I knew the expression is used to describe an inability to follow a tune when singing, but was hoping I’d learn something fascinating about when or where it originated. No such luck. All I found were references such as quora.com that tell me there are several versions, such as “couldn’t carry a tune in a basket.” It is somewhat interesting that some receptacle, such as a bucket or basket, is needed “to carry a tune.”
This expression was used in our home today in an attempt to have one of our grandchildren get ready for an outing a bit faster. Idiomation says “slower than molasses in January” is the most frequently used version and has been used to describe something or someone as “painfully slow” since somewhere between 1840 and 1872. However, there was a disaster involving molasses in January when it would have been better if it had moved slowly. A tank containing 2.5 million gallons of molasses exploded on January 15, 1919. The 30 foot tall tidal wave of molasses calculated to have been moving at 25-30 miles per hour “killed 21 people, crumpled a steel support for an elevated train, and knocked over a fire station.”
I was skeptical that the Great Molasses Flood might be an internet hoax until I found a site with multiple photos of the aftermath that look quite real.
The Phrase Finder explains that the term refers to the “Aristocratic; society superior,” but disclaims that it originated from the fact people in high society received “…the upper crust of the unburnt part of a loaf…” The actual origin was its use to describe a person’s head or hat or even occasionally to describe the upper crust of the Earth’s surface. Those uses of the term “…connect upper crust with ‘top’ and there’s every reason to believe that our present application of the term to member of society is another use of that same metaphor. The connection between the ‘upper crust’ of society and the upper crust of loaves of bread is fanciful.”
The Phrase Finder explains that the term means “Childish and weakly sentimental.” Ambrose Phillips was a poet and tutor to George I’s grandchildren in the early 1700s, and he wrote sentimental poems in praise of the royal children to curry favor. He wrote “…rather affected and insipid nursery language, of the ‘eency-weency’, ‘goody-goody’ sort.” Namby-Pamby was included in one of his poems.
Wikipedia says “a line in the sand” is a metaphor referring to a point beyond which no one can proceed, or an act with consequences that are permanent and irreversible. The article states the origin is unknown.
A suggested Biblical link seems like a stretch to me. (John 8:6 reads: This they said, testing Him, that they might have something of which to accuse Him. But Jesus stooped down and wrote on the ground with His finger, as though He did not hear. [NKJV] I don’t see the current meaning of “a line in the sand” here.)
Wikipedia lists instances of an “actual line being drawn in several historical, or legendary, military events” even if the phrase wasn’t used.
A National Geographic article says “one of the earliest recorded instances of anyone drawing a line in the sand took place in ancient Rome around 168 B.C.” when a Roman envoy “drew a line in the sand around [the opposing king] and told him he had to decide [if he would accede to Roman demands] before he crossed it.” Continue reading
The Phrase Finder, a trusted source information on the origin of expressions, says the meaning of this one is to, “Accept the inevitable impending hardship and endure the resulting pain with fortitude.” It is commonly believed that the origin was giving a soldier about to endure pain a bullet, which is malleable, to bite in order to “…concentrate their attention away from the pain and to protect against biting their own tongues.” A reference is found in Francis Grose’s 1796 A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue: “It is a point of honour in some regiments…never to cry out or become nightingales, whilst under the discipline of cat of nine tails; to avoid which, they chew a bullet.” The Phrase Finder mentions that a common belief is that the expression came from the Sepoy native Indian fighters with the British Army who hesitated biting the greased paper cartridges of the bullets to release the gun powder. Hindus wouldn’t want to bite something that had cow fat and Muslims would resist biting something that had pig fat. Regardless, research indicates this was not the original source of the expression.