4. Spill The Beans

Meaning: To reveal a secret.

The story: There are many accounts on the origin of this idiom but the closest one goes back to ancient Greece’s electoral system. Before, candidates for a public office would line up their helmets upside down. Each citizen has two colors of beans—black and white. They put these clandestinely in the helmet of the man they want (white bean) or they don’t want (black bean). The beans would be counted and the winner will be declared, supposedly without having to reveal the bean count. So, spilling them—and, in some cases, accidentally knocking the helmets over—would reveal that very secret.

3. An Arm And A Leg

Meaning: To pay for something that is extremely expensive.

The story: It is actually not as gory as we thought. A popular myth that explains its origin goes back in time when portraits are done by painters. Headshots were popular then because it’s easier. But sometimes, customers would want a full body painting within the same range. Back then, painters would charge based on the number of limbs as it is harder to paint these proportionately and perfectly. So as a loophole, painters would agree but the subject would have to hide his arms or legs.

2. Cold Shoulder

Meaning: To express dismissal or the act of disregarding someone.

The story: Folklore has it that in the olden times, if a host wanted to let his/her guests know that it’s time for them to leave, an inferior cut of cold meat—shoulder part of a mutton, in particular—is served to them instead of the customary welcoming hot meal or roast.

1. Saved By The Bell

Meaning: To avert a bad outcome by last-minute intervention.

The story: Many thought this came from boxing matches where potentially decision-making punches are avoided because of the bell. But a more arcane folk etymology brings us back to ancient England where digging up used graves to make room for newer ones was a common practice. These gravediggers would often find that the corpses would have scratches on their limbs and would be in an awkward crouching position rather than the relaxed sleeping one. They figured out that some of the bodies might have been buried while they were still alive.

So, to avoid that, they started burying the dead with the practice of tying the wrist to a rope that is connected to a bell just above the tomb. Some gravediggers would be hired to watch for bells ringing beyond the grave—a possible origin for the idiom “a dead ringer”—and since their work is literally in a graveyard, this is also pointed to be the origin of the term ‘graveyard shift’.

Got any other idiomatic expression and its origin to share? Tell us about them below!

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