Im quite intrigued by the english language and I love to find out where words, sayings and slang originate from and what they actually mean. Maybe thats why I put on accents so much?
"Can of worms"
To open a metaphorical can of worms is to investigate or examine something which is likely to cause trouble, which, in many cases, would prefer to be left alone!
This saying originally came from REAL cans with ACTUAL worms in them which were collected as bait for fishing. As far as it being something that would cause trouble, this couldnt be further from the truth, how annoying would it be to have worms wriggling everywhere? Better kept shut I say!
"Big Cheese"
An expression used to describe someone of importance, it could also be used in a derogatory way to describe someone full of self importance!
This saying has been used since the mid 19th century. It started out as "the real chiz" coined by Anglo-indians as a bilingual joke, when it was bought to england "chiz" was changed to "cheese" as it was more recognisable. The "big" part of it came from american influence in the early 20th century.
"Bringing home the bacon"
We use this phrase to describe providing for the family, usually referring to our monthly wages.
It refers to and old fairground game which involved catching a greased pig. The pig being the prize so the winner bought home the (greasy) bacon.
"Eavesdropper"
We all know an eaveadropper or two, ive been known to eavesdrop on occasion!
This was originally "yfesdrype" an Anglo-Saxon word, derived and turned into eavesdrop.
Meaning, the area around a building that was likely to get wet from the water dropping off the eaves of the roof. It also referred to an old custom in English law where a landowner was not allowed to build within 2ft of his boundary, incase the water from the eaves caused problems for his neighbour. By the end of the 15th century the word eavesdropper had been made up to describe somebody who stood within the 2ft of ground in order to listen to conversations! Nosey beggers!
"Kick the bucket"
My friend told me that she likes this phrase so I looked up what it meant because ive never really heard it before. I thought it might be like "throw in the towel" meaning to give up. It actually means "to die"
It originates from the middle ages and it comes from a method of hanging or perhaps suicide where the noose is tied around the persons neck and the bucket is kicked away and the victim is hanged.
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