Why do we say…?

Industrial revolution

Q&AWhy do we say ‘get the sack’?

Scene of the Peterloo Massacre

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

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'?

Photo of pears

Second World War

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

An illustration depicting a woman lying in bed who has recently given birth to twins. Other women busy themselves with tasks around her, such as stoking a fire and holding one of the babies.

General History

Q&AWhere does the word ‘gossip’ come from – and what has it got to do with childbirth?

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?

A picture of Charles Darwin in his later years

Q&ADid Charles Darwin coin the phrase 'survival of the fittest'?

(Illustration by Glen McBeth for BBC History Magazine)

Q&AWhat is the origin and meaning of the pirate expression ‘shiver me timbers’?

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 stone statue of Achilles

Q&AWhy do we say ‘Achilles Heel’?

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

Q&AWhy do we say 'Peeping Tom'?

Photo of a crocodile

Q&AWhy do we say 'crocodile tears'?

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

Why do we say 'cat got your tongue'?

A red herring on a plate

Q&AWhy do we say ‘red herring’?

Peter O’Toole (top) plays Henry II alongside Richard Burton

"Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest?" The truth behind Henry II's notorious lament

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’?

Queen Victoria smiling

Q&ADid Queen Victoria really say "We are not amused"?

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'?

Barristers' wigs

Q&AWhy are barristers ‘called to the bar’?

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?

(Photo by iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Q&AWhy do Americans call the British ‘limeys’?

First World War

What is the origin of the phrase 'to blow smoke up someone's arse'?

19th-century boxer Larry Foley

Q&AWhy do we say ‘happy as Larry’?

Q&AWhere does the word ‘posh’ come from?

Children running down a street

Q&AWhy do we say ‘run amok’?

A sack of red beans

Q&AWhy do we say ‘spill the beans’?