Ever wanted to know where the word OK came from? Rich Monetti let’s us in.
_____
Burning the candle at both ends.
Today the phrase translates to working or playing until night meets day. You burn the candle on both ends. As such, a candle burning on both ends suggested needless consumption when the wax was a valuable commodity in the 18th century. The term evolved to designate an unsustainable approach to life.
Couldn’t get a word in edgewise.
This originates from the attempt to edge one’s way sideways through a crowd by seeking out small gaps among the people. So if you’re attempting to get in a word edgewise, you’re looking for a small break in the dialogue to interject your say.
On the Wagon
One origin arises of the last gasp given before a return to prison. Actually on a wagon en route to their unhappy destination, prisoners were allowed one last stop at the pub before the temperance of prison life. The other refers to the water wagons that used to hose down the streets to eradicate dust. So if you were “On the wagon,” you were drinking water not beer.
Soup to Nuts
Means completing a project from beginning to end. The origins derives from the English dinner breakdown of the meal beginning with soup and ending in the standard dessert of nuts.
A Rock and a Hard Place.
Being stuck between two untenable positions, the origin comes out of the plight of Arizona miners in the 1920s. Their demands not met by management, workers were faced with either the hazardous working conditions of the “rock” or quitting for the uncertainty of a new life elsewhere – the hard place. Thus, stuck between a rock and a hard place.
OK
In the mid 19th Century there was a trend of coining whimsical abbreviations for phrases.
S.P. was small potatoes, no go was K.G. and all right was oll write or O.W. Hence, all correct became oll korrect and O.K. The phrase then gained staying power through the presidential campaign or Martin van Buren. His nickname Old Kinderhook, he seized on the trend and began the OK Club. His political machine then went into overdrive by using the abbreviation to call out opponents – out of kash, out of character, ortful katastrophe, etc. It was also the chance to poke fun at the incumbent. Andrew Jackson was a terrible speller, and van Buren claimed Jackson’s misspelling of all correct was the true origin of the abbreviation.
Let – tennis term.
Let is voiced by the umpire when the serve hits the net, which begs the question – why not net.
Filet in French translates to net. Thus the English shortened and used let to designate the serve hitting the net. The other possibility is the old English word lettan, which means to hinder. So if the ball hit the net, it has been hindered.
More coming up.
_____
This article originally appeared on The Daily Two Cents.
Photo credit: Getty Images