Random Thursday

The Little Book of Answers by Doug Lennox continues to provide me with information that I never knew I needed! Lol! It is pretty interesting where all these oddly common phrases and whatnot have come from!

(image borrowed from Council Tool)

When someone has a hidden agenda, people say he has an "axe to grind" and the meaning behind that comes from when Benjamin Franklin was a young boy and was sharpening some tools when a stranger carrying an axe came by. He commended the job he was doing with the tools and the grindstone. He asked Ben if he would show him how to do that to his axe. Though after Ben demonstrated how it was done, the man laughed and took his sharpened axe and walked away teaching Benjamin Franklin a lesson about people with an "axe to grind".

I thought that was rather interesting!

(image borrowed from Youtube)

Rookie is referred to someone who is new to an organization that requires teamwork and by not knowing how things are done could cause errors. The word dates back to the American military during the Civil War when the a great deal of the soldiers were young and untrained. They would rush into battle without much thought and cause a lot of problems with discipline. The veterans referred to them as "reckies" which was an abbreviation for recruits. Eventually we started calling them rookies.

(image borrowed from Theater Scripts)

We got the verb "to beg" back to the 12th century when a monk named Lambert de Begue had followers who roamed the French countryside and depended on handouts. Then in 555 AD, Belisarius, a Roman general, was stripped of his rank and wealth and became one of history's most famous beggars. He would frequently cry out, "Don't kick a man when he's down." It's said that this is where we got the name beggars.

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

When it came to the assignment of sainthood in the Roman Catholic church, there was a specific individual who was to investigate the candidate and validate any associated miracles with him. This individual then argued against the canonization by denigrating the potential saint on behalf of the devil. Therefore his official title was the "Devil's Advocate".

I'll admit I'm a bit puzzled by this. So the church had a guy who basically said why the person they want to be canonized into a saint, shouldn't be? I mean, I am making the paragraph into my won words with little changes to context. So I remain befuddled with this one!

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

When you do things differently you're called a "maverick". This name comes from the 19th century with Samuel A. Maverick. He was a Texas rancher who was stubborn and cruel. He apparently didn't want to brand his cattle even though it was the only way to identify who it belonged to. He started to collect any and all unbranded cattle, even if they weren't his. At first, any unbranded cow was a "maverick", but soon the word would grow to mean anyone who doesn't play by the rules.

Did not know that!