S

Son of a gun
Originated when sea travel was the only way to travel large distances. There was little privacy on the ships. When a woman gave birth on the journey, the forward deck behind the main cannon was a common place for the birth to take place. If you were born at sea you were often referred to as a "son of a gun".

Sabotage
First used in the early 1900's to describe French railway workers that were on strike and used to cut the sabot that held railroad tracks in place.

Sacred Cow
A sacred cow is something open to criticism and highly reguarded. The origin is Hindu..

Safe Sex
Safe sex means taking precautions when having sex and using a condom to help prevent passing of diseases such as HIV and AIDS. This term originated in the 1980's due to the rise of the HIV/AIDS virus.

Shake a leg
To rouse yourself and get out of bed. Originally used in the navy. An alternative to 'show a leg'. This was the injunction given by naval officers to ratings who they were rousing from sleep. Showing a leg out of the sailor's hammock was required to prove they were awake.

Sleep Tight
Sleep tight which means 'sleep well' is a term which comes from how beds were made. Beds used to be made of ropes and would often slack and become loose which made sleeping very unconfortable. So, in order to sleep well you had to make the ropes as tight as possible before falling asleep.

Southpaw
This term for a left handed person originated in the late 1800's. Baseball diamonds were arranged so that the batters face the east to avoid looking into the afternoon sun. This meant left handed pitchers were on the southern ("South") side. "Paw" refers to their pitching hand.

Skid Row
Dating back to the 1880's it comes from "skid road" which was a logging road paved with tree trunks, or skids. The loggers usually hung out in a rough neighborhood full of vagrants and bums.


Saved by the bell
This term which means saved at the last possible moment derives from when people were buried with a bell above ground and a string in their coffin. This was just in case someone happened to be buried alive, they could ring the bell to notify others. This term is also used alot during boxing matches in which one boxer is saved by the round bell.

Stumped
This comes from trees along highways that were cut down. Back when wagons were commonly used, trees along highways had to be cut down to no more than 15 inches. On rainy days the stumps of the cut of trees would damage the axels due to the softened soil. So, when wagons sunk in mud you can say that they were 'stumped'

Strike a deal
This idiom which dates back to when horse traders in Ireland would agree on deals by hand slaps means to agree on a transaction.

Scapegoat
A scapegoat is someone who gets the blame for a scandal/mistake; typically, the scapegoat is either completely innocent, or at least is only one of many guilty people. This originates from the Old Testament of the Bible, in which a goat was sent into the wilderness for the sins of its owner. Lev 16:10: "But the goat on which the lot for the scapegoat fell shall be presented alive before the LORD, to make atonement upon it, to send it into the wilderness as a scapegoat."

Straight From The Horse's Mouth
This also is a misquote of a Biblical passage. In the book of Numbers, God speaks to the prophet Balaam through a donkey; the phrase "straight from the donkey's mouth" has now become the phrase "straight from the horse's mouth". The phrase is used to indicate that something is definitely true, or heard firsthand; for example, "Yeah, it happened to Mark! I heard it straight from the horse's mouth!" Numbers 22:28 states: "And the LORD opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam..."

Spare The Rod, Spoil the Child
This was a common phrase in the previous century, and still exists today. It refers to the practice of spanking your children in discipline; the phrase "spare the rod, spoil the child" means that if you don't punish your children when they do wrong, you'll spoil them. This comes from a Biblical proverb (Prov 13:24): "He who withholds his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him diligently."

Shot in the dark
A shot in the dark is a desperate attempt at doing something. For example, if you shoot at an enemy or attacker that you cannot see.

Spitting Image
The word spit may have come from the word 'spirit'. The word spit may have also come from spitting of the mouth, as in one person is so much like that person he may have been spit from the person's mouth.

Sour Grapes
Meaning to act mean after a disappointment. This phrase is derived from the bible. Old Testament, Ezekiel xviii. 2 - 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge'.

Sitting Shotgun
Days of the old west if you rode a wagon somewhere you sat next to the person with the reigns w/ a shotgun in your handsto protect the wagon's cargo and the people on it because the driver had to hold onto the reigns to keep the horses moving if you were attacked.

Skin of your teeth
This saying means to barely escape from a harrowing situation. It comes from Job 19:20, where God inflicts all sorts of terrible things on one of those who love him. Poor Job had all his animals stolen, his children die, his house collapse and his body covered with sores. Job has this to say; "My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth."

Sitting in a Catbird Seat
A person is "sitting pretty" or in a "favored position." This saying was popularized, at least, in these here parts [Texas], by a short story entitled "Catbird Seat," which was written by the well-known American writer of humorous fiction--James Thurber. Thurber, of "Walter Mitty" fame, gives credit to Red Barber--the down--home Southern baseball sports announcer for introducing this rural idiom to the mainstream American public. According to Thurber, the phrase means: being in an advantageous position