EVER wondered where a famous phrase comes from?
The Sun this week told how “Bluetooth” derives its name from Harald Bluetooth, a year 900 Norse king whose skill at communicating united warring factions in Norway and Denmark.
He got his name because he ate so many blueberries, his teeth turned blue.
And this fun titbit is not the only idiom to come from an unlikely source.
Try this fun quiz from Kirsten Jones to see if you can guess the stories behind famous sayings. Answers below.
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1. GIVE THE COLD SHOULDER: To be deliberately unfriendly to someone
A. Soldiers in the 1700s applied ice to their shoulders after shooting muskets
B. Henry VIII’s toilet servants passed tissue over their shoulders to protect his modesty
C. Medieval hosts would give out pieces of cold pork shoulder to get guests to leave
2. BURY THE HATCHET: End a conflict
A. During Native American negotiations, weapons were buried so they couldn’t be used
B. In the Middle Ages, soldiers swung axes so hard, the blade was buried in a victim’s head
C. Upper-class women stored hats at the bottom of their luggage to avoid thieves
3. BREAK A LEG: Good luck
A. If a man was too short for his horse, doctors would break his legs in the hope they’d grow longer
B. Roman gladiators with weak legs were sacrificed first, giving hope to others
C. People believed good luck would tempt evil spirits, so wished for broken legs in a bid to stay safe
4. TURN A BLIND EYE: Pretend not to notice
A. Wartime spies would cut eye holes in newspapers to catch enemy agents
B. Naval hero Horatio Nelson used his blind eye to ignore orders and win the Battle of Copenhagen
C. Pirates eye wore patches to save their sight from splinters in battle
5. COLD FEET: To be too frightened to do something you had planned to do
A. Warriors who had frozen feet weren’t able to rush into battle
B. Sailors caught stealing food had to hang their feet overboard as punishment
C. Ancient Egyptians put their feet in cold water to purify their souls before bedtime
6. GET THE SACK: Be fired from your job
A. Naughty children were forced to wear a sack on their heads in class
B. Bosses handed unwanted tradesmen a sack for tools before they left the firm
C. Sacks were used in hospitals during flu outbreaks if there were no beds
7. BUTTER SOMEONE UP: Flatter someone to get their help or support
A. Masters of the house rewarded butter churners with free cheese
B. People in ancient India threw balls of butter at sacred statues to seek a favour
C. Before the invention of soap, people believed bathing in butter kept skin pure
8. SHOW TRUE COLOURS: To uncover someone’s real character
A. Warships used multiple flags to confuse enemies and showed their “true colour” only before firing
B. In folk tales, a fairy was said to be good or evil by the colour of their dust trail
C. When Vlad The Impaler died in December 1476, the skies turned steely grey for seven days and seven nights
9. BARKING UP THE WRONG TREE: Pursuing a misguided thought
A. On May Day in the 1800s, little girls were given a gift which they had to find hidden in the boughs of a local apple tree
B. Hunting dogs would continue barking at a tree even after their prey was caught
C. In Ancient Greece, servants were flogged if they tied their master’s horses to a sapling deemed to be unlucky
10. BITE THE BULLET: Do something difficult you have been putting off
A. During battlefield surgery, patients were made to bite down on bullets to distract themselves from the pain
B. When haggling for ammunition during the Russian Revolution, buyers would clasp bullets in their teeth to check value
C. To pass time in the French Revolution, soldiers would see how much pressure could be applied to live ammunition before it exploded
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