Old sayings that we still used today

Add one you know about

"Burning the midnight oil" Well that came from working extra hard or late into the night. In a time before electricity, candlelight or lamp oil was used for lighting. When you stayed up late to work, you literally burned the lamp oil at midnight.

"Jumping on the bandwagon" was common saying in the middle of 1800s, circuses would parade around town before setting up, with bandwagons leading the parade.

They drew large crowds, and politicians started renting space on the bandwagons to get face time with an audience. Over time, politicians would make calls of action not to "jump on the opponent's bandwagon," and the phrase took on a negative connotation, meaning to mindlessly go along with whatever became flashy or popular.

Sounds a lot like today with Trump, Biden and Robert Kennedy running for president

"Dressed to the nines" I myself say dressed to the nines a lot. It means that you were rich enough to literally purchase the entire nine yards it took to make a tailor fit outfit. That includes the vest, jacket, and the whole works.

It's still in use today to mean that someone is dressed in their best.

So what old sayings that you use

PS

I like use Whippersnapper a lot to

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PhoenixPhail · M

"Mad as a hatter."

Lewis Carroll’s 1865 novel “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” famously features an eccentric character called the Hatter, who’s referred to in the story as “mad” and became popularly known as the Mad Hatter.

However, the phrase “mad as a hatter,” which used to describe someone who’s crazy or prone to unpredictable behavior, didn’t originate with Carroll. Instead, the expression is linked to the hat-making industry and mercury poisoning.

In the 18th and 19th centuries, industrial workers used a toxic substance, mercury nitrate, as part of the process of turning the fur of small animals, such as rabbits, into felt for hats. Workplace safety standards often were lax, and prolonged exposure to mercury caused employees to develop a variety of physical and mental ailments, including tremors (dubbed “hatter’s shakes”), speech problems, emotional instability and hallucinations.