Pip:
To give someone the pip means to get them fed up; to annoy them; to get
them browned off. It is possible that the basis is that of the old
fashioned saying "to have the hip", where "hip", a feeling of
melancholia, was an abbreviation of hypochondria. An alternative
suggestion puts the connection with pip the poultry disease which
causes the birds to pine away.
Pipe down: If someone is told to pipe down then they are expected to
stop talking and be quiet. Pipe Down was the last call on the Bosun's
pipe each day, signalling time for "lights out" and silence.
Pipe: A pipe dream is an unlikely to be fulfilled wish. This is based
on the hallucinogenic effect of smoking an opium pipe. It is first
recorded in Wallace Irvin's 'Love Sonnets of a Hoodlum' (1901), but
probably dates back to the 1890s.
Piping: If food is piping hot the it can be said to be as hot as it is
possible to eat. The analogy in this case is said to be with boiling
water which pipes and sings with the heat.
Plain sailing: It's all plain sailing is used as a way of stating that
a particular situation is problem free. This was originally "plane
sailing" which was the method of recording course and speed of a ship
on a plane projection of the spherical Earth. This type of charting was
easier than the more complicated method required for a spherical
assessment. Over the years the spelling changed to that of today's
style.
Play fast and loose: If a young man plays fast and loose it means
now-a-days that he's a bit of a lady's man; likes a good time. The
origin is very different. "Pricking the Belt" was an old fair ground
game, a little like the three card trick. The victim was invited to
push a skewer through a folded belt so as to fix it to the table. The
operator would then show that the belt was not, in fact 'fast', but
still 'loose'. He would, of course, win the bet.
Plug: To plug a song is a phrase used to describe attempts to
popularise a song by repeated requests for it to be played. Sometime
these requests are part of an orchestrated effort and are therefore
likely to be unrepresentative of the public's feelings. The origin
could be from Leonard Plugge. Captain Leonardo F. Plugge (1889-1981)
had been a consulting engineer for London's underground railway and had
also been a Philco radio salesman. He also "invented" special glasses
to watch television and took part in scientific research with the Royal
Air Force as well as being a World War 1 RAF pilot. He was a
Conservative MP for Rochester, to the south of London and became
Conservative MP for Colchester in 1935. He founded the International
Broadcasting Company in London in 1925 and Radio Normandie in the early
1930s. He certainly pushed records, and other products on this station,
and it's likely, but not certain, that he's the origin of the saying.
More about the man here. Leonard
Plugge
Plum: If a job is regarded as a plum job then it is considered very
desirous. Why "plum"? Plum in the 17th century was slang for £1000, a
very large sum indeed in those times. This use was then applied to some
political jobs, thought by the man in the street to involve little work
for a lot of money. From there the word entered wider use for an easy,
choice job.
Point: To stretch a point is to exceed the bounds of normal acceptance;
to exceed what is right and proper. The point in this saying is
probably one of the points which were parts of clothing to which laces
were attached. To "truss a point" was to tie the laces which fastened
the garment. To "stretch a point" was to stretch the laces to allow for
the extra fullness that might be expected after a good meal.
Sticking
point: If someone reaches their sticking point, then they have reached
a situation from which they won't move. A strange saying; was there
ever a point where something stuck? The answer was given in postings on
the Phrase Finder message board in January 2006.
"In a book I'm reading, one character says: "Screw your courage to the
sticking point and we'll not fail". This site has explained the
phrase's origin as Macbeth and the meaning was clear from the context,
but I'm curious as to whether a "sticking point" is/was an actual
physical thing to which something was screwed.
Bob replied
Lady Macbeth actually says "sticking place," not "point," a reference
to the medieval crossbow. You pull the string tight by screwing
(cranking) it until it reaches a notch, the sticking place, where it is
held, fully taut and ready to be released. So, loosely translated, get
your courage cranked up until it's at its maximum, ready for action,
and we'll be poised for victory."
Poke: Pig in a poke; see Cat
Pole: If someone is described as being up the pole then they are
reckoned to be a little crazy. Why pole and why up? I can't find a
reference but it's not difficult to suggest that the background may be
in the "mad" pastime of the 1920s when it was fashionable to climb up
flag poles and sit there for as long as possible, sometimes for many,
many days. Often there was no object other than that the pole was
there.
An alternative origin is based on the use of pole as a term for a
ship's mast. Sailors obviously had to climb the pole regularly, but
this suggestion lacks the element of madness found in the expression.
The expression is recorded at least as early as 1906; thus the 1920s
basis is not supported. The origin remains obscure.
Post: Pillar to post; see Pillar
Pot: To take pot luck is to be offered a choice from what's available
and not from what you might wish. It goes back to the days when a
cooking pot was always on the fire. An unexpected guest was welcome to
eat but only from what was on offer in the pot. To take a pot shot has
the same basis - to shoot at game in general in order to get something
for the pot rather shooting at a specific type of animal.
If
someone has gone to pot then they are thought to have deteriorated or
declined from their previous status. The pot here is the melting pot
into which valuable pieces of stolen silver and gold were remelted.
They had gone to pot never to re-appear again. In spite of this
probable origin, it is quite possible to relate the saying to the
cooking pot described above. Who knows?
