"Fair Game" and the Wonderful Origins of Everyday Expressions

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Don't miss out on turning your gas expenses into something rewarding. And we continue with Our American Stories. And now it's time for our recurring series with author Andrew Thompson. His book is Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town Red, the Curious Origins of Everyday Sayings and Fun Phrases.

He continues here to share another slice from his ultimate guide to understanding these baffling mini mysteries of the English language. The expression fair game means a legitimate target for attack or pursuit and it's an expression that began in the 18th century in England. King George III was a keen hunter and introduced a raft of new laws in an attempt to reduce poaching and protect livestock that the upper class landowners had. The king wanted to keep the hunting as a privilege of the aristocracy and he made it illegal for anyone apart from the landowner and his eldest son to kill any game animals such as pheasants or deer.

The punishments were severe for breach. Only certain animals were exempt and allowed to be killed by others such as vermin or birds that were harmful to the land owners crops. These animals were referred to in the laws as fair game. Feather in your cap means a symbol of honour or achievement and its origins are owed to the times of early warfare. In medieval England knights who exhibited battlefield bravery were awarded feathers to be worn on their helmets. These were considered symbols of status similar to modern day medals that soldiers receive. In the first major battle of the hundred years war in 1346 Prince Edward the Prince of Wales showed bravery. He was known as the black prince and he was only 16 years old when he was awarded the crest of John of the Bohemia, his defeated enemy.

The crest consisted of three ostrich feathers which remains the crest of the Prince of Wales today. The expression feather in your cap was used figuratively by the early 18th century and was popularized in Yankee Doodle the children's nursery rhyme in the 1780s. 15 minutes of fame means a brief period of celebrity or publicity and it was first coined by the American artist Andy Warhol. In the catalogue for a 1968 exhibition of his work in Sweden he included the words in the future everybody will be famous for 15 minutes. While Warhol is credited with the expression a photographer named Nat Finkelstein claims he first said it when working with the artist in 1966.

A crowd had gathered and was trying to get photos of Warhol who remarked that everyone wants to be famous and Finkelstein replied yeah for about 15 minutes Andy. The expression first rate means something of the very best quality and it's a naval expression dating from the time of King Henry VIII. It was during his reign that the British navy began organizing its ships according to their size and strength. The warships were rated on a scale of one to six.

A small ship with little armoury was considered sixth rate while a large and well-armed ship was classed as first rate. The expression soon came to refer to anything of the highest quality. Fit as a fiddle means to be very fit and in good health. And it's actually a shortened version of the original saying as fit as a fiddler. A fiddle is a colloquial name for a violin and in medieval times in England fiddlers would play energetic street performances to throngs of people.

They would dance and weave through the crowd as they played. The best performers were physically fit and agile hence the expression. Fits to a T means it fits exactly and is very appropriate. The expression derives from medieval latin. The T in the phrase stands for tittle which comes from the latin word to tillis meaning tiny. A tittle is a small stroke or point in writing or printing. Originally fits to a tittle the expression was first used by the English theologian John Wycliffe in the 1300s to refer to very minor details.

John Wycliffe from the 1300s to refer to very minor differences in his version of the New Testament. The saying flash in the pan means that something is a disappointment after a promising start and it has military origins from the 18th century. Flintlock muskets contain small priming pans that held charges of gunpowder. When the gun's trigger was pulled the spark ignited the priming powder which usually set off the main powder charge and the muskets bore and fired the weapon. In some cases the priming powder failed to light the main charge.

The priming powder would flash in the pan but no shot would be discharged resulting in disappointment after a positive start. Flavor of the month means something that's in fashion for fleeting time or the latest thing and it began in the 1930s with the American advertising campaigns for ice cream companies. To encourage customers into their parlors ice cream companies ran slogans promoting reduced prices on certain flavors that were less popular. The price of a particular flavor would be dropped for a month-long period in an attempt to increase sales.

