Origin of Popular Phrases

Popular phrases, idiomatic expressions, nuggets of wisdom in the English language are mere derivatives from combined words that add color or spice to what would be a rather straightforward use of communication. So, folks invented sayings that are short, not necessarily with a pointed meaning towards the obvious or the literal translation, yet it is packed with subtle, albeit different take on the ordinary. (To my foreign readers, please bear with these ones).

Popular phrases have already  been well explained and many of their origins are well researched and documented, and so we've lived with them. However, there could be alternative origins that we may not know.

1. John and Mary are a lovely couple who live in a lovely home and naturally in a lovely neighborhood. One night all of that came crashing down. Neighbors first heard muffled yelling, unmistakable shattering of breakable kitchen wares, doors slammed and the house went dark, followed abruptly by an eerie silence. 

The couple's evening begun as it  always did - very serenely quiet - a good conversation over a rather nicely prepared dinner. Shortly after the second glass of wine were sipped dry and coffee was brewing, their conversation switched to critiquing the movie they watched earlier. There was a little disagreement on the casting of the actors, then to the story line and the ending. Then lo and behold the discussion turned from civil to nasty, with a few choice words from each other, then the yelling started. Chairs were pushed, dishes dropped into the sink, as the aroma of brewed coffee wafted aimlessly through the empty kitchen; the coffee pot untouched for the rest of the night and through the early morning hours.

It was about one lousy movie that neither of them particularly liked but the ignition of the fiery word fight begun with a failed central casting by some unknown low budget film producer, a story not worth the 2-hour reel of film, let alone the wasted time they both could have decided to forego after the first fifteen minutes of the obviously less than 1/2 star rated flick. What happened?

That is the 21st century origin of "creating a mountain out of a molehill." 

"Men trip not on mountains; they trip on molehills".   - Chinese Proverb

2. It is the year 2084. Humans have at last begun the colonization of the red planet. To live there engineers constructed long vertical silos deep into the Martian crust to avoid intense solar radiation from the surface. These vertical silos were then connected to each other by a network of horizontal tunnels. Air supply was produced by breaking down the ice at the Martian ice caps, melt it into water first, and separating the oxygen from hydrogen to create the atmosphere below. Hydrogen was used as fuel. Air had to be forcibly pushed by massive pumps to the silos with one-way valves to maintain a livable atmospheric pressure below.

One day, a massive fire broke out in one of the tunnels next to a factory. The fire kept burning and intensifying as oxygen keeps coming through the door in the silo that they could not close. Men were now trapped at the bottom of the silo. They could not climb up to overcome the onrushing oxygen from above. The one way out was through the door opposite the open one but it was shut because the rushing oxygen going through the open door that was feeding the fire was creating a continuous partial vacuum thus keeping the other door from opening. 

The solution was to close the open door to keep the oxygen from feeding the fire there, restore the atmospheric pressure, stop the partial vacuum and prevent the fumes from coming through. So, with all their might the men at the silo all called upon their collective strength and determination to forcibly close the open door. As soon as they successfully did that the air pressure stabilized thus stopping the partial vacuum. Immediately the opposite door swung back and the men were able to move through to the the other tunnel. They not only survived but they went on to be part of a flourishing population because of the one climactic episode that changed their lives which from that point on they really believed that:





 "When one door closes, another opens."


3. Walther Gunn had long been suspected by police as a serial killer but there was not a single piece of evidence to link him to any of the crimes. There was one piece but it was one cigarette of a particular brand that had not been lit found at one of the earlier crime scenes. Though there was not a single speck of DNA  police considered it significant because the brand was distinctly expensive and not so common. It may have been left by the killer. That piece of information was inadvertently leaked to the press which obviously alerted the suspect. Walther was soon, more so than ever, extra vigilant and careful that  he was not seen smoking in public any longer except for the one instance when someone did see him smoke and put his spent cigarette in a pouch he carried which no one knew how he disposed them. Police could not search him or his house or car for lack of probable cause but was forced to confront the suspect and asked him point blank if he smoked that brand. Of course, he denied it vehemently and claimed that he had in fact quit smoking altogether. He then dared them that if they can prove that he still smokes and smoking the same brand then he will admit to the suspicion (meaning he will agree to be interrogated). Meanwhile the police should stay away from him, he warned.

