THE CAT'S PAJAMAS VI

Tad Tuleja

A collection of the (mostly) true origins of familiar phrases

GET YOUR GOAT

Thoroughbred race horses are notoriously temperamental. In the early days of horse racing, owners would put a goat in their stalls the night before a race, which seemed to calm them. Those who wanted that horse to lose would steal the goat - obviously angering the horse's owner. The expression has evolved to mean anything that particularly annoys you or makes you angry.    

COLD FISH

When we say that someone with a limp, unresponsive handshake has a grip like a cold fish, we are being more literal than we know. In the first two decades of the 18th century, when English practical joking was at a fever pitch, many jokesters concealed a small fish in their palms with which to greet unsuspecting well-wishers. Naturally, this charming practice generated apprehension and, among those who were particularly loath to have their hands smeared with a dead herring, a certain degree of restraint. Eventually, those who gave these reluctant handshakes came to be called cold fish themselves. Since these unfortunates were often understandably wary of further casual contact, the expression became associated with reserve, and by extension, a stiff unfeeling person.

P.S. Anyone remember hand buzzers?