The "Explain what these expressions mean" thread

[sub]Yes, I’m inviting hijacking :stuck_out_tongue: I figure for each expression I’m unsure about there are 20 others that other people wonder about.[/sub]
I’ve looked in dictionaries, and dictionaries of idioms, but the exact meanings to these things elude me.

What does hanging fire mean?

What exactly do people mean when they say he or she runs hot and cold?

When not in regards to war, what do people mean by fire in the hole?

Like I said, feel free to add ones you’d like the experts to consult on.

runs hot and cold - is very moody.

fire in the hole - an explosive device is being employed.

The term hang fire dates from a time when firearms were loaded using a gunpowder charge poured from a flask, which was then ignited by a spark from a flint striking against an iron plate. Gunpowder was notoriously unreliable, partly because it varied a great deal in quality, but also because the slightest damp stopped it igniting properly. When this happened, the powder in the firearm smouldered instead of exploding and was said to hang fire. (This was highly dangerous, as you may imagine, because the remainder of the powder might explode at any time, perhaps while its owner was trying to clean the gun out and reload it.) So to hang fire became an expression for some event that was slow in acting or of a person hesitating, usually with the inference that a matter of some importance was involved.

i suggest the following site. although its incomplete its pretty good at finding the origins of these things.
http://www.idiomsite.com

Moody is an OK definition, but more often than not, I’ve heard it used to mean a person who goes to extremes – of mood, or activity, or whatever.

For instance, one day, she’s insistent on the house being spotless, and the next, she’s fussing because you’re taking a moment to straighten the magazines on the coffee table.

It can be moods, too, though, as Q.E.D. indicated. Perhaps at one encounter, the person in question is touchy-feely, and the next is stand-offish and cold.

On the other hand, they state that The Whole Nine Yards refers to machine guns, so some of their other origin explanations should perhaps also be taken with a grain of salt. :slight_smile:

When not used in a war-type situation, “fire in the hole” usually means that something is about to happen, so be prepared… for example, if everyone in the office is goofing off and someone spots the boss coming, he or she might yell “fire in the hole!” to indicate that everyone should look busy. :wink:

Non-war FITH means whatever people are prepared for is happening now. When I was a mechanic we said this when one would, say, start the ignition of a car while another would spray starting fluid in the fuel intake. Or if someone is tightening a belt, if he had a second turning the key, the starter would say it to make sure guy #1 didn’t have his body in a position to get hurt.

Hot and Cold refers to a faucet. If both extremes are working together you get warm water, otherwise you get one of two extremes, Moods, gambling, dating, etc.

I believe ‘fire in the hole’ originates from subterranean mining (with explosives) rather than war.

I’ve never heard or used the expression “hot and cold” in reference to people. I have heard it used in reference to television shows.

“Yeah, such-and-such show is hot and cold,” meaning it’s either very entertaining or very bad, but never just decent.

I suppose that relates just fine to a person who goes to extremes, though.

The expression as I have heard it is “blow hot and cold”, and comes from a story. An old, old story.

A giant (or a centaur, depending on the version) finds a man lost in the woods, blowing on his hands.

“Why do you blow on your hands?” asks the giant.
“To warm them up, because I am so cold” replies the man.

Taking pity on him, the giant takes the man to his cave for shelter, and gives him a bowl of soup. The man blows on the soup, and the giant asks him why.

“To cool it,” replies the man, whereupon the giant throws him out of the cave.

“Be off with you!” he cries, “I want nothing to do with a man who can blow hot and cold out of the same mouth!”

**

** My understanding of this idiom is that it refers to someone who can be very attentive and sympathetic when the mood strikes but at other times is aloof and austere.

In the case of describing a romantic relationship the hot and cold of the idiom would take on their “romantic” meanings.

Cold = uninterested, Hot = Enthusiastic

So if you SO “runs hot and cold” they either “have a headache” or are tearing your clothes off.

I heard (no better cite) that “Fire in the hole” was what the dynamiter or black-powder blasting guy yelled when he lit the fuse.

Use is mining, farms, etc.

Does “Lock, stock and barrel” derive from a rifle, or from an oldfashioned store?

Here is one possible origin for the idiom “lock, stock and barrel” (hint: the site is poorly designed… highlight the text to draw the text from the background color if you have as much trouble reading it as I did…).

Many other on-line references that I have come across also attribute the idiom in some way to guns/ gun design/ gun sales… it seems a likely explanation to me.