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recent figures of speech - origins sought

Can you help find the earliest origins or precise sources of some relatively recent expressions and figures of speech? Here are a few interesting sayings for which for which fully satisfying origins seem not to exist, or existing explanations invite expansion and more detail.

• all over him like a cheap suit - see explanation of meaning and versions of the cheap suit expression - do you have early examples or recollections of use?
• hair of the dog.. fur of the cur - do you know this adaptation and extension of the hair of the dog expression?
• the whole box and die - do you use this expression? If so for what situations and purpose? Let me know . And see possible meanings and origins below , which need clarifying.
• wrap my brain around it - recollections or usage pre-1970s?
• liar liar pants on fire (your nose is a long as a telephone wire - and other variations) - recollections or usage pre-1950s? (The earliest recollection of 'liar liar pants on fire' that I have been informed of dates back to the 1930s, from a lady born in 1925, UK. See the liar liar entry for additional clues.)
• black market - seems to have first appeared in English c.1930 (see black market entry below) - the expression has direct literal equivalents in German, French, Italian and Spanish - does anyone know which came first?
• wally - pickled cucumber/gherkin and term for a twit - see wally entry below - anyone got anything to add to this? Is there a long-forgotten/lost rhyming slang connecting wally with gherkin (perkins?). Any other suggestions?
• sod this for a game of soldiers - clues are sparse - see the game of soldiers entry below and the ST FAGOS acronym - if you know any more please share it.
• break a leg - the John Wilkes Booth break a leg theory looks the strongest to me, but there are others, and particularly there's an international perspective which could do with exploring. Are you aware of similar ironic expressions meaning 'good luck' in other languages?
• you go girl - much used on daytime debate and confrontation shows, what's the there earliest source of ' you go girl '? - the 1992-97 'Martin' TV Show starring Martin Lawrence? Shakespeare? A 1957 Katherine Hepburn movie? Confirmation/suggestions/examples of early usage wanted please.
• doughnut/donut - we (probably) know the doughnut word origins , but doughnut meaning £75? - any details about this money meaning appreciated. Let me know .
• no dice - not a chance - see the no dice entry below.

If you have early recollections of use (when and when) or suggestions of precise origins or authors of any of the above expressions please let me know , and I'll publish the findings on this page in the main listing. Let me know also if you want any mysterious expressions adding to the list for which no published origins seem to exist.

acid test - an absolute, demanding, or ultimate challenge or measure of quality or capability - deriving from very old times - several hundreds of years ago - when nitric acid was used to determine the purity or presence of gold, especially when gold was currency before coinage. Gold does not dissolve in nitric acid, whereas less costly silver and base metals do. The use of nitric acid also featured strongly in alchemy, the ancient 'science' of (attempting) converting base metals into gold.

above board - honest - Partridge's Dictionary of Slang says above board is from card-playing for money - specifically keeping hands visible above the table (board was the word for table, hence boardroom), not below, where they could be engaged in cheating. This would naturally have extended as a metaphor to the notion (favoured by 1870 Brewer) of a conjuror preparing a trick with hands above the 'board' (table), rather than below it, where the trickery could be concealed, 'under-hand' (see also underhand ).

across the board - all or everything, or a total and complete achievement - this is apparently derived from American racetracks and relates to the boards on which odds of horses were shown (and still are to an extent, albeit in a more technically modern way). An 'across the board' bet was one which backed a horse to win or be placed in the first three, or as Wentworth and Flexnor's Dictionary of American Slang suggests, across the board meant a bet in which "...the same amount of money is wagered on the horse to win, place or show..." The same dictionary suggests the metaphor is specifically derived from the 'totalizer board' which shows the odds at horse racing tracks. Additionally it has been suggested to me that a similar racetrack expression, 'across the boards' refers to the tendency for odds available for any given horse to settle at the same price among all bookmakers (each having their own board), seemingly due to the laying off effect, whereby the odds would be the same 'across the boards'. I can neither agree nor disagree with this, nor find any certain source or logic for this to be a more reliable explanation of the metaphorical expression, and so I add it here for what it is worth if you happen to be considering this particular expression in special detail.

sweep the board - win everything - see entry under 'sweep'.

wouldn't/didn't/don't know him from adam/adam's brother/adam's off ox, etc - a man completely unknown (to whoever is using the term) - the expression of not knowing him/you from Adam, (or as used in the USA from 'Adam's off ox', together with other Adam associations) has according to etymology sources (notably M Quinion's Worldwidewords resource) been in print in its basic 'Adam' sense since the late 1800s in England, and in spoken use for many years prior to this in England and the USA; in fact the reference to one of the most famous characters of the Bible suggests that the origin of the expression could be hundreds of years earlier than when first used in print. The basis of the meaning is that Adam, being the first man ever, and therefore the farthest removed from anyone, symbolises a man that anyone is least likely to know. Out of interest, an 'off ox' would have been the beast pulling the cart on the side farthest from the driver, and therefore less known than the 'near ox'. This extension to the expression was American (Worldwidewords references the dictionary of American Regional English as the source of a number of such USA regional variations); the 'off ox' and other extensions such as Adam's brother or Adam's foot, are simply designed to exaggerate the distance of the acquaintance.

alligator - the reptile - the word has Spanish origins dating back at least 500 years, whose language first described the beast in the USA and particularly the Mid-Americas, such as to give the root of the modern English word. Alligators were apparently originally called El Lagarto de Indias (The Lizard of the Indies), 'el lagarto', logically meaning 'the lizard'. Initially the word entered English as lagarto in the mid-1500s, after which it developed into aligarto towards the late 1500s, and then was effectively revised to allegater by Shakespeare when he used the word in Romeo and Juliet, in 1623. It seems (ack S Burgos) that the modern Spanish word (and notably in Castellano) for lizard is lagartija, and lagarto now means alligator.

all-singing all-dancing - full of features/gimmicks - the term was first used in advertising for the 1929 musical film, the first with sound, Broadway Melody.

