f-clichés

this week’s f-words are more properly f-clichés. of particular interest to yorrs tru-ly are fossil words (such as fettle and fraught) that now only exist in the english language because they have been preserved in idiom like frogs in formaldehyde.

• fall head over heals: to enter an activity so thoroughly as to be almost helpless. the head is normally over the heels, so the term would seem to make more sense as “heels over head,” and indeed that is what it was. as early as the 14th century it appeared as “hele ouer hed” in a poem, though the corruption has been around for a long time.
• feather in his cap: an honor. it was once a custom in many countries to award a feather to a soldier who had killed an enemy; the feather was worn in the helmet or some other kind of headgear. that is the literal meaning of the term; the figurative meaning of an honor or achievement was in the language by 1657.
• (to be in) fine fettle: to be in good health or spirits. “fettle” was a verb meaning to put in order. “to be in fine fettle” was to be well set up to do something.
• (of the) first water: of the highest quality. for centuries diamonds were graded as “first water,” “second water,” or “third water,” the use of “water” in this sense arising from the resemblance of the diamond to water in its clarity and translucence.
• fit as a fiddle: in fine shape. fiddles are admired for their sound and sometimes for their trim and symmetrical shape. indeed, to say “his face is made of a fiddle” was once a way of describing someone as charming. still, fiddles are not known for their fitness and one suspects the allure of alliteration in the origin and perpetuation of the saying, which is quite old.
• (with) flying colors: triumphantly. the “colors” are the flags or banners borne by a naval ship; in victory the colors remain prominently displayed.
• fraught with danger: perilous. “fraught,” is a relative of “freight.” things have been “fraught with difficulties” for at least 400 years.
• from the horse’s mouth: the truth. you can tell the age of a horse accurately by looking at its teeth, which is why one is advised not to “look a gift horse in the mouth.” the horse’s pairs of permanent teeth appear in succession at definite ages. the lore is old but the expression seems to be of 20th century origin.

from the dictionary of clichés, by james rogers (1985).