CK & GK Podcast

Pulling Out All the Stops: The Origins of 10 Idioms

March 14, 2023 Jenny GK and Caitlin Kindred Season 2 Episode 60
CK & GK Podcast
Pulling Out All the Stops: The Origins of 10 Idioms
Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

Experience an AHA moment as you explore the origins of common phrases and the tales behind them in this hilarious, heartwarming, and enlightening episode.

Here's what we cover in this episode:

  1. Uncover the origins of everyday phrases that are used incorrectly or completely unknown. 
  2. Learn about the mystery behind the phrase "the whole 9 yards."
  3. Hear about how you can literally get that B-R-E-A-D 😉.

Jenny GK is a self-proclaimed trivia expert and Caitlin loves to discuss all things weird history.


Link to detailed show notes on CKandCKpodcast.com

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Thanks, y'all!

Jenny GK 00:00:00
It's Tuesday. Yay.

Caitlin Kindred 00:00:03

We're so glad you're here, cause, you know, it's Tuesday and Monday's over, and you're listening to us.

Jenny GK 00:00:10

Okay, so whatever you're doing right now, stop. You go ahead and touch that five star review, because this was already the best introduction you've ever heard. And you can just write that. You can just say, I'm already enthused within the first 20 seconds.

Caitlin Kindred 00:00:25

Yeah, we have lots of great energy coming from this intro right here, right now, which is hilarious, because you and I just woke up, right?

Jenny GK 00:00:33

It is early on a Saturday, right? For sure.

Caitlin Kindred 00:00:37

So today we're going to be talking about the origins of common phrases that people either use incorrectly, say wrong all the time, or just don't know what it actually means and where it comes from. So this could be a really interesting AHA moment episode for y'all.

Jenny GK 00:00:55

That is great. I'm so excited. Doing the research for this one was really, really funny.

Caitlin Kindred 00:01:00

Yeah, it was. I'm reading all these things, going late, like I'm sorry, what? I'm just going to go ahead and jump into these introductions. Yes.

Jenny GK 00:01:10

Oh, yes.

Caitlin Kindred 00:01:11

Do it. Yes. Okay.

Jenny GK 00:01:12

I am Jenny, and with me is Caitlin the electrician, because she lights up my day.

Caitlin Kindred 00:01:18

You come up with the cutest ones.

Jenny GK 00:01:21

Oh, I don't come up with them. I google funny pickup lines.

Caitlin Kindred 00:01:28

Yes. That's the kind of relationship we have. She can hit on me, and I think it's precious. All right, well and just like Julie Cotter, I can count on her to laugh at my corny jokes and make me a horrible tuna noodle casserole. That's Jenny over there, everyone.

Jenny GK 00:01:53

Right, before we go to our shoutouts, I have a little correction.

Caitlin Kindred 00:02:00

Yeah, do it.

Jenny GK 00:02:01

Okay, so last week, I quoted Dana Carvey, and I said, you can't pee into a Mr. Coffee and get out. Folgers. But the quote is, actually, you can't pee into a Mr. Coffee and get Taster's Choice. Now, if you're a fan, you were yelling at the stereo or your phone or whatever you listened to us on and saying, you got it wrong. You didn't do it right. And I'll tell you, I didn't even think about it until yesterday. I was getting my nails done, and I could see their break room from where my chair faced, and there was a little bottle of instant Tasters Choice coffee, and I was like, oh, that's the punchline. So sorry, Dana Carvey fans.

Caitlin Kindred 00:02:51

Aren't those both gross?

Jenny GK 00:02:53

Oh, yeah, right.

Caitlin Kindred 00:02:55

Well, good job. You corrected yourself. Most of the time. I don't know what I've messed up, so there you go.

Jenny GK 00:03:01

Also, I corrected myself on quoting somebody else's stand up. I didn't correct myself on facts.

Caitlin Kindred 00:03:08

Truth. Very true. I like it because if we reminded.

Jenny GK 00:03:14

You in a while, we are fact adjacent on this show.

Caitlin Kindred 00:03:18

Right.

Jenny GK 00:03:19

All right, so anyhow yeah, let's get going.

Caitlin Kindred 00:03:21

I do want to say real quick, thank you to Kimball Lewis of Empoweringparents.com for coming on our last episode or a couple of episodes ago. That was really cool of him to join us. And if you haven't listened to that one, it's episode 58, and we also have one with him on episode 49, so you can go back and catch those. They were great interviews. Yes.

Jenny GK 00:03:41

Super helpful. And even if you're not listening to it for the information, you just need someone to tell you that you're doing a great job at whatever you do. He's just like self esteem in a can. He's amazing.

Caitlin Kindred 00:03:52

Right? But like, not inflated self esteem. Steam it's no, genuine yes.

Jenny GK 00:03:56

It's actually validating, right?

Caitlin Kindred 00:03:59

Very much. All right, let's catch up.

Jenny GK 00:04:01

Okay, so speaking of catching up, my new obsession right now is Tales from the Principal's Office. Now, this is not a book, although it sounds like it could be the title of one. This is me getting random texts from my sister about what's going on at her middle school where she's a principal.

