Finishing off my post from Friday (I lied when I said I’d do the next 5 yesterday), here are the top 5 interesting meanings of everyday phrases.

5. Brand spanking new

Doctors have traditionally spanked babies immediately after delivery to start them crying, and breathing.

4. Close but no cigar

In old America, carnival games used to give out cigars as prizes, particularly shooting stalls. So when somebody was close, but didn’t manage to scoop the top prize, they were close, but they didn’t get a cigar.

3. Above board

As in ‘all above board’, meaning legitimate and legal. This originates from early trading ships, where illegal cargo was kept below deck. All legal cargo was kept in plain view on the top deck - or ‘above board’.

2. Bite the bullet

Meaning to be brave and ‘go for it’, the phrase comes from very early surgery, before the invention of ether (the first anaesthetic). Having surgery was a majorly painful process, as patients were fully conscious and feeling every little hack. ‘Victims’ were given a stiff whisky, as well as a hard piece of metal, usually a bullet, to bite on while they went through surgery.

1. Mind your Ps and Qs

My favourite one, this one. This phrase originates from the early days of pubs, when beer and ale were served in pint and quart measurements. The pub landlord kept a tab of each drinker’s amount consumed on the chalkboard - watching your Ps and Qs was controlling your alcohol intake and making sure the patrons didn’t have too much and cause trouble.

However, another use for the phrase, was to do with the tabs the landlord kept for regular customers, especially sailors. Being friendly (arr!) with the landlord, the ship’s captain would pay the publican straight out of the sailor’s pay packets, thus leaving the seamen open to a bit of a fiddle going on. The captain would, unsurprisingly, often jack up the price a bit, and share the profit with the landlord.

Thus, sailors would be careful to watch their own ‘Ps and Qs’ to make sure they weren’t being ripped off.