Origins of Expressions

  It Cost an Arm and a Leg Watch this on YouTube here - Shopping Video - YouTube Video Meaning: It cost an arm and a leg means that the item costs a large amount of money. "Wow, that Jewelry cost us an arm and a leg."  Origin: This idiom has a few theories. The oldest being that portrait painters use to charge more for larger pain. A head and a shoulder painting was the cheapest option, followed in price by one which includes arms, add finally the top of the range was legs and all portrait. Anos so often with popular tales, there is not truth in that story. Painters certainly did charge more for larger pictures, but there's no evidence to suggest they did so by limb count. Another theory was that the phrase started during the 20th century, possibly during one of the major world wars. The idea being that soldiers, because of their heavy involvement in war and being in the line of fire, could possibly lose a hand, foot, leg, or arm. Thus the war would literally cost a perso...

  Shop Till You Drop Watch this on YouTube here - Shopping Video - YouTube Video Meaning: Shop till you drop is an American idiom. It means to shop till you are physically tired and can't walk anymore. "I'm gonna shop till I drop." Origin: However, this idiom did not start out with the same meaning it has today. It started in the 1900s as an advertising slogan for department stores. Especially around Christmas. It was meant to mean that you should go to one store instead of running around to different places and becoming exhausted. Some of these advertisements read. "Shop Till you drop. But nowhere will you find value equal to these." "You should. We drop. This one promotes a home delivery service." The first written record of shops that you dropped was in the Chicago Daily Tribune’s Annual parody poem called the day before Christmas. He was printed in 1902 and read. "Why listen, I’ve shopped- until from Exhaustion. I've pretty near droppe...

  Window Shopping Watch this on YouTube here - Shopping Video - YouTube Video Meaning: Window shopping is a phrase that means to walk around and look at the window displays of stores. Not to physically shop through windows Origin: This activity has been around since the rise of the middle class in Europe in the 1800s, around the same time when windows were put into storefronts. Originally for extra storage, without caring about how it looked. However, since the shops were small and could only have a limited number of customers, a line of people start gathering outside these shops. This made a display in the window more important than storage, especially with people waiting to get inside. As years have passed, window displays have changed, and have adapted to the times. What originally started as a small display of goods in the 1800s has adapted to the use of electricity, lights and now even technology to make even more eccentric displays, that interact with the customers. All this ...