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Trivia: Popular phrases with horsey origins

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  • #1

    Trivia: Popular phrases with horsey origins

    Fun trivia! Did you know all three? I knew #2.
    http://www.barnmice.com/forum/topics...ins-of-popular
    Tags: None
  • #2
    I knew all three.

    There's another one I heard on the radio a couple of years ago, but it's kind of sad.

    There was a baseball team (Chicago?) in the early 20th century that would use a horse-drawn contraption to draw the chalk lines between the bases before each game. Needless to say they didn't use the youngest, soundest horse in town for that job, and the name of the horse was Charlie.

    Hence the term "Charlie Horse."

    Comment

    • #3
      Cool! I knew all but the one about winning hands down. Quite interesting...
      ***Honorary Member of the "What is BOSS?" Cult...er...CLIQUE***
      ***Prominent Member of the 'Irrelevent Posters Clique'***
      CrayolaPosse ~ Bluegreen

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      • #4
        What about "Hold your horses!"
        www.sauconycreeksporthorses.com
        Dedicated to breeding Friesian Sporthorses
        with world class pedigrees and sport suitability

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        • #5
          and "long in the tooth..."
          and "got your goat"
          and "get off your high horse"
          and "putting the cart before the horse"
          and "closing the barn door"

          I am sure folks have more.
          A man must love a thing very much if he not only practices it without any hope of fame or money, but even practices it without any hope of doing it well.--G. K. Chesterton

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          • #6
            What's the "got your goat" one again?

            Is it from stealing a race horse's companion goat to upset him before a race? Or did I just make that up?

            Comment

            • #7
              You often hear phrases with equestrian origins:

              Rein that guy in
              Spur them along
              He's a stud

              ..and how about buck you?

              Comment

              • #8
                Then there's the measurement "horsepower".

                Mine ponies were initially used to determine the value. The result was then increased by 50% as an estimate of what a horse should be able to develop.

                The term was used to rate steam engines, since they would be replacing horses.

                One horsepower, if converted to electricity, can illuminate fifteen 50-Watt lightbulbs.
                The inherent vice of Capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings. The inherent virtue of Socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.
                Winston Churchill

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                • #9
                  A phrase everyone thought was horsey

                  ...but was recently proved otherwise, is "upset" meaning the unexpected victory. For years, people said the phrase came from Upset, the only horse to beat Man o' War.

                  But a researcher found evidence of that usage as far back as the 19th century. The fact that Man o' War was "upset" by Upset was just a coincidence.

                  Still, it makes a nice story.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Last year when I was in class after a wonderful day out fox hunting, my professor said something about "working the line" and I snapped out of my mental recap of the hunt to go "huh?" is someone reading my mind? Of course he was talking about essay ideas and reworking them, but that is certainly an equestrian based saying.
                    It's psychosomatic. You need a lobotomy. I'll get a saw.

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                    • #11
                      There's the oldie-moldie, "Travelling by mare-shank" to mean going somewhere on foot.

                      A "horse of a different color"...not sure of the origin, but it certainly meets the criteria here.

                      I once had a co-worker who knew I had horses tell me, "You can lead a horse to water..." He was resistant to a task.
                      I gave a small smile and said, "These days, that horse had better start drinking. Or we'll shove a tube down his nose so fast his head will spin."
                      Ohhh, the look on his face! "Really??", he gasped. "Yep. Now about that report..."

                      Fun topic. Thanks!
                      Rev
                      To have a right to do a thing is not at all the same as to be right in doing it. - GK Chesterton

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                      • #12
                        When I was horse shopping, I told my boss that I was having a horse vetted that weekend. Boss laughed, said that's funny, being vetted by a vet. I asked where did he think the phrase came from? He honestly had never thought about it -- had only used it in the corporate-speak world (as in 'vetting' a candidate for a job).
                        ...somewhere between the talent and the potato....

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                        • #13
                          how about the "Sorry Charlie" reference from Seabiscuit? where the jockey's name was Charlie and then Gary Stevens, i mean Seabiscuit's jockey, rode past him in the match race and said "Sorry Charlie".

                          That seems a little too awesome to be true, but I think it was in the book as well as the movie & the author certainly did her research well.

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                          • #14
                            I always thought the term "dead ringer" was interesting.

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                            • #15
                              rode hard and put to bed wet . . .

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                              • #16
                                There are dozens

                                Bit in the teeth
                                Free rein
                                Take it in stride
                                Hand over the reins
                                If you are allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that thing in your mouth, particularly if the thing is cats. - Lemony Snicket

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                                • #17
                                  Originally posted by Rev View Post
                                  There's the oldie-moldie, "Travelling by mare-shank" to mean going somewhere on foot.
                                  That's Shanks' mare, or pony.

                                  Comment

                                  • #18
                                    dark horse - from racing to politics
                                    a leg up - from boosting someone onto a horse to boosting someone up period
                                    chomping at the bit
                                    hoofing it
                                    down to the wire
                                    neck and neck
                                    riding high/tall
                                    riding for a fall
                                    iron horse - train


                                    Something that always pains me as an editor and a rider is when a writer uses the phrase 'rein in' or 'free rein' and spell it 'reign.' No, no, no, it's not some obscure reference to Henry VIII, you idiot!

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                                    • #19
                                      "Hobson's choice" meaning no choice at all, supposedly from a livery owner named Hobson who allowed you to rent any horse in the barn as long as it was the one in the stall nearest the door.

                                      "Stalking horse" meaning a ploy used by someone to get what he wants, from the horse that was used by hunters to camoflage them and to mask their scent to make it easier to get close to the game.

                                      My favorite variation on the "you can lead a horse to water but can't make him drink" phrase was from the novel Mating: "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him admire the view."
                                      "The formula 'Two and two make five' is not without its attractions." --Dostoevsky

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                                      • #20
                                        Originally posted by vacation1 View Post
                                        Something that always pains me as an editor and a rider is when a writer uses the phrase 'rein in' or 'free rein' and spell it 'reign.' No, no, no, it's not some obscure reference to Henry VIII, you idiot!
                                        Me too!
                                        If you are allergic to a thing, it is best not to put that thing in your mouth, particularly if the thing is cats. - Lemony Snicket

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