The price reduced ice cream would be promoted as the flavor of the month and this method of advertising was so successful in increasing sales that by the 1950s every major ice cream company was using the slogan. To flog a dead horse means to engage in a fruitless effort and it's a mariner's term and derives from what's known as the horse latitudes which is an area with irregular and unreliable winds about 30 degrees to either side of the equator. It's an area of high pressure that can result in weak winds and long periods of calm. Sailors were paid an advance wage at the start of a voyage and the time it took to pay the advance off was known as dead horse time. Because of the lack of wind it sometimes took months to pass through the horse latitudes. This was advantageous to the sailors as they'd already received a payment so they saw little point in working hard to get clear of the area.

To do so would have been flogging a dead horse. To fly by the seat of your pants is to do something without planning or deciding on the course of action as you go along and it's an expression that derives from the world of aviation in the 1930s. Early aircraft had a few navigational aids or sophisticated instruments and flying was predominantly based on the pilot's judgment and feel of the plane. The largest point of contact between the pilot and the plane is the seat so most of the feedback comes through the seat to the pilot and it was through the seat that the pilot could feel the reactions of the plane and fly it accordingly. The expression came into prominence in relation to Douglas Corrigan's 1938 flight from America to Ireland.

In that flight some of the plane's systems failed and Corrigan was forced to fly by the seat of his pants. To fly off the handle means to lose one's temper or get very angry and it's an expression that began with the early American frontier settlers. The iron head of an axe has a hollow area into which the wooden handle is inserted. The handle is fitted tightly but in conditions where the atmosphere is very dry like in middle America the wood can shrink and the axe head loosens.

When being vigorously swung the axe head can sometimes fly off the handle in an uncontrolled manner. To foot the bill means to pay the check normally at a restaurant or something like that and it began in the 1400s and derived from the simple method of adding up the various components of a check or bill and writing the total at the bottom or foot. Originally meaning the total of the account at the foot by the 1800s it had changed to today's colloquial use which means to pay the check rather than to add it up. To be footloose and fancy free means to be free from care or responsibility and it's an expression that lies in the early sailing boats. The foot is the bottom part of a sail that is connected to the boom. Sometimes in strong winds it would become detached from the boom and was regarded as footloose. A footloose sail would flap around and be free to move whichever way the wind blew.

It was considered footloose and fancy free. To freeze the balls off a brass monkey means very cold weather conditions and while many people think that this has vulgar origins it's actually one of the many phrases from the nautical world. Naval artillery guns in the 18th century required gunpowder and were manned by so-called powder monkeys who were usually young agile boys able to move easily through tight passages. They would ferry the powder from the ship's hold to the guns and next to the guns were brass triangles that supported stacks of cannonballs. By association with these young boys these became known as brass monkeys. The advantage of brass was that it wasn't as corrosive as iron but in cold weather it would contract more than other metals.

On particularly cold days the brass racks would contract increasing their openings and causing the balls to fall through. And great job as always to Greg Hengler for producing the piece and for finding the book and a special thanks to Andrew Thompson author of Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town of the Town Red the curious origins of everyday sayings and fun phrases and by the way we've done a really good series go to our americanstories.com and just put in the words Andrew Thompson or Hair of the Dog and you can listen to the whole series here on Our American Stories. Roku has what you need to make your college home away from home feel more like your own make your dorm the place to be with Roku TV or bring a Roku streaming stick to easily access all your favorite free and premium content like iHeartRadio stream your favorite playlist with the Roku vibe setting smart light strips to sync your music to millions of colors and make your dorm feel more like you make your dorm the place to be with Roku TV streaming players and smart lights head to roku.com or your favorite retailer to deck out your dorm. High Five Casino is a social casino with real prizes and big Vegas hits at highfivecasino.com the hottest games right from Vegas and all winnings go straight to your bank account hundreds of exclusive games free daily rewards and come back to get free coins every four hours only at highfivecasino.com High Five Casino is a social casino no purchase necessary void prohibited play responsibly terms and conditions apply see website for details at high the number five casino.com High Five Casino High Icons it's Paris Hilton check out my new single Chasen featuring Meghan Trainor out today I feel so lucky to collaborate with Meghan and how perfectly she put my experience into words listen to Chasen from my new album Infinite Icon on iHeartRadio or wherever you stream music don't forget to visit infiniteicon.com to pre-save my album sponsored by 11-11 Media