God Bless You-

A brother and a sister lived in Erin at the time of the Black Plague. They noticed that the first sign of being attacked by the scourge was sneezing. So whenever they had to sneeze themselves, they said "God help me." Their prayers were answered and they were the only surviving members of the district.

The Real McCoy-

1-Charles ("Kid") McCoy was a world class welter weight champion who was unbeatable in his class for many years. Over time, his name came to stand for the real thing, or anyone who was the best at what he/she did.

2-McCoy's personal version of the coining of the phrase- One night McCoy was at a bar with a woman when a man started pestering the lady. After telling the man to leave her alone, McCoy added, "I'm Kid McCoy." The man responded, "Yeah? Well, I'm George Washington!". McCoy struck the man (lightly, of course!) and he collapsed. Upon gaining consciousness, the man exclaimed, "Jeez, it was the real McCoy!".

3-During prohibition, many of the bootleggers prospered by selling watered down liquor. One man named McCoy refused to cheat his customers and only sold first quality, undiluted whisky. His name was praised and his product became known as "The real McCoy."

Boycott

A crop failure in Ireland in the late 1800's caused a famine. The Irish farmers could not afford to pay the English landlords rent, but in many cases the rent was reduced. One landlord refused to lower his fee and he sent Captain Boycott to collect. The Irish refused to pay and decided to stop working. They formed the Irish Land League, which would not deal with boycott. The League cut off Boycott's mail and food. Eventually Boycott was forced to leave Ireland, but his name remained and after that was used to describe the type of treatment he had received.

Quiz

In the late 1700's a Dublin theatre manager named Daly agreed to a bet that that he could make the population adopt a new word which had no meaning whatsoever. He spent one night rushing around the city painting four letters (Q-U-I-Z) everywhere, on houses, buildings, and sidewalks. The next day, everyone wanted to know what they meant. So, the word which was created to prove man's stupidity is now used as a test to prove his knowledge.

Native American

Hair-raising

Used as a definition for any experience which is frightening, or causes the hair on one's body to stand on end. The phrase arose as a result of the Indians referring to scalping as "hair-raising."

Gone West

The Red Indians first described death by saying that a person had gone west to meet the setting sun. In later years, when the white settlers that were moving started westward were reported missing, their friends back east would use the term "gone west" to symbolize the fact that they were probably dead.

Willamette River

An explorer asked an Indian the name of the river that they were following an pointed to the water to make sure his meaning was clear. The Indian responded "Wal-lamt" meaning "west bank."

O.K.

1-The Choctaw Indian word "okeh" used to emphasize the truth of a statement or the hope that it will come true was used, but misspelled by Andrew Jackson.

2-Old Keokuk, a famous Indian chief, signed only his initials on documents, so the letters O and K came to stand for the approval of something.

Eat One's Hat

A Hatte is made of eggs,veal, dates, saffron, salt, and other ingredients. This combination does not sound very tasty, actually it does not even sound edible. So the phrase to eat one's hat (hatte) means something that was not meant to be eaten (such at a hat).

Love (The Tennis Score)

When the game of tennis began the French used the word l'oeuf (meaning egg) was used to dictate "no score" because of the zero's resemblance to an egg. When the game became popular in England, "l'oeuf" changed to "love" as a result of the English accent.

Etiquette

The French army used to post daily orders on small sheets. these were called etiquette. A former soldier, now a gardener at the Palace of Versailles, was frustrated by the crowds of people who would trample the plants before they had a chance to take root. He posted etiquettes on the ground instructing people where to walk. Eventually the word expanded to describe the right kind of behavior for any certain situation.

Spooning

Young men used to carve a wooden spoon for the girl they liked. It was elaborately carved with the lovers' initials intertwined, stained, and embossed. It was given as a symbol for the promise of marriage. Later , the engagement ring, which was smaller and more easily obtained took the place of this tradition.

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