smart alec/smart aleck/smart alick - someone who is very or 'too' clever (esp. in a cocky manner) According to etymologist David Wilton the most likely origin was suggested by Gerald Cohen in a 1985 article which appeared in the publication Studies In Slang. Cohen suggests the origin dates back to 1840s New York City fraudster Aleck Hoag, who, with his wife posing as a prostitute, would rob the customers. Hoag bribed the police to escape prosecution, but ultimately paid the price for being too clever when he tried to cut the police out of the deal, leading to the pair's arrest. In describing Hoag at the time, the police were supposedly the first to use the 'smart aleck' expression.

amateur - non-professional or un-paid, or more recently an insulting term meaning unprofessional - the word originates from the same spelling in Old French 'amateur' meaning 'lover', originally meaning in English a lover of an activity. The Old French word is derived from Latin 'amare' meaning 'to love'.

ampersand - the '&' symbol, meaning 'and' - the word ampersand appeared in the English language in around 1835. It is a corrupted (confused) derivation of the term 'And per se', which was the original formal name of the & symbol in glossaries, alphabets, and official reference works. 'Per se' is Latin and meant 'by itself', as it still does today. Traditionally all letters were referenced formally in the same way. The letter A would have been 'A per se', B would have been called 'B per se', just as the '&' symbol was 'And per se'. The ampersand symbol itself is a combination - originally a ligature (literally a joining) - of the letters E and t, or E and T, being the Latin word 'et' meaning 'and'. The earliest representations of the ampersand symbol are found in Roman scriptures dating back nearly 2,000 years. If you inspect various ampersand symbols you'll see the interpretation of the root ET or Et letters. The symbol has provided font designers more scope for artistic impression than any other character, and ironically while it evolved from hand-written script, few people use it in modern hand-writing, which means that most of us have difficulty in reproducing a good-looking ampersand by hand without having practised first. (See the ampersand exercise ideas .)

alma mater - (my) university - from the Latin, meaning 'fostering mother'.

almanac - diary - either or both from the Arabic 'al manac' meaning 'the diary' and/or from Saxon term 'al-mon-aght' meaning 'all moon heed', which was the record of new and full moons.

apple of his eye/apple of your eye/apple of my eye - a person much adored or doted on, loved, held dearly, and central to the admirer's affections and sensitivities - the 'apple of his eye' expression first appeared in the Bible, Deuteronomy, chapter 32, verse 10, in which Moses speaks of God's caring for Jacob: "He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye". Brewer's 1870 dictionary of Phrase and Fable describes the 'apple of the eye' expression (or apple of your eye, apple of his/her eye, apple of my eye) as being a metaphor based on the pupil's significance within the eye. The theory goes that in ancient times the pupil of the eye (the black centre) was thought to be a small hard ball, for which an apple was a natural symbol. Logically the pupil or apple of a person's eye described someone whom was held in utmost regard - rather like saying the 'centre of attention'. Strangely Brewer references Deuteronomy chapter 32 verse 3, which seems to be an error since the verse is definitely 10.

apple-pie bed - practical joke, with bed-sheets folded preventing the person from getting in - generally assumed to be derived from the apple-turnover pastry, but more likely from the French 'nappe pliee', meaning 'folded sheet'.

arbour/arbor - shady place with sides and roof formed by trees or shrubs - the word was 'erber' in Middle English (according to Chambers a 1300s piece of writing called the Thrush And The Nightingale - whatever that was - apparently included the word). Erber came from 'herber' meaning a garden area of grasses, flowers, herbs, etc, from, logically Old French and in turn from from Latin, herba, meaning herb or grass. Interestingly the switch to 'arbor/arbour' from 'erber' was among many e/a spelling and pronunciation changes that took place in late middle ages English: farm used to be 'ferme'; 'carve' used to be 'kerven; starve used to be 'sterven', and which also caused some of the modern a/e phonetic quirks, when the pronunciation changed but the spelling remained, eg., the city Derby, pronounced (in England) as 'darby', and sergeant pronounced 'sargeant' (although it is also spelled as such in some surnames). Apparently the modern 'arbor/arbour' tree-related meaning developed c.1500s when it was linked with the Latin 'arbor', meaning tree - originally the beam tree, and which gave us the word 'aboretum' being the original Latin word for a place where trees are cultivated for special purposes, particularly scientific study.

assassin - killer - the original Assassins were Carmathian warriers based in Mount Lebanon around the eleventh century; they terrorised the middle eastern world for two hundred years, supposedly high on hashish most of the time, particularly prior to battle.

avatar - (modern meaning) iconic or alter-ego used instead of real identity, especially on websites - Avatar is an old Hindu concept referring to the descent or manifestation of a god or released soul to earthly existence, typically as a divine teacher. The word history is given by Cassells to be 18th century, taken from Sanskrit avatata meaning descent, from the parts ava meaning down or away, and tar meaning pass or cross over. In more recent times the word has simplified and shifted subtly to mean more specifically the spiritual body itself rather than the descent or manifestation of the body, and before its adoption by the internet, avatar had also come to mean an embodiment or personification of something, typically in a very grand manner, in other words, a "...presentation to the world as a ruling power or object of worship..." (OED, 1952). The virtual reality community website Secondlife was among the first to popularise the moden use of the word in website identities, and it's fascinating how the modern meaning has been adapted from the sense of the original word.

C

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

by and large - generally/vaguely/one way or another - one of a number of maritime terms; 'by and large' literally meant 'to the wind and off it'. 'By' in this context meant to sail within six compass points of the wind, ie., almost into the wind. Bear in mind that a wind is described according to where it comes from not where it's going to. A South wind comes from the South. Sailing 'by' a South wind would mean sailing virtually in a South direction - 'to the wind' (almost into the wind). 'Large' was to sail at right-angles to the wind, which for many ships was very efficient - more so than having a fully 'following' wind (because a following wind transferred all of its energy to the ship via the rear sail(s), wasting the potential of all the other sails on the ship - a wind from the side made use of lots more of the ships sails. Different sails on a ship favoured winds from different directions, therefore to be able to sail 'by and large' meant that the ship sailed (well) 'one way or another' - 'to the wind and off it'. Also, the expression used when steering a course of 'by and large' meant being able to using both methods (of wind direction in relation to the ship) and so was very non-specific.

caddie or caddy - person who carries clubs and assists a golfer - caddie is a Scottish word (Scotland's golf origins date back to the 1500s) and is derived from the French word 'cadet', which described a young gentleman who joined the army without a commission, originally meaning in French a younger brother. Early Scottish use of the word cadet, later caddie, was for an errand boy. The golf usage of the caddie term began in the early 1600s.

cachet - mark of prestige or stylish, fashionable quality - from the French 1700s when 'lettres de cachet' (literally 'sealed letters') containing an open warrant, or carte-blanche, could be obtained from the king for a fee. Such warrants were used typically to enable a prisoner's freedom, or to imprison someone in the Bastille. The holder could fill in the beneficiary or victim's name. The practice was abolished on 15 January 1790.

