Like the phrase “peeping tom” is used to refer to a creep trying to see somebody else using the bathroom. What on Earth did this Tom character do to become the definition of such a creep?
And why do people say “Bob’s your uncle”? Was this Bob a super helpful and reliable guy, so much so that his name is used for the definition of something being finished and done?
And the playing card representing an aristocratic / upper class man is called Jack, who is this Jack? Why do people say a “jack of all trades”, was this Jack character incredibly talented? Or is it related to the playing card, where they are good at everything but not the best (i.e. a king or queen)
I know of a few that are of religious origin, like the Achilles’s heel after Greek mythology, and the bumpy bit of your throat is called Adam’s apple is biblical.
creamfresh@lemmy.world 1 week ago
sbeak@sopuli.xyz 6 days ago
Wait, so somebody called Jack is basically the equivalent of “dude”? Interesting. So a lumberjack is just a person who deals with lumber, that makes a lot of sense!
DagwoodIII@piefed.social 6 days ago
Yes. But a lumberjack isn’t a merchant, he’s the fellow who goes out and actually cuts down the trees.
‘Joe’ used to be a common term for coffee in the US, as in ‘pour me a cup of joe.’ ‘G.I. Joe’ comes from ‘government issue.’ Before WW1 some soldiers provided their own boots, saddles, rifles, etc. When the Army decided to standardize, everything from uniforms and weapons to bedding was ‘G.I.’
‘Jane’ was any woman.