By Julie Sanders - Director of Client Services at Xapsis Integrated Marketing
Have
you listened to a group of teenagers lately?
“OMG," I can barely tell they are speaking English. But slang is nothing
new. Has the term “Totes” been around forever? In fact you probably use some slang
terms yourself and don’t even realize what they literally mean.
Here
are just few prime examples:
I’ve
Got a Frog in my Throat
Meaning: I'm hoarse from a cold
Used
Today: “ Julie has a frog in her throat, so she can’t make that Pulitzer
Prize acceptance speech.”
Original
Use: “Putting a frog in my throat seems like good medical
solution.”
In the Middle Ages putting a live frog head
first into the patient’s mouth sometimes treated infections like thrush. Then
as they inhaled, the frog was believed to draw the patient's infection into its
own body. The treatment is happily obsolete.
Read Between the Lines
Meaning: To perceive or understand a
hidden meaning.
Example Today: “Read between the lines
Corey, and create a logo with no direction.”
Original Use: “Read between the lines to
hear King Smarty-pants’ message.”
In
the 16th century it became common for politicians, soldiers, and businesspeople
to write in code. To ordinary folks, this writing was unintelligible. They
decided that the meaning was not in the lines of gibberish, but in the space
between them.
Kibosh
Meaning: Put an end to something.
Today:
"SueAnn is putting the kibosh on having a zombie
apocalypse party at Xapsis."
Originally
Used: "I'm
literally putting a kibosh on my head right now, because I am about to murder
you."
"Kibosh" sounds like one of those amusing bits of
gibberish that people make up out of nowhere, but that's not the case. In fact,
"kibosh" comes from the Gaelic phrase "cie bais,"
pronounced "ky-bosh," which translates to cap of death. The kibosh is the black skullcap that would be worn
by a judge as he prepared to sentence someone to execution. Yikes!
Whipping Boy
Meaning: A scapegoat, or someone who
is habitually picked on.
Example Today: “I’m not your whipping boy make
your own coffee, Tyler.”
Original Use: “Yes I did lie, so talk to my
whipping boy.”
Hundreds
of years ago, it was normal practice for a European prince to be raised with a
commoner of the same age. Since princes couldn't be disciplined like ordinary
kids, the commoner would be beaten whenever the prince did something wrong. The
commoner was called the prince's “whipping boy.”
To
Push the Envelope
Meaning: To take a dangerous risk,
especially in conversation.
Used
Today: "Xapsis pushes the envelope with its mind-blowing web
designs."
Original
Use: "You are pushing the envelope, and as a result, a plane
is going to explode."
Mathematics is used to calculate a plane's limits in a
construct called its "flight envelope."
That is, the particular combinations of speed, height, stress and other
aeronautical factors that form the bounds of safe operation. Go beyond these
limits, or "push" the "envelope," and the plane becomes a
giant fireball.
I could go on and on, but it boils down to a simple message.
Think hard about the meanings behind the words you say, write, text, etc. Especially take care in the words you select
to post on your website. They may not mean what you think.