(you can't) have your cake and eat it/want your cake and eat it too - (able or unable or want to) achieve or attain both of two seemingly different options - the 'have your cake and eat it' expression seems to date back at least to the English 1500s and was very possibly originated in its modern form by dramatist and epigram writer John Heywood (c.1497-c.1580) who first recorded it in his 1546 (according to Bartlett's) collection of proverbs and epigrams, 'Proverbs'. Heywood's collection is available today in revised edition as The Proverbs and Epigrams of John Heywood. Other sources suggest 1562 or later publication dates, which refer to revised or re-printed editions of the original collection. Heywood was a favourite playwright of Henry VIII, and it is probably that his writings gained notoriety as a result. The English language was rather different in those days, so Heywood's version of the expression translates nowadays rather wordily as 'would ye both eat your cake and have your cake?'. This has been adapted over time to produce the more common modern versions: 'you can't have your cake and eat it (too)', and when referring to someone who is said to 'want their/your cake and eat it (too)'. Whether Heywood actually devised the expression or was the first to record it we shall never know. Etymologist Michael Quinion is one who implies that the main credit be given to Heywood, citing Heywood's work as the primary source. Quinion also mentions other subsequent uses of the expression by John Keats in 1816 and Franklin D Roosevelt in 1940, but by these times the expression could have been in popular use. The word cake was used readily in metaphors hundreds of years ago because it was a symbol of luxury and something to be valued; people had a simpler less extravagant existence back then.

cake walk, piece of cake/takes the cake/takes the biscuit/takes the bun - easy task/wins (the prize) - from the tradition of giving cakes as prizes in rural competitions, and probably of US origin. Brewer (1870) tells of the tradition in USA slavery states when slaves or free descendents would walk in a procession in pairs around a cake at a social gathering or party, the most graceful pair being awarded the cake as a prize. This also gave us the expression 'cake walk' and 'a piece of cake' both meaning a job or contest that's very easy to achieve or win, and probably (although some disagree) the variations 'take the biscuit' or 'take the bun', meaning to win (although nowadays in the case of 'takes the biscuit' is more just as likely to be an ironic expression of being the worst, or surpassing the lowest expectations). The variations of bun and biscuit probably reflect earlier meanings of these words when they described something closer to a cake. On which point, I am advised (ack P Nix) that the (typically) American version expression 'takes the cake' arguably precedes the (typically) British version of 'takes the biscuit'. Maybe, maybe not, since 'takes the biscuit' seems to have a British claim dating back to 1610 (see ' takes the biscuit '). This all raises further interesting questions about the different and changing meanings of words like biscuit and bun. Biscuit in America is a different thing to biscuit in Britain, the latter being equivalent to the American 'cookie'. Bun to many people in England is a simple bread roll or cob, but has many older associations to sweeter baked rolls and cakes (sticky bun, currant bun, iced bun, Chelsea bun, etc).

to call a spade a spade - to use simple language - the expression is not an ethnic slur, which instead is derived from 'black as the ace of spades', first appearing only in 1928. The expression 'to call a spade a spade' is much older, dating back to at least 423BC, when it appeared in Aristophanes' play The Clouds (he also wrote the play The Birds, in 414BC, which provided the source of the 'Cloud Cuckoo Land' expression). 'To call a spade a spade' can be traced back to the original Greek expression 'ta syka syka, ten skaphen de skaphen onomasein' - 'to call a fig a fig, a trough a trough' - which was a sexual allusion, in keeping with the original Greek meaning which was 'to use crude language'. At some stage between the 14th and 16th centuries the Greek word for trough 'skaphe:' was mis-translated within the expression into the Latin for spade - 'ligo' - (almost certainly because Greek for a 'digging tool' was 'skapheion' - the words 'skaphe:' and 'skapheion' have common roots, which is understandable since both are hollowed-out concave shapes). This crucial error was believed to have been committed by Desiderius Erasmus (Dutch humanist, 1466-1536), when translating work by Plutarch. The translation into the English 'spade' is believed to have happened in 1542 by Nicolas Udall when he translated Erasmus's Latin version of the expression. While the origin of the expression is not racial or 'non-politically-correct', the current usage, by association with the perceived meaning of 'spade', most certainly is potentially racially sensitive and potentially non-PC, just as other similarly non-politically correct expressions have come to be so, eg 'nitty-gritty', irrespective of their actual origins. (Developed from Mark Israel's notes on this subject.)

