Category English Language

In the U.S., a store that sells inexpensive items is known as a “dollar store”, “five-and-ten-store, “five-and-dime store”. The usage goes back to the 1860s and 1880s. “Five-and-dime” became more common in the 20th century.

In the miners’ lingo, “take five” means “take a break from work,” after hours of continuous labour. “Take five” or “take ten” originated in the jargon of U.S. mining.

Five was the lucky number for the superstitious French fashion designer Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel. In 1921 she chose the fifth day of the fifth month to introduce her new brand of perfume which she called Chanel No. 5. At that time its scent was unlike any others in a market dominated by floral perfumes. It was a huge success and today it is one of the most famous – and most expensive – perfumes available.

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People have been using a form of the phrase “sixes and sevens” since the 14th Century. Originally, it referred to carelessness or risk-taking, probably came from dice playing. In a game of dice, to bet on a roll of a five and a six was extremely risky and often foolish. Over time, the early phrase “to set on cinque and sice” was altered to “to set on six and seven,” and the meaning was broadened to denote not only genera carelessness but the confusion and disorder that might result from it. Later it was further altered to the modern “at sixes and sevens” with the meaning “in a state of disorder or confusion.”

“Six-pack” has referred to six bottles or cans packaged and sold together since the 1940s. In the 1990s, six-pack came to refer to a set of strong, well-defined abdominal muscles visible on a person’s body and looked like a “six-pack” of bottles of cans.

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The phrase “seven seas” (sail the seven seas) has been used metaphorically since the 19th Century, to evoke all the waters or oceans of the world – and specifically the Arctic, Antarctic, North and South Pacific, North and South Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

On the seven-segment displays of pocket calculators and digital watches, 7 is the number with the most common glyph variation (1, 6 and 9 also have variant glyphs). Most calculators use three line segments, but on Sharp, Casio, and a few other brands of calculators, 7 is written with four line segments because, in Japan, Korea and Taiwan 7 is written as ? in the illustration to the right.

7 is considered a lucky number. There are 7 days of the week, 7 continents, 7 Wonders of the World, as well as 7 Deadly Sins.

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The expression “eight ball” for the black pool ball numbered 8 is from the early 1900s, and the expression “behind the eight ball,” meaning “in a highly disadvantageous position,” entered American English. The expression may have come from a pool game in which players attempt to pocket the numbered balls in order – with the eight ball to be pocketed last. If the player hits the eight ball first, he is penalised; if he pockets the eight ball, he loses the game.

“A piece of eight” is an old Spanish silver dollar, or peso, which once had the value of eight Reales and was therefore stamped with a large figure 8. In Colonial America, the piece of eight became legal tender, and it remained so till the Civil War. Its value was almost the same as that of the United States dollar.

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 “On cloud none” means “a feeling of well being or elation.” It derives from the nine classes of angles in Christian cosmology. The ninth and highest class – the seraphim – are, according to one source, “one cloud nine” by virtue of their close proximity to God.

Another possible explanation connects cloud nine with Dante’s Divine Comedy. Dante’s “Paradiso” depicts a series of heavens, the highest being the ninth. The souls in the ninth heaven are in the greatest state of bliss because they are close to God.

Meteorologists classified clouds in the late 19th Century and this was officially accepted by the scientific world. Ninth in the classification is the big, puffy cumulonimbus cloud.

The expression nine days’ wonder is based on the proverbial belief that something novel retains attention for just nine days. A “nine-day wonder” is something that creates a short-lived sensation.

The expression “the whole nine yards” is used to include all of a related set of circumstances, conditions or details. Example: “A huge Thanksgiving dinner was served: turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce, rolls and pie – the whole nine yards.”

Why nine yards, not eight, seven or ten? A yard is a unit of measurement and the whole nine yards could be any of these: The nine cubic yard capacity of either a cement mixer or the scoop on a front-end loader, the nine yards of cloth required to make a formal dress (a full gown or a saree); the configuration of old square-rigged ships having three masts, each of which could have three yards (long spars tapered toward the ends that supported and spread the head of the square sails) – “the whole nine yards” in total.

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The expression “I wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole” conveys contempt or extreme dislike. Originally, a ten-foot pole was simply a measure of distance. Nineteenth-century songwriter Stephen Foster used it to describe the depth of a mud hole in his popular song “Camptown Races.” In 1884, American author William Dean Howells used the phrase metaphorically in his novel the Rise of Silas Lapham: “Do you suppose a fellow like young Corey… would touch mineral paint with a ten-inch pole?” wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole” emerged around the same time.

Ten-gallon hat has been used to refer to a cowboy hat since the early 1900s. The hat like the gallon measurement, was extremely large, perhaps the largest hat in the West. Large cowboy hats became known as ten-gallon hats. Another explanation is that the wide-brimmed hats worn by cowboys and ranchers were originally decorated with braids. A Spanish word for braid is galon.

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