Do you know any of these phrases: “think of England,” “a gun in your pocket,” “go nuclear,” “rough and tumble,” “knock-down, drag-out” or “at the drop of a hat”?
Do you know what it means to “go to the mattresses”?
There’s no doubt that great American cliches are, well, cliches. Whether we speak in street slang or have a broad, beautiful vocabulary, we all use little bits of language that come from another time and place.
However you like to talk, it can be funny and fun to discover the origins of classic phrases and what popularized them.
Ralph Keyes sought to explain hundreds of sayings, giving the history behind them, how they developed and how they’re used now, in his book “I Love It When You Talk Retro: Hoochie Coochie, Double Whammy, Drop a Dime, and the Forgotten Origins of American Speech.” We asked Keyes for the scuttlebutt.
Q: Have you always loved language, particularly catchphrases and cliches? Why did you write this book?
A: I’ve always been alert to catchphrases and slang. I’m writing a new book now on euphemisms called “Euphemania.” When we use these phrases, we assume everyone knows what we are talking about, except when they don’t.
Q: What’s your favorite saying or phrase? Are there any you use often?
A: I love “98-pound weakling.” I love “ka-ching.” I love “secret decoder rings.” It is just fascinating to me how old ads, old comic books and old movies leave behind a whole language. I love “cooties.”
Q: Is there a saying that really bothers you?
A: I used to love the word “kerfuffle,” but it’s so overused now. And “man bites dog” — not everyone knows what that means.
Q: In exploring the origins of these phrases, were there any that surprised you?
A: “Scuttlebutt” — I had no idea it referred to a keg of water on a ship where sailors would gather to share gossip. “Scuttlebutt” really surprised me. I was surprised to find out that there were no “secret decoder rings.” There were secret decoder pins, but no rings. “Ka-ching” came from a Rally’s hamburger ad in 1982.
Q: I noticed that many catchphrases come from “The Godfather” and from boxing. Why is that? Why not tennis?
A: That’s a really good question. Boxing has a long history of good sports writing, and they would put the words in their writing. Football doesn’t have the same literary tradition as boxing.
“The Godfather”: I think that’s just a tribute to Mario Puzo’s great writing. The horse head, “go to the mattresses,” “make your bones.” These are great phrases.
Q: What are your predictions — what words will be retro terms in the future?
A: I like “Truman Show.” This whole notion that we’re on TV and we don’t know it. Future retro terms might include the most lasting phrase from the 2008 campaign, “going rogue.” The buzzwords of the hour are “reboot,” “reset” and “hit the reset button.”
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