Red Herrings and White Elephants

by Albert Jack

  When something or someone is Clapped Out, it is worn out, exhausted and unable to continue. For the origin of this phrase we delve into the sport of hare coursing, a centuries-old custom and the forerunner of today’s greyhound racing. While greyhound racing is relatively civilised, its predecessor was barbaric and cruel. In the name of fun a pair of greyhounds would be set after a hare in a race to catch it. Often, in the countryside, the chase would take quite some time and the hare, in a bid to catch its breath, would find a chance to stop and sit up on its haunches. Its fear and exhaustion was so great, and its breathing so heavy, that the hare’s chest heaved in and out, forcing the front legs to move backwards and forwards in time, giving the appearance of clapping. This is what led to the phrase ‘clapped out’ entering the English language.

  Fair Game is used to describe somebody, or something, that may be legitimately pursued and assaulted. In the 1700s King George III introduced 32 new hunting laws in a bid to reduce poaching and protect landowners, such as himself, from theft of livestock. The idea was to keep hunting the privilege of the aristocracy, but was cloaked in the notion that without controls game stock would be severely depleted. By the beginning of the following century it was illegal for anyone to remove game from any land apart from the squire and his eldest son. Anybody taking even a single pheasant could be transported to Australia for seven years. But some small animals and birds, mainly vermin, were not included in the legislation and these were listed in the regulations as ‘fair game’.

  The Game Is Up is used to suggest a secret scheme or a plot has been revealed. It is often thought to relate to a sporting event that has come to an end, but in fact its origin lies in hunting. Those hunting game on country estates employ beaters who drive pheasants and other game birds out into the open (see Beating Around The Bush). The shout ‘the game is up’ suggests the bird’s hiding place has been found and they have been driven up into the path of the guns. The shoot can begin.

  To take something Hook, Line And Sinker means to be gullible enough to believe a dubious tale in its entirety. A hungry and gullible fish will not only swallow a baited hook but also the lead weight (a sinker) and some of the line.

  Taking Pot Luck means to take whatever is randomly given. This expression was widely used in the Middle Ages when a cooking pot containing a range of ingredients, such as a stew, was always on the fire. Any visitor being offered a meal would be ladled out whatever was in the pot and they called that ‘pot luck’. This is also the origin of the phrase Pot Shot, which meant the hunter would shoot at any animal he saw, rather than track a particular game, to go in the family cooking pot.

  Red Herring is used to describe something that provides a false or misleading clue, often in a detective story. In the 18th and 19th centuries herring was one of the most widely caught fish in the seas around Britain. In those pre-refrigerated days it would be preserved by salting and smoking. This smoking process would turn the herring a deep brownish red colour. Heavily smoked herring would also have a particularly strong and pungent smell. For the origins of the phrase we turn to hunting in the early 1800s and hunt saboteurs. It’s true: there must have been an early version of the modern fox lover as on hunt days the strong-smelling fish would be dragged along the hunt route and away from the foxes. This confused the hounds, which followed the scent of the ‘red herring’ rather than that of the fox. So effective was this tactic that the phrase passed into common English usage.

  A Stalking Horse is a name given to someone who is put forward to mask another’s ambitions and mislead an opponent. Stalking horses rarely benefit from their own actions; instead they agree to act in order to gauge support for a challenge to an incumbent leader. The phrase stems from an old English hunting practice, dating back to 1519, whereby a huntsman would walk behind a specially trained horse and reach his target without alarming it, as he would have done if he went towards it unhidden and on foot. Once within range the hunter could bag the unsuspecting game with relative ease.

  16: SIMPLE PHRASES,

  SIMPLE ORIGINS

  When something is Above Board it implies everything has been carried out honestly and in the proper way, and there is no need for suspicion. This is a gaming term and relates to the practice of a player keeping his hands above the gaming board at all times, where the other players could see them. This way nobody could be accused of cheating. Even a player simply scratching his knee could lead to suggestions the game had not been played fully ‘above the board’.

  Alive And Kicking is used to suggest someone or something is lively and active. In the last century the origin was thought to relate to a market fishmonger who used the phrase to indicate his fish were so fresh they were still ‘kicking’ in the trays. But there is an earlier theory which will have us believe the phrase was in use during the Middle Ages when, during pregnancy, expectant mothers would describe their unborn as ‘alive and kicking’ in the womb.

  All In The Same Boat is an expression used to illustrate a group of people all facing exactly the same benefit, or adverse affect, of a particular event. The phrase has a nautical origin and alludes to sailors in high seas all facing exactly the same peril should the ship go down, regardless of whether they were the captain or a lowly deck hand. Everybody faced the same risk.

  As Bright As A Button is used to describe somebody who is mentally alert and quick-witted. The expression dates back to early military uniforms that had metal buttons, which needed to be kept polished and sparkling.

