The Origin of Phrases II

We’re back with a few peoples favorite post to learn the real origins of some of today’s most popular (and not so popular) phrases. So without further ado (I know I have to get to that one too) …. the all dedication edition…..

  

-Wash My Balls for a Dollar

When Ramblin’ Rooster requested this one, I thought that maybe he was taking the piss. After a little research I was surprised that this phrase is actually quite popular in low income and urban areas in the mid-west. The phrase was written in the original script for Boyz N the Hood by John Singleton. The phrase was replaced however when, during the first month of shooting Singleton and Ice Cube were getting pissy on the Crystal, and a nappy headed crack ho asked Mr. Cube for a crumb. When Ice replied, “suck my mother fuckin dick” John quickly wrote it in his notebook and the rest was history. Fate was finicky for ‘Wash my balls for a dollar,’ or it would be a pop culture phenomenon still today. Apparently the phrase is still used sparingly by liberal Hollywood, the West Coast elitists, and occasionally by crack dealers looking for a quick laugh or in need of a ball cleansing.

                                                                                                                                                                     

  

-Jump on the Bandwagon

Requested by Micky-T. Although many fools attribute this phrase to P.T. Barnum, it was originally coined by Dan Rice who was a world renowned circus clown. This was back when circus clowning was an intellectually respectable vocation; before all of the clown nonsense began. Mr. Rice found that he could substantially increase his income by throwing his considerable weight (this was before the 30 clowns to a car shtick, and he weighed a lot) behind political campaigns. He’d bring his fancy bandwagon which was stocked with a full bar, to crowded areas and get everyone drunk if they promised to vote for whoever he was supporting that election year. Some people would become too intoxicated to stay on the slowly moving vehicle, which was also how the phrase ‘falling off the wagon’ came to pass. Unfortunately, most of the people who fell off Rice’s wagon were crushed by his massive 60in spinning rims on phat Goodyear’s.

                                                                                                                                                        

The phrase began adopting a negative connotation in the late 1840’s, when Rice successfully got a Know Nothing candidate elected in Boston. The Know Nothing political party was extremely anti-Irish and anti-immigrant, but above all else anti-Irish immigrant. So when a bunch of Irish immigrants unwittingly elected a K.N. politician because of too much free booze and a fancy wagon ride, the potatoes really started flying. The backlash was stereotypically drunken and violent and eventually the election was overturned. The Supreme Court, which was surprisingly made up of oracles, ruled that it would be like a bunch of Mexican immigrants electing Lou Dobbs…..uh…a hundred and seventy years from now.

This phrase, much like most of our proud linguistics, is now used almost exclusively in reference to sports. 

 

-If the Shoe Fits, Walk a Mile in it

For Claire , I easily found that this phrase began as a duel sponsored corporate advertising campaign put together by the mad men working for R.J. Reynolds and Buster Brown in 1944. The commercial was made sexclusivley for theater audiences because of the adult nature of the content, i.e.; there was a tongue (or European) kiss. The ad starred Ingrid Bergman as Virginia Slim and Cary Grant as Joe Camel. In the first scene Virginia is having a fight with her husband over a burnt roast. After receiving a sharp slap, Virginia storms off and we next see her in the neighborhood strip mall trying on a new pair of comfortable Buster Brown shoes. After paying (with her new Shawmut debit card), she tells the clerk, “Why these shoes fit so well, I think I’ll walk a mile for a Camel in them.” After a short clip of her walking down a long and dusty road we see her arrive at an isolated farmhouse. On the porch is a rugged, square jawed farmer sitting with his sweaty torso fully exposed as he happily drags on a cigarette. He slowly rises and greets her with a long passionate kiss, tilts her head gently back and says, “You’ve come a long way baby!”   

                                                                                                                                                                     

The ad only ran for 3 short months before the American Family Association began protesting, and got it shut down.

*I still have two more requests due for nest week’s edition, but remember…. if you have any phrases that are close to your heart let me know!!!