(image borrowed from Discover Wildlife)
The saying "kangaroo court" came from Texas in the 1850s and it basically meant that the accused was most definitely guilty and that the trial was more of a formality then one to find the truth. "Kangaroo" was a reference to Australia which was a formal British colony where everyone was guilty of something at some point. If a convict was said to be guilty of a new crime, there would be no doubt of his guilt.
(image borrowed from Mental Floss)
The saying, "gets your goat" tends to mean one has lost their temper. The saying comes from a horse trainer's practice of keeping a goat in the stall with a nervous racehorse in order to keep him calm before a big race. An opponent might arrange for a stable boy to remove the goat and upset the horse to put the odds in their favor for winning the race.
Wow. I did not know that!
(image borrowed from Wikipedia)
A white elephant gift is often useless and expensive. The term comes ancient Siam, at this time only the king could own the rare and sacred white elephant without permission. The cost of keeping an elephant in this time was huge. If the king were angry with someone, he'd give them the gift of a white elephant. Since the animal was sacred it couldn't be put to work and its upkeep costs were very steep and would eventually financially ruin the owner.
Oh wow. I honestly didn't know this! I thought white elephant gifts were useless and cheap! That's hilarious!
(image borrowed Wikipedia)
"Charley horse" is an injury that has roots in baseball history. In the early 20th century, groundskeepers would use old and lame horses to pull the equipment needed to maintain the playing field. Charley Esper was a player on the Baltimore Orioles who had many years of game-time injuries that eventually caused him to walk with pain. Since his limp reminded his teammates of the lame horse used to keep the field pristine they called Esper, "Charley Horse."
That's a revelation and kinda mean!
(image borrowed from Wikipedia)
In stock market lingo, we have bears and bulls. There's an 18th century proverb that basically says a man will sell what he doesn't yet own, hoping the price will be lowered by the time he has to pay for it. This was called being a "bearskin speculator" who sells the bearskin when he has yet to catch the bear. "Bulls" speculate and hope that the price in stocks rises. These analogies come from a time when there were animal fights staged between these two where the bear needs to pull the bull down and the bull needs to flip the bear up with its horns.
That just sounds barbaric!
I had no idea the term Kangaroo Court had that history. That's actually really interesting, but it makes sense. The more you know! Thanks for those facts.
ReplyDeleteEmily @ Emily's Crammed Bookshelf