Caitlin Kindred 00:04:21

I definitely had like a Tales from the Crypt kind of vibe going with this, and I was like, oh, who's the Crypt Keeper? What's going on? So it's your sister? Okay, great. It's my sister.

Jenny GK 00:04:30

So I am going to give you two stories, and the reason that I'm doing two is because I really could not pick. They are both really good. The first one is I texted her and said, hey, are you having issues with cheating and chat Gbt? And she responds, no, not yet. But I did have to break up a fight today over some talkies. Priorities, right? She's meeting with the kids afterward, and basically what happened was one little kid is like, trying to take Takis from this other giant kid. And, you know, in middle school, because growth spurts are so different, we do have very small kids and very big kids that could even have the same birthday.

Caitlin Kindred 00:05:19

Yes.

Jenny GK 00:05:19

Right? But this little one is trying to take Takis from the big one, and the big one says, if you don't leave me alone, I'm going to punch you in the face. The little one takes a step back and takes off his backpack to posture, like, let's fight. And then got beat up.

Caitlin Kindred 00:05:41

You had ample warning.

Jenny GK 00:05:43

Yes. So she's talking to him and saying like, okay, so now I have to give you suspension. Blah, blah. You were fighting. It's going to be four days. And he goes, oh, Miss, that is so dumb. And she was like, yeah, you're right. It is so dumb that you would get in a fistfight with someone over some talkies and now you have to be suspended.

Caitlin Kindred 00:06:07

The other kid needed to accept no for an answer. We have a very real problem with people not accepting no as a response. That is an answer.

Jenny GK 00:06:15

Oh, no, that's the kid. That's the one who's going, oh, wait, what? The kid who started the kid who started the fight?

Caitlin Kindred 00:06:21

Yeah.

Jenny GK 00:06:22

He's the one who's like, oh, it's so dumb. And she was like, no, you're right, it's super dumb. And you know what's dumb? Not me putting you in a suspension or whatever he had. What's dumb is that you decided to fight someone over talkies. Like now you're hurt and suspended and suspended.

Caitlin Kindred 00:06:39

Do they have ISS is the bees knees? OSS is to me, like, not helpful. But ISS is the best.

Jenny GK 00:06:49

She is in a public school. They have in school suspension. They have out of school suspension. And then they also have the off campus other school where you can go for an extended amount of time. The other one I need to tell you starts with a question. Hey, Caitlin, what were you doing Friday at 430?

Caitlin Kindred 00:07:11

Working.

Jenny GK 00:07:14

So was my sister. The bell rings at 420 at 434 35. She was in the 8th grade boys bathroom breaking up a barber shop. No. These kids, 15 minutes after school is over on a Friday, we're cutting each other's hair in the bathroom.

Caitlin Kindred 00:07:39

Oh, my gosh.

Jenny GK 00:07:40

But what makes this so great is they had actual barbers tools, including clippers in a cape.

Caitlin Kindred 00:07:52

Was this some sort of underground money.

Jenny GK 00:07:56

Making she walks in and she's like.

Caitlin Kindred 00:07:58

Excuse me, this is amazing.

Jenny GK 00:08:03

Where did you even get that cape? They even had like, the little paper around the neck.

Caitlin Kindred 00:08:07

Yeah. And the buttons. Yeah, that's hilarious.

Jenny GK 00:08:13

Go cut each other's hair across the street right there.

Caitlin Kindred 00:08:16

You see that?

Jenny GK 00:08:16

That's off campus. Now I have to call your brain.

Caitlin Kindred 00:08:20

There's no sink there, miss.

Jenny GK 00:08:21

Yeah, now I have to call your brain. And then one of the kids was like, yeah, I missed my bus. And she was like, yeah, you did miss your bus. Because you know where I was just now? Bus duty. You did miss your bus. But hey, at least you got that high top fade. Oh, my word. I love kids so much. I do too. Who does that?

Caitlin Kindred 00:08:43

Who does that?

Jenny GK 00:08:45

This is after school on a Friday and laid out all these barber tools on the counter in the bathroom and are cutting each other's hair.

Caitlin Kindred 00:08:53

I can't.

Jenny GK 00:08:54

With a cape.

Caitlin Kindred 00:08:55

With a cape. You know that the barbershop chat was real fire, too. You know, it was just so good. If I were her, I would have just been like, standing there on the outside at the bathroom just to hear what was happening for a little while, see what kind of good information I could get. Who's dating who. And then I would be like, what.

Jenny GK 00:09:13

Are you all doing?

Caitlin Kindred 00:09:14

Right? What are you all doing? Oh, my gosh, that's hilarious.

Jenny GK 00:09:17

She keeps all kinds of candy in her desk.

Caitlin Kindred 00:09:20

Yeah.

Jenny GK 00:09:21

And it's this whole program, like snitch for a snicker. It's like, who's jumping what?

