Where Does That Phrase Come From? Quiz

Answer: François Villon

François Villon is believed to have been born in 1431 and died some 33 years later in 1464. Villon was a French poet, thief, killer, barroom brawler, and vagabond. He is perhaps best known for the interconnected poem (closer to short stories) "Testaments" written while Villon was in a French prison. In the "Ballade des dames du temps jadis" (itself a part of "Testaments") Villon originally asked in French, "Mais où sont les neiges d'antan?". In the 19th Century the poem, with its questions, was translated to English by the English poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti as "Where are the snows of yesteryear?". The phrase has been a popular refrain for centuries.

Little is known for certain about Villon other than the fact that after his death his works became immensely popular. In the English lexicon the phrase "where are the snows of yesteryear" has achieved Villon a sort of contradictory immortality. The poem itself is a lament on the transitory nature of life and the certainty of death, as Villon asks in successive verses where the "snows" (famous women) of classical literature have gone. Villon's work, however, has stood the test of time and is quoted and referenced in such varied works as Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds" and D.H. Lawrence's "Lady Chatterley's Lover". Rimbaud and Baudelaire are both well known French poets from the 19th Century who credit Villon as an influence.

Answer: bad breath

The phrase was used to sell Listerine mouthwash. To promote their product, Listerine allegedly sought out and retold the personal experiences of girls who desperately wanted to settle down but seemed always to be passed over for the all important marriage proposal.

The ads with the phrase were first used in the 1920s. The intent of the ad was to give the "poor" left out girls a possible explanation for their lack of success in snaring a man. The ads, mostly in magazines and newspapers, usually depicted a woman complaining to a friend that she couldn't get a marriage prospect.

The "friend" pointed out that the woman was "getting on for thirty" and she had bad breath; and that unless the unmarried girl cleared up her bad breath (using Listerine) she would never be the bride.

The advertisements sold millions of bottles of mouthwash, and perpetuated the myth that marriage was a women's purpose; they also gave the English language a new saying. Today "always a bridesmaid never a bride" is used mostly to describe someone (team or group) that come close to success but cannot quite reach the goal.

While couched in archaic sexist phraseology the concept remains universal and the saying lingers.

Answer: Roman

The origin of this phrase is, as with most classical references, debatable. A common view says the phrase refers to the wages or "salary" a Roman soldier received. The theory states that the soldiers were, during the late Republic and early stages of the Roman Empire, paid in salt. Salt is acknowledged to have been seen as a valuable commodity in the ancient world. As a commodity, salt in ancient Greece or Rome had a significant defined value. Thus, as a means of currency, a soldier's rank and value would determine the amount of salt he received as compensation. A soldier thus needed to "prove" his value or be "worth the salt" he received. Eventually, soldiers were paid with physical currency, and among other items a Roman soldier was required to purchase his own salt. Today, the modern word "salary" is supposedly derived from the Latin "salarium" which Latin linguists translate as "soldier's allowance for the purchase of salt". Whether the Roman soldier was paid in salt or not, the importance of salt exists within many cultures. Until the modern era salt was itself often a difficult and expensive commodity. Prior to refrigeration, salt was one of the most effective means to preserve meat, and it is an essential mineral for human health. Indeed, there are numerous Biblical references to salt as an important element in religious ritual and wealth determination.

The first use of the phrase "worth his salt" in common literature seems to be amongst English authors in the 19th century. A famous quotation of the later 19th century is from Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island", "it was plain from every line of his body that our new hand was worth his salt."

Answer: Daniel

"The writing on the wall" gets its meaning as "imminent doom or misfortune" or "a predetermination of the future" from the book of Daniel (Chapter 5). In the Biblical story, during a banquet hosted by the Babylonian King Belshazzar, there appeared a "hand" with no body that wrote on the palace wall in Aramaic "Mene, Mene, Tekel, u-Pharsin." The story of the meaning of the words becomes the basis for the dangers of profaning the symbols of the Hebrew god. During the dinner, Belshazzar toasted the power of the Babylonian gods using "holy golden and silver vessels" looted by Babylonian forces from Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem. Soon afterward, the ghostly hand appears and writes the mysterious words.

The kings advisors cannot devise a meaning in the words themselves, other to note they translate into denotations of weights and measures.