can of worms/open a can of worms - highly difficult situation presently unseen or kept under control or ignored/provoke debate about or expose a hitherto dormant potentially highly difficult situation - Partridge explains 'open a can of worms' as meaning 'to introduce an unsavoury subject into the conversation', and additionally 'to loose a perhaps insoluble complication of unwanted subjects' ('loose' in this sense is the verb meaning to unleash). Partridge suggests the origins of open a can of worms are Canadian, from c.1955, later adopted by the US c.1971, and used especially in political commentaries, as still applies today. The Canadian origins are said by Partridge to allude to a type of tin of worms typically purchased by week-end fishermen. The OED describes a can of worms as a 'complex and largely uninvestigated topic'. Can of worms is said by Partridge to have appeared in use after the fuller open a can of worms expression, and suggests Canadian use started c.1960, later adopted by the US by 1970. Interestingly Partridge refers to an expression 'open a tin' which apparently originated in the Royal Navy, meaning to start a quarrel, which clearly indicates that the metaphor in basic origins dates back earlier than the specific can of worms adaptation, which has since become perhaps the most widely used of all variations on this theme. Cassells suggests 1950s American origins for can of worms, and open a can of worms, and attributes a meanings respectively of 'an unpleasant, complex and unappetizing situation', and 'to unearth and display a situation that is bound to lead to trouble or to added and unwanted complexity'. Cassells also refers to a 1930s US expression 'open a keg of nails' meaning to get drunk on corn whisky, which although having only a tenuous association to the can of worms meanings, does serve to illustrate our natural use of this particular type of metaphor. Farther back in history the allusion to opening a container to unleash problems is best illustrated in by the 'Pandora's Box' expression from ancient Greek mythology, in which Pandora releases all the troubles of the world from a jar (or box, depending on the interpretation you read) which she was commanded by Zeus not to open. The North American origins of this particular expression might be due to the history and development of the tin canning industry: The origins of tin cans began in the early 1800s during the Anglo-French Napoleonic Wars, instigated by Napoleon Bonaparte (or more likely his advisors) when the French recognised the significant possibilities of being able to maintain fresh provisions for the French armies. The French solution was initially provided via glass jars. In response, the British then developed tin cans, which were tested and proven around 1814 in response to the French glass technology. Development and large scale production of tin cans then moved to America, along with many emigrating canning engineers and entrepreneurs, where the Gold Rush and the American Civil War fuelled demand for improved canning technology and production. The vast North American tin canning industry was built on these foundations, which has dominated the world in this sector ever since.

he's/she's a card - (reference to) an unusual or notable person - opinions are divided on this one - almost certainly 'card' in this sense is based on based on playing cards - meaning that a person is a tricky one ('card') to play (as if comparing the person to a good or difficult card in card games). According to Brewer (1867), who favours the above derivation, 'card' in a similar sense also appears in Shakespeare's Hamlet, in which, according to Brewer, Osric tells Hamlet that Laertes is 'the card and calendar of gentry' and that this is a reference to the 'card of a compass' containing all the compass points, which one assumes would have been a removable dial within a compass instrument? Brewer explains that the full expression in common use at the time (mid-late 1900s) was 'card of the house', meaning a distinguished person. If the Shakespearian root is valid this meaning perhaps blended with and was subsequently further popularised by the playing card metaphor. Interestingly Brewer lists several other now obsolete expressions likening people and situations to cards. It's worth noting that playing cards were a very significant aspect of entertainment and amusement a few hundreds of years ago before TV and computers. Hence why so many expressions derive from their use. See below.

hold all the cards/play your cards right/hold your cards to your chest/card up your sleeve/put, lay your cards on the table - be in tactical control/make the right tactical moves/keep your tactics secret from your opponents/keep a good tactic in reserve/reveal your tactics or feelings - there are many very old variations and expressions based on the playing cards metaphors, and none can clearly be attributed to a particular source or origin. The origins of western style playing cards can be traced back to the 10th century, and it is logical to think that metaphors based on card playing games and tactics would have quite naturally evolved and developed into popular use along with the popularity of the playing cards games themselves, which have permeated most societies for the last thousand years, and certainly in a form that closely resembles modern playing cards for the past six hundred years. On which point, Brewer in 1870 cites a quote by Caesar Borgia XXIX "... The Vitello busied at Arezzo, the Orsini irritating the French; the war of Naples imminent, the cards are in my hands.." as an early usage of one particular example of the many 'cards' expressions, and while he does not state the work or the writer the quote seems to be attributed to Borgia. Caesar, or Cesare, Borgia, 1476-1507, was an infamous Italian - from Spanish roots - soldier, statesman, cardinal and murderer, brother of Lucrezia Borgia, and son of Pope Alexander VI.

Playing cards have fascinating and less than clear histories and meanings in themselves, for which Brewer's 1870 provides an interesting and (in my view) largely reliable explanation: In Spain's early (medieval) playing cards , spades were columbines (a plant whose flower resembles five clustered bird-like symbols, usually associated with doves or pigeons - the pointed spade shape resembles a single petal), later changing (by 1800s) to swords (espados in Spanish - meaning sword - not spade in case you are wondering); clubs were rabbits later changing to cudgels (bastos in Spanish, meaning a stick-like club); diamonds were pinks (relating to the flowers, so called because of their notched petal edges, as if cut with pinking shears - associated with the sharpness of the diamond shape - the same root that gave us punch and pungent and puncture) later changing to dineros (square money pieces); and hearts were roses later to be chalices (cups). In early (medieval) France, spades were piques (pikemen or foot soldiers); clubs were trèfle (clover or 'husbandmen'); diamonds were carreaux (building tiles or artisans); and hearts , which according to modern incorrect Brewer interpretation were coeur , ie., hearts, were actually, according to my 1870 Brewer reprint, 'choeur (choir-men or ecclesiastics)' , which later changed to what we know now as hearts. Here's where it gets really interesting: Brewer says that the English spades (contrary to most people's assumption that the word simply relates to a spade or shovel tool) instead developed from the French form of a pike (ie., the shape is based on a pike), and the Spanish name for the Spanish card 'swords' ( espados ). Clubs is from the French trèfle shape (meaning trefoil, a three leafed plant) and the Spanish name bastos translated to mean clubs . Hearts , says Brewer is a corruption of choeur (choir-men) into couers , ie., hearts.

Brewer's view is that playing cards were developed from an Indian game called 'The Four Rajahs', which is consistent with the belief that the roots of playing cards were Asian. In The Four Rajahs game the playing pieces were the King; the General (referred to as 'fierche'); the Elephant ('phil'); the Horsemen; the Camel ('ruch'); and the Infantry (all of which has clear parallels with modern chess). Brewer asserts that the French corrupted, (or more likely misinterpreted) the word 'fierche' (for general, ie., second in command to the King) to mean 'vierge', and then converted 'virgin' into 'dame', which was the equivalent to Queen in Brewer's time. Similarly Brewer says that the Elephant, 'phil' (presumably the third most powerful piece), was converted into 'fol' or 'fou', meaning Knave, equivalent to the 'Jack'. Incidentally Brewer also suggests that the Camel, 'ruch', became what is now the Rook in chess. It seems (according to Brewer) that playing cards were originally called 'the Books of the Four Kings', while chess was known as 'the Game of the Four Kings'. Brewer also cites a reference to a certain Jacquemin Gringonneur having "painted and guilded three packs (of cards) for the King (Charles VI, father of Charles VII mentioned above) in 1392."

