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Outside the United States, the word "soccer" is pretty well nonexistent. But for the curious, the word is a contraction of "association football," which is what it was called originally.
There are many common phrases we use everyday which have original meanings that have been lost in time to most people. I can think of a couple and I hope others will add more.
"The whole nine yards". I understand this was originally a sailing term that referred to the length of sails when they were completely unfurled as this was the complete length of the sails. So when a captain ordered the crew to unfurl the whole nine yards, he meant to completely unfurl the sails for sailing.
To "cut and run" is another sailing term. When a ship was anchored off a coast and had to leave quickly and did not have time to raise the anchor, the crew would cut the anchor rope and run.
The Whole Nine Yards only makes sense to me in the WW2 reference. We often say "I gave it the whole nine yards." I gave it all. The first known reference of the phrase comes from the book "The Doom ***** (A narrative about the Vietnam War and the men who are fighting it). The book was first published in 1967 and recounts army life during the early 1960s."
The phrase has a high probability that it came from the WW2 fighter pilots, stayed as an expression (I gave him the whole nine yards, i gave it the whole nine yards.) in the military and was finally used in literature in 1967. That is my "Two Cents" on that......
I am at a loss on the origin of "feet of clay." I know it is mentioned in the Bible, but its origins have likely been lost over the centuries. The closest I could come up with is perhaps a statue you expect to have feet of some kind of rock instead turn out to be clay. Its impact in modern times seems lost.
I am at a loss on the origin of "feet of clay." I know it is mentioned in the Bible, but its origins have likely been lost over the centuries. The closest I could come up with is perhaps a statue you expect to have feet of some kind of rock instead turn out to be clay. Its impact in modern times seems lost.
I always thought it came from the Bible. The king has a dream of an idol made of metal but the feet are of clay. His Hebrew prisoner interprets the dream as meaning that his mighty empire will crumble.
Here are two that are commonly messed up as eggcorns because people don't understand the references.
"To wet one's appetite" should be "to whet one's appetite." Whetting is the stage of tool sharpening in between grinding and honing. Before the days of stainless steel knives with factory-serrated blades, it used to be that almost every kitchen had a whetstone in the knife drawer to renew the dulled edges of cutting implements. To whet your appetite mean's to make it keener or sharper.
"To tow the line" should be "to toe the line." It's what runners do at the beginning of a track race to make sure everyone has an equal start. You toe the line when you do the same thing that everyone else is doing.
There are many other eggcorns that result from misunderstandings of sayings: "for all intensive purposes," "a shoe-in," "with baited breath," "just desserts," etc.
Here are two that are commonly messed up as eggcorns because people don't understand the references.
"To wet one's appetite" should be "to whet one's appetite." Whetting is the stage of tool sharpening in between grinding and honing. Before the days of stainless steel knives with factory-serrated blades, it used to be that almost every kitchen had a whetstone in the knife drawer to renew the dulled edges of cutting implements. To whet your appetite mean's to make it keener or sharper.
"To tow the line" should be "to toe the line." It's what runners do at the beginning of a track race to make sure everyone has an equal start. You toe the line when you do the same thing that everyone else is doing.
There are many other eggcorns that result from misunderstandings of sayings: "for all intensive purposes," "a shoe-in," "with baited breath," "just desserts," etc.
Love "eggcorns". This is the first time I heard that term.
"for all intensive purposes" is a favorite on this forum. "Baited breath" made me laugh--sounds kind of gross, too!
Prisoners in London used to be taken to the gallows after a trial if they were considered guilty. An armed guard would accompany the prisoner in the horse-drawn dray (wheelless vehicle). The guard would stop the dray outside a pub and ask the prisoner if he would like one last drink. If the prisoner said yes, it was referred to as "one for the road." If he declined, that prisoner was "on the wagon."
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