I grew up with the phrase "the devil is beating his wife" and was shocked and judgmental when I used it and those around me were confused. While some use the boring term "sunshowers", here in the good ol' South, when the sun is shining while it's raining, we say that the devil is beating his wife. After explaining the phrase, the conversation turned to other sayings and how they came about, which turned into my weekly article that you can read below. Note that some of the origins are speculation. Also note that you'll have to figure out which ones.
"Close, but no cigar"
Meaning: to be very near and almost accomplish a goal, but fall short
Origin: the phrase, and its variant 'nice try, but no cigar', are of US origin and date from the mid-20th century. Fairground stalls gave out cigars as prizes, and this is the most likely source.
"Cut to the chase"
Meaning: get to the point - leaving out unnecessary preamble
Origin: this phrase originated in the U.S. film industry. Many early silent films ended in chase sequences preceded by obligatory romantic storylines. The first reference to it dates back to that era, just after the first talkie - The Jazz Singer, 1927.
"Paint the town red"
Meaning: a wild night out
Origin: the phrase "paint the town red" most likely owes its origin to one legendary night of drunkenness. In 1837, the Marquis of Waterford—a known lush and mischief maker—led a group of friends on a night of drinking through the English town of Melton Mowbray. The bender culminated in vandalism after Waterford and his fellow revelers knocked over flowerpots, pulled knockers off of doors and broke the windows of some of the town's buildings. To top it all off, the mob literally painted a tollgate, the doors of several homes and a swan statue with red paint. The marquis and his pranksters later compensated Melton for the damages, but their drunken escapade is likely the reason that "paint the town red" became shorthand for a wild night out. Still yet another theory suggests the phrase was actually born out of the brothels of the American West, and referred to men behaving as though their whole town were a red-light district.
"The third degree"
Meaning: inflicting of pain, physical or mental, to extract confessions or statements
Origin: there are several tales about the origin of "the third degree," a saying commonly used for long or arduous interrogations. One theory argues the phrase relates to the various degrees of murder in the criminal code; yet another credits it to Thomas F. Byrnes, a 19th-century New York City policeman who used the pun "Third Degree Byrnes" when describing his hardnosed questioning style. In truth, the saying is most likely derived from the Freemasons, a centuries-old fraternal organization whose members undergo rigorous questioning and examinations before becoming "third degree" members, or "master masons."
"Don't let the cat out of the bag"
Meaning: to reveal a secret
Origin: this saying finds its roots in 18th-century street fraud. Suckling pigs were often sold in bags, and a popular scheme was to replace the pig with a cat and sell it to an unwitting victim.
"To eat crow"
Meaning: to admit fault or be proved wrong after taking a strong position
Origin: the Bible lists crow as unfit for eating, and along with buzzards and rats, it was actually illegal to eat crow in the Middle Ages. As such, it was notably humiliating to consume.
"Bite the bullet"
Meaning: accepting something difficult or unpleasant
Origin: there was no time to administer anesthesia before emergency surgery during battle. The surgeon made patients bite down on a bullet in an attempt to distract them from the pain.
"Graveyard shift"
Meaning: to work the night shift
Origin: England was old and small, and when they started running out of room to bury people, they would dig up coffins and take the bones to a "bone-house", then reuse the grave. When reopening coffins, some were found to have scratch marks on the inside, and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they tied string to the arms of corpses, lead it through the coffin, up through the ground and tied the other end to a bell. Someone would then sit in the graveyard all night to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell" or was considered a "dead ringer."
"Mad as a hatter"
Meaning: to be completely crazy
Origin: no, it's not what you think. This didn't originate from Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland. Its origins date from the 17th and 18th centuries - well before Lewis Caroll's book was published. In 17th century France, poisoning occurred among hat makers who used mercury for the hat felt. The "Mad Hatter Disease" was marked by shyness, irritability, and tremors that would make the person appear "mad."
"The devil is beating his wife"
Meaning: the sun is out while it's raining
Origin: the earliest use of this term dates all the way back to 1738, where it was said that the Devil is angry with God for creating beautiful sunny days, and when the Devil gets angry enough about it, he takes his anger out on his wife by beating her. She, in turn, cries large tears that fall from the sky and turn into raindrops.