As for the 'court' cards, so called because of their heraldic devices, debate continues as to the real identity of the characters and the extent to which French characters are reflected in English cards. Prepare to be confused.....

Brewer, 1870, provides a useful analysis which is summarised and expanded here: In English playing cards, the King of Clubs originally represented the Arms of the Pope; King of Spades was the King of France; King of Diamonds was the King of Spain, and the King of Hearts was the King of England. In French playing cards (which certainly pre-dated English interpretations) the kings were: Spades - David (the biblical king); Clubs - Alexander (the Great); Diamonds - Caesar (Julius, Roman Emperor); and Hearts - Charles (sic - meaning Charles the Great, ie., Charlemagne, King of the Franks, 747-814, which Brewer clarifies elsewhere) - together representing the Jewish, Greek, Roman and Frankish empires. Brewer also suggests that French Queen cards were 'Argine' (probably a reference to mythology or an anagram of regina, meaning queen - no-one seems to know), anyway Brewer's suggested queens are: Hearts - Juno (sister and wife of Zeus); Clubs - Judith (Jewish heroine of the Bible Old Testament, or some say Judith of Bavaria, whoever she was...); Diamonds - Rachel (of the Bible), and Spades - Pallas (Athena/Athene, daughter of Zeus - Brewer refers elsewhere to Pallas being Minerva, the Roman equivalent). These four Queens according to Brewer represented royalty, fortitude, piety and wisdom. Brewer concludes his summary with suggestions as to the real French queens on whose likenesses the Queen cards were based: Hearts - Mary D'Anjou, Queen of Charles VII; Clubs - Isabeau the Queen-mother (Isabeau of Bavaria , c.1369-1435, queen to Charles VI and mother of Charles VII); Diamonds - Agnes Sorel (c.1422-1450, mistress of Charles VII, whom other commentators suggest used the name Rachel in court, which might be nonsense since the role of mistress was in those days effectively an official one and therefore unlikely to require use of a pseudonym); and Spades - Joan d'Arc (sic - Joan of Arc, or Jeanne d'Arc in French, c.1412-31). Not surprisingly all of these characters lived at the same time, the early 1400s, which logically indicates when playing cards were first popularly established in the form we would recognise today, although obviously the King characters, with the exception of possible confusion between Charlemagne and Charles VII of France, pre-date the period concerned. I did say this particular slice of history is less than clear. Nevertheless, by way of summary, here is Brewer's take on things:

If you weren't confused enough already, more recent French cards actually show the names of the characters on the cards (which I suspect has kept this whole debate rolling), and these names reveal some inconsistencies with Brewer's otherwise mostly cohesive analysis, not least in the Queens department, namely: Queen of Hearts is Judith (Juno does not appear); and Queen of Clubs is 'Argine' instead of Judith (whoever Argine is; again, no-one seems to know, save suggestions that it's an anagram of regina, meaning queen, or could be something to do with Argos. Predictably there is much debate also as to the identities of the Jacks or Knaves, which appear now on the cards but of which Brewer made no comment. Anyway, La Hire was a French warrior and apparently companion to Joan of Arc. Lancelot - easy - fully paid-up knight of the round table. Hector - of Troy, or maybe brother of Lancelot. Hogier - possibly Ogier the Dane. If you have more information on this matter (it is a can of worms if ever I saw one) then I would be delighted to receive it.

Finally, a few other points of interest about playing cards origins:

The reason why the Ace of Spades in Anglo-American playing cards has a large and ornate design dates back to the 1500s, when the English monarchy first began to tax the increasingly popular playing cards to raise extra revenues. The practice of stamping the Ace of Spades, probably because it was the top card in the pack, with the official mark of the relevant tax office to show that duty had been paid became normal in the 1700s. During the early 1800s, when duty per pack was an incredible two shillings and sixpence (half-a-crown - equivalent to one eigth of a pound - see the money expressions and history page ), the the card makers were not permitted to make the Ace of Spades cards - instead they were printed by the tax office stamp-makers.

carnival - festival of merrymaking - appeared in English first around 1549, originating from the Italian religious term 'carnevale', and earlier 'carnelevale' old Pisan and Milanese, meaning the last three days before Lent, when no meat would be eaten, derived literally from the meaning 'lifting up or off' (levare) and 'meat' or 'flesh' (carne), earlier from Latin 'carnem' and 'levare'. Chambers and OED are clear in showing the earlier Latin full form of 'carnem levare', from medieval Latin 'carnelevarium', and that the derivation of the 'val' element is 'putting away' or 'removing', and not 'saying farewell, as some suggest. OED in fact states that the connection with Latin 'vale', as if saying 'farewell to flesh' is due to 'popular' (misundertood) etymology.

carte-blanche - full discretionary power, freedom or permission to do anything - from the original French term adopted into English, meaning a signed blank cheque for which the recipient decided the amount to be given, the translation meaning literally blank paper.

cat-call - derisory or impatient call or cry or whistle, particularly directed by audience members or onlookers at a performer or speaker - 1870 Brewer explains that 'cat-call' originated from whistles or 'hideous noise' made by an audience at a theatre to express displeasure or impatience. 'Like the call or waul of a cat'.

cat and fiddle - common pub name - while appearing in the famous nursery rhyme, the phrase came originally from 'Caton le fidele' (Caton the faithful) governor of Calais, France.

cat got your tongue? - why are you not talking?/have you nothing to say? - there is no generally agreed origin among etymologists for this, although there does seem to be a broad view that the expression came into popular use in the 1800s, and first appeared in print in 1911. In my view the most logical explanation is that it relates to the 'cat-o-nine-tails' whip used in olden days maritime punishments, in which it is easy to imagine that the victim would be rendered incapable of speech or insolence. A less likely, but no less dramatic suggested origin, is that it comes from the supposed ancient traditional middle-eastern practice of removing the tongues of liars and feeding them to cats.