  To Bank On Someone means to rely upon or completely trust a person. Prior to the modern bank many people kept whatever wealth they had either about their person or hidden away in as safe a place as possible. In medieval Venice, once the centre of world trade, men set up benches or counters in the main squares and would trade the various world currencies that passed around the city. These men were universally trusted and relied upon and traders could borrow, exchange and even leave money with them while they returned to their native countries. The bench men would then trade that currency with other travellers and traders would often collect even larger sums than they left behind the next time they returned to Venice. The system was an early form of world banking and the Venetians were regarded as people who could be ‘banked upon’ (or with). The Italian word for bench or counter is ‘banco’.

  To Barge In on something is to intrude or abruptly interrupt a situation. Since the 17th century development of the English waterways, which linked most major towns and cities, the boats used have been flat-bottomed barges. Due to the cumbersome handling of these vessels, collisions were common and by the late 1800s schoolboys used the term for bumping into or ‘hustling’ somebody. By the turn of the century the phrase had entered the common English language meaning to interrupt without invitation, sometimes with physical force.

  If you are dressed in your Best Bib And Tucker you are wearing your finest outfit, your Sunday best. In the 17th century it was common for all society men to wear fashionable bibs to protect their morning and dinner suits from spills. The women wore lace or muslin, which was tucked into the top of low cut dresses (to protect their modesty) and known as tuckers. Couples dressed in their finest for special occasions were known to have gone out in their ‘best bib and tuckers’. The phrase is now applied to either sex in their best clothes.

  A Bigwig is a slang term for somebody in authority. In 17th-century England the fashion was for gentlemen to wear wigs, a tradition that lasts to this day in areas such as the law courts and the House of Lords. Back then gentlemen’s wigs were not only fashionable but also indicated social status–the aristocracy, bishops and High Court judges were all afforded full-length wigs which represented their position at the top of society. This level or class became known as the ‘bigwigs’. The tradition is fading these days as many High Court judges opt not to wear the traditional head-dress, believing it makes the judiciary look remote and out of touch.

  To Bite Off More Than You Can Chew is an expression we use to indicate som
eone has taken on more than they can manage, perhaps greedily. This is an American phrase traceable to the 1800s and the popular habit of chewing tobacco. Such tobacco was produced in lengths and it was as common to offer others a ‘bite’ as it is these days to offer somebody a cigarette from a packet. The greedy would take such a large bite they were unable to chew it properly but tried instead to break it down and save some for later, without their benefactor realising it. Naturally people became wise to this, hence the admonition ‘don’t bite off more than you can chew’.

  To be in the Black Books is to be out of favour and disgraced. Originally a black book held the names of those who were to be punished. Henry VIII, during his battle against the Pope in the 16th century, compiled a black book listing monasteries he regarded as promoters of ‘manifest sin, vicious, carnal and abominable living’. Using the Black Book as evidence, the King was able to persuade Parliament to dissolve the monasteries and assign their wealth to the Crown. Given that burning at the stake and public disembowelment were among Henry’s favourite methods of persuasion, it paid not to be in his Black Book, and it was Henry’s purges that give rise to the idiom we use. Later in the century merchants used black books to make lists of people who failed to pay for goods and of those who had been made bankrupt. In 1726, The Secret History Of The University Of Oxford records that the Proctor had a ‘black book’ and that ‘no person whose name was listed may proceed to a degree’.

  A Black Leg is a person who continues to work when his colleagues are out on strike. Originally a northern mining term which evolved from working miners being identifiable by their black boots and coal-covered black trousers. To see a ‘black leg’ walking past during a strike meant you saw a strike-breaker.

  A Blacklist is a list naming those who have broken laws or other agreements and codes. This is closely associated to Henry’s Black Book but as a list, once compiled, names were neither added nor removed as they might be in a running book. The first Blacklist was compiled during the 1660s after Charles II was crowned King. One of the first things the Restoration Parliament did was to have a list of names drawn up of all those held responsible for the trial and execution of his father, Charles I, in 1649. Those on the list were ruthlessly hunted down and publicly executed in an act of revenge. The new King, however, was opposed to the bloodshed and fought, unsuccessfully, for clemency. In the end only nine of the original 60 names on the blacklist, were publicly slaughtered.

  To have a Bone To Pick with someone suggests some sorting out until all the facts of a particular dispute are apparent to all parties. The phrase stems from the 16th century and relates to a dog biting and chewing on a butcher’s bone until it was picked clean. A Bone Of Contention suggests an argument or a fight and also originates in the 16th century relating to two dogs fighting over a bone.

  To Buttonhole a person is to detain and talk to somebody who may have previously been avoiding the conversation. The phrase is a reference to the practice, dating back to the 18th century, of gentlemen discreetly slipping a finger into the buttonhole of another’s morning suit, ensuring they stay and listen to what they have to say. A variation of this was to hold on to the suit’s buttons (button-hold). Either way it was a tactful manner of restraining somebody for a quiet word.

  When something is or has been On The Cards it means it was predictable and very likely to happen. This is a simple phrase with a simple origin. In the late 18th century, fortune-tellers were a very popular part of society and tarot cards were regularly used to predict a person’s future. When a predictable event took place it was common to conclude that it had previously been ‘on the cards’.

