The Urban Dictionary attributes this tem to the famous radio program that aired from 1936 until 1957.  “The sound effects of police sirens, tommyguns, and screeching tires that opened the show were dramatic and exciting…(and) inspired the expression ‘coming on like gangbusters’.”  The usage has evolved to describe things that are exciting, successful, and intense, and the ‘coming on’ part is often omitted.  As an example, you might hear someone say, “That business idea has taken off like gangbusters.”

This expression presents complications in describing its origin. A posting on funtrivia.com by zbeckabee, observes that the word “skunk” originates from an Algonquian Indian word meaning “urinating fox,” and that the term “drunk as a skunk is “…simply a good example of our love of comparisons and rhyming…” Wikianswers.com complicates the explanation, “Check with any moonshiner about pulling drowned skunks out of his corn mash and you’ll know where it came from.” I did Internet searches to learn about moonshiners and skunks, and only found a reference to Al Capp’s “Lil Abner.” Two characters of that cartoon strip brewed up their spirits in a hidden still called the “Skunk Works.” I admit that I haven’t found a solid answer on the origin of this expression, and would welcome input to: fdsmhobbs@aol.com.

I thought this to be an appropriate time to post this description, because I recently posted a four part review of a book about FDR. The term Boondoggles became well known as the result of one of Roosevelt’s signature programs, the Works Program Administration (WPA), during the Great Depression. A man hired to teach crafts in the WPA told a Senate committee he taught “Boon Doggles.” When asked to explain he said, “Boon doggles is simply a term applied to the pioneer days to what we call gadgets today…” The New York Times published an article on April 4, 1935 describing how millions were being spent teaching the jobless to play by making “boon doggles.” The term evolved into “boondoggle,” and was applied to anything that involved useless, wasteful, or trivial work. The term apparently originated with scouts making decorations for their lanyards. Worldwidewords notes that the term was first mentioned in print in Punch August 14, 1929, “The chief scout has recently been presented…with a Degree, and by the scouts of America with a boondoggle.”

This expression refers to someone or something that is dependably trustworthy. The Phrase Finder reports that the simile originated with banknotes that included promises of redemption in gold or silver. The U.S. government can print money today that has no such precious metal backing, and that money is no longer “as good as gold.” The simile was first recorded in Thomas Hood’s Lost Heir in 1845, “Sitting as good as gold in the gutter.” Perhaps there is irony about the lack of intrinsic value of money printed today and the reference to the gutter in that statement.

Wikipedia identifies an episode in the Happy Days television show where a water skiing Fonzie demonstrates his bravery by jumping over a confined shark. The episode created the term “jump the shark” to characterize the moment in the evolution of a television show when the core premises is abandoned to absurdity and begins to decline, although Happy Days continued for seven more seasons. Presidential candidate Obama appeared at a meeting of Democratic governors in Chicago in 2008 with a large seal instead of the name plates used by the other speakers. A New York Times editorial said, “…Mr. Obama showed signs of jumping the shark… when he appeared at a podium affixed with his own…faux-presidential seal.”

Worldwidewords.org writes that the expression was originally used to describe someone sharp and not easily fooled. Snuff was expensive, and was therefore used by affluent men who would be able to distinguish the quality.  An early form of the phrase, “up to snuff and a pinch above it,” confirms it related to the use of tobacco.  The meaning shifted over time to mean someone who is efficient and capable or something that meets standards of required quality.