Sack:
If workers gets the sack then they are dismissed from their job. In the
old days workers carried their own tools in a sack. This was deposited
with their employer in order to look after the tools. When the worker
was no longer needed or was dismissed he was given the sack back. The
expression has now been partly replaced by to get one's cards.
Salad days: Salad days are the days of youth, when people are young and
inexperienced, green, like the contents of a salad. Act1 scene 5 of
Shakespeare's Anthony and Cleopatra (c 1606): My salad days, when I was
green in judgement....
Salt: If someone is good at his or her job; reliable; trustworthy then
they are said to be worth their salt. This goes back to the days when
salt was an expensive and valued commodity; Roman soldiers were
actually partly paid in salt and this money was known as salarium from
the Latin sal, salt. From this origin comes our word Salary.
To
be below the salt is to be considered of a relatively lowly status. As
indicated above, salt was highly valued and had a special position on a
feast table. Those of really high rank were more "valued" than the
salt, and hence sat above the salt, but the rest were considered of
lower importance and were therefore positioned further down the table.
If
you hear something of doubtful truth, something that is unpalatable
then, if you take it with a pinch of salt, it becomes more acceptable.
Sandboy: As happy as a sandboy is an expression which implies blissful
contentment. I believe that the saying is truly Bristolian in origin.
On Bathurst basin, in the City centre is the long established Ostrich
Inn. The Inn is immediately adjacent to the Redcliff caves which, in
their day, were a prime source of sand. Past landlords of the Inn used
to send little boys i.e. Sandboys into the caves to collect sand to
spread on the floor of the Inn to soak up the beer and ale droppings
(much like butchers used to put sawdust on the floor of their shops).
The Sandboys were paid for their efforts in beer. They were indeed
happy. Incidentally, in Dickens' Old Curiosity Shop (1840) there is an
inn called The Jolly Sandboys 'with a sign representing three sandboys
increasing their jollity'.
Sausage: "Not a sausage" is a highly colloquial way of describing
something as worthless; of no value. The origin here is again one of
rhyming slang. No value = no cash = sausage (and mash).
Scapegoat: Somebody who is made to take the blame for the actions of
another person is said to be Scapegoat. The basis of this saying is
found in the Biblical Old Testament. A goat, one of two, was chosen by
lot to be sent into the wilderness. Before being sent, the Sins of the
People were transferred to it and they were absolved of these sins when
it was dispatched. It is thought that the element of escape in this
story gave rise to the word.
Scarum: Harum-scarum is a phrase used to describe a scattered brained
individual or scheme. This seems to come from the old fashioned hare,
to harass to which the still current scare was added with the addition
of some rhyming. The hare also had the additional association with the
supposed "madness" of hares in March.
Scot: To go Scot free is to get away from a difficult situation without
penalty or loss. Scot used to spelt Sceot and was an ancient form of
tax, Sometimes poor people were excused this tax; they got away Scot
free.
Scotch: To Scotch a rumour is to expose a rumour. Scotch here has
nothing to do with Scotland, but rather the old French word "escocher"
- to cut.
Scott: Great Scott! is an expression of surprise, wonder or admiration.
The Scott here is probably the US general Winfield-Scott (1786-1866)
who was popular after his victorious campaign against the Mexicans in
1847.
Scrape: To get into a scrape is to get into trouble or danger. Why
Scrape? The story goes that in 1803 a woman called Frances
Tucker was killed by a stag in Powderham, Devon when she inadvertently
crossed the animal's scrape and met with the stag's fury. Scrapes are
holes which deer habitually dig out with their forefeet. They can be
quite deep and easy to fall into, thereby potentially dangerous.
Scratch: To start from scratch is to start from the very beginning and
with no advantage. The scratch in this saying is the starting point of
a race, either for humans or horses. It was originally literally just a
line scratched in the earth.
You
scratch my back and I'll scratch yours seems a fairly obvious
expression, except that the "scratch" was originally much more severe
than could be imagined. The expression probably comes from the terrible
lashings which were part of 17th and 18th century navies. These
lashings were usually administered by one crew member on another. In
all likelihood the lasher would, at some stage in the future, be on the
receiving end. Thus, if he went easy on his victim and only "scratched"
instead of fully lashing, then his victim, when he in turn became the
lasher, would be equally lenient.
To
come up to scratch has a somewhat different origin. In this instance
the scratch is one found in the old time boxing rings; both boxers
started the bout with their left feet on a scratch line in the earth
(there were no proper boxing rings in those days). The fights were
divided into rounds but continued until one of the contestants was
knocked down. The fighters were then permitted to break for thirty
seconds before being given a count of eight. At the end of this time
they were both expected to come up to the scratch and the one who
didn't was adjudged the loser. Over the years the saying dropped the
"the" and became the one we know.
Screwed: To be screwed. Although it is a slang /colloquial expression
for sexual intercourse, it also means to be cheated, put in a
disadvantageous position. This latter meaning seems to be related to
the use of 'screw' as a slang name for a prison guard or warder. Until
the mid 1800s, prisons, at least in England, were places of punishment
only, with no concept of rehabilitation for the prisoners. One of the
forms of punishment was to crank a handle attached to a large wooden
box. The cranking did nothing, other than turn a counter. The prisoner
had to do 10,000 turns in 8 hours, equivalent to one every 3 seconds or
so. As an extra punishment a warder could tighten a screw to make
turning more difficult. Warders came to be known as 'screws'. By
inference, the prisoner was 'screwed' and, although 'screw' remained
within the prison environment, eventually 'to be screwed' became
widespread..
