Some Niche Cliches

We have been lucky to have played host to the Friends of the Brighton Memorial Library’s regular book sale twice now. It’s a dangerous time for me, as the sin of avarice sits heavy in my heart when faced with so many books at my fingertips. I try to restrain myself, but sometimes I can’t hold back. This past sale I picked up a book that felt as if it were written just for me. It is The Dictionary of Cliches from 1985 by James Rogers.

I use cliches often. Perhaps overly so, which would be why they are considered cliches. As a lover of cliches, it is exciting to learn new ones that I can begin to overuse. For example, I look forward to telling people that we might face a Hobson’s choice, which means no choice at all. We all, of course, recognize this old saw as referring to the livery stable of Tobias Hobson in the early 17th century.

I love learning new cliches, but I also love learning the origins of some that I take for granted. For example, the phrase “I haven’t a clue” has the following definition: “I’m in the dark; I can’t get a handle on this problem. It is now largely forgotten that once the chief meaning of ‘clue’ (or ‘clew’) was a ball of yarn or thread, and that one use of a clue was to lay down a marker that one could follow back out of a cave, a maze or a labyrinth. The idea remains, though, in the current cliché: One has no lead to follow toward the solution of a problem or toward grasping the meaning of something.”

Fun, right?

Cliches have all sorts of different origins and etymologies, from the modern to the ancient. And it turns out that a lot of these cliches come from the Bible, or are informed by faith and religious culture. I thought it might be a fun to find some cliches that I didn’t realize were in that category.

The first one that surprised me is “fly in the ointment: A hitch in one’s plans; an obstacle. The phrase is derived from the Bible (Ecclesiastes 10:1) ‘Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savor: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honor.’”

I had no idea that “Sets your teeth on edge was from scripture. ‘Is severely annoying or unnerving. It is a vivid image of how one feels on biting a lemon or hearing a piece of chalk squal as it moves across a blackboard or the wheels of a subway car shriek on a curve. The thought appears twice in the Bible. In Jeremiah 31:29 it is “In those days they shall say no more, the fathers have eaten a sour grape; and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’…”

And I’ll finish up with a two-fer; a phrase that’s both new to me and from the Bible: “Hewers of wood and drawers of water: The people who do the hard, essential work. The Bible tells us (Joshua 9:21) ‘and the princes said, let them live; but let them be hewers of wood and drawers of water unto all the congregation.”

That’s all for today, but I’m sure you’ll hear more from this treasury of phrases as I keep delving into them.

Peace,

Rev. Jeff Fox-Kline

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If this made you smile or sent you reaching for a dictionary, you’re in good company. At Twelve Corners Presbyterian Church, we love asking questions, sharing stories, and discovering meaning together, whether we’re talking about faith, language, or the everyday phrases we take for granted. We invite you to visit us and join us for worship on Sundays at 10:00 a.m. in the sanctuary. We're located at 1200 Winton Road South, in Brighton, NY. You can also worship with us online. However you decide to join us, you’ll find a thoughtful, welcoming community, and a seat saved just for you.