Dungeon Master Forum

I often love Etymology, and I figured there are enough of you here that enjoy a bit of word play that perhaps we could have some fun with this.

What I would like to do is to over time, post different etymologies for various phrases and words. This offers both insight into the types of words and phrases you encounter on your end of the world (try to translate where possible) and maybe even teach you something about the origins of the thing you're saying as well

now to show there is a no hold barred.. I'll start with a rather nasty one which comes in various flavors..
Fornicating the Canine, screwed the pooch, F-cking the dog..

This term has come up for me a number of times, and I just had to explain it to someone, as they themselves had not encountered the term. The phrase to "F-ck the dog" meant that the person was doing nothing, as in their activity was about as useful as...... it later evolved to "screwed the pooch" which meant a large mistake.. which draws up unfortunate ideas of a bottle of vodka and an early morning utterance of "oops" .. :S

At any rate. here's a rather decent explaination
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=474661

Have you got a word of phrase that's come up a lot lately? or an interesting etymology you've heard recently? share it!

That dog-related one isn't one that I'm familiar with - maybe it's a Canadian thing .
Hmm, I can't think of any etymology-related descriptions right now...but it is nearly 1am and I'm about to go to bed so this probably isn't the best time to be prodding my brain to remember stuff like that . I do find etymological stuff quite interesting, though, so hopefully I'll be able to come up with something at a later date .

I'm game. Like Ameena I'm not up to it right now, not enough sleep last night in my case, but I'll definitely be on the lookout for stuff that fits this topic from now on.

I love this topic.
Here I go:" Many people have become accustomed to saying “god bless you”, when someone sneezes.
All over the world, with variants.
Responses to sneezing.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responses_to_sneezing

What is the origin ?

Now now Sophia, the point is to pick out some you like I could have posted another 30 of those.. I'd like to see what kinds of phrases you encounter or find interesting.

A stitch in time, saves nine.

This phrase has come up a bunch of times from my mother.. she was fond of these kinds of things. However initially I never understood it. How can you stitch time? and saves nine what?

Well as I got older it eventually became clearer. that it referred to clothing repair. That doing a repair "in time" would save you having a larger hole or more stitches unthreaded. I always understood that it meant that I should hurry up and do what she was asking.. but the specific reference wasn't clear.

http://voices.yahoo.com/popular-phrases ... 69620.html

With regards to "bless you" it reffered to a very different topic, that I think we may even have floating around somewhere about superstitions. It was thought that when you sneezed, that your soul sort of jumped out of your body, or shook loose.. and they would lay a blessing on you in order have god snap your soul back in, or at least watch over it so evils spirits didn't enter your body or so on. There was a lot of that at the time, including saying "bread and butter" if you allowed an obstacle to pass between you and a friend you were walking with. The idea being that while you were separated by this barrier from the other person, you were vulnerable to attack from evil spirits and demons.. and you would say this phrase to distract them with hunger until you were back beside your friend. The idea of bread and butter at the time, was so much more appealing than it is now though.. so it had a much greater impact. I've got hundreds of these.. 7 years bad luck for a mirror, opening an umbrella indoors, black cats crossing your path, walking under a ladder, etc.. but that's a different thread, for a different time unless someone can unearth that old dusty thing, I think I started it a few years ago..

A famous one. The origin of "Kilroy was here"....It is fully documented on the web.

Old timers will remember this from the 50's 60's.


I was told this one: A graffiti in a remote shack, telling "I was there before Kilroy", followed by this other one "Who do you think built that place ?".

"What you talkin' 'bout willis!"

I still hear teens throwing this term around and i think.."how the heck do you know that one??!" However, just a few weeks ago it appeared on Netflix, so a whole new generation can appreciate it.

This of course, is from "Different Strokes" a phrase made popular in that TV show by the late Gary Coleman. It's in those moments that I hear it come out of younger persons mouth that I feel I've prematurely aged myself an additional 20 years or more.. especially when they are talking about songs from the 80's being golden oldies, and the 90's they were in diapers.. :S c'mon.. that's Cindy Lauper.. not Mozart.. it's not a golden oldie

are there any old phrases you use that make you feel ... erm.. aged?