cat's paw - a person used by another for an unpleasant or distasteful task - from the fable of unknown origin in which a monkey uses the cat's paw to retrieve hot roasted chestnuts from the fire.

let the cat out of the bag - give away a secret - a country folk deception was to substitute cat for a suckling pig in a bag for sale at market; if the bag was opened the trick was revealed. See also 'pig in a poke'. Additionally this expression might have been reinforced (ack G Taylor) by the maritime use of the 'cat 'o' nine tails' (a type of whip) which was kept in a velvet bag on board ship and only brought out to punish someone.

a cat may look on a king/a cat may look at a king/a cat may laugh at a queen - humble people are entitled to have and to express opinions about supposedly 'superior' people. In other words; a person's status or arrogance cannot actually control the opinions held about them by other people of supposedly lower standing - the version 'a cat may look at a king' is used in this sense when said by Alice, in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book 'Alice's Adventures In Wonderland'. The different variations of this very old proverb are based on the first version, which is first referenced by John Heywood in his 1546 book, Proverbs. The origin is unknown, but it remains a superb example of how effective proverbs can be in conveying quite complex meanings using very few words. is usually that no-one is actually above criticism, or immune from having fun poked at them by 'lesser' people for behaving inappropriately, irrespective of their status. The more modern expression 'a cat may laugh at a queen' seems to be a more aggressive adaptation of the original medieval proverb 'a cat may look on a king', extending the original meaning, ie., not only have humble people the right to opinions about their superiors, they also have the right to poke fun at them.

catch-22 - an impossible problem in which the solution effectively cancels itself out - although often mis-used to mean any difficult problem, this originally came from Joseph Heller's book of the same title about a reluctant American wartime pilot for whom the only living alternative to continuing in service was to be certified mad; the 'catch-22' was that the act of applying for certification was deemed to be the act of a perfectly sane man.

caught red-handed - caught in the act of doing something wrong, or immediately afterwards with evidence showing, so that denial is pointless - the expression 'caught red-handed' has kept a consistent meaning for well over a hundred years (Brewer lists it in his 1870 dictionary). It's based simply on the metaphor of a murderer being caught with blood still on his/her hands, and therefore would date back to the days even before guns, when to kill another person would have involved the use of a direct-contact weapon like a dagger or club. The red-handed image is straightforward enough to have evolved from common speech, that is to say, there's unlikely to have been one single quote that originated the expression.

charisma - personal magnetism, charm, presence - The roots of charisma are religious, entering English in the mid-1600s via ecclesiastical (of the church) Latin from (according to the OED) the Greek kharisma, from kharis, meaning 'grace' or 'favour' (US favor) - a favour or grace or gift given by God. Chambers Dictionary of Etymology varies slightly with the OED in suggesting that charisma replaced the earlier English spelling charism (first recorded before 1641) around 1875. The preference of the 1953 Shorter OED for the words charism and charismata (plural) suggests that popular use of charisma came much later than 1875. Chambers says the Greek root words are charisma and charizesthai (to show favour), from charis (favour, grace) and related to chairein, meaning rejoice. According to Chambers again, the adjective charismatic appeared in English around 1882-83, from the Greek charismata, meaning favours given (by God). Charisma, which probably grew from charismatic, which grew from charismata, had largely shaken its religious associations by the mid 1900s, and evolved its non-religious meaning of personal magnetism by the 1960s. More detail about the origins and interpretations of charisma is on the charisma webpage .

charlie - foolish person, (usage typically 'he's a right charlie' or 'a proper charlie') - the use of charlie to mean a foolish person is from the cockney rhyming slang expression Charlie Smirke (= Berk, which in turn is earlier rhyming slang Berkley Hunt for the unmentionable - think about tht next time you call someone a charlie or a berk...). The original Charlie whose name provided the origin for this rhyming slang is Charlie Smirke, the English jockey. Charlie Smirke was a leading rider and racing celebrity from the 1930s-50s, notably winning the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park in 1935 on Windsor Lad, and again in 1952 on the Aga Khan's horse Tulyar (second place was the teenage Lester Piggott on Gay Time). See more cockney rhyming slang expressions, meanings and origins at the cockney rhyming slang section.

chav - vulgar anti-social person, male or female, usually young - this recently popular slang word (late 1990s and 2000s) has given rise to a mischievous and entirely retrospective ' bacronym' - Council Housed (or Housing) And Violent . While the reverse acronym interpretation reflects much of society's view of these people's defining characteristics, the actual origin of the modern chav slang word is likely to be the slang word chavy (with variations chavey, chavvie, chavvy, chavi, chavo, according to Cassells and Partridge) from the mid-1800s Parlyaree or Polari (mixed European 'street' or 'under-class' slang language) and/or Romany gypsy slang, meaning a child. Later in the 1800s the word chavi or chavo, etc., was extended to refer to a man, much like 'mate' or 'cock' is used, or 'buddy' in more sensitive circles, in referring to a casual acquaintance. This old usage was not then necessarily insulting, unlike the modern meaning of chav, which most certainly is. The suggestion that chav is a shortening of Chatham, based on the alleged demographic of the Medway town in Kent, is not supported by any reliable etymology, but as with other myths of slang origins, the story might easily have reinforced popular usage, especially among people having a dim view of the Medway towns. In the North-East of England (according to Cassells) the modern variants are charva and charver, which adds no credibility to the Chatham myth. Separately I am informed (thanks N Johansen) that among certain folk in the area of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, CHAV is said to be an abbreviation of 'Cheltenham Average', a term supposedly coined by girls of the up-market Cheltenham Ladies College when referring to young men of the lower-market Cheltenham council housing estates. Additionally (thanks N Waterman) some say chav derives from a supposed expression 'child of navvy ' (navvy now slang for a road-mending/building labourer, originally a shortening of 'navigational engineer', a labourer working on canal construction), although qualified etymology has yet to surface which supports this notion. Please send me any other theories and local interpretations of the word chav.

