# Origin of the expression "origin of the expression"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-expression-origin-of-the-expression/400119>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [April 14, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-expression-origin-of-the-expression/400119 "2007-04-14T16:05:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2007, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-the-expression-origin-of-the-expression/400119/1 "2007-04-14T16:05:09Z")

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Mostly a joke, but wouldn’t it be cool to have the ultimate “origin of” directory that nobody could dispute? Is Wikipedia it these days? Were any of those heavy books in pre-Internet days really all that well-researched? How many etymology references are just somebody’s WAG?

As as user of such reference material, rate yourself on how much you believe their findings to be beyond dispute:

1. less than 10% sure
2. 10-25% sure
3. 25-50% sure
4. 50-75 % sure
5. 75-90 % sure
6. 100% dead certain

I’m at 4, just because that’s pretty much how I relate to opinions in general.