{"id":70314,"date":"2014-04-30T11:22:31","date_gmt":"2014-04-30T10:22:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.strattoncraig.com\/insight\/origin-of-phrases-part-five\/"},"modified":"2014-04-30T11:22:31","modified_gmt":"2014-04-30T10:22:31","slug":"origin-of-phrases-part-five","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.strattoncraig.com\/us\/insight\/origin-of-phrases-part-five\/","title":{"rendered":"The origin of phrases: Part five"},"content":{"rendered":"

Five in, five to go. So far we\u2019ve researched the origins of everything from the bee\u2019s knees to the third degree. Be the envy of the pub quiz team with five more British idioms to add to your repertoire.
\nStraight and narrow<\/strong>
\nMeaning:<\/em> Staying on the right path
\nOrigin:<\/em> It\u2019s difficult to be completely certain but most sources agree that it\u2019s likely an alternative to a line in the bible. It reads:\u201cstrait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life” – Matthew 7:14. This refers to the road to heaven, which fits with the idea of keeping on the right path, or the straight and narrow.
\nChew the fat \/ Chew the cud<\/strong>
\nMeaning:<\/em> Chat aimlessly about nothing in particular
\nOrigin:<\/em> There\u2019s no clear origin for this idiom but many sources agree that the first known use in writing was by Henry Fielding in his 1749 book The History of Tom Jones<\/em>: \u201cHaving left her a little while to chew the cud, if I may use that expression, on these first tidings.\u201d The idea being that the cud (or fat) is the part-digested food that cows and other animals chew at leisure \u2013 usually slowly and aimlessly. It makes sense then that the alternative use of this phrase refers to chatting in a relaxed way about nothing in particular.
\nPass the buck<\/strong>
\nMeaning:<\/em> Deflecting blame for an action from yourself onto someone else
\nOrigin:<\/em> A term coined at the poker tables in America. The use of \u2018buck\u2019 to indicate the dealer came about as the result of a buck-handled knife (presumably made from the antler of a deer) being passed around the group when it was the next person\u2019s turn to deal. For those who didn\u2019t want the responsibility of being the dealer, they could pass the buck to the next player. It was used most notably in Mark Twain\u2019s Roughing It<\/em>: \u201cI reckon I can\u2019t call that hand. Ante and pass the buck.\u201d<\/strong>
\nTop notch<\/strong>
\nMeaning:<\/em> Of the highest quality \/ the best
\nOrigin:<\/em> Sadly the origins of this idiom are vague. However, what we do know is that it came from a game played in the 1840s in which the score was kept by moving the marker up notches each time a player gained a point. Unfortunately all the sources we found agreed that there\u2019s no record of what game was being played\u2026
\nTop drawer<\/strong> (bonus phrase, inspired by Top notch)<\/em>:
\nMeaning:<\/em> Of the highest quality
\nOrigin:<\/em> This is a really nice and simple one \u2013 it refers to the top drawer in the bedroom of rich folk in the early 1900s, where items of high value were often kept.
\nUpper case and Lower case<\/strong>
\nMeaning: <\/em>The size of a written or typed letter of the alphabet
\nOrigin: A relatively new term in the English language, these phrases came from the early days of the printing press. Individual letter blocks were organised into separate sections, called cases. The cases containing capital letters were stored higher than those containing smaller letters, hence upper and lower case.
\nIf you\u2019re just jumping on the idiom bandwagon now\u2026fear not, you can read\u00a0Part One<\/a>, Part Two<\/a><\/strong>, Part Three<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and Part Four<\/strong><\/a> right here.
\n 
\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Five in, five to go. So far we\u2019ve researched the origins of everything from the bee\u2019s knees to the third degree. Be the envy of the pub quiz team with five more British idioms to add to your repertoire. Straight and narrow Meaning: Staying on the right path Origin: It\u2019s difficult to be completely certain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[314],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-copywriting-us"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe origin of phrases: Part five - Stratton Craig - Global Copywriting & Content Marketing Agency<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.strattoncraig.com\/us\/insight\/origin-of-phrases-part-five\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The origin of phrases: Part five - Stratton Craig - Global Copywriting & Content Marketing Agency\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Five in, five to go. 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