Caitlin Kindred 00:09:29

Oh, my goodness, that's so funny. I'm just thinking about all the times I could get kids super hyped up about a game for a dumb dumb.

Jenny GK 00:09:38

Right?

Caitlin Kindred 00:09:39

Right.

Jenny GK 00:09:40

So good.

Caitlin Kindred 00:09:41

I love middle school. I do too. If any of my former middle schoolers are listening, I loved you then and I love you now. You guys are amazing. Okay, mine's not as funny as yours. I'm just right now really into the idea of a new computer. I need something that's just more powerful. I have a MacBook air.

Jenny GK 00:10:01

I'm sorry, can I stop you for just a second?

Caitlin Kindred 00:10:05

Yes.

Jenny GK 00:10:06

My gen. Xmillennialmind. When you said I need something with more power, I was in Home Improvement immediately. I'm sorry. You can tell your story now. I just had to get that out.

Caitlin Kindred 00:10:32

I can't believe I did that as well as I did. That was actually oh, my goodness. Okay. I don't think so, Jen. Okay. I just need something that's going to.

Jenny GK 00:10:45

Not have a sticky keyboard.

Caitlin Kindred 00:10:49

This is not like sticky because I eat over my computer or anything like that. This is sticky because the letters literally stick inside the keyboard because it's one of those flat flash keyboards and it's stupid. I need something that where the buttons, when you push them, they actually go down and you can feel it. And it's satisfying, like when you have a separate keyboard. So that's what my mission is. And that way maybe my computer won't get boiling hot as we're doing these recordings. So that's my obsession right now. I just can't stop looking at it. Last night I was like, I'm just going to go. I'm just going to go in and I'm just going to go buy a new computer because I can't take it anymore. So if I show up with a new computer next time I see you, it's because I'm going to go right away because I'm so annoyed. So if anyone has recommendations, I will take them. But I'm an apple person. I'm just going to put that out there right now because I just want all the computer calendar, everything talks to me to sync. Yeah, it's just easier. Okay, so that's my obsession. What else is going on?

Jenny GK 00:11:55

Okay, so now it is time for everyone's favorite part of the show. And if it's not your favorite, you are pretending that it's your favorite because it's my favorite. The gem of the week. And today I have for you a discussion I had with my eleven year old. It should be noted that Abigail is clever and hardworking and witty.

Caitlin Kindred 00:12:24

Yes.

Jenny GK 00:12:26

But we have to spend some time over the next few weeks studying geography and peoples of the world, because we were doing a BuzzFeed quiz that was like, plan a trip through Europe and we'll tell you when you get married or eat through Europe, and then we'll tell you what color to paint your nails, those kind of things. One of the choices in where would you like to go next? It was like the Netherlands. Croatia, Spain or Portugal. And Abigail. Oh, Portugal, like, where everything's small, and I just kind of looked at her like everything small. She goes, yeah, isn't it? In Portugal, the houses are small, the fences are small, like even the people are small.

Caitlin Kindred 00:13:21

No.

Jenny GK 00:13:22

For some reason, my eleven year old thinks that Portugal is a miniature version of the world.

Caitlin Kindred 00:13:31

Wait, what is the name of the thing in Gulliver's Travels where there's like the tiny people? Doesn't it start with a T or P? Doesn't it?

Jenny GK 00:13:39

I don't know.

Caitlin Kindred 00:13:40

Oh my gosh. We need to Google this right now because I feel like that's what it is. That I wonder, does she know that story?

Jenny GK 00:13:47

She might, but.

Caitlin Kindred 00:13:51

That'S what my brain is like. Oh my gosh, she's confusing Portugal with the name of the place from Gullivers Trout.

Jenny GK 00:13:56

Okay, so we're going to Google this right now.

Caitlin Kindred 00:14:00

And I have you here, clacking. That's her keyboard. If that's what it is, then I feel like a genius for figuring it out.

Jenny GK 00:14:08

But also that is the lily push.

Caitlin Kindred 00:14:11

Okay, so there's a P in there, but that's not the same thing.

Jenny GK 00:14:14

No. And Portugal is real.

Caitlin Kindred 00:14:18

Yeah, it is. It's a very real place.

Jenny GK 00:14:21

We have a joke in my family where I always say that beavers are pretend. There's no such thing as beavers. And then my kids are like, no, there are beavers. And we just back and forth. And I always think beavers are pretend. Portugal is real and the people there are normal sized people because there's not a tiny race of men anywhere on this planet except for inside Lord of the Rings books.

Caitlin Kindred 00:14:48

I don't know. Maybe I should take her to Portugal.

Jenny GK 00:14:51

How do I explain?

Caitlin Kindred 00:14:53

Show it to her on a map.

Jenny GK 00:14:55

Yes, but show it to her on a map. I'm going to show it to her on a map. But unfortunately we have the map. I'm sure she could find it. But does she think that when she goes there, everything is small? Carmen, San Diego, that's a normal size building. Look, there's normal size.

Caitlin Kindred 00:15:13

They colonized Brazil. Look, those people in Brazil are normal size, too. Oh my goodness. That's really funny.

