February 29th is such a strange date. It only appears once every four years. Why? We add a day to the calendar every four years because the Earth’s orbit around the Sun is not EXACTLY 365 days, it is approximately 365.25 days. Thus we add on day every four years to […]

The phrase “jump the shark” refers to one particular episode of the television show “Happy Days.” On September 20, 1977 an episode aired where Fonzie jumps a shark tank on water skis. Unfortunately, this episode came to be considered the point where many fans lost interest and the show was canceled shortly thereafter. […]

As you suspected, the origin of the phrase Catch-22 was originated in the Joseph Heller book (1961) of the same name. Heller wrote in the book:
There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were […]

This one is an easy one. Cigars used to be given as prizes for fairground games. It was first recorded in print in the 1935 script of the film version of Annie Oakley. “Close, Colonel, but no cigar!” It started appearing widely in US newspapers from about 1949 onward (maybe a […]

Here is another phrase origin. You will often hear people use the phrase “dead ringer” in the following manner:
Julia is a dead ringer for Jessica Simpson.
The meaning, of course, is that they look exactly alike. The phrase originated in the horse racing scene. Often, horse owners would have two horses that […]

I am often interested in the origin of words and terms, so I have added a new category - Word Origins.
Wallflowers - Wallflowers are any number of herbs of the mustard family. They got the name because they often grow on old walls, rocks or quarries. The plant name was first used […]