Buckley’s or none – both a play on the name of the shop, and a reference to Mars Buckley being the only winner on the day he withdrew all the cash from the bank. When first coined the expression must have meant that to have Buckley’s chance was to have a good chance. But the meaning appears to have rapidly reversed to the bleak moan we know we know it to be today.

Q: Alan asks about these old sayings: (1) 'Flat out like a lizard drinking'; (2) 'You're juggling with tombstones'; (3) 'Of they had a brain they'd be dangerous'; and (4) 'As crook as Rookwood.'

A: (1) Lizards lie flat when drinking, but 'flat out' actually means 'very busy'. So, a jocular play on words. (2) A playful way of talking about managing many tasks or challenges at once; (3) wears its meaning on its sleeve--a way of saying someone is stupid, has no brain'; and (4) Rhyming slang from Rookwood cemetery in Sydney.

Q: John writes: 'Peta Credlin described multiculturalism as " a hotchpotch of mixed cultures " Where did the word hotchpotch come from? '

A: The word goes back to the early 1400s and seems to have originally meant a dish containing many ingredients. An early version of the word was 'hotch-pot' which captures that idea. So, it might have originally meant anything from a 'throw-everything-together' stew to bubble and squeak. And it was from this origin that 'hotch-potch' broadened its meaning to describe anything that was a mixture or jumble of things. 

Q: David asks for the origin of 'tongue-in-cheek.'

A: Putting one's tongue in one's cheek was once a physical gesture of contempt. But the modern use -- referring not to a physical gesture, but to speaking jokingly -- quite possibly goes back only as far at the 1930s (although some experts dispute that and say it's older). I suppose the shift happened because the kind of joke that a 'tongue-in-cheek' expression labels is usually a cheeky joke. 

Q: Adam asks for the origin of 'make ends meet'.

A: This comes from double entry bookkeeping. To be in a financially sound position the ends (the bottom lines) of both the expenditure and income columns should 'meet' (should hit the same number). This is recorded from the 1600s, although double entry bookkeeping goes all the way back to the 13th century.

Q: Rodney asks: 'Can you tell me the origin of the saying 'stuffed shirt'?'

A: Clothing has been used to establish social rank for many, many years (although probably less so these days than in yesteryear). Someone who tried to establish their social status by wearing starched shirts in an overly formal or elaborate way was called a 'stuffed shirt' -- they were attempting to appear more important than they actually were. The expression first turned up in America and is recorded from 1913. 

Q: Warren writes: 'Just had an email from a dear friend who used the term "higgledy-piggledy". Any clues as to the origin of this?'

A:   This goes all the way back to 1598, with the meaning that it still has today: 'without any order or organisation.' The Oxford says it is a rhyming compound of obscure origin. They go on to call it a 'vocal gesture' in which the sound conveys the meaning. It may have been born from the notion that pigs are disorganised, disorderly animals 

Q: John wants to know about the expression 'best thing since sliced bread.'

A:  This is an American phrase, coined in the 1920s. The world's first sliced bread was sold by the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri on July 7, 1922 -- made possible by the invention of a new bread slicing machine. By 1933 80% of the bread sold in America was sliced. This was such a useful, labour-saving invention, it came to be regarded as a great breakthrough for ordinary households. By the 1930s this phrase was firmly embedded in American English as the way to label any new invention, product or idea. (The great unanswered question is: what was the best thing BEFORE sliced bread?) 

Q: Ian asks, 'what is the derivation of phrase "strange (or different) kettle of fish"?

A: It is a Scottish expression from the early 1700s -- when the word 'kettle' meant any cooking implement (not just what we mean by 'kettle').  It was used, especially on the River Tweed, to mean any fish (but especially salmon) caught and eaten on a picnic or boating excursion. Fairly quickly it was picked up and used figuratively to mean 'a completely different situation or state of affairs.' It was used in this metaphorical way by early novelists such as Samuel Richardson and Henry Fielding. Why they chose to make this figurative use of a Scottish picnic expression is unclear.

Q:  Dennis writes: I was watching Peta Credlin tonight and she referred to a million-dollar dinner hosted by the PM as a "shindig." What does the word "shindig" really mean, where does it come from and how did it come about? 

A: 'Shindig' is an American expression, recorded from around 1850. It originally meant a country dance -- hence an activity in which the participants 'shins' (their legs) were moving vigorously, 'digging' (metaphorically) into the air and into the floorboards of the barn where the country dance was held. Over time the meaning broadened out to cover any fancy celebration. 

Q: Darryl asks: 'What do people mean when they say, 'I was beside myself.' Does this mean that they believe they are having an out of body experience?

A:  It first turns up in Caxton's translation of Virgil (in 1490) where the text describes Dido's distress at the departure of Aeneas. Caxton was translating the French phrase hors de soi, outside oneself. He used beside because for him the word could mean outside of or away from. The idea was that powerful emotion had led Dido’s mind to escape her control. Her mind had got away from her and she wasn’t herself.

Q: John asks: 'What is the origin of the term "wild goose chase"?'

A: It seems that around 1600 there was a kind of horse race in which the second and following horses had to follow the (usually erratic) course of the leader at set intervals -- like the flight of wild geese. The rider of the leading horse could (apparently) make it almost impossible for the field to catch up. So, over time, 'wild goose chase' came to mean any impossible or pointless pursuit.  

Q: Mark writes: 'Kel, I enjoy your “Words Matter” segment with Peta Credlin and would like to suggest “chatbomb” for a future discussion.'

A: It's a very new expression, recorded from 2016. 'Chatbomb' means a statement that creates instant chaos in online chatrooms. It seems rather specialised to me, and I suspect that it may not catch on widely -- although that just might be me, the old fogey, being sceptical.