Jenny GK 00:15:20

Isn't that where everything's small?

Caitlin Kindred 00:15:25

I don't have any words for that. The amount of words in my brain are small because I don't have I don't know what to say. We've talked about this before. My son is working on his reading skills, and every week he has a spelling test. So we started out having him write the words like three times to practice getting the spelling in your head, and he's shown that he doesn't necessarily need that all the time. So we've moved to just practicing spelling out loud every single night. And the way that the spelling tests are done in his class is the teacher says the word and then says every sound in the word, and the kids have to write the letters down from that. So it actually works out really well. So the other night, Sam is we're talking about how we're going to practicing the words. For some reason, the word bread comes up. And I don't know why it came up. Maybe because I was making a sandwich for him for lunch the next day or something like that. Anyway, he starts going like, BR. And my husband stops him and goes, if you get this word right, if you spell the word bread right, I will give you $100. And he starts cracking up and kind of like, Bryce is Chuckling. Sam is Chuckling, looking at me like, is he serious? And I'm like, let's hear it, let's have it, let's have it happen. The worst that happens is you don't get the $100, the worse that happens.

Jenny GK 00:16:58

And he goes, BR E-A-D. And.

Caitlin Kindred 00:17:07

I.

Jenny GK 00:17:08

Knew he was going to get it right.

Caitlin Kindred 00:17:10

There it is. It was the last thing we expected. I actually expected to hear brid, which also technically would have been correct, but we knew what he was referring to, so it had to be the other one. And Bryce was like, oh, my gosh. So then yesterday he had to go to the grocery store and get cash back. He was like, that was a really expensive grocery trip. He comes up with, like, strawberries and a jar of mustard and he was like, that was a really expensive grocery trip. So Sam went around all day yesterday like, I got $100. And people were like, Wait, why? And he's like, Because I can spell bread. And Bryce said, the one condition on you getting this $100 is you can never forget how to spell the word. So we were prepping him for his spelling test yesterday, and we're asking him I'm like, okay, spell next. And he goes B-R-E-N-A-D. Like, just to be a little, like, snit, you know? And then I'm looking at his new spelling list of words for this week, and what's the first word he wrote on the spelling list? Brad. He's never going to forget it. And it's so funny because when Bryce handed in that money, he lit up like a Christmas tree.

Jenny GK 00:18:25

He was that it's.

Caitlin Kindred 00:18:26

So stoked. I'm like, listen, if this is an investment in my kids spelling and like, him getting excited about learning it's, great, but it was just so hysterical so that now it's this running joke in my family. And my dad texts Bryce and he texts him B-R-E-A-D. Do I get $100, too? It's like all of these running jokes right now that are pretty good. That's amazing. Yeah, it was a fun, like, funny, heartwarming kind of situation at our house.

Jenny GK 00:18:55

This week with that B-R-E-A-D-I love bread and bread loves me. It's from a song.

Caitlin Kindred 00:19:03

That's a great song. First of all, it's hilarious. Why is there a song? Let's talk about that.

Jenny GK 00:19:12

Yeah, it's one of those Terry Grib songs.

Caitlin Kindred 00:19:16

Okay, yeah.

Jenny GK 00:19:17

Rating tacos guy.

Caitlin Kindred 00:19:19

Yeah, but also the fact that you just busted it out because you know it that well. All right, on that note, let's go ahead and squeeze in a promo from our friends at TV and Movie trivia Pod. All right, we're back. So just real quick TV and movie trivia Pod If you haven't ever seen any of their stuff, you should go follow them on Instagram and we'll tag them in our social for the week. But they do like trivia on amazing stuff like The Little Mermaid.

Jenny GK 00:19:54

Oh, that's amazing.

Caitlin Kindred 00:19:55

It's so fun. I liked it. So check them out. They're a good time. So what are we talking about today, Jenny?

Jenny GK 00:20:03

Okay, so today we are discussing the origins of idioms. I'm not going to talk down to you. I am not going to make you listener feel idiotic.

Caitlin Kindred 00:20:17

There it is.

Jenny GK 00:20:17

But I feel like we do need to talk about what an idiom is. So this is a phrase that when it's used colloquially, it doesn't have its literal meaning. They're not cliches.

Caitlin Kindred 00:20:32

Right, right.

Jenny GK 00:20:33

But they are phrases that are used out of context but have a cultural meaning.

Caitlin Kindred 00:20:42

Right. And probably the best way to do this is just with an example.

Jenny GK 00:20:46

I was going to just pitch one, but you go for it because we have quite a few to discuss today.

