Madcap:
If someone's considered impulsive or reckless then they could well be
said to be a bit of a madcap. The "mad" portion seems clear, but why
"cap"? I have been unable to find an explanation. It dates from the 16C
and a guess is that, in olden times, the village idiot wore an
identifying cap so that people would excuse his mad behaviour and be
more understanding; I don't know. In April 2006 Patrick Canary wrote:
"I believe that it has something to do with the use of lead or mercury
in the manufacturing of hats". This may be right, and mercury was
certainly used, hence the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, but there
seems to be no certain evidence.
Main brace: To splice the main brace means to celebrate something. The
saying comes from the Royal Navy. The following was sent to me by an
ex-Royal Navy sailor who was the designated 'rum bosun' on a number of
ships: "........ As for the origin, it was a privilege earned by seamen
who undertook dangerous tasks up the rigging, ie braces, of sailing
ships during heavy seas. In those days it was granted by the ship's
Bosun who used to take a sip from each man that he named; this
tradition was stopped when steam/sail ships took over from sail".
Main chance: To have an eye to the main chance implies being on the
look out for gain or profit. The phrase seems to derive from the dice
game of "Hazzard" in which players throw twice, the first being the
main throw and the second, determining, throw the chance.
March: If someone steals a march on you then the have gained an
advantage by doing something earlier than expected. The origin of this
saying is military and the march referred to is the one undertaken by
armies. If one army marched unexpectedly soon, then it could well gain
an advantage over its enemy.
Marines: To say to someone "tell that to the Marines" suggests that you
don't really believe them. The Marines here are not the US variety but
the much older military unit which belonged to King Charles II. The
story goes that the King, being told by a naval officer that such
things as flying fish existed, remarked "Tell that to my Marines". A
nearby Marine officer, who felt that this was an insult, was mollified
when the King explained that it was a compliment. His Marines had been
to all parts of the World and had seen everything. If they had not seen
flying fish, then they didn't exist. Sadly, this has been shown to be a
1900s hoax by the novelist W. P. Drury - a retired Lt. Col. of the
Royal Marines!
Earlier versions of the phrase go something like "You may tell that to
the marines, but the sailors will not believe it" from the early 1800s,
but where that came from is unclear - perhaps just naval and marine
rivalry?
Mark: If someone or something doesn't come up to the mark then it is
below standard; inferior. Mark in this instance is the assay mark used
on gold and silver items. If an article was below standard, then it was
not up to the mark.
McCoy: The real McCoy is the genuine article. The saying is said to
have arisen in the late 1920s. At that time there was a well known
boxer called Kid McCoy; a drunk picked a fight with him without
realising who he actually was. When told the situation he was still
unbelieving. In the end Kid McCoy knocked him out; on waking up the
drunk is alleged to have said; " you're right, it's the real McCoy!"
Like many of these sayings there is another suggested origin. This goes
back to the 1880s and uses the name McKay, which was the name of a
brand of whisky and was advertised as "The real McKay".
A third alternative comes from the days of prohibition in the USA.
Billy McCoy was an infamous smuggler of hard liquor from Canada into
the eastern US seaboard. Since the articles were genuine and not home
brewed the they were "real McCoys"
The phrase is recorded in an Irish ballad of the 1880s and was in use
in Australia in 1903. The real McKay is pretty certainly the correct
version.
In September 2003 I had a message from 'Jerry' (no surname given). As
judged by the spelling of 'traveled', I guess he comes from the USA. He
offered the following origin. I pass it on, with a few additional
details that I later discovered.
"Just a note: the term 'the Real McCoy' came from Elisha McCoy, a black
born (apparently into slavery: my later finding) in 1843. At the age of
16 (presumably liberated: again, my later addition) he traveled to
Edinburgh, Scotland, to serve an apprenticeship in mechanical
engineering. In Edinburgh, McCoy won the credentials of a master
mechanic and engineer. He went on to invent the self-oiling Steam
Engine Lubricator. After time others started duplicating it. People
wanted to know if it was a copy or the 'Real McCoy'.
The reason I know this is because I am a big steam Engine buff."
Mettle: To be on your mettle is to be well prepared, ready to deal with
the situation. This is simply a 16th century variation of metal.
Mickey: To take the mickey out of someone is to make fun of them. There
appears nothing more subtle to this one than the stereotyped English
attitude to the Irish.
Mickey Finn: to give some one a Mickey Finn means to add a sleeping
drug to their drink in order to rob, or otherwise abuse them. Who was
Micky Finn? The following answer appeared in the Q&A section of
'The Times' on 16th July 2003:
"Micky Finn was, around 1896, the dubious proprietor of the Lone Star
Saloon and Palm Garden Restaurant, the lowest and roughest of all the
saloons on Whiskey Row, Chicago. The Palm Garden was so called because
it featured a scrawny palm tree in a pot and in this dark, secluded
area, the pickpockets trained by Finn practised their arts. Victims had
their drinks laced with chloral hydrate "knock-out drops", were
rendered sleepy, deprived of clothes, money or virtue and slung out
into an alleyway. By 1903 the saloon had been closed down. Finn escaped
prosecution and found work as a bartender, supplementing his wage by
selling details of his secret "recipe". Chloral hydrate, a
near-relative of chloroform, was discovered in 1832. Its nasty taste
had to be disguised by a strong-tasting drink, usually whiskey. It was
widely used as a sedative in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and
was occasionally used in this country as a soporific as late as 1998.
Alan Dronsfield, Swanwick, Derbyshire."
Mockers: To put the mockers on something is to spoil its chances of
success, to put a curse on it. The expression started in the 1920s and
comes from either the English Mock or the Yiddish Makeh, meaning
'plague' or 'wound'. Other documentary evidence points to an Australian
origin based on the very Australian saying "to put a (or the) mock on",
which means "hinder/put a stop to/put a jinx on". The earliest
citations both come from Australian writers as early as 1911. It may be
that it took a decade to reach the rest of the world.
Molly coddle: To molly coddle someone or some pet is to really fuss
over them; to over indulge them. In the 18th century Molly or Miss
Molly was a term used to describe effeminate or weak males. To coddle
is to pamper or to spoil and is used in this way today. To Molly coddle
was therefore to treat someone in a manner appropriate to weaklings.
Rhyming must also have played a part, as it has in a number of sayings.
