Captive soldiers who crossed it risked getting shot. During the Civil War, a dead line marked the boundary surrounding a prison-sometimes in the form of a ditch or line in the dirt. The word deadline was meant to be taken literally in the 19th century. In addition to being in poor taste, it's not accurate: The victims at Jonestown actually drank an off-brand powdered drink called Flavor Aid, leading to one of the more unfortunate cases of brand name generalization of all time. Today, drinking the Kool-Aid can be applied to anyone who blindly embraces a group or trend, especially if it's to their detriment, but there are a couple of reasons you should rethink using the phrase. (Though the tragedy took place in Guyana, the majority of the victims were American citizens.) The murder-suicide orchestrated by cult leader Jim Jones is considered one of the deadliest non-natural catastrophes in U.S. On November 18, 1978, over 900 members of the Peoples Temple movement died in a mass suicide event that involved a fruit-flavored beverage laced with cyanide and other drugs. The origin of this saying, meaning "following the crowd," comes from the Jonestown massacre. According to Merriam-Webster, grain of salt was first used in its modern, idiomatic sense in 1647. This is one possible explanation for why we say to take something "with a grain of salt," but experts disagree on when the phrase as we know it today first appeared.
"Take two dried walnuts, two figs and twenty leaves of rue pound them all together, with the addition of a grain of salt if a person takes this mixture fasting, he will be proof against all poisons for that day." The passage from his treatise The Natural History reads: Greek writer Pliny the Elder included the words “ addito salis grano” in his translation of an antidote for poison. The origin of the phrase is a bit murky: According to one theory, the phrase was meant literally when it appeared in a disturbing context in 77 CE. Today, if someone tells you to take information “ with a grain of salt,” you should be skeptical of its veracity.
Although the concept originated in the Old West, the phrase riding shotgun itself wasn’t used widely until the 20th century-after occasionally popping up in newspapers, then often in Hollywood Westerns, until it got its less-violent interpretation that applies to car travel.
#Mad hatter sayings driver
If a coach was transporting something valuable, the person who sat beside the driver might be tasked with fending off potential thieves and wild animals with a literal shotgun. Today, riding shotgun simply means sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle, but according to How Stuff Works, that spot came with big responsibilities on stagecoaches in the Wild West. officially banned it from felt production in the 1940s. The popularity of the phrase mad as a hatter shows how widespread the ailments were, but mercury continued to be used in hatmaking into the 20th century. Workers exposed to this toxic substance over time developed symptoms such as tremors, speech problems, hallucinations, and mental and emotional instability. In the 18th and 19th centuries, fur felt (which is more durable and lightweight than wool felt) for hats was made by treating animal pelts with mercury nitrate. The phrase mad as a hatter may sound whimsical, but it refers to a serious medical condition that once plagued the hatmaking industry. From poisoning to warfare, here are the dark origins behind everyday phrases that may be part of your vocabulary. Some common sayings have silly backstories, while others are more disturbing than they seem out of context. Many English speakers don’t give much thought to the idioms they use on a regular basis.
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