The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-05-14
PHRASES AND THEinOR|G|N 5.
Many of Them Have Been Used
for Generations.
FAMILIAR EXPRESSIONS
There's Many a Slip 'Twixt the Cup
and the Lip Attributed to a
King Other Expressions
and Their Origin.

| Many of the phrases one uses or hears
every day have been handed down to
| US from generation to generation for
| hundreds of years, and in many cases
| they can be traced to a quaint and Gu
rious origin.
! One of the oldest of these. familiar
expressions is to "cut dido" which is
said of person who plays single
| trick, and carries us back to 800 years
B. c., when Dido, queen of Tyre, after
| the murder of her husband by her
brother, fled to the northern coast Of
Africa and founded city. She bar
gained for as much land as could be
surrounded. by a bulls hide, and in or
| der to claim as large tract as possible
! she had the hide cut into narrow strips,
! and on the land thus surrounded she
| built citadel, The natives, seeing that
they had been quietly outwitted by a
| woman, submitted gracefully to this
| cutting Of dido"
There's many a slip 'twixt the cup
| and the lip" is nearly as old, and is
| attributed to Ancaeus, king of the ISL
and of Samos, in the Grecian archipe-
lago. This king. so runs the story, had
planted vineyard but he had treated
his slaves so badly that one of them
predicted that his master would never
live to even taste of it's wine. When
the vintage came, however, the king
called for a cup of wine and then asked
the slave what he thought of his pro-
phecy. Il think there's many a slip
between the cup and the lip" he SOL
EMMY answered. Just at that instant
a messenger in hot haste rushed into
the palace, informing the king that a
wild boar had broken into the vineyard
and was destroying it. Ancaeus put
down his wine cup untasted and hur-
ried out to attack the ravager, but in
the chase was killed.
He's brick" meaning a brave and
noble fellow, doubtless originated with
Agesilaus, king of Sparta, about $50 b.
c. A visitor at the Lacedaemonian
capital was surprised to find it without
walls or other visible means of defense
and asked his royal host what they
could do in a case of invasion by
foreign power.
Dol" replied the heroic king: "why,
Sparta has $4,000 soldiers and each
man is a brick
Done to turn" suggests the story
of st. Lawrence, who suffered martyr
dom by being roasted on a gridirOn.
During his torture he calmly requested
the attendants to turn him over, as he
was thoroughly roasted on one side.
Hence the phrase, Done to a turn
In one of the battles between the
Russians and the Tartars, 400 years
ago, private soldier of the former
cried out: Captain. I've caught Tar
tar" Bring him along, then" an
swered the officer II can't. for he
won't let me- was the response. Upon
investigation it was apparent that the
captured had the captor by the arm
and would not release him. So catch
ing a Tartar" is applicable to one who
has found an antagonist too strong for
him.
The familiar expression, ''robbing Pc
ter to pay Paul" is connected with
the history of Westminster Abbey. In
the early middle ages it was the Gus
tom to call the abbey st. Peters cathe-
dral. At one time the funds of st.
Paurs cathedral being low those in au-
thority took sufficient from st. Peters
to settle the accounts, much to the dis
satisfaction of the people, who asked,
why rob st. Peter to pay st. Paul?"
Some 200 years later the saying was
again used in regard to the same col
legiate churches, at the time of the
death of the Earl of Chatham, the city
of London declaring that the famous
statesman ought to lie in st. PauPs.
Parliament, however, insisted that
Westminster Abbey was the proper
place, and not to bury him there would
be, for the second time, "robbing st.
Peter to pay st. Paul" The abbey
properly carried the day.
Dying in the last ditch" was, &C
cording to Hume, first used by Will
lam of Orange. When Holland was so
badly pressed by her enemies that COM
plete disaster seemed imminent, the
Duke of buckingham implored the
prince to change his tactics or the
country would be ruined. "There is
one way to prevent my seeing the ruin
of my country" answered the prince.
IT will die in the last ditch
HE has an ak to grind" Early in
the century the story was told of a
lad who was induced by promised re-
ward to turn the grindstone for one
who wished to sharpen his ak. The
promised payment was not made. Since
then one who DISCUSSES his selfish aims
by fair promises is said to have an Ok
to grind.
80. K" has many alleged origins.
The most probable is the following: In
1910, when Alvah Adams organized the
Adams Express company, a young
country lad applied for work. He was
employed to do all sorts of odd jobs
and make himself generally useful in
the office. The boy had an observant
eye and saw that the shipping clerk
placed upon the managers desk each
night list of the packages marked
"All correct" The clerk being absent
one day, the boy was asked to write
the list. rather, to check it. When he
placed it on the desk it bore on the
outside the letters 80. K.'' Asked
what they meant the youth replied:
80. X means all correct" Mr..
Adams enjoyed hearty laugh and