(she was/they were) all over him like a cheap suit - the expression 'all over him like a cheap suit' normally (and probably originally) refers to a woman being publicly and clingy/seductive/physical/possessive towards a man, where the man does not necessarily desire the attention, and/or where such attention is inappropriate and considered overly physical/intimate/oppressive. The allusion is to the clingy and obvious nature of a cheap suit, likely of a tacky/loud/garish/ tasteless design. The expression is increasingly used more widely in referring to a situation where substantial (either unwanted or negatively viewed) attention or pressure is being experienced by a person, usually by a man, perhaps from interviewers, photographers, followers, or perhaps investigators. In the case of adulation there may also a suggestion of toadiness or sycophancy (creepy servitude). The expression is relatively recent - probably late 20th century - and is an extension of the older expression from the 1950s, simply being 'all over' someone, again referring to fawning/intimate and/or physical attention, usually in a tacky or unwanted way. This is an adaptation of the earlier (1920s) expression to be 'all over' something or someone meaning to be obsessed or absorbed by (something, someone, even oneself). A similar expression to the 'cheap suit' metaphor is 'all over him/her like a rash' which is flexible in terms of gender, and again likens personal attention to something obviously 'on' the victim, like a suit or a rash. I'm keen to discover the earliest use of the 'cheap suit' expression - please tell me if you recall its use prior to 1990, or better still can suggest a significant famous early quoted example which might have established it.

checkmate - the final winning move in a game of chess when the king is beaten, also meaning any winning move against an opponent - originally from the Persian (now Iran) 'shah mat' literally meaning 'the king is astonished', but mistranslated into Arabic 'shah mat', to give the meaning 'the king died', which later became Old French 'eschecmat' prior to the expression entering the English language in the early 14th century as 'chekmat', and then to 'checkmate'.

Chinese fire drill - chaotic situation, especially one involving a group's incompetence in carrying out instructions or a plan (more recently the term also describes a student prank where a car-full of students stops at red traffic lights, all occupants leap out, run around the car, return to their seats and drive off as the lights turn green) - Usage of this wonderful expression in either situation now seems confined to USA; although it is supposed to have UK origins, and various sources state it being in use on both sides of the Atlantic after World War 1. The expression 'Chinese fire drill' supposedly derives from a true naval incident in the early 1900s involving a British ship, with Chinese crew: instructions were given by the British officers to practice a fire drill where crew members on the starboard side had to draw up water, run with it to engine room, douse the 'fire', at which other crew members (to prevent flooding) would pump out the spent water, carry it away and throw it over the port side. After initially going to plan, fuelled by frantic enthusiasm as one side tried to keep pace with the other, the drill descended into chaos, ending with all crew members drawing up water from the starboard side, running with it across the ship, entirely by-passing the engine room, and throwing the un-used water straight over the port side. It's certainly an amusing metaphor, if these days an extremely politically incorrect one. It's akin to other images alluding to the confusion and inconsistency that Westerners historically associated with Chinese language and culture, much dating back to the 1st World War. Other expressions exploiting the word 'Chinese' to convey confusing or erratic qualities: Chinese whispers (confused messages), Chinese ace (inept pilot), and Chinese puzzle (a puzzle without a solution); 'Chinese fire drill' is very much part of this genre.

a chip off the old block - a small version of the original - was until recently 'of' rather than 'off', and dates back to 270 BC when Greek poet Theocrites used the expression 'a chip of the old flint' in the poem 'Idylls'.

christmas crackers/christmas crackered - knackers/knackered, i.e., testicles/worn out or broken or exhausted - rhyming slang from the 1970s - rhymes with knackers or knackered, from the old word knacker for a horse slaughterer, which actually was originally not a rude word at all but a very old and skilful trade. Alternative rhyming slang are cream crackers and cream crackered, which gave rise to the expression 'creamed', meaning exhausted or beaten. See knackers .

ciao - Italian greeting or farewell, and common English colloquialism meaning 'goodbye' - pronounced 'chow', is derived from Italian words 'schiavo vosotro' meaning 'I am your slave'.

clap-trap - nonsense - original description was for something introduced into a theatrical performance or speech simply to prompt applause.

close but no cigar - narrowly failing to get something right or win - from early USA slot machines which used to give a cigar as a prize.

cleave - split apart or stick/adhere - a fascinating word in that it occurs in two separate forms, with different origins, with virtually opposite meanings; cleave: split or break apart, and cleave: stick or adhere. The words are the same now but they have different origins. Cleave (split) derives from Old English, Saxon and Old German cleofan and klioban c.AD900. Cleave (stick) derives from Old English and Old German cleofian, clifian and kleben AD900 and earlier. In modern German the two words are very similar - klieben to split and kleben to stick, so the opposites-but-same thing almost works in the German language too, just like English, after over a thousand years of language evolution. Fascinating. (Thanks Paul Merison)

clean someone's clock/clean the clock/clean your clock - beat up, destroy, or wipe out financially, esp. via competitive gambling - Cassell's explains this to be 1940s first recorded in the US, with the later financial meaning appearing in the 1980s. A specific but perhaps not exclusive origin refers to US railroad slang 'clean the clock' meaning to apply the airbrakes and stop the train quickly, by which the air gauge (the clock) shows zero and is thus 'cleaned'. Extending this explanation, clock has long been slang meaning a person's face and to hit someone in the face, logically from the metaphor of a clock-face and especially the classical image of a grandfather clock. The word clean has other slang meanings in the sense of personal or material loss or defeat, for example, clean up, clean out, and simply the word clean. While these clock and clean meanings are not origins in themsleves of the 'clean the/his/your clock' expression they probably encouraged the term's natural adoption and use.

clerk - a office worker involved in basic administration - the word clerk, and the words cleric/clerical, evolved from the religious term clergy, which once referred to very senior figures of authority in the Christian church; the most educated and literate officials and leaders, rather than the more general official collective term of today. When the clergy/cleric/clerk terms first appeared in 13-14th century France (notably clergié and clergé, from medieval Latin clericatus, meaning learning) and later became adopted into English, probably the most significant and differentiating organizational/workplace capability was that of reading and writing. Not many people had such skills. Clergy and clerics and clerks were therefore among the most able and highly respected and valued of all 'workers'. It is fascinating, and highly relevant in today's fast-changing world, how the role of clerk/cleric has become 'demoted' nowadays into a far more 'ordinary' workplace title, positioned at the opposite 'lower end' within the typical organizational hierarchy. We can wonder what modern workplace/organizational roles will see similar shift over time, as today's specialisms become tomorrow's very ordinary capabilities possessed by everyone.

