Did You Know?

There are many sayings that are part of our everyday language but we don’t know where they came from or when and how they started.  Take for example the cheering sound of ‘Hip Hip Hooray’.  This goes right back to Roman times and is linked to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus and his army in AD70. 

Loud Roman cheers

Although the Romans were known for their strength, the Jews were very stubborn and resilient putting up great resistance.  When at last Titus won the battle there was a victorious shout of Hierosolyma Est Perdita, which is Latin for Jerusalem Is Destroyed and then there was the response ‘Hurrah!’.  This was quite a mouthful to say every time and so it was abbreviated to the initial letters making the word ‘Hep’.  The English version of the word is ‘hip’ and nowadays refers to happy circumstances surrounding a win and not a war situation. 

Cheers for a victory at a football match

Another saying I found intriguing is when we refer to someone as a chatterbox and who doesn’t seem to stop for breath when talking.  Of such people we say that they ‘went on 19 to the dozen!’ 

A market stall trader who is very capable of talking you into buying

This saying goes back over 200 years to the 1770s and to the Cornish mines where they used steam-powered pumps invented by James watt.  At one of the mines they were testing the efficiency of the pumps and one week it was recorded that 19,000 gallons of water were raised for every dozen bushels of coal that had been used.  The engineer at the time said that ‘it has gone to the dozen’.  That was a record.  Later 19 to the dozen was used when referring to someone who is a compulsive talker.

You live and learn!