MEANING: a last minute rescue
IN CONTEXT: It was my turn to clean the house, but I got called away at the last minute to meet a friend so I was saved by the bell.
Saved by the bell has a number of conflicting explanations. One relates to boxing and the bell rung at the end of a round before a knocked-down boxer has been counted out to ten. If this happens, the boxer is allowed to continue fighting at the start of the next round. Another theory is that it stems from a guard at Windsor Castle in the 19th century falling asleep while on duty. He denied the charge and, in his defense, said that he had heard Big Ben chime thirteen times at midnight. The mechanism in the clock was checked and a cog had in fact slipped and he was correct—he had been saved by the bell. But the likely origin predates both of these and is the same as the explanation for dead ringer (page 144). In the Middle Ages, before the medical profession fully understood comas, people who displayed no signs of life were presumed dead and would be buried. Sometimes it was later discovered that they had been buried alive. People started attaching a string to their loved one’s wrist that led to a bell above ground. If the person woke up underground, they were able to ring the bell and be saved. A number of designs for so-called “safety coffins” with bells incorporated were in fact registered as patents during the 19th century, lending weight to this theory.
MEANING: to die
IN CONTEXT: Someone put poison in the dam and all the fish kicked the bucket.
Kick the bucket is sometimes said to originate from the theory that when people hang themselves, they stand on a bucket with a noose around their neck and then kick the bucket away. However, a more cogent explanation comes from the slaughtering of animals. In the 18th century, the wooden beam that was used to hang animals up by their feet for slaughter was called a “bucket.” As the animals were killed they would often struggle and spasm, their feet kicking the bucket.
MEANING: to get married
IN CONTEXT: They’d been a couple for ten years so they finally decided to tie the knot.
While the expression tie the knot is symbolic of lasting unity, the use of knots during wedding ceremonies has existed for centuries in many cultures. During the times of the Roman Empire, the bride wore a girdle that was tied with knots. This was untied by the groom prior to consummating the marriage. This custom grew to actually tying the couple’s hands together as part of the ceremony. Known as handfasting, the Celtics had a similar ritual whereby the hands of the bride and groom were tied together for a duration of one year plus one day in order for the marriage to be legal; the couple promised to stay together for this length of time as part of their marriage contract. A couple could not be married without tying the knot.
MEANING: a person or thing that closely resembles another; an exact duplicate
IN CONTEXT: Luke is a dead ringer for his father.
The origins of the expression dead ringer are often disputed, some citing horse racing, but it actually has a perverse beginning. Comas in medieval Britain were not fully understood by the medical profession, and anyone not showing signs of life was presumed to be dead. On some occasions when bodies were later exhumed, evidence was found suggesting the person had been buried alive—their fingernails were worn down and there were scratches on the roof of the coffin. To combat this frightening thought, people started putting a rod into the ground with a bell at the top and a string around their loved one’s wrist. This way, if the person “came back to life,” they could ring the bell and attract attention to themselves. This did actually occur from time to time, and if the person was later seen in public and anyone suggested a likeness to the person they used to know, it would be said that they are a dead ringer. By the late 19th century, the phase had come to mean anything that is an exact duplicate.
MEANING: to be completely in love
IN CONTEXT: Within a week of meeting they had fallen head over heels in love.
Most often used in relation to being in love, head over heels actually began as “heels over head” in the 14th century. This made more logical sense, as it meant to be upside down, or to be so excited that you turn your heels over your head in a cartwheel or somersault. The phrase itself became inverted toward the end of the 18th century when Herbert Lawrence used it mistakenly in his 1771 novel The Contemplative Man: “He gave him such a violent involuntary kick in the face, as drove him head over heels.” But it was the incorrect usage by Davy Crockett in 1834 that cemented the expression we use today and gave it romantic connotations: “I soon found myself head over heels in love with this girl.”
MEANING: sleep well
IN CONTEXT: I was exhausted after a hard day’s work, so I knew I was going to sleep tight.
Sleep tight originates from a time in England before spring mattresses were invented. In the early mass-produced beds, the straw mattresses were held together by ropes that were stretched across the bed frame in a crisscross pattern. After a while, the ropes would sag and it was necessary to tighten them. This was done with a forked iron or wooden tool, which was turned to wind the ropes tight. A mattress that had just been tightened was far more comfortable and allowed people to sleep tight. It was also stronger and less likely to break, which led people to advise newlyweds to ensure their beds were extra tight.
MEANING: to deceive someone
IN CONTEXT: We were led up the garden path about the cost of the car hire. When they added all the extras on, the price was twice what the company advertised.
Also said as “down the garden path,” lead up the garden path finds its origins in the early 1900s in England. Country estates at the time usually had acres of gardens that contained trees, hedges, and paths that would wind throughout. It was in the romantic parts of these gardens that gentlemen would traditionally propose to their sweetheart. Women knew this, so to be invited on a walk by a suitor was a positive sign and one that they were often keen to accept. However, it wasn’t uncommon for some men to lead a woman up the garden path not to propose marriage, but merely to seduce.