But as serial killers go Walther was a creature of habit. He still actually smoked and he stuck with the same brand. The police never gave up and put a tail on him. And they were so good at it that the suspect never suspected a thing.  Then one fateful evening the detective on the tail saw the suspect lit up a cigarette. The back-up detectives came quickly and in no time apprehended Walther with the cigarette still in his mouth - the same exact brand. He  willingly gave up.

The lead detective called his boss who then called the Police Commissioner to say... (drum roll, please) ... 


"Commissioner sir, my men saw "Gunn Smoke".  "We have in custody the ...




The Smoking Gunn

(Note: Y'all should give me a break. It was exhausting to come up with this story and I know that  if I have to explain to those who couldn't remember or ever saw the 635 episodes of the Western  TV series from 1955 to 1975, then it is even more work. I know  I should be more careful with discerning word spellings too.).


4. It was 25 years ago when in 1994 one of the strangest criminal/sociological events to hit America came into full view by the television public. That was the famous O.J. Simpson Bronco chase that captivated the nation and the whole world. Everyone was riveted to their TV sets as the famous incident was unfolding before their eyes. Every city anywhere had that to focus its attention.  Except in one little sector in the Midwest. That one-TV-station rural county was viewing the live coverage of the local orchid club.  There was a presentation going on by one expert orchid lover who had just come back from his trip to the region at the foot of the Himalayas.  He was introducing a new species of Phalaeonopsis that rivaled in rarity and beauty to the one recently found in the jungles of Mindoro in the Philippines.

The regional manager of the network was alerted by his staff about what was being broadcast by the one particular local station. He immediately called the local manager who wasted no time to get the producer of the orchid show on his head set. The producer was screaming at the producer's headphone, "Come on already, do the switch!"

The producer calmly but forcefully commanded his now frazzled  technical director to switch the broadcast to the now famous event on the TV monitor, "On my count 3-2-1 ...



"Let's cut to the chase!"

Now, y'all know how that small local community gave us that one little expression.

(Not too bad, isn't it?)

5. At the height of the Cold War, just prior to the failed Bay of Pigs incident, President Kennedy ordered the U.S. embassy staff out of that Caribbean island and all diplomatic personnel to fly back immediately. Earlier the President declared that Cuban cigars be banned from entering the U.S. thus declaring them contraband items. None of the U.S. staff should even be thinking about bringing any of it to the U.S. on their way out.

Every U.S. personnel was warned repeatedly and everyone heeded the heads up, except for one senior staff - a stubborn man but a connoisseur of the widely popular smoke - whom top level Customs Agent were told to look out for when his flight came in. Everyone's luggage had to be inspected. A special customs official was assigned to personally check  the subject diplomat who everyone knew was going to risk it all - he was surely going to do it.

Ranking Customs officials were glued to their TV monitors at the customs office from above, facing the customs entry way. They were linked by head phones to the lead inspector below at the customs line. The special  agent opened the subject's suitcase. Mixed with the man's toiletries and boxer shorts there were three small wooden boxes tape-sealed and bound by rubber bands. The inspector carefully opened them. There were polished sea shells, some postcards and glossy photos but one box had pouches of tobacco snuff and three tin cans of the same and three rolled thin paper that may have contained some cannabis. At that point the ranking official above whispered on the head set of the inspector, "Did we get him?"







"Sir, close but no cigar." 

Now, I shouldn't be the one person to be telling these long elaborate stories. These kind of explanations clearly defy my firm belief in the principle of The Occam's Razor. You can look this up but I will tell you briefly. The principle merely says that "all things being equal the simplest explanation of any phenomenon is likely the correct one."

Mainly for the non-native English readers of my blog, or those not familiar with American idioms, here are the universally accepted and sensible nuggets of explanations in as few words as possible - mere fractions of the versions I so painstakingly stitched together, as only an idle mind can, out of the flimsiest of yarns earlier. Truth be told, the following are  likely the correct explanations.

"From molehills into mountains ".
Make a big deal out of something so trivial. Or take one little thing and blow it up until you lose control of it.

"When one door closes another one opens".
This is inspirational to those who dismay when one opportunity is lost; there will be another one.

"The smoking gun."
Clear, incontrovertible evidence or proof.

"Cut To The Chase"
To get to the point, leaving out all of the unnecessary details. Similar to popular sayings such as “beating around the bush.”

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"Close But No Cigar".
Coming close to a successful outcome only to fall short at the end.



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