Everyday phrases with surprisingly dark origins

Meet a deadline
Probably one of the most popular phrases you'll hear throughout your entire life. First as a student, and then as an employee. Hopefully you won't die if you don't meet these deadlines, but crossing the original deadline would have that result!

A deadline was an actual line drawn on Civil War prisons. If a prisoner escaped and crossed that line, he would be killed. Not quite the same consequence as not responding to an email, right?

Diehard
The term "diehard" dates back to the 1700s. But it wasn't quite used to describe a huge fan of something. Instead, it was attributed to those who struggled the longest when hanged!

A few years later, the term became popular after its use in 1811’s Battle of Albuera, when British officer William Inglis supposedly told his men: "Stand your ground and die hard … make the enemy pay dear for each of us!"

Bite the bullet
The phrase essentially means doing something/making a difficult decision that we've been hesitant to make.

It can be traced back to soldiers in the battlefield who would have to go under emergency procedures without anesthesia or alcohol to numb the pain. So they'd have to literally bite a bullet.

Running amok
You know, when things get a little wild, crazy, or out of control. The word Amok comes from the Amuco, a band of Javanese and Malay warriors who would go on killing sprees for unknown reasons. There was believed to be some sort of mental condition afflicting those peoples.

Captain James Cook wrote about it in 1772: “To run amok is to … sally forth from the house, kill the person or persons supposed to have injured the Amock, and any other person that attempts to impede his passage.”

God bless you
We've all heard it after someone sneezes. But why do we say it specifically after sneezing?

Its origins can be traced back to the plague. It was used to express a desire for your soul to remain in your body, because the Black Death could take it.

Sold down the river
One is "sold down the river" when one is victim of a betrayal, or you got screwed over/cheated by someone. The expression was used in reference to slave trade.

Slaves would literally be sold and sent down the Mississippi River to work on plantations in the South.

Mad as a hatter
This one is fairly easy to associate with the Mad Hatter in Lewis Carroll’s book 'Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.'

But the character himself is quite dark. Back in Victorian times, men were actually suffering from mental health problems caused by exposure to mercury, which was used to make felt hats more flexible.

Pulling my leg
"Pulling my leg" is usually used when someone is trying to fool us, or playing us in a way. It's a popular expression in the UK, and it can be traced back to Victorian London.

Back then, dragging a person by the leg was a common way for robbers to get their hands on one's possessions.

To wreak havoc
We tend to associate this phrase with things getting out of control and the destruction that may come with it.

The origins of the phrase actually mean the same, but it was used on the battlefield to give soldiers permission to do whatever they wanted, including committing slaughter. The practice was actually outlawed in England in the 1300s.

More at the link   ...   https://www.msn.com/en-au/lifestyle/smart-living/everyday-phrases-with-surprisingly-dark-origins/ss-AAYXsVC?rc=1&ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=c7d11ecbf9da42abc041a291f4040c1f#image=30

FYI:

Erethism,[n 1] also known as erethismus mercurialis, mad hatter disease, or mad hatter syndrome, is a neurological disorder which affects the whole central nervous system, as well as a symptom complex, derived from mercury poisoning. -- Wikipedia.

I think of these once in awhile too. I will start writing them down and offering them up on this thread. There are a lot of them. Good catch.

A lot of these origin stories are debatable . biting a bullet would probably break your teeth due to the pressure points , a piece of wood , leather or rolled up cloth would be a far better option and could encompass both sides of your mouth , spread the load somewhat. I think it was intended more as a euphemism

Break a leg........

To go overboard.......

In a fix.......

Rock and hardplace.......

Shoot the moon.......lol

Before black slaves were sold down the mississippi river here in the US, they were sold down the Ubangi river (among others) to get on those barbary (muslim) pirate ships to the new world via england and spain.