living in cloud cuckoo land - being unrealistic or in a fantasy state - from the Greek word 'nephelococcygia' meaning 'cloud' and 'cuckoo', used by Aristophanes in his play The Birds, 414 BC, in which he likened Athens to a city built in the clouds by birds.

cliche/cliché - technically the word is spelt with an accent acute above the e (denoting an 'a' sound as in pronunciation of the word 'hay'), but increasingly in English the accent is now omitted. Cliché came into English from French in or before 1832 when it was first recorded in work referring to manufacturing, specifically referring to French 'cliché' stereotype (technically stéréotype - a French printing term), which was a printing plate cast from a mold. In French the word cliché probably derived from the sound of the 'clicking'/striking of melted lead to produce the casting. Cliché was the French past tense of the verb clicher, derived in turn from Old French cliquer, to click. The modern sense of the word cliché in English meaning a widely used expression is therefore metaphorical - alluding to the printing plate and the related sense of replication. Interestingly the evolution of this meaning followed the adoption of the word stereotype, which by around 1850 in English had similar meaning to cliché, in the sense of referring to a fixed expression. See also stereotype . (Thanks to F Tims for raising this one.)

cloud nine/on cloud nine - extreme happiness or euphoria/being in a state of extreme happiness, not necessarily but potentially due drugs or alcohol - cloud seven is another variation, but cloud nine tends to be the most popular. London meteorologist Luke Howard set up the first widely accepted cloud name and classification system, which was published in 1803. The system is essentially still in use today, albeit increased from Howard's original seven-cloud structure. It is said that when the World Meteorological Organisation added the ninth cloud type (cumulonimbus - the towering thundercloud) to the structure in 1896 this gave rise to the expression 'on cloud nine', although etymology sources suggest the expression appeared much later, in the 1960s (Cassells). The allusions to floating on air and 'being high' of course fit the cloud metaphor and would have made the expression naturally very appealing, especially in the context of drugs and alcohol. Cumulonimbus is not the highest cloud as some explanations suggest; the metaphor more likely caught on because of superstitious and spiritual associations with the number nine (as with cloud seven), the dramatic appearance and apparent great height of cumulonimbus clouds, and that for a time cloud nine was the highest on the scale, if not in the sky. See for fun and more weather curiosities the weather quiz on this website.

clue - signal, hint, suggestion or possibility which helps reveal an answer or solution to a problem or puzzle - fascinatingly, the word clue derives from the ancient Greek legend of the hero Theseus using a ball of magic thread - a clew - to find his way out of the Cretan Labyrinth (maze) after killing the Minotaur. Clew/clue meaning a ball of thread is a very old word, appearing as clew around 1250, from Old English cliewen, about 750AD, earlier kleuwin, related to Old High German kliuwa meaning ball, from Sanskrit glaus and Indo-European gleu, glou and glu - all referring to ball or a round lump. The use of the word clue - as a metaphor based on the ball of thread/maze story - referring to solving a mystery is first recorded in 1628, and earlier as clew in 1386, in Chaucer's Legend of Good Women. Up until the 1600s, when someone used the word clue to mean solving a puzzle, the meaning was literally 'ball of thread', and it is only in more recent times that this converted into its modern sense, in which the original metaphor and 'ball of thread' meaning no longer exist.

coach - tutor, mentor, teacher, trainer - originally university slang based on the metaphor that to get on quickly you would ride on a coach, (then a horse-drawn coach), and (Chambers suggests) would require the help of a coachman. The word was first recorded in the sense of a private tutor in 1848, and in the sense of an athletics coach in 1861. Brewer's 1870 dictionary contains the following interesting comments: "Coach - A private tutor - the term is a pun on getting on fast. To get on fast you take a coach - you cannot get on fast without a private tutor, ergo, a private tutor is the coach you take in order that you get on quickly (university slang)." Today we do not think of a coach as a particularly speedy vehicle, so the metaphor (Brewer says pun) seems strange, but in the 1800s a horse-drawn coach was the fastest means of transport available, other than falling from the top of a very high building or cliff.

cobblers - nonsense (from 'a load of balls', meaning testicles) - see cockney rhyming slang . See also knackers .

cock and bull story - a false account or tall tale - from old English 'a concocted and bully story'; 'concocted' was commonly shortened to 'cock', and 'bully' meant 'exaggerated' (leading to bull-rush and bull-frog; probably from 'bullen', Danish for exaggerated); also the old London Road at Stony Stratford near Northampton, England has two old inns next to each other, called The Cock and The Bull; travellers' stories were said to have been picked up on the way at the Cock and Bull. Another source is the mythological fables of Nergal and Osiris; 'Nergal' the ancient Persian idol means 'dung-hill cock; 'Osiris' was an Egyptian Bull.

knocked into a cocked hat - beaten or rendered useless or shapeless - a cocked hat was a three-pointed (front, crown and back) hat worn by a bishop or certain military ranks - cocked meant turned up. In the traditional English game of nine-pins (the pins were like skittles, of the sort that led to the development of tenpin bowling), when the pins were knocked over leaving a triangular formation of three standing pins, the set was described as having been knocked into a cocked hat. 19th C and probably earlier. (1870 Brewer)

codec - digital/analogue electronic conversion device - from source words COder-DECoder. (Ack DH)

codswallop/cod's wallop - nonsense - Partridge suggests cod's wallop (or more modernly codswallop) has since the 1930s related to 'cobblers' meaning balls (see cockney rhyming slang : cobblers awls = balls), in the same way that bollocks (and all other slang for testicles) means nonsense. The fact that cod means scrotum, cods is also slang for testicles, and wallop loosely rhymes with 'ballocks' (an earlier variation of bollocks) are references that strengthen this theory, according to Partridge. Cassell suggests instead that the expression first came into use in the 1960s, with help possibly from the fact that wallop had an earlier meaning 'to chatter'. There is no doubt that the euphony (the expression simply sounds good and rolls off the tongue nicely) would have increased the appeal and adoption of the term.