Trite sayings have been rolling off my tongue this week, and I got to wondering about their origins...
Here are three that came to mind through work, blogging and Facebook that I dug into the meaning of just a little further:
Loose lips sink ships - in other words, watch your words...
The phrase originated on World War II propaganda posters urging Americans to guard against giving information to the enemy.
Don't bite the hand that feeds you - be loyal, dude! We shouldn't turn on folks who have supported us, or repay kindness with scorn...
The phrase was used by an 18th century political writer by the name of Edmund Burke. The original quote was, "having looked to government for bread, on the very first scarcity they will turn and bite the hand that fed them".
The Apple doesn't fall far from the tree - in other words, kids are often like their parents!
Yikes - I have four and they are all very, very different! Guess that makes me "different". Origin dates back to Ralph Waldo Emerson who used a slightly different idiom with the meaning more related to the "tug that pulls us to our childhood home" The original? The apple never falls far from the stem.
What are some of your favorite phrases, idioms or maxims?
Comments(5)