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Industrial revolution

Q&AWhy do we say ‘get the sack’?

Scene of the Peterloo Massacre

Q&AWhy do we say "Read the Riot Act"?

Nineteenth century engraving depicting raining cats and dogs

General Early Modern

Q&AWhy do we say 'raining cats and dogs'?

Photo of tall ship

Q&AWho do we say 'shot across the bows'?

A axe stuck in a piece of wood

General Early Modern

Q&AWhy do we say 'bury the hatchet'?

A Peep at St. Peter or The Poet in a Pickle

Q&AWhy do we say 'Peeping Tom'?

A stone statue of Achilles

Q&AWhy do we say ‘Achilles Heel’?

Photo of pears

Second World War

Q&AWhy do we say it's all gone pear-shaped?

Photo of a crocodile

Q&AWhy do we say 'crocodile tears'?

A red herring on a plate

Q&AWhy do we say ‘red herring’?

A 1782 cartoon by James Gillray that depicts Buller as ‘Judge Thumb’. (Photo by Library of Congress)

Q&AWhy do we say ‘rule of thumb’?

The Trojan Horse is pulled in the city of Troy

Q&AWhat is the Trojan Horse and why do we say 'Beware the Greeks bearing gifts'?

Q&AWhy do we say ‘white elephant’?

John Wilkes Booth flees the theatre after shooting US president Abraham Lincoln

Q&AWhy do we say ‘your name is mud’ – and what does it have to do with Abraham Lincoln?

Cat got your tongue? It certainly seems to be the case with this surprised tabby

Why do we say 'cat got your tongue'?

Scrooge and Marley's ghost

Q&AWhy do we say ‘Bah Humbug’ and what does it mean?

The card game cribbage

General Early Modern

Q&AWhy do we say 'level pegging'?

A portrait of James Gordon Bennett, Jr (1841–1918), by Alexis Joseph Perignon, 1867. (Photo by The New York Historical Society/Getty Images)

Q&AWhy do we say ‘Gordon Bennett’?

Photo of gauntlets

Q&AWhy do we say throw down the gauntlet?

19th-century boxer Larry Foley

Q&AWhy do we say ‘happy as Larry’?

Q&AWhy do we say ‘in the limelight’?

Children running down a street

Q&AWhy do we say ‘run amok’?

Portrait of Oliver Cromwell. This is one of several replicas of a portrait by Sir Peter Lely. Cromwell is supposed to have said: “I desire you would use all your skill to paint your picture truly like me… but remark all these roughness, pimples, warts and everything as you see me. Otherwise, I will never pay a farthing for it.”

Why do we say 'warts and all'?

A sack of red beans

Q&AWhy do we say ‘spill the beans’?

Photo of a horse

Why do we say 'horse of a different colour'?

An engraving of Admiral Lord Nelson

Q&AWhy do we say ‘turn a blind eye’?

Photo of a salt cellar

Q&AWho do we say 'with a pinch of salt'?

(Photo by naphtalina/Getty Images)

Q&AWhy do we say ‘resting on your laurels’?

Photo of a woman putting a finger to her lips

Q&AWhy do we say 'mum's the word'?

Man biting a bullet

Q&AWhy do we say ‘bite the bullet’?