The Curious Origins of Popular Sayings

We use expressions and idioms in everyday conversation. But have you ever wondered where they come from? For example, why shouldn’t we cry over spilt milk? And who’s going around killing two birds with one stone, or putting cats into bags?

In English in particular, many of our most popular sayings have these interesting and obscure origins. Some of which are pretty dark: did you know that the phrase “saved by the bell” may have arisen from fears of being buried alive?

In this video, we'll explore the strange origins of these popular sayings:

- Don’t cry over spilt milk
- An apple a day keeps the doctor away
- Kill Two birds with one stone
- The feather/straw that broke the horse's/camel’s back
- An eye for an eye
- Speak of the Devil
- Saved by the bell
- Bite the Bullet

But there are so many more out there, so write down below some sayings that you would like to see explored. Thank you all for 400k subscribers!

H.

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Watch some of my other videos:

Survival Guide to the Biblical Apocalypse:
https://youtu.be/SPvJ-M-hU5w

The Dark Side of Nursery Rhymes:
https://youtu.be/K2oINoMTO2Q

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Music:

Intro - Epic of Gilgamesh in Sumerian by Peter Pringle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUcTs​...

Fox Tale Waltz Part 1 Instrumental by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/7917-fox-tale-waltz-part-1-instrumental
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Bass Vibes by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3422-bass-vibes
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

The Ulgonsah Witches: Will it End by CO.AG
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...

Elf Meditation Preview by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5728-elf-meditation-preview
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Guzheng City by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/7523-guzheng-city
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Western Streets by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/4617-western-streets
License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Outro - Peaceful Ambient Music by CO.AG
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcav...
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...

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Further Reading:

Proverbial Phrases - Wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proverbial_phrases

A list of 680 English Proverbs:
https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/proverbs.html

Idiom Dictionary:
https://writingexplained.org/idiom-dictionary

"Dictionary of idioms and their Origins" by Linda & Roger Flavell

PETA's animal friendly sayings:
https://www.peta.org/teachkind/lesson-plans-activities/animal-friendly-idioms/

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hochelagaenquiries@outlook.com

#sayings #origins