SILLY SAYINGS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 29 September 1938, Page 8

SILLY SAYINGS

THE NUMBER ARE LEGION. The number of silly things we go on saying every day are legion. Consider a few cf them. “The apple of the eye” has nothing to do with an apple. “? nrfle” is a corruption of “pupil a doll”—the diminutive picture of oneself seen in another’s eye. “Like it or lump it” does not refer to a “lump” but a “sulk.” In Devonshire, whence the saying comes, “lumps” is equivalent to “sulks.” “Not worth a fig” concerns no fruit but the Italian word “flee—a snap of the fingers.” “To write like an angel” has no connection with a heavenly spirit but a real man, Angel Virgicios," a Greek of the 15th century noted for calligraphy. “To rain cats and dogs” has no connection with domestic animals, but is another corruption this time of “catadupes” —“waterfalls.” “A pretty kettle of fish” does not mean the kitchen kettle but a "kittle” —a kind of weir for catching fish. When you say “he’s a great gun” you do not infer artillery but a flagon of ale which was called a “gun” when the expression was first used. ‘‘Apple-pie order,” of course. has nothing to do with cooking. Of old a knight was “cap-a-pied” when armed from head to foot. In French "a plis” means "folded in plaits.” The “applepie” expression is based on a corruption of both. “Blind as a beetle” is quite ridiculous, as beetles are not blind at all. Their flight is so rapid they blunder against obstacles and appear to be blind. The average person goes on saying these things without thinking, and no doubt will continue to do so for a long time yet.