curious phrases

Here is a thread to discuss phrases, usages, and terms you are curious about in a spirit of open-minded inquiry and generous contemplation. Say you've encountered a phrase and you are wondering: where did this come from? Is it suddenly prevalent or did I just never notice it before? Have others encountered this phrase in their lives? Did the phrase migrate from a specific culture or domain of human sociality? And so on.

If you find the phrase ~annoying~ for whatever reason there is an existing thread for that (actually there's more like a dozen in the archives), so please keep it curious itt.

Where do we post if we find certain phrases curiously annoying?

phrases you sing to the tune of the "Assault on Precinct 13" theme by John Carpenter

A curious phrase crossed my mind a minute ago. When a person has committed some criminal act and is found out in such a way that their guilt is obvious to everyone, it can be said they were caught "dead to rights".

Ok, that's freaky... I was just wondering about "dead to rights" earlier today....

I said "On your own head be it" today and immediately thought, what a weird phrase. Happens to me all the time because I love all these old school idioms and sayings.

'as the crow flies'

they fly all over the place and stop on the sidewalk all the time, don't get it

all's fair in love & war

Sounds like an invitation to really terrible behavior

I need to visit Scotland

I worry you didn't actually want an explanation Andy, and apologies if so, but basically the idea is that when a crow is in full flight it can move in a straight line regardless of the terrain on the ground.

"dead to rights" is curious! looking it up made me contemplate the general use of "dead" in phrases like dead broke or dead ringer

I had a brief conversation earlier today about the possible origins of "cotton on (to)"

'colder than a witch's tit in a cast iron bra'

I first heard this as a child, spoken by a roughneck digging a water well on our property

"colder than a witch's tit on the shady side of an iceberg"

is how I heard it...

there's a ton (a tonne?) of those colorful, playful sayings out there. they are displays of wit and purely meant to entertain and we could entertain ourselves by reciting them. but there is nothing about them sparks curiosity as to how they came about. those are a stranger breed, arising from darker depths.

I'm pretty sure this phrase has never been anything but onomatopoetic nonsense, but in that category it is still a bit unusual: lickety-split.

It's not an idiom but I quite enjoy "...to find out what all the fuss is about"

"I'm off to try lawn bowls, to find out what all the fuss is about"

Like, usually there isn't a fuss at all, it's just a thing people do. I wonder what all the fuss is about

I was wondering where 'common or garden' and 'run of the mill' come from, turns out they both seem to date from around the 18th century (possibly older in the first case). I love the way these references to obsolete technology or cultural arrangements survive into the modern era.