Popular phrases and their origins

I commonly will use phrases and cliches when speaking with friends and even when typing on here. However, a lot of times if I really think about it the expression doesn't actually mean what it says. Because i use my time wisely, I took it upon myself to discover the origin of a few of these expressions.

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"Can't hold a candle to"....

Example: "The new Star Wars films are good, but they can't hold a candle to the original trilogy

I found that this phrase's origin is from when skilled workers needed to work in dark environments before the discovery of electricity. Someone who was training would literally hold a candle for the teacher / skilled craftsmen. Truly unskilled people wouldn't even be trusted with holding the candle properly

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"Don't count your chickens before they hatch"

I have said this many times and a lot of people think they know the origin because it seems so obvious in that many of the eggs that a chicken produces are not necessarily going to become chickens. However, this is not entirely accurate although it does make sense.


The real origin is Aesop said it in a parable about how a woman was carrying a pail of milk on her head dreaming of how she was going to turn the milk into cream and then butter, then sell it at the market to buy eggs that will turn into chickens who will lay more eggs and soon i will have a poultry farm and sell some of the chickens at market for a gown and will attract the attention of men and she will "toss her hair and pass them by." She mimics the "tossing of hair" and spills the milk . Her mother then said "Do not count your chickens before they are hatched!"

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"Let the cat out of the bag"

Of course this means to reveal a secret or to give away a surprise - I'm pretty sure everyone knows that. This originates from marketplaces long ago when baby pigs were sold very quickly at market inside of bags. Cats were all but worthless but swindlers would use slight of hand and swap out the pigs with kittens and the purchaser wouldn't figure it out until they got home. On a side note a friend of mine was a modern-day victim of this very thing but instead of a pig/kitten swap her ended up purchasing a computer bag filled with onions on the streets of London.

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"caught red handed"

Not many people actually say this anymore nor did they really do so often throughout my life but I have heard it in films a few times and everyone knows it simply means to be irrefutably caught doing something bad.

The origin of this is actually a law regarding the butchering of an animal that doesn't belong to you. Having fresh meat in one's house was not evidence enough at the time, a person had to actually have the blood of said animal on their hands in order to be convicted. So I suppose the only people who were convicted of these crimes didn't have access to water or a cloth.

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This is getting to be too long so I'll leave it at that. If you know the origin of a popular phrase and put it in the comments, I will reward you with a high upvote if I didn't already know it. See ya!