V
sign: Although the V sign isn't an expression, its apparent origin is
so intriguing that I thought that it deserved mention. The sign, using
two raised fingers in a gesture of contempt or anger, is widely
understood in Britain, but hardly recognised in some other English
speaking countries; e.g. USA. The certain origin is unknown, but a
highly likely basis takes us back to the Hundred Years' War between
England and France in the 14th and 15th centuries. Captured ‘English'
archers who, it seems, were actually mainly Welsh, had the first two
fingers of their right hand cut off so that they couldn't take part in
future battles. As a defiant riposte, after felling a French soldier
with an arrow, an archer would raise his two fingers, just to show that
he was still in the game. The battle where this first happened was
likely to have been Crécy in 1346.
Wall: To go to the wall is to be put on one side; to be shelved; to
fail or become moribund. The wall in this instance is that of a church
or graveyard where people are laid prior to being buried. The
relationship is easily seen.
Washout: A wash-out is a fiasco, a complete failure. The word
originally had a somewhat different meaning; it comes from the times
when naval signal messages were taken down on a piece of slate. When
the message had been relayed to the proper authorities the slate was
washed-out clean and the words written on it cancelled, since they were
then worthless.
Weasel: Pop goes the weasel is part of what is now a children's rhyme
but it was not originally so. The words are a line of a song that was
apparently intended as a warning to their parents. "Up and down the
City Road/ In and out of the Eagle/ That's the way the money goes/ Pop
goes the weasel". The Eagle was a tavern and old time music hall in
London's City Road. Pop was slang for "pawn" and weasel probably slang
for a tailor's iron; in any case some form of tradesman's tool. Without
the tool there was no work and no means of redeeming the weasel. A
vicious circle. I was later told that ‘weasel' was part of Cockney
rhyming slang for ‘coat' - ‘weasel and stoat' or a ‘suit', from
‘whistle and flute'. Whatever, still a vicious circle.
Weather: To be under the weather is to be unwell. This comes again from
a maritime source. In the old days, when a sailor was unwell, he was
sent down below to help his recovery, under the deck and away from the
weather.
West: To go west is said when someone dies, if something is lost or a
project becomes unattainable. The analogy to the sun dying in the west
is an obvious one and is a concept used in many cultures. However the
saying seems to have become popular only at the time of the First World
War. As a result it may be that the basis is that of the Tyburn gibbet,
which was situated in the west part of London near the modern Marble
Arch. Even this does not account for the delay in common usage.
Wheeling: If someone is said to be wheeling and dealing then they
involved in setting up important arrangements, often involving money.
Big wheel is a phrase use to describe an important person and this may
be the basis of the saying. Much more likely however is a custom of the
old Billingsgate fish market in London. The fish was wheeled in, prior
to the dealing which could only start at a certain pre-determined time.
An alternative explanation comes from the US west where a big Wheeler
and Dealer was a heavy better at cards and roulette wheels. I prefer
the fish market version.
Whipping boy: A whipping boy is a way of describing someone who takes
punishment rightly due to someone else. In the Middle Ages in was
common practice for a boy of ordinary birth to be educated alongside a
prince. If the prince did something wrong it was not he that was
punished, but rather the commoner who received the lashes. The whipping
boy paid heavily for his privileges.
Whistle: If you are told that you can whistle for it, which comes from
mid 19C, then it means that you are unlikely to get what you want. The
saying goes back to the days of sailing ships. Some sailors believed
that, on a calm day, the wind could be summoned by whistling. Others
feared that such a whistle would raise, not a fair wind, but a storm.
To them, whistling was Devil's Music. Since, in most cases neither a
fair wind or a storm resulted from whistling, then the current meaning
of the phrase arose.
Another suggestion relates to the police raiding illicit
liquor stores in prisons. The goods were so well hidden that the police
could blow their whistles as much as they wished, but they still
couldn't find the booze! The 'ship' version seems the most likely.
To
be not worth a whistle implies a low value for something. The origin
lies in whistling for a dog. A good dog is always worth a whistle and
it's a poor one that isn't. The saying was known to Shakespeare.
To
whistle down the wind is to talk purposelessly; to abandon. This
relates to hawking where there is little point in releasing the bird
downwind.
As
clean as a whistle means really clean; bright and shiny. It also means
"complete" in the sense of getting away as clean as a whistle. One
suggested origin relates the whistle to the sound of a sword as it
comes down and decapitates someone. Alternatively the origin may be the
clean appearance of a just carved wooden whistle. Personally, I think
it may well relate to locomotives where the brass, especially the
whistle was always bright and gleaming.
To
blow the whistle on someone is to reveal one of their secrets. Again, I
can find no origin, but it must surely come from the whistle that
policemen blow (or used to blow; they use radios now.)
Wig: If someone is described as a big wig then they are regarded as
important; prominent in their field. The allusion here is to the huge
wigs that the aristocracy wore in the 17th and 18th centuries both in
England and France. Such large wigs are still worn by the Lord
Chancellor and, until recently, by the Speaker of the House of Commons.
Wild goose chase: Such a chase is one likely to be fruitless; certainly
a chase of an actual wild goose would probably be so. The origin goes
back to 16th century England where a kind of horse race was invented.
This consisted of a lead horse going off in any direction the rider
chose; other riders had to follow at precise intervals, like wild geese
following their leader. At first the saying implied an erratic course
taken by one person and followed by another, and was so used by
Shakespeare, but the meaning changed over the years to take on the
current one of a useless or hopeless quest.
