THE FIRST HOOLIGAN

This term, used today to describe vandals or rough people who cause trouble by fighting and breaking things, seems to derive from the name of a petty criminal who earned his living as a bouncer at local restaurants and night clubs.

Patrick Hooligan and his gang, essentially composed of his rowdy family and a bunch of followers, frequented the Lamb and Flag Pub situated in South London. He died in prison where he served a life sentence for the murder of a policeman.

Mr. CONDOM

Colonel Condum, an English Guards officer, developed the device that took his name in the seventeenth century to protect his soldiers against venereal infections during their campaigns in France. They were originally made from lamb intestines previously dried and oiled to make them softer and more flexible.

Another story tells that a doctor in the court of Charles II, Dr.Contum, devised them to protect the king who was well known for his lascivious behaviour.

The condoms became popular and were available very soon. Giovanni Jacopo Casanova is said to have bought a dozen all together.

BOBBY

This informal term for a British policeman honours Sir Robert Peel (Bobby), who was the British Home Secretary when the London Metropolitan Police was organized in 1829.

Sir Robert Peel, a remarkable politician and noted orator, had previously founded the Irish constabulary. His policemen were then called  “peelers” a word rarely used today. 

MONEY FOR OLD ROPE

This expression, typical of British English, refers to money that is earned in a very easy way generally by doing a job that is not difficult or one which demands little or no effort at all.

This saying seems to originate in the Middle Ages when public hangings were very common. After the execution had taken place, hangmen would often make some extra money by cutting up the rope used in the hanging into small pieces and selling them to the spectators who believed it would bring them good luck.

   E.g.: “All I had to do was watch the children for three hours. In return they gave me £ 50. It was money for old rope.”

HOBSON'S CHOICE

This phrase describes a situation in which there seems to be a choice but actually there is not any. In other words, we must accept what we are offered or nothing at all.

This expression derives from the name of a famous carrier- Thomas Hobson- who earned part of his living hiring out horses to students from Cambridge University in the 17th century.

To ensure that each animal was evenly used and to avoid his favourite horses being ridden too much, Thomas Hobson encouraged his customers to choose from the animals nearest the stable door where, as a matter of fact, there was always only one.

   E.g.: “It´s Hobson´s choice, either we pay for the coffee or there´s no coffee at all.”

TOE THE LINE

When we toe the line we submit to discipline or regulations. We do what someone in authority expects us to do.

This expression derives from the lines originally painted on the floor of The House of Commons to separate the members of the government and those from the opposition.

When MPs were allowed to take weapons into the Parliament, the lines were painted two swords apart for them not to be able to touch each other in case there was an argument.

A second theory states that this phrase comes from the lines drawn on the floor to mark the start of a race.

THE REAL McCOY

Different explanations have been made of the origin of this phrase which is used to say that a person or  an article is absolutely genuine, not a fake or a copy.

The first and most popular one states that in the 1920s a boxer who fought under the name of Kid McCoy was challenged to fight by a drunk who apparently said “That’s the real McCoy” after being knocked out with a single punch.

A second theory suggests that this expression comes from Scotland where it was not clear who was the head of the McKay clan. A third source, however, states that this phrase derives from the name of a Canadian mechanical engineer, trained in Scotland – Elijah McCoy, who patented a great number of inventions which were copied all over the world although most buyers insisted on getting the genuine one. The real McCoy.

   E.g.: “They have copied The Beatles´style but they aren’t the real McCoy.”

WASH ONE'S DIRTY LINEN IN PUBLIC

When we “wash our dirty linen in public” we expose our private affairs or quarrels, normally disgraceful or embarrassing things, to the public gaze.

Anthony Trollope seems to have been the first to use the English equivalent of this French proverb in The Last Chronicle of Barset (1867). He  reversed the French expression “Il faut laver son linge sale en famille” which means “we should wash our dirty linen in private”.

    E.g.: “I don’t  understand those families who go on T.V and wash all their dirty linen in public”.