Which one do you use?

Calling someone a “basket case” is far darker than you think. Slang 101

Image: Nick Fewings

A lot of slang terms and everyday words have surprisingly rich backstories tied to real historical events and practices. From dire situations to the flicker of oil lamps, these expressions once described literal experiences before turning into figures of speech. You probably use quite a few of these, but did you know what they really mean?

Image: Oleksandr Voloshchenko

"Run-of-the-mill" these days means something ordinary or unremarkable, like in the sentence: The film on television last night was very run-of-the-mill.

Originally, the phrase referred to ungraded lumber coming straight from a sawmill—nothing selected or special, just the standard output.

Image: GR Stocks

To have a chip on one’s shoulder means acting defensively or aggressively, as if expecting to be mistreated, like in: He’s hard to deal with; he’s always had a chip on his shoulder about his lack of education.

The phrase comes from the old practice of a man placing a wood chip on his shoulder, daring others to knock it off and start a fight.

Image: Mallory Johndrow

The idiom a witch-hunt refers to the unfair pursuit or persecution of people with unpopular views, often without proper evidence.

It comes from real witch-hunts in history, especially in the U.S., where many were accused of witchcraft during periods of mass hysteria.

Image: David Popkov

The idiom have an axe to grind means having a personal or selfish reason for getting involved in something, as in: I have no axe to grind, I just want to help.

It likely comes from a story Benjamin Franklin told about a man who tricked someone into sharpening his axe under the pretense of curiosity.

Image: Robert Gramner

The idiom bark up the wrong tree means to make a wrong assumption or take the wrong approach, like in: You're barking up the wrong tree if you think you can influence the judge.

It comes from raccoon hunting, where dogs sometimes mistakenly barked at the wrong tree, thinking the raccoon was there.

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The idiom on the breadline means living with barely enough money, as in: The widow and her children were living on the breadline.

It dates back to the Great Depression, when the poorest queued for free food at soup kitchens run by groups like the Red Cross and Salvation Army.

Image: Bernard Tuck

The idiom burn the midnight oil means to work late into the night, often while studying or finishing tasks.

It comes from the time before electricity, when people used oil lamps for light. Though the lamps are long gone, the phrase is still used.

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The phrase make the grade means to meet a required standard or succeed, though many assume it comes from school.

But it originates from railroads, where powerful trains had to climb steep gradients—if they reached the top, they "made the grade."

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The idiom show your true colors means to reveal your real character or intentions, often after hiding them.

It comes from pirate ships that sailed under false flags to trick their targets, only raising their true flags when ready to attack.

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The idiom the time is ripe means the moment is ideal for action or change, drawing from the image of perfectly ripe fruit: sweet and ready, but quick to spoil if missed.

Martin Luther King Jr. used this phrase in his 1968 speech Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution to stress the urgency of social action.

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The term basket case began during World War I, referring to soldiers who lost all four limbs and had to be carried in baskets.

Over time, it came to describe someone seen as helpless, overwhelmed, or mentally unstable, often due to extreme stress or anxiety.

You can’t make these up

What if your surname became a verb? People who entered the dictionary

Image: Carla Santiago

When words appear disconnected from the object they refer to, it’s usually a case of namesakes: The term may refer to their inventor, as in the case of the "Ferris wheel" and "diesel;" to early discoverers, like the case of "nicotine;" or to victims of communal bullying, like "boycott" or "silhouette." Let’s dive into the stories of surnames that made it through the centuries and into our dictionaries.

Image: Erik Mclean

That little symbol on your phone? It's actually a wink at a 10th-century Viking king. Harald "Bluetooth" Gormsson earned his nickname possibly from a dead tooth that appeared darkened. He was best remembered for uniting parts of Norway and Denmark into one country.

When Swedish comms company Ericsson developed its new wireless technology, they named it Bluetooth after him. The logo we know so well combines the Nordic runes for H and B.

Image: mohsen ameri

What is a silhouette but a vague, lean outline of something richer? The reason why Étienne de Silhouette’s name became entwined with the art form is in the history of France.

He was the country’s finance minister during part of its turbulent 18th century. His policies to promote austerity were so heavily mocked that his name became forever linked to anything that was reductive, cheap, and lacking personality.

Image: Max van den Oetelaar

Isn’t "Ferris Wheel" a rather whimsical name for the ride? That’s because it carries the name of its inventor. Named after George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., the American engineer who designed the first Ferris wheel for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

Organizers demanded something to rival the Eiffel Tower, and Ferris answered with a 264-foot steel observation wheel that carried 60 passengers per car.

Image: Life Of Pix

Charles Boycott was an English veteran and land agent living in Ireland. He chose the wrong community in which to enforce high rent prices and suggest evictions. When he did, the entire town united to give him the silent treatment: no shops, no mail; even workers walked out on him.

The isolation strategy was so effective that he fled the country, and his name became synonymous with the treatment he had received.

Image: Stephen Hocking

Jean Nicot never smoked a cigarette in his life. As France's ambassador to Portugal in 1560, he sent tobacco leaves to Catherine de' Medici as a headache remedy. The "medicinal herb" became wildly popular, and Linnaeus later named the plant Nicotiana tabacum in his honor.

Image: Fikri Rasyid

Franz Mesmer had 18th-century Europe spellbound with his "animal magnetism" treatments. He is considered the father of hypnosis! His patients would sit around magnetic tubs holding iron rods, convinced that it was a way to absorb invisible, healing energy.

His theory was eventually debunked, but the trance-like states he induced were real enough to give us the verb "mesmerize."

Image: Chevanon Photography

Louis Pasteur revolutionized food safety. In the 1860s, when the French chemist discovered that heating liquids destroyed microorganisms and enzymes, he forever transformed the process of extending the shelf life of food, like milk and wine.

Ironically, Pasteur initially focused on saving France's wine industry. Today, his process prevents millions of foodborne illnesses annually.

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Luigi Galvani was an Italian scientist who studied the effects of electricity on frog legs. His method became synonymous with stimulating or spurring something into action, much like a jolt of electricity does.

His experiments with animal electricity not only gave us "galvanize," but also inspired Mary Shelley's Frankenstein!

Image: Mikhail Nilov

You would never guess that this now popular chic garment is named after a British officer. But woolen, button-front military jackets were a symbol of the brigade led by James Brudenell, the 7th Earl of Cardigan.

During the Crimean War, he led the Charge of the Light Brigade. History has widely marked him as incompetent and accused him of splurging on costly uniforms. But at least his legacy in the world of comfortable fashion is undeniable.

Image: Pascal Meier

Rudolf Diesel's 1893 combustion engine was supposed to empower small businesses against industrial monopolies. Instead, it became the workhorse of global industry.

The German inventor mysteriously vanished at sea in 1913, but his name came to refer to the fuel used to power his engines, which originally ran on peanut oil.

Image: Donna G

Poor John Duns Scotus! Although his name became a symbol of dumbness, he wasn’t dumb at all. A Scottish philosopher, linguist, and theologian in the early 14th century, he taught a group of followers who were called Dunsmen or Duns.

They wore pointed hats because they thought they served to "funnel wisdom." Scotus was once one of the sharpest minds of the Middle Ages, but eventually the ideas fell out of fashion, and the hats became symbols of stupidity.