Etymology: White elephant – The meaning and origin of phrase

A white elephant is a gift given to you that in actuality is more of a burden than a joy, but a gift that you cannot give back without fear of upsetting the gift-giver. Think an ugly jumper your grandmother knitted you that you have to wear when she visits.

The origin of the phrase dates back to 17th Century Siam, now known as modern day Thailand. Albino or white elephants are viewed as sacred within Thai culture and can be found adorning the walls of many religious sites and temples. Owning a White elephants was seen as something very honourable, but also a huge burden. Albino elephants require a special diet that can be costly for the owner and on top of that they were expected to allow citizens to worship the elephant, providing the means to do so. Supposedly the Thai king would punish those who annoyed him in some way by gifting them a white elephant. The recipient would not be able to reject the gift so as to not upset the king, but maintaining the elephant could in some cases financially ruin them.

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Etymology: Balls to the wall and Bull in a china shop – The meaning and origin of phrase

Balls to the wall

Balls to the wall is a phrase that means to give 110%. To go all out and give everything you’ve got.

The phrase likely relates to mid 20th century aircraft combat. The joysticks used to control aircraft thrust would have a small ball situated on top of them. If the pilot pushed the joystick all the way to the top and thus pointing towards the firewall, they would get maximum power out of the plane.

Bull in a china shop

A bull in a china shop refers to something being destructive or clumsy, and needing to be careful. Supposedly, this refers to a real situation that occurred in 17th century London when a group of bulls brought to the market managed to escape and found their way inside a store selling porcelain pottery, often referred to as china in the west.

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Etymology: Bury the hatchet – The meaning and origin of phrase

When an arguement comes to it’s conclusion and you wish to make up and resolve the tension, you can refer to this as ‘burying the hatchet’.

The saying is quite literal in it’s origins and can be traced back to Native American Indian tribes who were famed for using hatchets in combat. The Native American culture most of us are familiar with comes from Hollywood films and is very over-simplified with many of it coming from early 20th century spaghetti westerns which portrayed them as low IQ savages. This was not the case and we know that the Native American tribal culture was a complex structure that dealt with many of the issues that their European invading neighbours were dealing with during the 17th century. Warring tribes would try to resolve their conflict through diplomatic negotiations and if this was successful, the tribes chief would literally bury a hatchet to symbolise an end to violence and bloodshed.

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Etymology: Pain the town red – The meaning and origin of phrase

To ‘paint the town red’ is to celebrate spectacularly. You might paint the town red with the girls on a night out or if you got into some mischief on a drunken bender.

According to the town of Melton-Mowbray in England, the phrase can be traced back to a legendary night of partying in 1873 by Henry Beresford the 3rd, often referred to as the Mad Maquis. The story goes that while heavily under the influence and asked to be let through the toll-gate without paying. The Mad Maquis and his cohorts were refused entry and in an act of vengeance they stole some painting supplies, painted the poor tollkeeper and the tollgate with the red paint laying nearby due to some repair work being carried out. The police tried to intervene on the ramage and found themselves beaten and painted red for their troubles. It took multiple officers to aprehend the Mad Marquis and his friends and bring an end to the rampage. The men were fined £100 for the damage caused, and their drunken night would live on in infamy.

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Etymology: Close but no cigar – The meaning and origin of phrase

‘Close but no cigar’ is a phrase used to explain when something is close or good but not quite enough. The phrase is of US origin and dates back to the 19th century. American fairs which travelled the country, and still do today, would have fair games that rewarded the player with small prizes for a variety of activities such as throwing a ring on a bottle or a ball into a bucket. Today these prizes are more often than not stuffed animals or toys in one shape or another, with the fairs being aimed at children. However, in the 19th century, fairs were a more family focused piece of entertainment, which shows in the fact that one of the top prizes for these games would be a cigar, so that when a player did well but not well enough, they were close, but not close enough to win a cigar.

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