{"id":652,"date":"2020-08-26T10:30:11","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T14:30:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/the-storage-inn.com\/blog\/?p=652"},"modified":"2020-08-24T09:33:28","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T13:33:28","slug":"biting-the-bullet-during-the-dog-days-of-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/the-storage-inn.com\/blog\/2020\/08\/biting-the-bullet-during-the-dog-days-of-summer\/","title":{"rendered":"Biting the Bullet during The Dog Days of Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

The Storage Inn team investigates the origins of popular sayings!<\/p><\/div>\n

Biting the Bullet during The Dog Days of Summer<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

So, the \u201cDog Days of Summer\u201d<\/strong> are officially upon us here at The Storage Inn in Egg Harbor Township New Jersey<\/a>. It’s been extremely hot and humid as we head out of July and into August. The \u201cDog Days of Summer\u201d thing was brought up to me by one of our storage space<\/a> \u00a0customers who also happens to be into astrology. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I always assumed that this saying referred to the weather being so hot that even the family dog did not want to move out of his resting spot. But, Cindy, our astrological self storage client, informed me that the \u201cdog days of summer\u201d are the hot, sultry days of summer that coincide with the heliacal rising of the star Sirius (also known as the dog star) from late July to late August.<\/span><\/p>\n

This got me to thinking about all of the sayings that we use, but probably have no idea where \u00a0they came from.<\/p>\n

So being the detective that I am, I decided to investigate a few popular sayings.<\/p>\n

\u201cBite the Bullet\u201d<\/h2>\n

Meaning:<\/strong> Accepting something difficult or unpleasant
\nHistory:<\/strong> There was no time to administer anesthesia before emergency surgery during battle. The surgeon made patients bite down on a bullet in an attempt to distract them from the pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cBreak the Ice\u201d<\/h2>\n

Meaning:<\/strong> To commence a project or initiate a friendship
\nHistory:<\/strong> Before the days of trains or cars, port cities that thrived on trade suffered during the winter because frozen rivers prevented commercial ships from entering the city. Small ships known as \u201cicebreakers\u201d would rescue the icebound ships by breaking the ice and creating a path for them to follow. Before any type of business arrangement today, it is now customary to \u201cbreak the ice\u201d before beginning a project.<\/p>\n

\u201cButter him\/her Up\u201d<\/h2>\n

Meaning:<\/strong> To flatter someone
\nHistory:<\/strong> An ancient Indian custom involved throwing balls of clarified butter at statues of the gods to seek favor.<\/p>\n

\u201cCaught Red Handed\u201d<\/h2>\n

Meaning:<\/strong> To be caught doing something wrong
\nHistory:<\/strong> This saying originated because of a law. If someone butchered an animal that didn\u2019t belong to him, he had to be caught with the animal\u2019s blood on his hands to be convicted. Being caught with freshly cut meat did not make the person guilty.<\/p>\n

Give him\/her \u201cThe Cold Shoulder\u201d<\/h2>\n

Meaning:<\/strong> A rude way of telling someone he isn\u2019t welcome
\nHistory:<\/strong> Although giving someone the cold shoulder today is considered rude, it was actually regarded as a polite gesture in medieval England. After a feast, the host would let his guests know it was time to leave by giving them a cold piece of meat from the shoulder of beef, mutton, or pork.<\/p>\n

\u201cCold Turkey\u201d<\/h2>\n

Meaning:<\/strong> To quit something abruptly
\nHistory:<\/strong> People believed that during withdrawal, the skin of drug addicts became translucent, hard to the touch, and covered with goose bumps \u2013 like the skin of a plucked turkey.<\/p>\n

\u201cKick the Bucket\u201d<\/h2>\n

Meaning:<\/strong> To die
\nHistory:<\/strong> When a cow was killed at a slaughterhouse, a bucket was placed under it while it was positioned on a pulley. Sometimes the animal\u2019s legs would kick during the adjustment of the rope and it would literally kick the bucket before being killed.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo Spring Chicken\u201d<\/h2>\n

Meaning:<\/strong> Someone who is past his prime
\nHistory:<\/strong> New England chicken farmers generally sold chickens in the spring, so the chickens born in the springtime yielded better earnings than the chickens that survived the winter. Sometimes, farmers tried to sell old birds for the price of a new spring chicken. Clever buyers complained that the fowl was \u201cno spring chicken,\u201d and the term came to represent anyone past their prime.<\/p>\n

\u201cRule of Thumb\u201d<\/h2>\n

Meaning:<\/strong> A common, ubiquitous benchmark
\nHistory:<\/strong> Legend has it that 17th century English Judge Sir Francis Buller ruled it was permissible for a husband to beat his wife with a stick, given that the stick was no wider than his thumb.<\/p>\n

\u201cSaved by the Bell\u201d<\/h2>\n

Meaning:<\/strong> Rescued from an unwanted situation
\nHistory:<\/strong> As scary as it sounds, being buried alive was once a common occurrence. People who feared succumbing to such a fate were buried in special coffins that connected to a bell above ground. At night, guards listened for any bells in case they had to dig up a living person and save them \u201cby the bell.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSleep Tight\u201d<\/h2>\n

Meaning:<\/strong> Sleep well
\nHistory:<\/strong> During Shakespeare\u2019s time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. In order to make the bed firmer, one had to pull the ropes to tighten the mattress.<\/p>\n

So in conclusion, let me Break The Ice by inviting you to visit The Storage Inn for all of your self storage and packing needs. We promise not to give you The Cold Shoulder, and may even Butter You Up a bit – and if you rent from us, you’ll be able to Sleep Tight, knowing that all of your items are safe & secure!!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Enjoy the rest of your summer!!
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Biting the Bullet during The Dog Days of Summer So, the \u201cDog Days of Summer\u201d are officially upon us here at The Storage Inn in Egg Harbor Township New Jersey. It’s been extremely hot and humid as we head out of July and into August. The \u201cDog Days of Summer\u201d thing was brought up to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","hentry","category-fun-facts","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/the-storage-inn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/the-storage-inn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/the-storage-inn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/the-storage-inn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/the-storage-inn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/the-storage-inn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":666,"href":"https:\/\/the-storage-inn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions\/666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/the-storage-inn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/the-storage-inn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/the-storage-inn.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}