Beat Around the Bush

Origin: This phrase is believed to have come from hunting. Back in medieval times, hunters would hire men who would assist them in the hunt by flushing out animals from within the brush. This could be done by whacking the bushes with a stick, perhaps even accompanying the whacking with some loud shouting; the point was to make a bunch of noise in order to scare birds and other animals out from the cover of the bushes, making them easier targets for the hunter.

Typically used to describe any person who is avoiding the main point in a conversation!

Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover

origin: 'don’t judge a book by its cover' is fairly recent. The phrase is attributed to a 1944 edition of the African journal American Speech: “You can’t judge a book by its binding.” It was popularized even more when it appeared in the 1946 murder mystery Murder in the Glass Room by Lester Fuller and Edwin Rolfe: “You can never tell a book by its cover.”


Means you should not decide upon something based just on outward appearances.

Bless Her/His/Your Heart

As a youth I would hear this phased used in a good intention sort of way. Ex: "She has cancer,and still gets up every morning and takes the paper to her friend down the street, bless her heart"

As I grew older I learned it was also used in a derogatory way: Ex: "Bless his heart, he's dumb as a stick, but he sure is nice"

I couldn't find the definition in the link provided so I looked else where. Cambridge Dictionary states it means "may good things happen to someone"

I couldn't find the actual origin..though, I do know it is used down south and the midwest more often than other areas *shrugs* does anyone know the true origin?

The Ball is in Your Court

origin: While it is obvious the idiom comes from the world of sports, Scholars differ on whether it comes from the Tennis field or from Basketball. Whichever sports field it comes from, it is a relatively new idiom and was probably used for the first time in the 20th century.

If the ball is in someone's court, they have to do something before any progress can be made in a situation.

Unbeknownst
 

Smitten
 

origin: Smitten is related to the verb smite, which comes from the Old English smitan, meaning “to hit, strike, beat.” What do hitting and beating have to do with love, you may ask? Well, when some people fall in love they report feeling as though they've been "struck by lightning." Obviously those people have never actually been struck by lightning!

Overwhelmed or struck by something, usually love:nerd:

Ossified...................
 

The root is ossify, "to turn into bone," from the Latin word for "bone,".

ossified...........Too intoxicated to function properly (urban dictionary)

It can mean set in a rigidly conventional pattern of behavior, habits, or beliefs.

To convert into or cause to harden like bone.

Brene' Brown uses that expression in one of her talks about vulnerability. She shares that in Texas, where she grew up, it was used to shame people, she jokes about having a tee shirt that says "if you bless my heart, I will kick your ass." or something to that effect. I have only heard it used by people who feel superior to others, as a way of saying "isn't he/she pathetic". I will have to research the original meaning.

Great topic, thanks!!

I think smitten is such a non-threatening way of telling someone you like them in a 'special way" without making them or yourself uncomfortable...

Kashrut

Is a set of Jewish religious dietary laws.

i love the word “smitten” ....... :blush:

lethologica I just "borrowed" this word from another thread.....LOL



The inability to remember a particular word or name.

yup ..... thats a word i love, but can never remember :giggle:

Thanks for letting me "borrow" it......LOL

sally forth............To leave a place and move on

Jactitation.............a tossing to and fro or jerking and twitching of the body during an illness.


In the 17th century, lawyers began tossing around the word jactitation, which can be traced back to the Latin verb jactare, meaning "to throw." Originally, jactitation was used as a word for a false claim or assertion being publicly thrown about to the detriment of another person. Run-of-the-mill slander and false claims of being married to someone were two common types of jactitation brought to court. Before long, jactitation had jumped over to the medical profession, where it continues to serve as a word for restless, jerky, or twitchy body movements. In 1761, British writer Laurence Sterne threw jactitation into his novel Tristram Shandy as a substitute for discussion, but that meaning never caught on.

Gentrification............


Gentrification is a process of renovation of deteriorated urban neighborhoods by means of the influx of more affluent residents. This is a controversial topic in politics and in urban planning.

Ethnogenesis.....

The process by which a social group comes to regard itself or be regarded as a distinct people.This can originate through a process of self-identification as well as come about as the result of outside identification.
Ethnogenesis can occur passively, in the accumulation of markers of group identity forged through interaction with the physical environment, cultural and religious divisions between sections of a society, migrations and other processes, for which ethnic subdivision is an unintended outcome. It can occur actively, as persons deliberately and directly 'engineer' separate identities to attempt to solve a political problem. It's of Greek origin.