26O'clock
The phrase “o’clock” is short for “of the clock” and comes from a time when people had to specify that their time came from a clock instead of a sundial or other device.
27. The idiom “break a leg” may have meant Take a Bow, as in, do well enough that the audience is happy with your performance. In this context break a leg would be a wish that an actor would give such a good performance that he would be forced to take many bows.
28. The phrase “kill them all, let God sort them out” comes from a Crusader in 1209 who wiped out a town of Cathar ‘heretics.’ They couldn't tell them apart from the Catholics, so they killed them all.
29. The phrase "cool as a cucumber" is based on science. The inside of a cucumber can be up to 20 degrees cooler than the ambient temperature.
30. The idiom "When my ship comes in" originated with sailors' wives who promised to pay off debts when the sailors' ships returned to port.
Latest FactRepublic Video:
15 Most Controversial & Costly Blunders in History
31Snipe Hunt
The phrase "Snipe Hunt" and the word "sniper" both derive from the difficulty in hunting a small wading bird called a snipe.
32. The phrase '23 Skidoo', meaning "let's get out of here", was America's first truly national fad expression.
33. In Japanese, there is a phrase "Bushu-suru" (ブッシュする). In literal terms, this means "to do the bush thing," in reference to a bizarre 1992 incident where George HW Bush fell ill and vomited directly onto the Japanese prime minister.
34. The "thousand-yard stare" is a phrase often used to describe the blank, unfocused gaze of soldiers who have become emotionally detached from the horrors around them. It is also sometimes used more generally to describe the look of dissociation among victims of other types of trauma.
35. The expression 'what in tarnation?' comes from 'tarnal' meaning eternal and 'nation' meaning damnation. The phrase effectively translates to ‘What the hell?’
