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HEAVENS to Betsy! In less than a week we’ll be greeting October. Tomorrow
morning – promise – we’ll investigate budibudi and with the help of a
small number of dedicated Quizzers, reveal some interesting facts and
legends.
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WE’RE prepared to wager a considerable sum that at least one reader will
be prompted by the above to muse over the origins of the phrase “heavens
to Betsy”. We urge anyone so moved to muse on, as the origins have
remained a complete mystery for decades. Erudite lexicographers long ago
listed the phrase as unsolvable.
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THE meaning is clear enough – the phrase is an expression of mild
surprise, as in “Heavens to Betsy! There’s far too much sugar in these
scones.” The first dictionary record appears to have been in the huge
Oxford English dictionary of 1914, but some wordsmiths have traced it to
1891.
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WOULDN’T it be the bee’s knees if one of our Quizzers solved this almost
century-old mystery! Those prepared to bite the bullet should e-mail us
the outcomes at DeeNesenolis@hotmail.com
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NOW don’t start! Of course “bee’s knees” falls into the same category.
But in that case, there’s an explanation. After World War I, a great
wave of social liberation flooded many countries. Feelings of new
beginnings and of freedom from the often rigid strictures of the
Victorian era spread around the globe. America, home of the “roaring
twenties,” led the way.
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ONE of the features of that era was the creation of catch phrases that
compared something of excellent quality with some part of an animal. Few
survive. Readers may be familiar with “the cat’s whiskers” as well as
“the bee’s knees” but what of “the elephant’s adenoids”, or “the gnat’s
elbows” or “the bullfrog’s beard?” All of them and dozens more were
smart-chat buzz-words 75 years ago.
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THEN we inflicted “bite the bullet” upon you – but that phrase has a
straightforward explanation. Before post-operation anaesthetics were
common, injured soldiers in field hospitals would clench a bullet
between their teeth to help lessen the pain. Today the meaning of the
phrase has broadened to include any unpleasant task. Cheers!
 
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