Monday, June 30, 2008

Musing on Mondays vol.7

Have you ever wondered where some of the common phrases we say have originated from? I think about stuff like this all the time. I have a list of the little things I hear people say and I wonder to myself, why do we say that? Every Monday I am going to post a phrase and share with you my research as to why we say some of the things we do.

Get the lead out:
This would happen to be one of the phrases my mother use to bark out to me when I wasn't doing something quick enough. I should also add this to my list of "things I swore I would never say to my kids," but I ended up saying it anyway. It means to hurry, speed up, or go quickly.
Back when car racing became popular, whenever that was, the bodywork on race cars were repaired with lead, rather than Bondo which is used today. Lead is very heavy, and it was said to slow your race car down. So, if a driver/team could "get the lead out" of the car it would make it lighter and speedier. Go, go Speed Racer!

As always, if you have a common phrase that you would like to know what it means, why we say it, and where it comes from, then leave me a comment and I will do the research for you. Happy musing!

1 comment:

Natalie said...

I think I must have lead in my body then - cause I definately can't go like a speed racer anymore LOL