So the other morning I was going through the channels on television. I ended up landing on the History Channel and the show was about where words and sayings came from and how they got their start.
I learned that the saying “Good Bye” actually got its start from that saying “God be with you.”
The word “hello” got its start when Thomas Edison introduced it as a way to answer the new telephone way back in the day.
I was in need of a column idea so I Googled “Where do words and sayings come from?” Even the word “Google” is a relatively new word that has been added to our everyday language and is considered to be a verb.
Here are just a couple of sayings I found to be interesting, and I would encourage you to Google the History Channel to find more interesting sayings and where they came from.
The saying “by and large,” like many phrases, is nautical in origin. Other commonly used phrases like “taken aback,” “loose cannon” and “high and dry” all got their start at sea.
Back in the 16th century, the word “large” was used to mean the ship was sailing with the wind at its back. Of course if you where sailing into the wind that was called “by.” So back in the day if you were sailing “by and large,” that meant you were traveling the seas in any and all directions relative to the wind. Today “by and large” generally means “all things considered” or “for the most part.”
The phase “the third degree” has caused a bit of debate as to its true origin. The saying was most likely derived from the Freemasons, the fraternal organization whose members undergo a rigorous questioning and examinations before becoming “third degree” members of the organization.
I am not a big fan of early morning television. But as long as I have the History Channel, I might be able to learn something new every day.