Caitlin Kindred 00:20:51

We have a few, yeah. So probably the most obvious one is it's raining cats and dogs. Right. Clearly, we're not looking outside and seeing actual cats and dogs raining from the skies, but it does mean that it's raining pretty heavy. Right. And so this one cracked me up because I'd heard this actual side story before for where this came from, and it turns out that it might actually be true. So there's this idea that the phrase comes from medieval times, like when a lot of medieval Brits lived in these thatched roof homes where animals would kind of nestle themselves in this thick straw. Yes. And then when it rained, the straw would start to get soft, and then all the animals that were living in that would fall into your house. And I had heard that. So it would be like mice and bugs and rats that were coming into your house. Right. Or they would slide off the roof or come through. Yeah. Gross. But the other idea, though, that I read recently as I was doing this research, is that actually, it probably didn't happen like that. If it rained a lot, the streets in, like, 17th and 18th century England would be, like, super filthy and then kind of flooding, and then it would flush dead animals down the street.

Jenny GK 00:22:18

So both of these are disgusting.

Caitlin Kindred 00:22:20

Yes. There is no good explanation for why we have its raining cats and dogs. I prefer to think of the one that's the literal sense, where just sweet little kittens would just come from raining out of the sky as opposed to dead animals or rats into my house. So gross. Do you have one?

Jenny GK 00:22:38

Okay, so this one comes from ancient India. There's no way that you're going to guess what this is to butter someone up. This is to kiss up or to try and use flattery to get something like, oh, you're just buttering me up. I'm not going to give you that $100 for spelling bread or whatever. Okay, so in ancient India, when people were in prayer or seeking favor from the gods, they would throw balls of ghee butter at the statues. Butter is kind of a calorie rich food.

Caitlin Kindred 00:23:18

Yeah.

Jenny GK 00:23:20

It takes effort to make it's valuable.

Caitlin Kindred 00:23:24

Yes.

Jenny GK 00:23:25

So this is an offering. But can you imagine, like, here we are thousands of years later, I'm just.

Caitlin Kindred 00:23:33

Hearing Southern women using that phrase, right? You just trying to butter me up completely.

Jenny GK 00:23:40

So far removed from where it came from.

Caitlin Kindred 00:23:43

It's just unreal.

Jenny GK 00:23:44

Like what?

Caitlin Kindred 00:23:47

Don't try to butter me yet.

Jenny GK 00:23:49

Like what? No, like ancient god statue from Indiana. Right. Gosh.

Caitlin Kindred 00:23:58

Yeah, I'm not an ancient goddess statue. Yeah, okay. All right. Well, being of Irish stock, I really like this one, which is one for the road. Okay, so it means like, the last drink you have before leaving. Right. Some people call it a roadie, but that's not the same thing. The roadie is what you take with you in the car in the trip, but the one for the road is the last one before you go. Right. Often in reference to a pub, like, before I leave the pub, I'm going to have my last one. This one's also kind of dark. Right? So during the medieval times, Middle Ages period, any condemned prisoners, condemned, meaning up for death, right, were taken from London City Jails to Tiberan Hill for execution. Now, me being an Anglophile, this was like, oh, yes, I have to do this one. So on the way, they would pass, like, down Oxford Street, which is a busy street in London, and the cart would stop and the criminals were allowed to have one final drink at a pub on that road before they were publicly executed. The one that they had was on the road to their execution.

Jenny GK 00:25:23

This makes me think of Martha Stewart giving her lobsters vodka as she boils them.

Caitlin Kindred 00:25:29

Oh, yeah. Takes a sting out of it. That's great. Yeah.

Jenny GK 00:25:37

Here you go, guys. We'll stop right here.

Caitlin Kindred 00:25:41

Yeah, you can have one last beverage. It's like the last meal that you give to the prisoner on Murderer's Row. Right.

Jenny GK 00:25:48

You know that baseball loves a good superstition.

Caitlin Kindred 00:25:55

I do.

Jenny GK 00:25:56

I found in the bag.

Caitlin Kindred 00:25:57

Okay, so we've got it in the bag.

Jenny GK 00:25:59

It means that it's done, we've got this, it's taken care of. It's not done yet, but I feel like it is.

Caitlin Kindred 00:26:07

Yeah, but I got this.

Jenny GK 00:26:08

Yeah, I got it. We're going to take care of it. It's in the bag.

Caitlin Kindred 00:26:11

Okay.

Jenny GK 00:26:11

So there are some unclear origins, but most people attribute it to the New York Baseball Giants, which are now the San Francisco Giants, right?

Caitlin Kindred 00:26:23

Yes.

Jenny GK 00:26:24

Okay, so the New York Baseball Giants were having a winning streak, and they attributed the winning streak to this bag of balls that they would carry off the field when they were in the lead. So someone's job was to go out onto the field and grab the bag of balls and bring it in when they felt like the game was in the bag.

Caitlin Kindred 00:26:48

I love that I had heard that it had something to do with the Giants. I like that you said baseball Giants, because you're right that there are two New York Giants. That makes me even happier that I love that that team is just so affiliated with history. It is. Anyway, okay, I say this one all the time, so I needed to do this one. But this is the whole nine yards.

Jenny GK 00:27:12

Okay. This one's fun.

Caitlin Kindred 00:27:14

Yeah, this one is fun.

Jenny GK 00:27:15

I thought it was about football.

