A Few Phrase Origins for You

My birthday was a few days ago, and one of the great gifts I received (besides the love of my family) was a book called Why You Say It, written by Webb Garrison.  It’s full of word origins, and common phrase history.  Interesting and fun reading.  Here are a couple that caught my attention:

Smokey- Anytime you drive into a state where radar detectors are outlawed, you had better keep your eyes peeled for a “Smokey.”  These days, he can come at you out of nowhere in an unmarked car.  Don’t blame Smokey the Bear if you pick up a ticket.  It all started during the decades when the U.S. Forest Service was going all-out for prevention of forest fires.  Smokey the Bear became so familiar that he was almost like a member of the family.  Rangers displaying the Smokey symbol wore broad-brimmed hats of a style sported by few civilians.  But many a state highway patrol sysetem adopted a hat like that as part of the uniform.  A really alert driver doesn’t have to watch for a blue light on top of a car.  All he or she has to do is spot one of those distinctive hats in order to know that Smokey is on the prowl.

Real McCoy- Kid McCoy, now largely forgotten, was among the most colorful boxers of the 1890’s.  Outside the ring, he didn’t look at all formidable.  Persons who saw him for the first time often insisted that he couldn’t possibly be the noted mauler.  Tradition asserts that mild-looking McCoy fired up when challenged to prove his identity.  Barflies who refused to believe him were likely to wind up flat on their faces in the sawdust.  Kid McCoy’s memorable demonstrations that he was the real fighter and not a look-alike created many legends.  As a result, a person indisputably the authentic article is likely to be called the Real McCoy.

 Jaywalker- Few North American birds are so loud and colorful as the blue jay.  Now often seen in towns and suburbs of cities, the noisy creatures once avoided humans.  Their prevalence in wooded regions caused any rustic to be derided as a jay.  Male and female jays who ventured into urban regions often found themselves confused.  Not understanding patterns of movement, and sometimes ignorant of signals, they seemed to endanger their lives when they tried to cross streets.  Sophisticated city folk jeered at any erratic pedestrian as a jay in action.  Hence jaywalker became the standard title of a person who crosses the street in a reckless or illegal fashion.

Bikini- In 1947, the first swimsuit designed to reveal practically every asset of a woman’s figure went on sale.  Wondering what to call the daring garment, makers noticed that males who saw it for the first time reacted like it was an atomic bomb.  Scientists used the Marshall Islands in 1946 for a crucial experiment.  Having moved 167 natives to Rongerik, “Operation Crossroads” head William H.R. Blandy used the Bikini atoll for tests of the atomic bomb.  Comparing the impact of the new swimsuit with world-shaking events in the Pacific, fashion experts called it the Bikini.  Once that name was given to the explosive garment, the only change has been the dropping of capitalization.

 More of these to come soon!

Today I went skiing at Mt. Hood Meadows with my friend Mark.  Great weather!  We skied Heather Canyon several times and enjoyed super, untouched runs!  I have some new Nordica SpeedMachine 14 boots that are great.  It was only in the 20’s temperature-wise, pretty cold for almost April.  Still 184 inches of snow at the lodge, so we should be skiing for a couple more months!

Tags: bikini, child, dad, jaywalk, kids, mom, mt. hood, mt. hood meadows, nordica, parenting, skiing, smokey, snow