Origins of Expressions

  Where the Rubber Hits the Road  Watch this on YouTube here - Car Video - YouTube Video Meaning: Where the Rubber Hits the Road means the truth about facts or realities, where theory is put into practice. Origin: This phrase has not been around for long, and it started out with good cars and how well they would work once they were driven. However, the term quickly turned into an idiom. The phrase is also associated with males more than females. It was first written in 1956 in an article in the  Minneapolis Morning Tribune , After Last Night , by Will Jones, it read: “How to Talk like a man in a very dark gray flannel suit  “Let’s get down where the rubber meets the road.”” This phrase is from the jargon of the advertising business—jargon in which  let’s get down (to) where the rubber meets the road  meant  how much is it going to cost? Example: Today we still use the phrase where the rubber hits the road to say, let’s stop talking about things...

  Worth my Salt  Watch this on YouTube here - Salt Video - YouTube Video Meaning: Worth my Salt means you want to prove you can be effective and efficient; that you are deserving of your pay. Origin: The origin of this idiom is not very old even though salt being used as money has been around for a while. Our word  salary  derives from the Latin word  , Latin also has the word salt as sal . So using salt as money or another word for money has been around for a while.  So “worth my salt” is really saying “I am worth my Salary” The phrase “worth my Salt” however has not been around that long though. It does have an older sister phrase with a similar meaning from the 13 century “worth one’s weight in gold” but, that is another video. Worth my salt wasn’t first seen in writing till 1805 in The African Memoranda by Philip Beaver it read: "Hayles has been my most useful man, but of late not worth his salt." Example: Today we do not see this phrase used as much, ...

  To Work Your Fingers to the Bone Watch this on YouTube here - Fingers Video - YouTube Video Meaning: To work your fingers to the bone means to work excessively hard.  “Boy, I’m working my fingers to the bone today.” Origin: To work to the bone has been around for a long time; this type of saying has been around in writing since the 1400s; it was a great way to express that someone was working so hard that wore themselves out, right down to the bone. Here is a snip-it from a morality play that expresses working hard down to the bone as part of a series called the Macro Plays: “Alasse, goode fadere, þis labor fretyth yow to þe bone.” (Translation: Alas, good father, this labour fretteth you to the bone). Throughout history, there are many writings about people working to the bone, but the idiom came to life when the phrase connected work hard and fingers to the bone was first written, in a 1729 opera, The Beggar’s Wedding, by Charle...

  Walking On Egg Shells Watch this on YouTube here - Eggs Video - YouTube Video Meaning: Walking on Egg Shells means that you have to be careful about your words or actions around another person. To be overly careful around someone to avoid upsetting them, to be careful of your behavior to avoid offending someone. Origin: Walking on eggshells has only been around since the 1800s; walking on eggshells means you are trying not to cut your feet; you must go slow and step softly. One of the first written records was talking about chickens and how they must move about without breaking the eggs in the book The history of the Hen Fever by George Pickering Burnham in 1855, it was meant to be a funny account of the chicken fanny fern it reads: “…She was rather long-legged, and "spindle-shanked," but she moved about skippingly and briskly, as if she were treading upon thin eggshells. Her feet were very delicate and very narrow, and her body was thin and trim…” The next account where it...

  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 ...