Investigating the origins of American words, names, quotations and phrases. Over 41,000 entries.
"Hockey players have fire in their hearts and ice in their veins" is a saying on many lists of hockey quotations and is one that has been printed on several gift items. The saying has…
"Skiing is the only sport where you can spend an arm and a leg to break an arm and a leg" is a jocular saying about skiing that has been cited in print since at least 1990 and that has…
"Skiing is a dance, and the mountain always leads" (or "Skiing is the ultimate dance, and/but the mountain always leads") is a popular skiing saying. Jim Bowden, of Colorado,…
"Skiing: the art of catching cold and going broke while rapidly heading nowhere at great personal risk" is usually credited to "anonymous" or "author unknown" or…
"A leader leads by example, whether he intends to or not" means that even a leader's flaws (something not intended to be seen) are examples of leadership. The popular saying is…
Many people read the sports section of a newspaper first, even before the front page. One famous person who did this was Earl Warren (1891-1974), the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme…
A clothespin is a pin (often made of wood, with a small spring) used to hang wet clothes on a clothesline -- the usual way clothes were dried before electric dryers. Newspaper cartoonists often…
To "rock the boat" means to change or disturb an existing situation. "The man who rows the boat generally doesn't have time to rock it" is a political proverb that means…
A person who accepts a loss without whining (such as complaining about the officials) is said to be "a good sport." A good sport says nice and gracious comments about the winner.…
"Gymnastics: Flying without wings" has been a gymnastics saying since at least 2009. The authorship of the saying is not known. A similar gymnastics saying is "If you don't…
"If you don't leap, you'll never know what it's like to fly" appeared in the book The Secret of Letting Go (1990) by self-help author Guy Finley. The saying was initially…
"Champions/winners are made when no one/nobody is watching/looking" is a popular sports adage to encourage practice and training -- things that sports fans usually don't see.…
"Leadership is the ability to hide your panic from others" is a popular saying meaning that leaders must remain calm while making tough decisions. "The greatest quality of leadership…
"Winners train, losers complain" is a popular T-shirt slogan that has been cited in print since at least 2000. The author of the saying is unknown. "Winners train, whiners…
"We didn't lose -- we just ran out of time" is an excuse sometimes used in football, where the team that scores last often wins the game. Football Hall of Famer Doak Walker…
A popular wrestling saying is, "The 1st period is won by the best technician. The 2nd period is won by the kid in the best shape. The 3rd period is won by the kid with the biggest heart."…
An "alligator spread" is a transaction is where the investor is unlikely to make much of a profit even if the markets move in the direction anticipated, primarily because the investor is…
To be "sitting in a gold mine" is to be in possession of something of great value, often without knowledge or understanding of that value. The American idiom usually does not require…
"Paid media" is when someone takes out advertising and pays for it. Political campaigns often try for "free media" as well, such as exposure on television talk shows and news…
"Democrazy" (democracy + crazy) is a term to describe a democracy gone crazy, perhaps by corrupt politics and elections. "Democrazy" has been cited in print since at least 1853…