Caitlin Kindred 00:27:17

Yeah, it is not about football, because.

Jenny GK 00:27:19

That would be the whole ten yards.

Caitlin Kindred 00:27:21

Right. Also, this one has everywhere I looked, it had weirdly, like, a meaning that I do not associate with this phrase. So I think that there's a difference between the whole nine yards and go the whole nine yards. Okay. So when I hear go the whole nine yards, I think that someone's saying it wrong. But apparently go the whole nine yards could mean, like, you're giving it your all. You're giving it your best. But what I say is, yada, yada. The whole nine yards. Right?

Jenny GK 00:27:52

Right.

Caitlin Kindred 00:27:53

Which, when you hear that, that's supposed to mean, like, everything I've got everything available. Right. Or all of these other things. Right.

Jenny GK 00:28:01

Et cetera, et cetera.

Caitlin Kindred 00:28:02

Right? Exactly. So this actually comes from World War II, which there's another time period that I just love learning about this time period. So during World War II, fighter pilots had nine yards of ammo. Isn't that hilarious? Yes. And when they ran out, it meant that they had tried their best at fighting off the target, and they've used up all of their ammunition.

Jenny GK 00:28:27

Oh, my gosh.

Caitlin Kindred 00:28:28

I've done the whole nine yards.

Jenny GK 00:28:30

Yes.

Caitlin Kindred 00:28:32

I love that.

Jenny GK 00:28:34

To me, I would never think to measure ammunition in yards, but it really does create this picture of this strip of bullets. Right.

Caitlin Kindred 00:28:43

And you've seen those, right. Movies and stuff, and there's often someone kind of off to the side, sort of holding it and making sure that it doesn't get tangled or whatever. And that way it can just be as, oh, my gosh, I'm picturing Banda Brothers. I'm like picturing that right now. They were on the ground, but there's, like, all these yeah. Anyway, that's different. Go. Watch banda. Brothers. It's amazing. Yeah. Different. It's so good. It's old, but it's really good. Tom Hanks.

Jenny GK 00:29:14

Tom Hanks did it after saving Private Ryan, right? As part of the research for that, because he's also the person who got the World War II memorial built right.

Caitlin Kindred 00:29:25

After he did that one. He did the Pacific, which is supposed to be obviously the Pacific end side of World War Two. I didn't enjoy that one as much, but we did watch all of Band of brothers, and it was amazing. And if you've ever seen that show with Claire Danes where she's a spy and the guy is Damian Lewis, the redhead guy who she's going after in the first season, he's in that. And, like, John Livingston is in it. Basically. It's like this whole slew of super famous guys who are all incredible actors, and it's just really good. It's really good. Highly recommend. Anyway, let's get back to this.

Jenny GK 00:30:03

Sorry.

Caitlin Kindred 00:30:04

No, my fault. I like World War Two stuff. There you go.

Jenny GK 00:30:08

So the next one I've got for you is under the Weather. And I think most people have said this at some point, meaning I'm feeling sick, right? Or she's sick or he's sick or they are sick.

Caitlin Kindred 00:30:20

Or it's like the polite way of saying you feel like a bag of dog poop. You just don't really want to tell everyone exactly what's happening to your body.

Jenny GK 00:30:29

I like that. It's the polite way of saying that. Right. This actually comes from sailors. If someone was feeling seasick during a storm, they would go below deck and literally be under the weather.

Caitlin Kindred 00:30:49

That's interesting.

Jenny GK 00:30:50

Right?

Caitlin Kindred 00:30:51

I did not know that.

Jenny GK 00:30:52

Underneath, it's not as rocky and they can feel better, and so they would literally go under the weather to avoid feeling sick.

Caitlin Kindred 00:31:01

Have we talked about this? I feel like you barely know this because you actively participate and Talk Like a Pirate Day. But do you know the origins of the eyepatch?

Jenny GK 00:31:10

Yeah, too.

Caitlin Kindred 00:31:12

Do you know the origins of the eyepatch?

Jenny GK 00:31:13

I just love that. Actively participate. You do? That's exactly how I would describe it, yes.

Caitlin Kindred 00:31:23

This was early on in our friendship and relationship, and I walked into your classroom on Talk Like a Pirate Day, which I believe is September 19.

Jenny GK 00:31:33

It is indeed, because of you.

Caitlin Kindred 00:31:35

That's how I know it. And I walked in, and you are doing a lab in full pirate voice. And you're like, you did not be reading the instructions. And I'm backing up, like, what in the world is happening in this classroom? And the kids are just going about their day like it's completely normal. And I was like, what are you doing? And you answered me and, oh, it's Talk Like a Pirate Day in your pirate voice?

Jenny GK 00:32:01

I mean, of course.

Caitlin Kindred 00:32:03

Well, you didn't break character until the kids were gone, but it was incredible. I cannot believe it. But the eyepatch thing is actually really cool. You know the story about this?

Jenny GK 00:32:13

Tell us.

