1.0Lifehacker Australiahttps://www.lifehacker.com.auSam Blumhttps://www.lifehacker.com.au/author/samblum-usa/rich600338<blockquote class="wp-embedded-content" data-secret="xddurKMsbe"><a href="https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2021/08/10-common-english-idioms-and-their-weird-historical-origins/">10 Common English Idioms and Their Weird Historical Origins</a></blockquote><iframe sandbox="allow-scripts" security="restricted" src="https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2021/08/10-common-english-idioms-and-their-weird-historical-origins/embed/#?secret=xddurKMsbe" width="600" height="338" title="“10 Common English Idioms and Their Weird Historical Origins” — Lifehacker Australia" data-secret="xddurKMsbe" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" class="wp-embedded-content"></iframe><script> /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(d,l){"use strict";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!/[^a-zA-Z0-9]/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret="'+t.secret+'"]'),c=new RegExp("^https?:$","i"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display="none";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute("style"),"height"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):"link"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute("src")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener("message",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll("iframe.wp-embedded-content"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute("data-secret"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+="#?secret="+t,e.setAttribute("data-secret",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:"ready",secret:t},"*")},!1)))}(window,document); </script> https://www.lifehacker.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/06/96fd02c75f5cca157989db3fe5e6f761-scaled.jpg?quality=7525601435If there’s one thing most people take for granted, it’s the language they grew up speaking. The words we use and their respective meanings are the product of centuries of linguistic evolution that we rarely consider. Today, much of our social interaction is characterised by turns of phrase that would seem completely nonsensical if not […]