ArcaMax

Why is a clam happy? Why is someone who stops drinking alcohol said to be "on the wagon"? Why do people "go to pot"?

We use "old saws" like this every day, but rarely do we "pull out all the stops" to uncover their origins.

The key to "happy as a clam" can be found in the original form of this expression -- "happy as a clam at high tide." Because clams are dug at low tide, they're presumably happiest at high tide when they're nestled snug and secure in the mud beneath several feet of water. But, at low tide, when they're likely to be dug up, they're often sadder and, sometimes, dinner.

Likewise, the expression "on the wagon" is a shortening of a longer phrase. Before America's highways were paved, horse-drawn water wagons sprayed dirt roads to keep down the dust. So someone who had switched from booze to Adam's ale was said to be "on the water wagon," soon distilled to "on the wagon."

I've always assumed "go to pot" originally referred either to falling into the deleterious habit of smoking marijuana or to the demise of a dying house plant that wilts and shrivels into its ceramic pot.

(As an apartment-dweller in my bachelor days, I had a little bit of experience with the first possible origin and much more experience with the second.)

In fact, the origin of "go to pot" has more to do with stews than stems. During medieval times, rotting or inferior chunks of meat were tossed into the soup pot. Soon, anything that was deteriorating or disintegrating was said to be "going to pot."

Similarly, I've always assumed that a tired saying or maxim was called "an old saw" because the monotony of its repetition mimics a hand saw rasping back and forth across a log.

I came, I sawed, I blundered. In fact, "saw" is an old word for a tale or adage; it's derived from the Old English "segu" (discourse), the same root that gives us "say" and "saga."

One phrase with a truly organic explanation is "pull out all the stops." On a large pipe organ, a "stop" is a knob that admits air to a set of similarly toned organ pipes. When a stop is pulled all the way out, it allows the pipes to produce their tone at full volume.

Thus, an organist who wants to let loose every set of pipes on the instrument -- to make the rafters resonate -- "pulls out all the stops," a phrase that has come to mean "to make every possible effort" or "to use every means available to achieve an end."

So, for this expression, we can gratefully thank an organ donor.

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Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Connecticut, invites your language sightings. His book, "Mark My Words," is available for $9.99 on Amazon.com. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via email to WordGuy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 737 3rd Street, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254.

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