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.
Author Archives: Advocate
Gun, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies–Part I
This book by Jared Diamond published in 1997 won several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize. I don’t often open a review by arguing with the author about the title, but I prefer the one that had the subtitle, “A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years.” It is an excellent book that deserved awards. It is easy to read, although I caught myself skimming in some sections where the author was describing, as an example, lengthy lists of food-producing plants. This part will focus on the role of guns, germs, and steel in the conquest of many native peoples.
The Prologue is titled “Yali’s Question, The regionally differing courses of history.” The author explains that New Guineans had tens of thousands of years of history and were still using stone tools when the Europeans showed up with all manner of manufactured goods, including steel axes. New Guineans called all those goods “cargo.” Yali was a New Guinean politician who inquired, “Why do white people have so much cargo, but we New Guineans have so little?” The Europeans used their superior technology to impose a centralized government and dominate the New Guineans, who they considered to be primitive. Yali’s question is mentioned often in the author’s quest to understand how Europeans and Asians were able to dominate original occupants of many lands, such as Native Americans, despite having no genetic superiority. Continue reading
Jump the Shark
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.”
Up to Snuff
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.
FDR’s Personality
This is the fourth and perhaps final posting of the review of Joseph E. Persico’s excellent book, “Roosevelt’s Secret War, FDR and World War II Espionage.” The author gives significant insights into FDR’s personality, especially his fascination with learning the secrets of others. One person observed, “Few leaders were better adapted temperamentally to espionage than Franklin Roosevelt.” In keeping with that observation, FDR authorized wire taps of people judged to be suspicious despite a Supreme Court ruling that banned wire taps and the advice of his Attorney General. He justified that authorization on the grounds of national security, but he took the liberty to go further. He had J. Edgar Hoover investigate former President Herbert Hoover and opponent Wendell Wilkie. He also had Vice President Henry Wallace under surveillance. I’ve read in other accounts that he expanded far beyond political opponents and associates. It was said that he reveled in learning about skeletons in people’s closets gathered by Hoover. Perhaps he did some of this as a reflective action to an event early in his adulthood when he and a friend began consorting with two beautiful women. He was warned by a friend of his family that the two women were the “best known pair of international blackmailers in Europe,” and he and his friend were able to escape. The lesson in the value of suspicion may have stayed with him.
Roosevelt had a recording system installed inside a drawer of his desk in August 1940. One recorded conversation was about Wendell Wilkie. FDR was recorded talking about Wilkie’s mistress, and how Wilkie’s wife had in effect, “…been hired to return to Wendell to smile and make his campaign with him.” The recorder was removed almost immediately after FDR won reelection. Continue reading
What’s Up?
Wikianswers.com says the most common thought about the origin of this expression is the cartoon character Bugs Bunny who frequently inquired “What’s up, Doc?” A reference to ‘whatsup’ was in a short story The Adventures of Shamrock Jolnes and Sixes and Sevens published in 1911 by the famous O’Henry. The character Shamrock Jolnes says, “Good morning, Whatsup.” Jack London’s The Sea Wolf written in 1904 has a character inquiring of Wolf Larson, “What’s up?” Bugs Bunny appeared in 1940, and probably is responsible for making the phrase popular.