Bacon:
To bring home the bacon is to triumphantly achieve some plan or object,
perhaps by winning a prize or race. There are several possible origins
to this saying. One goes back hundred years to the village of
Dunmow in Essex where, it is said, in AD 1111 a noble woman offered a
prize of a side of bacon, known locally as a flitch, to any man from
anywhere in England who could honestly say that he had had complete
marital harmony for the preceding year and a day. In over 500 years
there were only eight winners. The prize was re-established in the mid
19th century (1858) but ceased to be offered with the closure of the
local bacon factory in the 1980s.
An alternative explanation comes from the ancient sport of catching a
greased pig at country fairs. The winner kept the pig. Further
suggestions include actual bacon kept at home or thieves 17C slang for
'escape'. Who knows?
To
save one's bacon indicates that a situation has been rescued. This has
little to do with the bacon that was brought home above: rather the
word here could derive from Baec which is Old Dutch and Anglo-Saxon for
"back". However, like many sayings, there are other suggestions as to
the origin. The most likely of these is that, in the early 17th century
"bacon" was thieves' slang for "escape". Alternatively, Brewer suggests
it may mean the sides of home-killed bacon that every peasant family
would have hanging up in the house; this would have been valuable
property and if you or somebody else "saved your bacon" from fire or
theft you would have had a narrow escape.
Badger: To badger someone, means that a person is being harried or
annoyed incessantly. This comes from the cruel "sport" of badger
baiting. The unfortunate animal was placed in an upturned barrel and
dogs were then released to drag it out. When the animals emerged the
badger was separated from the hounds and then put back into the barrel
to start all over again until the inevitable occurred.
Bag: To let the cat out of the bag; see "Pig in a Poke".
In
the bag means that all is certain; the outcome is beyond doubt. This
could be derived from the House of Commons, along with "On the nod" and
"Toe the line". "In the bag" means: a bag of petitions behind the
Speaker.
An alternative origin says that the bag is one which holds birds and
other small game which have been shot and are on their way home to the
cooking pot.
Baker: A baker's dozen; This expression meaning thirteen of something,
is many centuries old. It goes back to the days when bread was the
staple diet of the populace and it was illegal to sell it underweight.
In order to make certain that they did not incur a heavy penalty for
selling underweight, many bakers gave 13 loaves to the dozen, just to
make sure. This extra loaf was called the "vantage" loaf.
In March 2005 Victoria Dennis suggested another explanation. The Assize
of Bread and Ale, first promulgated in England in 1266, fixed the
weight and price of loaves by law. This made it illegal for a baker to
sell loaves at a “wholesale” price to street vendors for re-sale at a
profit, and so the bakers got round this by selling the vendor a dozen
loaves at the legal price and throwing a thirteenth free.
Ball: To be on the ball means to be on top of a situation, in control.
The 'ball' in this instance is a baseball and the 'on' is the spin
which the pitcher applies to the ball in order to make it curve during
flight. On a good day there will be lots of spin and curve to confuse
the batter. The pitcher is said to be 'on the ball'. The expression
first appeared in print in 1912 and was clearly in use before then.
Balloon: When the balloon goes up is a phrase used to imply impending
trouble. This relates to the use of observation balloons in the first
World War. The sight of such a balloon going up nearly always resulted
in a barrage of shells following soon after. The expression was
re-inforced during WW2 when the hoisting of barrage balloons was part
of the preparations for an air raid.
Bandwagon: To climb on the bandwagon is to join in something that looks
as if it will be a success, often with a view to gaining some sort of
personal benefit. This goes back to the southern USA custom of bands
playing on a wagon in front of a religious or political rally.
Supporters would jump on board in order to show their enthusiasm.
Although the practice is of some age, the saying itself is first
recorded about the Presidential campaign of William Jennings Bryan
early in the 20th century.
Bandy: To bandy words, means to argue or quarrel. "Bandy" originated
from an Old French word "Bander", which was used in an early form of
tennis and meant to "hit a ball to and fro". Later, in the early 17th
century, "Bandy" became the name of an Irish team game from which
hockey evolved. The ball was "bandied" back and forth between players.
The crooked shape of the stick with which the game was played has
produced the modern expression "bandy-legged".
Barge: To barge in is a term used when someone rudely interrupts a
situation. The origin goes back to the awkward steering characteristics
of river barges - they often banged into other boats and objects. By
the late 1800s schoolboys used barge to mean "to hustle someone". To
barge in came into the language in the early 1900s.
Barking: Barking up the wrong tree. This saying implies something
similar to "getting hold of the wrong end of the stick". It comes from
the USA and originates in the practice of racoon hunting. Raccoons are
partly nocturnal animals and are hunted with dogs. The raccoons often
take sanctuary in trees. When the dogs spot them up a tree they stand
at the base and bark; occasionally, in the dark, they get the wrong
tree.
Baron: A baron of beef; a Baron of Beef is a large double slice of meat
not separated at the backbone. Half a Baron is called a sirloin and it
from this half that Baron gets its name. Sirloin is a an anglicised
version of the French "sur" (over) and "longe" (loin). By inference and
humour, since a "Sir", or Knight is lower than a "Baron" then the
double version was so called.
Barrel: To have someone over a barrel; in the past a recognised
treatment for someone who had been rescued from drowning was to place
them over a barrel in order to drain water from their lungs. Such
people were not really able to act for themselves and were totally
reliant on their rescuers. In the same way, someone who is having
business or other problems and is in the hands of third parties can be
said to be "over a barrel".
Bat: To bat an eyelid describes a blink or wink. Why bat? The word
derives from the now obsolete bate in turn from the Old French "batre"
meaning "to beat the wings: to flutter". See Breath.
To
do something off your own bat means to do something on your own
initiative, without help, or even without permission. Why 'bat'? This
is said to be an analogy with cricket, where a batsman scores runs 'off
his own bat'.
