College Times

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1. “Quit Cold Turkey”

Example: “Tom quit smoking crack cold turkey.”

Origin: The term meaning to quit something abruptly traces back to the early 1900s when the term “talk turkey” came into use most notably by Carl Sandburg in a letter written in 1922. “I'm going to talk cold turkey with the booksellers about the hot gravy in the stories."

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2. “Cold Feet”

Example: “Before streaking across the campus Bill got cold feet.”

Origin: This common saying usually refers to last minute panic or extreme fear of something that is about to take place. The term “cold feet” can be credited to the late 1800s novelist Stephen Crane who wrote the earliest known use of the phrase. "I knew this is the way it would be. They got cold feet,” was written in his book “Maggie, a Girl of the Streets.”

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3. “Rule of Thumb”

Example: “As a rule of thumb, don’t take a girl to a strip club on your first date.”

Origin: It was thought that in its earliest usage the term came from a law known as “the rule of thumb,” which limited the width of a rod a man may beat his wife with to no bigger than the width of his thumb. It has been proven no such law existed, however the exact origin is still unknown. Its first usage was seen in Sir William Hope’s “The Complete Fencing-Master,” second edition, 1692: "What he doth, he doth by rule of thumb, and not by art."

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4. “Kick the Bucket”

Example: “After replacing tank water with beer, my goldfish kicked the bucket.”

Origin: The term meaning “to die,” is said to have come from one or several of the following morbid origins. A reference to suicide by hanging, the person would kick the bucket out from underneath themselves to fully commit the act. Another thought is that the word “bucket” is a term for a ceiling beam by which slaughtered animals are hung from.

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5. “The Hair of the Dog That Bit You”

Example: John woke up after those 10 keg stands and needed the hair of the dog that bit him.”

Origin: This expression was documented as a proverb in John Heywood’s 1546 compendium. An ancient folk treatment actually suggested putting the hair from a dog that bit you directly on the wound.

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6. “Good Night, Sleep Tight”

Example: “Good night, sleep tight, it will be a long day tomorrow,” the mother said to her daughter.

Origin: This was thought to come from Shakespearean times when mattresses were secured to beds by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes, the mattress became more firm and comfortable.

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7. “Mind Your P’s and Q’s”

Example: “I want you to make a good expression on my family so mind your P’s and Q’s.”

Origin: There are many theories around this term, but several interesting ones include: bartenders in the early days kept track of their patrons’ drinks by marking down pints and quarts (p’s and q’s.) School children were taught to be careful to differentiate their p’s and q’s when learning to write. French dance instructors would warn students to watch their pieds and queues.

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8. “A Penny for your Thoughts”

Example: After an hour of silence, she couldn’t stand not knowing what her boyfriend was thinking, “A penny for your thoughts,” she said.

Origin: This phrase dates back to the days when a penny was thought to be a sizeable sum of money by the British. In 1522, Sir Thomas More wrote (in “Four Last Things”): 'It often happeth, that the very face sheweth the mind walking a pilgrimage, in such wise that.other folk sodainly say to them a penny for your thought.'"

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9. “The Whole Nine Yards”

Example: “Jill celebrated her 21st birthday accordingly; puking, dancing, crying … you know, the whole nine yards.”

Origin: Tracing back to the military’s use of yard measurement during planning and training. The term first began to show up in common language after the use of the term in the 1960s Elaine Shepard novel “The Doom Pussy,” about the Vietnam War.

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10. “Close but No Cigar”

Example: “I was so close to getting that drunken girl to go home with me; close but no cigar.”

Origin: It is believed the phrase comes from carnival games in the mid-20th century that offered cigars as prizes.

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