Cool Cat? from the 1940s?
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/cool ... lness.html

This one for computer geeks of the programmer kind.


Little endian ( Intel ) Big endian ( Motorola ).

1 What is it ?
2 What is the origin ?
3 How it came in computer science ?

1 is well known among real programmers.
2 might be easy in english cultures.
2 & 3 are unknown elsewhere, as far as I know. The fun is here

I seem to recall hearing that the whole "bless you" thing on sneezing was something to do with the bubonic plague - sneezing was one of the first symptoms so saying "bless you" might have been a kind of erm..."Omg I hope you don't have the Plague - maybe if you're blessed then you won't be ill"...or something like that. Or that might be an urban myth, like the one about "Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses" being about the Plague, when it isn't because it was around before then, or something.
I've heard that "Pop Goes the Weasel" is about going around pubs in London or something. But again, it might be an urban myth. I don't know what other kind of eagle you might go in and out of, but there you go .
There are plenty of books about this kind of thing - I've seen them at work and I find them very interesting. But I can never be sure what's true and what's an urban myth. This kind of stuff often comes up on QI as well (where it's frequently outed as false/misinformed) .

while not originating from the plague, it appears it was associated with the plague later in the UK, and subsequently modified to reflect that. According to this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ring_a_Ring_o'_Roses

http://www.yourdictionary.com/behind-someone-s-back

I've disliked the term "behind my back" "behind his/her back" etc. It's one of those statements that cancels it'self out.. if you're BEHIND my back..then technically doesn't that make you in FRONT of me?

also.. one little two little three little endians..
http://www.ling.upenn.edu/courses/Sprin ... /ADfn1.htm

In front of your back?

at my back, behind me, when I'm not around.. so many options..

oh, I'm blind, ask the harpies

Touch wood, or knock on wood. I hear this (and say it) often. My mother always said this and would touch wood and also touch my head (or her own) and say "hairy wood's the best"
Here is what I found on the origin:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/knock-on-wood.html

a bird in the hand..

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/a-bi ... -hand.html

Red sky at night, sailors delight
Red sky in the morning, sailors warning

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/red- ... night.html

ahh nice one, I've always loved that one

Thanks and I have always wondered about this one - Catch 22

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/catch-22.html

love it, 11 up, 11 down

So I have been trying to think of another one here that has always stumped me and I came up with "In one fowl swoop". I certainly learned something - first being it is actually in/at one FELL swoop

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/at-o ... swoop.html

I've been missing this conversation

should not (never) lift a gift horse by the mouth.

That's "Never look a gift horse in the mouth" .
The origin of this one, I believe, is that you can tell a horse's age by looking at their teeth. If someone gifts you a horse, it's kind of insulting to look at the teeth as though to imply that the person might've given you a horse who was old and knackered and stuff, just to get rid of said horse rather than deliberately being generous or whatever.

yes, that's how my mom would have explained it to me when I was 10 lol. I know the meaning, but when we're 10 we don't I think the proper response is to say thank you

My wife has a talent for saying those things the wrong way 'round. Though most of them i didn't know before, because they are all from france.. so it wasn't a bid deal to me Something about "he who goes hunting, loses his dog" .. no idea what the real saying was..

not to count my chickens before they've hatched, and i certainly need to get my ducks in a row.. but I think bird joke origin is certainly worth 2 in the bush..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Why_did_th ... he_road%3F

No...no.. That's "A bird in the hand is worth two bushes".

I learned that lesson again tonight. (Nothing to do with DM!)

nice cows, quips and quillets

don't have a bird over it

Ahhh...nice to see action here

Cowsmanaut - I think the saying may be "He who goes hunting loses his place"

https://www.duolingo.com/comment/1302475

Take with a grain of salt is a saying that I hear all the time:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/take ... -salt.html