by Hannah Kane | Sep 12, 2013 | Culture
To Pay on the Nail This expression is still used to denote prompt payment. It arose from a practice in medieval markets, which were critical to the general buying and selling of wares, produce and livestock. Instant justice was dealt to those who reneged on agreements...
by Hannah Kane | Sep 10, 2013 | Culture
To Hobnob This means to be on the closest possible terms of friendship. The phrase comes from ‘hob’ and ‘nob’ which meant ‘give and take’, which was a corruption of the earlier Anglo-Saxon hab and nab, ‘to have or not to have’. As good friends tend to stand by and...
by Hannah Kane | Sep 5, 2013 | Culture
To Keep Harping On Something This phrase means to be a bore by dwelling tediously on a subject, to talk or write endlessly on the same topic, or to keep bringing up the same point in an argument over and over again i.e. to ‘keep harping on the same string’. The phrase...
by Hannah Kane | Sep 3, 2013 | Culture
To Play Gooseberry This phrase means to act as chaperon and be present when two lovers are together, and make sure that they observe the correct codes of conduct and morals. Courting couples cannot be blamed for agreeing with the saying that “two’s company, three’s a...
by Hannah Kane | Aug 29, 2013 | Culture
To Talk Gibberish This phrase is derived from Geber who was an 11th century alchemist from Arabia, and the obscure mystical jargon he wrote in to avoid the displeasure of the respective members of the church of the day. Had he written openly this would have resulted...
by Hannah Kane | Aug 27, 2013 | Culture
To Throw Down The Gauntlet This phrase means to issue some form of a challenge. The gauntlet (or le gantelet) was a glove composed of jointed steel plates that were worn by knights in armour who used to throw it down to anyone who had offended them, as a sign that...