Caitlin Kindred 00:32:14

We associate eyepatches with, like, an injury to the eye. It's not about that. It's about being able to adjust from light to dark. So you would cover up one. Eye, and you keep that eye open underneath the patch because it's used to the dark. So then when you would go below deck, you move the eyepatch to the other eye to cover up the one that's used to the light. So then the one I can see in the dark, and then when you go back above Duck, you move it back over, and then that I can see in the light. And you don't have to worry about that flex time between when your eyes are adjusting between light and dark. Those pirates, man, they were smarter than we think. They were. They were. Jack Sparrow was pretty smart.

Jenny GK 00:32:50

Do you know what the pirate's favorite letter is?

Caitlin Kindred 00:32:54

Is it an R?

Jenny GK 00:32:56

You'd think it'd be R, but the pirate's true love is the C, mate.

Caitlin Kindred 00:33:03

Oh, man. Maybe I'm the one laughing at your carney jokes today. Gabe Cotter. Oh, my goodness. Love it. Okay, so my next one is Mad as a hatter, and people associate the Mad Hatter with Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Yes. That's not where it comes from. Lewis Carroll was using it because of this origin. So if you notice, the Mad Hatter's hat is green. Yes, it is a green hat. Those hats were dyed using a form of mercury. Yes. And so hat poisoning would occur. People who made the green hat so, like, hatters who made them would actually get poisoned and be coming down with this madness. And often people who wore them and would get sweaty because they're, like, felt in all these other materials, they could also get the mercury poisoning into their skin. So Mad Hatter disease was caused by mercury poisoning, and it was marked by, like, shyness, but then also irritability and weird tremors, all of these things that would make you look like you were completely crazy. So that's why it means matt as a hatter is, like, a complete nutter, right? Like a completely crazy person. But it's based on actual mercury poisoning that these people were getting. And that's why the hat is green in the movie and everything else, because it's that's nuts as a hatter.

Jenny GK 00:34:32

Right?

Caitlin Kindred 00:34:33

Yes.

Jenny GK 00:34:35

I also have one from that time period. This is turn a blind eye, which means to ignore on purpose or pretend not to notice.

Caitlin Kindred 00:34:45

Okay.

Jenny GK 00:34:46

Picture it. Copenhagen 18 one.

Caitlin Kindred 00:34:50

Oh, yeah, totally.

Jenny GK 00:34:51

There Lord Horatio Nelson.

Caitlin Kindred 00:34:56

Oh, yeah, I know him. Yes.

Jenny GK 00:34:58

Okay. He is an admiral in the, I think, British Navy. But you know what? We're facing Jason here. That's really not important. Lord Horatio Nelson.

Caitlin Kindred 00:35:11

Okay.

Jenny GK 00:35:11

This dude had a glass eye, and he pretended not to notice the signal to withdraw from battle. He's like, oh, dude, I didn't see it because of my glass eye. He kept fighting and then ended up winning.

Caitlin Kindred 00:35:29

Okay.

Jenny GK 00:35:30

Yeah, but when his troops were like, dude, they're giving us the signal to withdraw. They're telling us we need to leave, he's like, no, I don't see it? No, because of my glass eye.

Caitlin Kindred 00:35:44

It's so interesting because you think about when someone turns a blind eye to something, it's usually often in a negative context, too. Right. It's like you turned a blind eye to something and now this negative thing has happened. Right.

Jenny GK 00:35:56

This is like, they told me to stop, but I didn't, and now I did. What?

Caitlin Kindred 00:36:02

Right. I didn't know what you're talking about. What do you mean? No? Oh, that's a good one. Okay. This one is Pull out all the Stops. Also, I appreciate some of these because I think I've been saying them wrong myself at some point.

Jenny GK 00:36:20

Oh, yeah.

Caitlin Kindred 00:36:22

Some people say for all intensive purposes and that's not a thing. For all intents and purposes. Or I couldn't care less. Yes. Or I could care less. I bet you could.

Jenny GK 00:36:37

I'm sure you could.

Caitlin Kindred 00:36:39

Anyway, okay, so my last one is Pull out all the Stops. And this is like when you do something on a extra level, you go big or go home sort of situation.

Jenny GK 00:36:50

There is a theme that I can be a part of.

Caitlin Kindred 00:36:52

Yes. You will pull out all the stops.

Jenny GK 00:36:55

On international talk like a Pirate day.

Caitlin Kindred 00:36:57

Yes. You didn't dress like one, you just talked like one. Because that was the theme of the day. It's talk like a Pirate Day and not completely Cosplay Pirate Day, but completely.

Jenny GK 00:37:10

Cosplay Pirate Day does sound pretty often.

Caitlin Kindred 00:37:12

It does sound like fun. No joke. Okay, so this actually comes from a pipe organ. Pull out all the stops on a pipe organ. So on an organ. A pipe organ. All of those pipes have stops in them to control the sound.

Jenny GK 00:37:30

Okay.

Caitlin Kindred 00:37:31

So when you pull out all the stops of the organ and then you play it, it's going to be as loud as it can be. It is going to be the biggest possible that's amazing. Yes. So that's where that comes from. And I thought that was a really cool one because I've said that a bajillion times and not known where it came from. Right. I'm thinking like a racetrack.

