The Phrase Finder describes the meaning to be, “An irrevocable choice has been made.” The expression refers to the rolling a die as a singular of dice. “Julius Caesar is supposed to have spoken this phrase when crossing the Rubicon,” although the Phrase Finder is a bit skeptical.  The earliest citation found was a 1626 quote from Sir Thomas Hebert, “Aiijb, Is the die cast, must At this one throw all thou hast gaind be lost?”

A friend recently made a mistake and had to decide whether to admit his error.  It reminded me of the expression, to “eat crow”.

According to Wikipedia, this “is an American colloquial idiom, meaning humiliation by admitting wrongness or having been proved wrong after taking a strong position…  crow is one of the birds listed in Leviticus chapter 11 as being unfit for eating,” perhaps because it eats carrion.  They note the expression first appeared in print in a humor piece in 1850 (reference Comments on Etymology, October 2003).  WorldWideWords also mentions a usage in 1850, where it appeared as “eating boiled crow”.  I found some references to a story of an American forced to eat a crow by a British soldier, and though the story is set during the War of 1812, it was published in 1877, according to WordWizard.

The full expression my friend’s dilemma brought to mind is something I read (and now I can’t find the source – does anyone know where this came from?): if you’re going to eat crow, it tastes better when it’s fresh

The phrase “the rubber hits the road” means when something begins, gets serious, or when an idea is put into practice.  Its source, I think, is obvious – it must refer to where an automobile tire contacts pavement and, therefore, has traction.  But I wondered how well it was documented.

Know Your Phrase reports the earliest written usage was in a 1956 newspaper article, where the phrase was stated as “when the rubber meets the road” and notes The Modern American Usage: A Guide, first published in 1966, mentions “the rubber hits the road” was gaining popularity.

Wiktionary lists a book from 1928, How to Avoid Automobile Accident: “Even 500 feet probably wouldn’t allow you to brake to a stop, because it’s ‘where the rubber meets the road‘ that counts.”

American Culture Explained (now there’s an ambitious website) states that racing is the source, though they offer no reference.

One thread of comments mentioned a recent version: “when the rubber hits the sky“, used for a humorous, purposely-mixed metaphor meaning “where practicality meets pie-in-the-sky visions.”

Since the first mass-produced car – the Ford Model T – was introduced in 1908, it seems that the phrase didn’t take long to become popular.

The Phrase Finder explains that the expression refers to those “…of great worth and reliability.” The expression was mentioned in the King James version of the Bible in Mathew 5:13. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the expression is that its meaning is in conflict with the fact that salt was spread on the land to poison it for growing crops in the Middle Ages “…as a punishment to landowners who had transgressed against society in some way.” The positive connotation of the expression was instead based on the value of salt. The powerful were “above the salt” and valued workers were “worth their salt.”

The Phrase Finder states the obvious that “Not everything that is shiny and superficially attractive is valuable.”  Shakespeare used the original expression “all that glisters is not gold” in The Merchant of Venice dated 1596. Forms of the expression have been around since at least as early as the twelfth century. Some purists insist that the expression is not accurate unless “glisters” is used. However, in the opinion of the Phrase Finder, there is no argument since “glisters” and “glitters” have the same meaning.

I recently heard a sports announcer for the Colorado Rockies mention that the team had “gotten off the snide” after scoring a run to end a 23 inning scoreless streak. Alpha Dictionary says no clear origin can be found for the expression. However, a response to a question on the site mentions that “snide” is a variant of “schneid and schneider.” Both terms are used in gin rummy to describe “…where one side has failed to score for an extended period.” Wordpress.com further explains that “schneid” entered the vocabulary of gin players from the German word for “tailor.” If “…you were schneidered” in gin you were “cut” (as if by a tailor).”