WhimsicalLL

Egy korábbi eset kapcsán most egy kis etimológia: "Can I have your John Hancock, please?" - hangzik el egy üzleti tárgyaláson. A "mimet-teccik-kérni-kezitlábátcsókolom" érzés érthető, és hányszor vagyunk úgy, hogy de jó lenne nem pusztán érteni, de tudni is, hogy ez most miért (éppen) így...és hányszor segít rögzíteni a tudásra éhes diákagyakban egy-egy dolgot, ha nem csak odavetjük a koncot, de adunk hozzá egy kis hátteret is - persze kizárólag in a nutshell.

Ja, és ha valaki a Google segítsége nélkül is meg tudja mondani a fenti kifejezés jelentését és eredetét, alig befogadható mennyiségű virtuális Tibi tschokoládé boldog birtokosává avanzsáltatik elő rögvest, vagy akár tüstént, de mindenképpen izibe. (Egyébként itt)

Akkor néhány további ízelítő, csak úgy véletlenszerűen, az ismertebbekből:

A little bird told me
Meaning - I was told by a private or secret source.
Origin - The text 'a little bird told me' doesn't appear in any version of the Bible. The root source of this expression is probably biblical though, from Ecclesiastes 10-20 (King James Version):
"Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bedchamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter."
Various authors over the centuries, including Shakespeare, have made reference to birds, feathered or otherwise, giving messages. The first that comes close to our current version of this phrase is Frederick Marryat, in Peter Simple, 1833:
"A little bird has whispered a secret to me."Piece of cake
Meaning - A straightforward task that can easily be accomplished.
Origin - This phrase is of American origin. At least, the earliest citation of it that I can find is from the American poet and humorist Ogden Nash's Primrose Path, 1936:
"Her picture's in the papers now, And life's a piece of cake."
The choice of cake or pie as a symbol of ease and pleasantry is well represented in the language. Other phrases along the same lines include 'as easy as pie', 'a cake-walk', 'that takes the cake/biscuit'. A fly in the ointment
Meaning - A small but irritating flaw that spoils the whole thing.
Origin - These days ointments are chiefly for medicinal use - just the thing for rubbing on that nasty rash. In earlier times though ointments were more likely to be creams or oils with a cosmetic or ceremonial use. Literally, ointment was the substance one was annointed with. There is considerable anointing in Bible stories and it isn't surprising therefore that this phrase has a biblical origin. Ecclesiastes 10:1 (King James Version) has:
"Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour."
Our contempary phrase 'the fly in the ointment' didn't appear until later. The earliest example that I have found in print of that precise text is in John Norris' A Practical Treatise Concerning Humility, 1707:
'Tis that dead fly in the ointment of the Apothecary.'A riddle wrapped up in an enigma
Meaning - A puzzle - difficult to solve.
Origin - A form of Winston Churchill's quotation, made in a radio broadcast in October 1939:
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."Head over heels
Meaning - Excited, and/or turning cartwheels to demonstrate one's excitement.
Origin - 'Head over heels' is now most often used as part of 'head over heels in love'. When first coined it wasn't used that way though and referred exclusively to being temporarily the wrong way up. It is one of many similar phrases that we use to describe things that are not in their usual state - 'upside-down', 'topsy-turvy', 'topple up tail', 'arse over tea-kettle', 'bass-ackwards' etc.
Herbert Lawrence's Contemplative Man, 1771 is the first known citation of 'head over heels':
"He gave [him] such a violent involuntary kick in the Face, as drove him Head over Heels."
The first mention of love comes in 1834, by which time the phrase had crossed the Atlantic, and into David Crockett's Narrative of the life of David Crockett:
"I soon found myself head over heels in love with this girl."
Note: Non-American readers might not realize that Davy Crockett was a real person. Certainly in the UK he has the semi-mythic status of characters like Robin Hood and William Tell. Crockett is best known here by the old joke: "Did you know Davy Crockett had three ears? A left ear, a right ear and a wild frontier."
'Head over heels' is a good example of how language can communicate meaning even when it makes no literal sense. After all, our head is normally over our heels. The phrase originated in the 14th century as 'heels over head', meaning doing a cartwheel or somersault. This appeared later in Thomas Carlyle's History of Frederick the Great, 1864:
"A total circumgyration, summerset, or tumble heels-over-head in the Political relations of Europe."
Another note: Carlyle's spelling of summerset for somersault. John Lennon reinvented that in 'Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite' - "Ten somersets he'll undertake on solid ground."
'Head over heels' isn't alone - many everyday idioms make no literal sense. Another nice example is 'putting your best foot forward'. Anyone trying that should arrange to have at least three legs. We humans should limit our efforts to 'putting our better foot forward', unless we want to end up 'heels over head'.