Now when I say ”we,”  I am referring to the people in days gone by when certain sayings were used and what they have come to mean today.  Looking through them on various websites, I found a few that I found particularly interesting.

Janie Davis, B. A. (Hons) has written a column that I will be using to describe some of her findings.  She is the sub-editor and staff-writer at Learning Mind.  Therefore, I will not use her words verbatim, but her observations and explanations will be apparent.  I will share a few of my favorites.

While the words, “mad as a hatter” is used to mean crazy or insane, the origin comes from when hat makers were referred to as hatters and  they made felt hats with mercury.  Mercury caused side effects including insanity.  Hence, the phrase, “mad as a hatter,” was appropriately coined.

I found “barking up the wrong tree” to be interesting and amusing.  In 19th century America, hunting dogs would be used to track raccoons or bears.  The animals would climb a tree to escape them.  The dogs would sit at the base of the tree and bark while they waited for their master.  Sometimes, the dog(s) would lose the scent, and sit at the base of the wrong tree.  In spite of this, they would still bark and wait for their master.  Therefore, the meaning is clearly an example of today’s meaning of taking the wrong approach or wasting one’s efforts.

While “put a sock in it” means to be quiet, the original meaning had to do with the volume of a gramophone. In the 19th century, gramophones had large, trumpet-shaped horns that produced the sound.  But there was no way to lower the sound. One had to literally “put a sock in it.”

I wonder which of today’s phrases will be of interest to people in the future. There are many more of these old phrases and sayings. These were the ones that 

peaked my interest.  I hope you enjoyed them.  And I hope that future generations will enjoy the phrases of this time in history as well.