Common Phrases and Their Origin

[Hoosier Gun Coat]

" the hole nine yards". (everything or all of it).

It's my understanding that the airplanes in WWII would hold 9 yards (27ft.) of ammo. If you unleashed hell on enemy aircraft, you gave them the whole nine yards.


Antone have others????

 

[IndyGunworks]

The, curse word F*** comes from the days of the salem witch trials where a woman accused of adulty would be put in prison with this abbreviation above her cell stateing her sentance..... For Unlawful Cardinal Knowledge

wikepedia just proved me wrong when i tried to back up where i heard this from

Four-letter word - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


also, mods feel free to delete this post if you see fit, i do not mean it in its vulgar sence, rather the spirit of this thread and its the only thing i "thought" i knew where it came from.

 

[shooter521]

I love these little factoids; problem is that most common words/phrases have many of them, and it's almost impossible to know which if any are true.

 

[Scutter01]

Cecil Adams covered the phrase "the whole nine yards" in his column The Straight Dope. It was an interesting analysis.

The Straight Dope: What's the origin of "the whole nine yards"?

Regarding the WW2 ammo belt theory, he has this to say (in response to a reader):

Cecil replies:
You're not dragging me into this one again. To quote Evan Morris, the Word Detective (The Word Detective): "'The whole nine yards' first cropped up in print in the mid-1960s. . . . Even if machine gun belts really were 27 feet long in WWII, why has the phrase 'the whole nine yards' not been found in a single published account of that very well-documented war?"
— Cecil Adams

 

[eldirector]

"Balls Out" is not as dirty as we think.

Originally from steam engines and the rotating mass used for a governor/regulator. A pair of metal "balls" on hinged arms that would spin faster and in a larger circles (due to centripetal force) as the RPM increased.

"Balls Out" is just full throttle.

"Balls to the Wall" may be the same origin, as the weights would be fully extended (to the wall) at full throttle.

 

[printcraft]

Here is an oldie but goldie.


A house divided against itself cannot stand

Origin
From the Bible, Matthew 12:25 (King James Version):

"And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand".
​

 

[JustOneMore]

The Ral McCoy

During the U.S.prohibition era, it was common for rum-runner captains to add water to bottles to stretch their profits, or to re-label it as better goods. One American rum-runner captain and boat builder, William McCoy, became famous for never watering his booze, and selling only real top-quality products. Because of this, some accounts place McCoy as the source of the term "the Real McCoy."

 

[IndyGunworks]

See i learned in grade school the real mcoy comes from a man named mcoy making an auto lubricating devide that lubricated the axles or soemthing under steam locamotives as they drove over it... some clones hit the market and didnt work causing problem so people would be sure to buy the real mcoy.

once again though, wikepedia is not my friend.... i am 0 for 2 time for me to leave this thread.

 

[Hoosier Gun Coat]

The, curse word F*** comes from the days of the salem witch trials where a woman accused of adulty would be put in prison with this abbreviation above her cell stateing her sentance..... For Unlawful Cardinal Knowledge

wikepedia just proved me wrong when i tried to back up where i heard this from

Four-letter word - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


also, mods feel free to delete this post if you see fit, i do not mean it in its vulgar sence, rather the spirit of this thread and its the only thing i "thought" i knew where it came from.

I thought that was a Van Halen album.

 

[PatMcGroyne]

The whole nine yards

refers to when the I.G., D.I., etc. reaches into your a--s and rips all of you out, up to the tongue (Gastro-intestinal tract). That entire digestive tract would measure 27-feet, from the average G.I. On another: F ornication & U nlawful C arnal K nowledge; read that in PlayBoy, 1959. Pat.

 

[Integraholic]

"Balls Out" is not as dirty as we think.

Originally from steam engines and the rotating mass used for a governor/regulator. A pair of metal "balls" on hinged arms that would spin faster and in a larger circles (due to centripetal force) as the RPM increased.

"Balls Out" is just full throttle.

"Balls to the Wall" may be the same origin, as the weights would be fully extended (to the wall) at full throttle.

"Centrifugal." Sorry. That one always bugs me for some reason. About the same as when people say "supposively" instead of "supposedly."

 

[jsharmon7]

Centripetal force - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[jmiller676]

Centrifugal is a reaction to centripetal force. The connector on the "balls" is the action force and the "balls" trying to leave the center is the reaction force.

--sorry I have nothing else to contribute to this thread.--

 

[Integraholic]

Centripetal force - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yes, but he was referencing centrifugal force.

Centrifugal force - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[jmiller676]

The only force acting on the body in motion "balls" is the centripetal force. The centrifugal force is a reaction to that force on the body in motion. Newtons third law-For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The forces are two vectors with equal magnitudes in different directions.

 

[redneckmedic]

Taking a bath.... Bath is a hebrew measurement of about 6 gallons. Thus taking a bath in historic times was a wash tub of about 6 gallons.... Which goes to... "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water" when families rarely took bathes, and when they did the order was done by family importance.... Father, mother, children by age. By the time the infant was done the water was so dirty, it on occasion got thrown out, or presumed it was possible.


Saved by the bell. When folks died or would have thought to have died they were placed in the coffin and set for the "wake" or grace period before burial. With a rope in their hand tied to the bell. If the person was not dead they could ring the bell before burial and be "saved by the bell". This period of time was also known as the "wake" in case they actually did.

 

[redneckmedic]

Two birds with on stone....

Not sure where this came from..but why only one stone?
Was there ever a shortage of stones where it was crucial that you had to kill 2 birds at a time?

 

[eldirector]

"Centrifugal." Sorry. That one always bugs me for some reason. About the same as when people say "supposively" instead of "supposedly."

Pretty sure I meant centripetal.

Green arrow. What forces the balls to move in a circle, rather than go flying off in a straight line.
Stole the graphic from here:
How does a centrifuge work? - Explain that Stuff!

 

[eldirector]

Two birds with on stone....

Not sure about the stone, but it looks like this one has been around a LONG time. Seems like many languages/cultures have something similar.
To kill two birds with one stone - WordReference Forums

 

[Integraholic]

Pretty sure I meant centripetal.

Green arrow. What forces the balls to move in a circle, rather than go flying off in a straight line.
Stole the graphic from here:
How does a centrifuge work? - Explain that Stuff!

Read other posts and see that this dead horse has already been beaten.