Jenny GK 00:37:53

Like you take right, you're right.

Caitlin Kindred 00:37:55

Like I don't even know. Right. But that's where it comes from. An organ.

Jenny GK 00:37:58

It's like a cow's opinion. It's moo. It doesn't matter.

Caitlin Kindred 00:38:02

Do you remember the story of the moob?

Jenny GK 00:38:05

The moob?

Caitlin Kindred 00:38:06

The moob. This is a story that needs to be told right now. Okay, go. I have a student. It is my first year at our school that we were teaching together and I had an 8th grade boys advisory. Yes. And we were talking about something random and somehow cows came up. You know, this student, he's one of our favorite people. He just graduated. He goes, Wait, doesn't the milk come out of their moobs? And I was like, I am the only female person in this room. It is me and eleven 8th grade boys. Okay, so like 14 year olds.

Jenny GK 00:38:44

Yes.

Caitlin Kindred 00:38:44

And I just looked at him and I went, Excuse me. And he was like, yeah, they have that's where the milk comes out of is out of their moobs. And I was like, Sweetheart, those are called utters. The entire rest of the class is dying because they all know we're done for the day. And he was like, Well, I thought it was called a moob. It makes sense. And I was like, It totally makes sense. We did to rename this body part of it, right? We need to call it a moob from now on. And when I tell you that I laughed for probably the remainder of the class period, which was easily ten minutes, we were done for the day. There was no going back.

Jenny GK 00:39:21

No. I feel like that's the kind of thing that you think about two and a half hours later and then laugh out loud and people are like, what's wrong?

Caitlin Kindred 00:39:27

We're like.

Jenny GK 00:39:27

Oh, Moobs.

Caitlin Kindred 00:39:30

It's still funny. It's still funny. Just because of the way my ADHD brain works. The word will just come up in my head and I'll say it all day long. Right? It's like the word booger, it's funny to me. I think it's hysterical. The word move just randomly pops into my head sometimes, and I cannot stop laughing at it.

Jenny GK 00:39:48

So what I am thinking of right now is in one of those newer Star Wars movies where Luke is on the island and he drinks the green and blue milk from those animals. For sure. Their honors are moobs.

Caitlin Kindred 00:40:08

Gross. Okay, moobs. Moving on, moving on.

Jenny GK 00:40:13

Okay, I have to give someone the cold shoulder, the opposite, and the moobs.

Caitlin Kindred 00:40:20

Yeah.

Jenny GK 00:40:21

And this means to shut someone out socially, right? Like, oh, yeah, she gave me the cold shoulder. She won't even talk to me, right? Okay, so this is from back in the 18 hundreds. Remember that before there were, like, engines, travel was kind of hard.

Caitlin Kindred 00:40:41

Yeah.

Jenny GK 00:40:41

You rode a horse or you rode in a carriage, and it would take you several days to get somewhere.

Caitlin Kindred 00:40:48

Or you tried to cock the wagon and float. I always died in Oregon Trail. I never lived for the river. Right? Okay, so anyway, sorry.

Jenny GK 00:41:04

So people would travel, and then they go somewhere for a long time, right? It's like, oh, it took me five.

Caitlin Kindred 00:41:10

Days to get here.

Jenny GK 00:41:11

I'm staying for 30. So hosts had this, like, secret, hey, guys, it's time for you to go. Code benjamin Franklin says fish and house guests stink. After three days, this is how we would subtly tell our house guests, it's time for you to leave. They would serve them a piece of cold meat, usually lamb shoulder, and it'd be like, this is me telling you it's time for you to go. Okay, so you sit down to breakfast.

Caitlin Kindred 00:41:49

And you're expecting pancakes, and instead you get a slice of deli meat and like, oh, all right, let's pack it up, guys. All right.

Jenny GK 00:41:59

I'll check out that noon, guys.

Caitlin Kindred 00:42:01

That's really funny. That's like the equivalent of being, like, well, then slapping your legs and standing up whenever the time to go.

Jenny GK 00:42:11

I like that.

Caitlin Kindred 00:42:13

I appreciate that the meaning of that hasn't changed. Right? It still means, like, I'm not interested in this anymore.

Jenny GK 00:42:19

Right.

Caitlin Kindred 00:42:22

Or, I was never interested. So let's just move on. Oh, my goodness. That's hilarious. Well, not to give you all the cold shoulder, but it is time for us to wrap this up. Yeah.

Jenny GK 00:42:32

I am going to remind you again, like, please tell your friends and blog about us and Vlog about us and put us on your MySpace page. I don't know.

Caitlin Kindred 00:42:44

We're the top friends.

Jenny GK 00:42:45

Yeah. Top five, for sure.

Caitlin Kindred 00:42:47

Make the choices and remember that you got this in the bag. And tell us if you have any more of these because these are funny. Yes. Okay, bye.

Origins of Common Idioms