The King sends for Daniel, an Israelite slave from Jerusalem, who had found favor in court of the king's predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel warns the king of the folly of his arrogant blasphemy. Daniel deduces the writing as "the matter: mina, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; shekel, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting; half-mina, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians." (Daniel 5:25-28). That night, Belshazzar was killed and the Persians sacked the capital city. So, in addition to being the source of the "writing on the wall" this same story also describes the origin of the phrase to be "weighed and found wanting".

Answer: Horatio Nelson

The phrase to "turn a blind eye" is commonly attributed to British Naval hero Admiral Horatio Nelson. Nelson had been blinded in one eye in 1794 during his successful capture of Corsica. In 1801, during the Battle of Copenhagen, Nelson served as Vice Admiral to Admiral Sir Hyde Parker. Sir Parker sent a signal to Nelson's forces giving him the suggestion (but leaving Nelson with discretion) to withdraw via the system of transmitting battle orders with signal flags. When the offer to withdraw was shown to Nelson, he allegedly lifted his telescope up to his blind eye, said "I really do not see the signal", and his forces continued to press home the attack securing a British victory.

The modern definition of to "turn a blind eye" stems more from the belief that Nelson disobeyed his orders and instead did what he wanted. While this is ultimately not in line with the historical record, the concept that turning a blind eye equates to ignoring bad news or risks remains. While unconnected to the origin of the phrase, both Drake and Churchill were daring risk-taking British leaders who certainly must have "turned a blind eye" in their careers.

Answer: making thunder

The origin of the phrase "stealing someone's thunder" starts with John Dennis. Dennis was a largely unsuccessful and soon to be forgotten playwright of the early 18th Century. In 1704, Dennis staged a production of his play "Appius and Virginia" at a theatre in London.

In staging the production Dennis invented a new method of creating the sound of thunder that served as the high point of the play. "Appius and Virginia" closed soon after it opened; but the method of making thunder showed up within days in a nearby production of "Macbeth". Dennis was incensed at the fact that his idea was used without attribution or permission(and that audiences preferred "Macbeth" to his play). According to critic and scholar Joseph Spence, a contemporary of Dennis, the frustrated Dennis raged "Damn them! They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder". Alternatively Dennis may have said instead "That is my thunder, by God; the villains will play my thunder but not my play!". Either way the concept of usurping or taking the idea or work product from someone else as "stealing their thunder" was born and remains in the lexicon.

As for Dennis, he remains merely a footnote to history.

Answer: literary critics

Alexander Pope was a late 17th and early 18th Century English poet, translator, critic and intellect. Pope's translation of Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey" into English was considered definitive and remains a masterpiece of classical literary scholarship. Pope as a writer is best known for his 1712 satire "The Rape of the Lock" that uses the unauthorized snipping of a young woman's hair to conduct a stinging critique on the morals and fashions of 18th Century English society.

However, it is Pope's 1711 "An Essay on Criticism" that is responsible for the common "angelic" phrase. Pope used a popular style of heroic ballad to both chastise the lesser critics of his day and to promote a new style of criticism. This new critical thought was, of course, practiced by Pope; and according to Pope was the ideal for all rationale thought. In this work Pope calls out his fellow critics by saying "Nay, fly to Altars; there they'll talk you dead; For Fools rush in where Angels fear to tread." The phrase resonated with artists and critics alike and has been often repeated in other literary works including Edmund Burke's 1790 prophetic "Reflection on Revolution in France" and James Joyce's "Ulysses."

The modern concept of the rash or unknowing person willing to tempt actions that wiser people avoid is perhaps a softer concept than the stinging criticism intended by Pope. Nonetheless the phrase has captivated songwriters from Bob Dylan ("Jokerman"), Johnny Mercer (1940 eponymous titled song); to Hollywood ("The Bishop's Wife" and "Supergirl") to name a few of the numerous movies, television episodes and songs that use all or part of the phrase.

Answer: Pleased as Punch

"Pleased as Punch" comes from the puppet character "Mr. Punch". Punch and his wife Judy were characters in puppet theater shows performed for children and adults alike in England beginning in the 17th Century. Punch's name is a shorter and Anglicized version of "Polichinello" or "Punchinello", alternate spellings of a puppet story from 16th century Italy. The English "Punch" has become the more familiar and popular version of the character.