  To be Carpeted is to be reprimanded in a severe way by a superior. The saying can be traced to the days of the Victorian civil service where status was of utmost importance and to attain a level which afforded a civil servant an office with a carpet was success indeed. To be reprimanded in such a way as a person was moved back to an office with wooden floorboards was considered serious and shameful. Status-conscious Victorians would want to avoid a ‘carpeting’ at all costs. How did they ever create that Empire?

  Off The Cuff means speaking without notes or carrying out a task with no real preparation. In Victorian times men wore shirts with stiff, detachable collars and cuffs, making them easier to keep clean. In order to give the impression they were speaking to an audience from the heart politicians and after-dinner speakers wanted to address gatherings without any visible script or notes. They would, however, write key notes about topics they would like to cover on their cuffs which they could refer to from time to time. They might also make additional notes during the speech of a fellow politician so they would be reminded to counter any points made by their opponents. This all gave the impression the speaker was fully prepared and articulate enough not to need a script but in fact they had notes all the time, written out ‘on the cuffs’.

  As Dead As A Dodo means long obsolete, finished and no longer available. A dodo was a large flightless bird that can thank the Portuguese for its name. Being flightless, because its wings were too small for its fat body, the dodo would be taken on board a ship at harbour and, unable to escape, kept alive as fresh meat to be eaten by hungry sailors as required. When the Portuguese found them on the island of Mauritius they named them ‘doudo’, meaning stupid in their language. By the end of the 17th century they had been eaten into extinction (becoming one of the first recorded species to do so) and the expression passed over into the English language.

  A Dead Ringer is somebody who looks just like another. In medieval Britain the medical profession was not quite as refined as it is now, and often anybody found not to show signs of life was regarded as dead, when they might have been simply unconscious. (This was also before comas were fully understood.) It was not uncommon for bodies to be exhumed later and corpses found with their fingers worn to the bone, an obvious indication somebody had returned to consciousness and tried to claw their way out of a coffin. So horrific was this image that the English gentry began mistrusting medical opinions and buried their loved ones with string attached to their wrists, connected to a bell above the grave. Anybody who returned to consciousness and found themselves prematurely buried could attract attention by ringing the bell and it has been recorded this actually worked. Many ‘bodies’ were exhumed after bells were rung and some people carried on with their normal lives. But when spotted in the street startled acquaintances would cry to each other, ‘That looks just like Jack Jones–I thought he was dead’ to which they would receive the reply, ‘Yes, he must be a dead ringer.’ And that, believe it or not, is true.

  Somebody who has Gone To The Dogs is thought to be down on his luck and whose appearance and behaviour has deteriorated. At the great medieval dining tables scraps and partially eaten food was usually thrown out for the dogs. Often beggars and the starving could be found rooting around with the dogs trying to find something to eat.

  To Earmark something is to intend to set something aside as your own. The origin of this saying is found in the ancient art of marking cattle ears with a ring or a tab. Owners, or potential owners at market, would set cattle aside in this way, indicating an intention to buy. Centuries prior to that this practice even included human property: slaves would have ‘their ears borne through with an awl’ to identify ownership. This practice is also the root of the later fashion of wearing earrings. In relatively recent years the term spread to the wider use it has today.

  Eavesdroppers are people who deliberately try to overhear another’s conversation without detection. Centuries ago houses in England had no gutters and drain pipes. Instead the roofs extended far past the walls of the house enabling rainwater to drip to the ground away from the building. The area between the dripping rain and the walls was originally known as the ‘eavesdrip’ and latterly the ‘eavesdrop’. The eavesdrop also served as a shelter for passing pedestrians who would stand close to the walls of a building and out of the rain, but they could also overhear conversations goi
ng on inside a house, and became known as ‘eavesdroppers’.

  At The End Of My Tether means I am at the very limit of my patience and self-control. In the Middle Ages a grazing animal would often be tethered to a post, ensuring it didn’t stray beyond a certain small area. But, once the animal arrived at the limit of its tether, unable to quite reach pastures new, it would become frustrated, irritable and sometimes traumatised to the point of despair. Sound familiar?

  To Fly In The Face of something means to do the opposite of what is usually expected, and often at some risk. This phrase has been in use for centuries and relates to hens who, when attacked by foxes, fly around their faces in an attempt to confuse and distract the wily old predator. Risky business indeed.

  Freelance workers–often self-employed writers, journalists or musicians–are not continuously employed by a single organisation. In the Middle Ages when knights and lords fought for supremacy (and land), a freelancer was exactly that, a lance soldier for hire. The word used these days is mercenary but once upon a time a ‘free lance’ was exactly how it sounded. The phrase passed into modern English language as late as 1820 when Sir Walter Scott wrote in his novel Ivanhoe: ‘Ivanhoe offers Richard the services of my Free Lancers.’

  Having a Frog In The Throat suggests a person is unable to speak easily and clearly. There was a time, prior to clean drinking water being freely available, that folk would drink water drawn from ponds and streams. Medieval legend will have us believe that people feared swallowing frogspawn lest tadpoles would hatch in the stomach. The idea of a live frog trying to make an escape by way of the throat isn’t a pleasant one (although with garlic and a little white wine sauce it doesn’t seem too bad to the French).