You probably use some of these 7 Common ‘food’ phrases regularly. But have you ever wondered about their origin? Thing is, they’re about food, and here’s some background on each from Grammar Girl.
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Today we’re going to talk about idioms that come from foods. We’ll take a peek into history, traveling back to ancient Rome. Some of these foods may be more appetizing than others: We cover everything from cake to liver.
1. Take it with a Grain of Salt
Our first food idiom is to take it with a grain of salt, which means to accept something but to be somewhat skeptical of the information.
We all know that salt improves food taste, but perhaps you don’t know that the expression to take it with a grain of salt originated with a recipe for an antidote to poison. [2] Ancient Roman author Pliny the Elder, who lived from 23 to 79 AD, [3] wrote an encyclopedic work titled Natural History in the year 77. He tells the story of a Roman general, Pompey, who encountered a ruler named Mithridates VI. [4] This king was famous for building up his immunity to poison, and Pliny reports on the king’s recipe for his antidote. The last line of this recipe read, “to be taken fasting, plus a grain of salt.” [2] Pliny probably didn’t intend for readers to doubt this recipe; he likely meant that salt was added to the other ingredients. [2] When the expression to take it with a grain of salt came to be used, starting in the 17th century, [1] individuals at that time probably misunderstood what Pliny had written. [4] They thought that adding salt to something would make it easier to swallow.
2. In a Nutshell
We also have Pliny to thank for our next food-related idiom: in a nutshell. This cliché means “in a few words” and has been used since the 1570s. [5] Just now, we learned that an old antidote to poison literally involved a grain of salt. Surprisingly, in a nutshell literally involves something tiny in a real nutshell. Well, maybe. In Natural History, Pliny writes that he had heard about a version of Homer’s The Iliad being written in such small letters that the whole book could fit inside a nutshell. This story seems unlikely because in Homer’s day, writing was done with a stylus on clay tablets. [6] And, of course, The Iliad is a long book! Pliny’s anecdote might have been forgotten except that someone named Philemon Holland translated Natural History into English in 1601. Holland noted, skeptically, that “The same writer maketh mention of one who could see to the distance of 135 miles.” [6] Nevertheless, the association between compactness and nutshells stuck, and Shakespeare uses language to that effect in Hamlet. [6] In a nutshell, when it comes to what Pliny wrote, it sounds as if we should take much of it with a grain of salt.
3. Use Your Noodle
Our next idiom is “use your noodle,” which means, “Think!” In this phrase, the word noodle refers to your head or brain, [7] and noodle has had this connotation since the mid-18th century. [8] If you think about it—but not during dinner—a pile of noodles does sort of look like a brain. Noodle may be related to the old word noddle, “originally meaning ‘back of the head’ in the 15th century.” [8] Another related word is noggin, which means a small cup or mug, or a person’s head. [9] Interestingly, the word mug also means both a drinking vessel and a face. According to Dictionary.com, since 1708 mug has meant a person’s face, perhaps because of “drinking mugs shaped like grotesque faces.” [10] In addition, the term mug shot has referred to a police photograph since 1887. [10]
Use your noodle used to be an insult: As The Christian Science Monitor stated, imagine “a simpleton wagging his head around while thinking with a wet, floppy noodle.” [11] That’s not a very positive image. Nowadays, we’re not usually being mean when we command someone to “use your noodle”; rather, we’re using a colorful way to ask someone to concentrate.
4. Don’t Cry over Spilled Milk
Next on our list is Don’t cry over spilled milk. Or should that be spilt milk with an i-l-t at the end instead of i-l-l-e-d? Both spellings are used, but spilled is more common in British English. [12] Whichever way you go, the idiom means “it doesn’t do any good to be unhappy about something that has already happened or that can’t be helped.” [13] It is an old proverb, an earlier form of which is No weeping for shed milk. [14]
An interesting explanation of the idiom’s origin has to do with fairies. According to Examiner.com, “Some believe the phrase originated in European fairy lore because milk-loving fairies would drink up any spilled milk so none would go to waste.” [15] Whatever the exact origin of the meaning, you can celebrate the notion of thinking positively every February 11, which is National Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day. [14]
5. It’s a Piece of Cake
What goes with milk almost as well as cookies? Cake! Our next expression is It’s a piece of cake. This idiom, which means “something easily accomplished” [16] has perhaps the most logical explanation. Cake is easy to eat because it’s so yummy. Pie is too, as in the related phrase as easy as pie. But there seems to be more to it than that. The Free Dictionary says it’s a piece of cake “originated in the Royal Air Force in the late 1930s for an easy mission,” [16] but another explanation is rooted in the African American community. Apparently, in the 1870s, cakes were given as prizes in competitions, including contests where “slaves would participate in ‘cake walks’ where couples would perform a dance mocking the mannerisms of their masters. The most graceful couple would receive a cake as a prize.” [17] No wonder we also use the expressions it’s a cakewalk, and that takes the cake. [18]
6. What Am I, Chopped Liver?
Now we move on to a particular food that some people find unappetizing: liver. When people are complaining about not receiving enough attention, you might hear them whine, “What am I, chopped liver?” or “What do I look like, chopped liver?” [19] Chopped liver is a common Jewish appetizer or side dish that, according to William Safire, is “not as important as chicken soup or gefilte fish,” [20] a fish traditionally eaten on Jewish holidays. [21] Safire also said the first person to use the phrase was Jimmy Durante, who said on his 1954 TV show, “Now that ain’t chopped liver.” Hollywood A-listers Johnny Carson and Michael Douglas were later heard using the expression, and Jewish comedians used it “as a humorous metaphor for something or someone insignificant.” [20]
7. In the Limelight
The final idiom we’ll discuss today is in the limelight, which means “in the spotlight.” [22] It’s time for a little confession, however. Although this phrase appears to involve limes, those small green fruit, the lime in the phrase actually refers to limestone, a rock [23]. Oops! Nevertheless, this expression does have an interesting origin, in the theater. In the 1820s, a man named Goldsworthy Gurney discovered the effect of “heating a piece of lime in a flame of burning oxygen and hydrogen” and 19th-century theaters used an application of this process to create bright light. [24] Actors who were the center of attention on stage were said to be in the limelight.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this episode, in which many foods (except green citrus) were in the limelight. The episode was researched by Jake Trenga, teenage son of Bonnie Mills, who wrote it. How’s that for keeping your kids busy during the summer?
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