To be an authentic English "Punch and Judy" show, the character of Mr. Punch had to have specific clothes, looks and expressions. Punch always wore a brightly colored jester's motley and some form of tasseled hat. He was usually a hunchback or physically deformed and had a large overly hooked nose. Some scholars of the character suggest that the large nose was a sign of sexual potency and the deformity invited comparisons to now archaic views that hunchbacks were inherently comedic. Punch carried a stick (called a "slapstick") as large as the entire puppet, which he used upon his wife Judy and any other characters in the show. Punch only speaks in a distinctive squawking voice transforming to a gleeful cackle when he performs his violent acts on Judy or other victims. Despite the celebration of violence and the limited consequences to the Punch character, the plays were comedies and remain much loved in England and Continental Europe to this day. It is likely that the element of a buffoonish character and cartoon violence wrapped around clever salacious dialog appealed to both 17th century children and adults in the same way a "Simpsons" or "Bugs Bunny" cartoon would appeal to more modern audiences.

To be "as pleased as punch" therefore reflects a person as being happy in whatever activity they are doing; as happy as Mr. Punch was when hitting his wife (or anyone else) with his "slapstick". The phrase's earliest known use is from William Gifford's 1797 poem "The Baviad and Maeviad"/: "Oh! how my fingers itch to pull thy nose! As pleased as Punch, I'd hold it in my gripe." Dickens used the phrase (or the slight deviation "as proud as Punch") in both "David Copperfield" and "Hard Times".

To be punch-drunk has nothing to do with the Mr Punch puppet character, but is the condition that is associated with a boxer's loss of mental acuity after being hit too often. "To the Moon, Alice" is a phrase used repeatedly by Jackie Gleason, as Ralph Kramden, in his popular 1950's US television show "The Honeymooners". The phrase is a threat of spousal abuse when Kramden's wife Alice (played by Audrey Meadows) made a comment that displeased him. "Pushing my buttons" is another propensity to violence phrase that was coined in the 1920's to combine the increasing complexity of modern machinery and an individual's rising anger.

Answer: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

The Dodo was a flightless bird that looked similar to a modern turkey. Dodos were native to the island of Mauritius. The species is shown in drawings by observers as an ungainly bird with a large bulbous nose. The bird is thought to have died out in the late 17th century. The extinction of the species is attributed to the introduction of European domestic animals to Mauritius after the island was visited by the Portuguese in 1507 and settled by the Dutch at the end of the 16th Century.

Lewis Carroll created a character named Dodo and that was designed to be drawn in a likeness of the Mauritanian bird in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" published in 1865. The immense popularity of this book led to the widespread use of the phrase "as dead as a dodo" to refer to a person or idea that was unlikely to happen or had fallen out of favor. "Dodo" as a word also has the connotation of meaning foolish or stupid and is thought to derive from the appearance (and, I suppose, the actions) of the Mauritanian bird.

So in tribute to the late Patricia Roberts Harris (First African-American Woman to serve in a US Presidents Cabinet), who was my constitutional law professor and used this phrase often, I will declare this topic as "dead as a Dodo".

Answer: The Godfather

Mario Puzo wrote the iconic "The Godfather" in 1969. The book details the story of a fictitious Sicilian Mafia family based in the New York City area. The family was headed by "Don" Vito Corleone. In 1972 the book was made into an Academy Award winning Best Picture with Puzo as the screenwriter and Francis Ford Coppola directing. Much of Puzo's book was derived from the actual history of the New York mob, with, of course, editorial license and fictionalization. Such is the case with my favorite line from the movie "The Godfather". In the book "The Godfather", Luca Brasi was a feared personal enforcer for the Corleone family, known as one of the most dangerous men in the New York underworld. He was sent to infiltrate a rival gang to obtain information posing as a dissatisfied Corleone family member. Unfortunately the ruse failed and Brasi was killed. The rival gang sent a message to the Corleone family -- a fish wrapped in Brasi's bulletproof vest. Tom Hagen the lawyer/Consigliere for the mob family explained: "The fish means that Luca Brasi is sleeping on the bottom of the ocean... It's an old Sicilian message." In the movie the line is changed slightly and is said by Sal Tessio, a Corleone "capo", and becomes "It's a Sicilian message. It means Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes."

The source of this story is not an old Sicilian tradition but rather a murder in 1961 Brooklyn. Mobster Joe Gallo started a turf war with a rival gang leader, Joseph Profaci. In May 1961, Profaci gunmen killed Joseph "Joe Jelly" Gioelli, Gallo's top enforcer. They dumped Gioelli's clothing stuffed with dead fish in front of a diner frequented by the Gallo gang. Puzo freely admitted to borrowing the historical scene to create Luca Brasi and his untimely end in the New York waters.

The phrase "he sleeps with the fishes" now refers to any euphemism for a violent death.