I’m familiar with the phrase “born with a silver spoon in the mouth” to refer to people with rich or privileged parents. But I heard a wonderful phrase the other night on TV that sent me scurrying to search. I thought I’d be offering a newly coined phrase, but I found it is well known from a Chicago Tribune interview with Barry Switzer, December 14, 1986. Although Switzer is a football coach, this is a baseball analogy:

Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple. wikiquote.org

There are earlier citations:

Texas politician Jim Hightower told the Democratic National Convention at Atlanta, Georgia, on July 19, 1988, about the Republican presidential candidate, George H. W. Bush: “He is a man who was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple.” barrypopik.com

But the earliest I saw, in a slightly different form, is from 1934

A genius is one who seems a wonder because he was born on third base. barrypopik.com

Since baseball’s been played in the US since 1791, and the “New York style” game played nationally since the Civil War, it’s no surprise to find a phrase coming from this sport.

In current political discussions, this phrase refers to people’s efforts to pay all their bills with inadequate funds. World Wide Words says the exact origin is unknown.

The oldest example I can find is from Thomas Fuller’s The History of the Worthies of England of about 1661: “Worldly wealth he cared not for, desiring only to make both ends meet; and as for that little that lapped over he gave it to pious uses”, but the fact that Fuller is making a little joke using it suggests he already knew of it as a set phrase.

One suggested origin refers to columns of bookkeeping numbers where credits and debits must match, or where end-of-year numbers must balance. Another suggestion is the phrase refers to having enough fabric to complete a dress.

English Language and Usage adds the possibility that the phrase comes from ropes on a sailing ship or wearing a belt that is too short, but without any references it’s speculation.

There is an internet rumor that the word originated from politicians sending assistants to taverns to sip drinks and learn the opinions of people. They were told, “You go sip here and you go sip there.” The instructions were merged to form the word “gossip.” According to the Snopes message board, the word actually came from the old English “godsibb” or “godparent” and refers especially to women invited to attend a birth and engage in casual conversation. It eventually transitioned to “anyone engaging in idle talk.” There are several references to that origin dating back to 1014.

I searched the internet for the origin of this expression and found nothing. The answer I selected comes from Quora.com. “Origin? No idea. But the meaning is that some outcome, some question, has no answer at present, but that in the fullness of time the outcome will occur and/or the question will have an answer.”

Several sources including Phrase Finder explain a ‘Berserker’ was a Viking warrior who fought with wild ferocity. “The berserker fighting tradition, in which the warriors took on the spirit (or even in their belief, the shape) of bears whilst foaming at the mouth and gnawing at the edge of their shield, is the source of the Vikings’ fierce tradition.” It is believed the word is derived from “bear sark,” which means “bear coat.” The Vikings would show their bravery by going into battle with their bear sark jackets open. Sir Walter Scott wrote in 1822 that “The berserkers were so called from fighting without armour.”