Phrase Finder observes that this expression has long been used to conjure incredible speed. Lightning obviously occurs very fast, and the exaggerated “greased lightning” is used to imply it can be made to occur even faster. The expression has been around since at least since an article “…published in January 1833, which included the text ‘He spoke as quick as greased lightning’.”

The Phrase Finder explains the only thing that is clear about this expression is that it means you should “Be on your best behavior; be careful of your language.” The choices on the origin are:

1. Minding pints and quarts while tallying drinks in English pubs (there’s little to support this one)
2. Advice to printers and school children to avoid confusing the lowercase Ps and Qs (the favorite)
3. Mind your pea (jacket) and queue (wig) (difficult to imagine why anyone would confuse the two)
4. “Pee” as a coarse coat and “kue” as a man’s wig (again, difficult why those would be confused)
5. Derived from an admonition to children to “mind their pleases and thank-yous” (which isn’t believed to lead to Ps and Qs)

Charles Earle Funk’s book “A Hog on Ice & Other Curious Expressions” explains that “Ghosts, as everyone knows, are invisible, unseen. So it is with the ghost writer; he is the unseen and anonymous person who writes for hire…Until a decade or so ago such persons, were just called ghosts—somebody thought it a bit more dignified to add ‘writer’.” Much (perhaps even most?) of the works of public officials are written by anonymous and talented ghost writers.

This is a companion expression to the one posted last week, “sleep like a top.” Both mean to sleep soundly, but “sleep like a log” makes more sense to me. Logs truly are immobile while tops only project the image of immobility while they are spinning. The Phase Finder adds that some have suggested “sleep like a long is derived” “…from the sound of sawing being like the sound of snoring.”

The expression means to sleep soundly and still. Oddly, the Phrase Finder explains that a rapidly spinning top “…can appear to be still, that is ‘sleeping’.”

Phrase Finder explains that the expression means to, “Maintain a level of activity and enthusiasm for a project.” The American version was preceded by a British phase to “keep the ball up,” or to keep the ball in the air to keep a game active. The American version comes from the presidential election of 1840 that had a campaign song, “Good news and true, That swift the ball is rolling on, For Tippecanoe and Tyler too.” There is a strange explanation for the ball mentioned in the song. Ten-foot diameter balls were made of tin and leather and pushed from one campaign rally to the next. Supporters “…were invited to attend rallies and push the ball to the next town, chanting ‘keep the ball rolling’.” Maybe we could convince one of our current candidates to resurrect the practice, or maybe not?