Tag: saying

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DYK: True meaning of Moot Point

DYK: Did you know? MOOT POINT –  which means and irrelevant Argument comes from the Saxon word moot or mote, which meant a meeting to discuss things. In medieval England, moots, or meets, were assemblies or councils where points of government were debated. The country was split into juridicial areas called hundreds and administered via assemblies known […]

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DYK: True meaning of Go The Extra Mile

DYK: Did You Know? GO THE EXTRA MILE – By law a Roman soldier could force anybody to carry his equipment 1 mile. The expression probably comes from the Bible, when Jesus declares in his Sermon on the Mount, “Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two.” (Matthew 5:41) The verse is a reference to the practice […]

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DYK: Speak of the Devil…..?

Speak of the devil -This phrase is used to acknowledge the coincidence of someone arriving at a scene just at the time that they are being talked about. The full form goes like this – “speak of the Devil and he will appear”. The phrase originated in England, where it was, and still is, more […]

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DYK: Sentimental? I don’t think so.

Samantha decided to go carol singing on Christmas Eve. She knocked on the door of a house and began to sing. A man, holding a clarinet, opened the door to the house. In a few seconds tears were streaming down his face. Samantha continued singing for at least a further 20 minutes. She sang every […]

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DYK: The real meaning of spic and span?

The saying ‘spick and span’ once meant new, but means extra clean today. A span was a wood shaving. If something was newly built it would have tell-tale wood chips so it was ‘span new’, Spick is an old word for a nail. New spicks or nails would be shiny. However words and phrases often […]