A MEAL FOR YOUR BRAIN

Only A Smart Cookie Will Know These 10 Food-Inspired Idioms

Image: Frank Holleman

A cookbook isn't the only type of book that can make you hungry: We guarantee that at least one of the ten idioms on this list will make your stomach rumble. While you might expect these idioms to mostly involve eating, they prove that food is an incredibly versatile linguistic resource.

These are ten of the most interesting and down-right baffling food-related idioms we could find. Looking for something fun to say at the dinner table? Keep on reading and enjoy!

Image: Michelle @Shelly Captures It

We’ll start with one of the most baffling ones. In case you are not familiar with this idiom, to "bring home the bacon" means to be the top earner in a society or organization, whether in your job or family. Why this particular cut of pork symbolizes earning a decent living remains a mystery.

The origins of this idiom are not completely clear. Many state that it comes from an English tradition that dates back to at least the 12th century, on which a local couple was awarded a flinch of bacon for their devotion. However, most historians agree its modern use comes from a 1906 boxing match between Joe Gans and ‘Battling’ Oliver Nelson: Before the match, Gans' mother sent him a telegram urging him to win the fight and "bring home the bacon".

Image: Fa Barboza

This one is rather self-explanatory. One of the defining features of a good pancake (which applies to pretty much all pancakes, given how delicious they are) is its flatness. After all, one of the most enjoyable things to do with a plate of pancakes is to stack them on top of each other before eating a massive multi-layered piece.

In that sense, since this idiom’s meaning is abundantly clear, it is particularly hard to trace back its origins. Most linguists agree it arose simply from common usage, owing to the widespread popularity of pancakes as a breakfast choice.

Image: Lars Blankers

The first derogatory idiom in this list, this phrase is typically uttered by disgruntled mothers complaining about their teenager’s lack of physical activity. If you happened to enjoy lazing on a Sunday afternoon indoors watching your favorite movie, then you were at risk of being called a "couch potato" by discontented parents.

This idiom is closely associated with excessive television watching. One possible origin can be traced to a 1979 article published in the LA Times, which talked about "Couch Potatoes who will be lying on couches watching television". Another theory states that the first appearance of this idiom was in a '70s comic book about two anthropomorphized potatoes lazying on a couch.

Image: Waldemar

You might think being called "cheesy" would be as derogatory as being labeled a "couch potato", but let’s face it: There’s something charming about a particularly corny, cheesy one-liner. The term 'cheesy' describes anything that is overly sappy or romantic, to the point of being either extremely off-putting or weirdly endearing.

The origins of this idiom are obscure. While we don’t have a definitive answer, some believe that it comes from the 20th century, in which cheap or tacky things were considered appalling and shocking, in the same way that some types of cheese have unpleasant odors.

Image: Wouter Supardi Salari

This idiom sounds slightly goofy, doesn’t it? Especially when you consider its meaning, which refers to something particularly difficult to understand or solve. For example, let’s say that Sherlock Holmes leaned over a trail of notes and, after taking a long drag from his pipe, said "This is a hard nut to crack." Don’t you feel this would make the image of the world’s most famous detective a little sillier?

But the truth is, this idiom makes perfect sense: Some nuts are particularly hard to crack open. In that sense, the origins of this idiom seem only logical and are rather hard to trace. However, some believe that the first recorded use of this phrase comes from none other than Benjamin Franklin: Apparently, this Founding Father used it in a letter written in 1755.

Image: Vyshnavi Bisani

Have you ever had some chocolate chip cookies and thought "These are the brainiest and wittiest snacks I ever had"? Of course, you haven’t- no one has. While delicious, cookies are not particularly known for being smart (And for that matter, no food is known for its intelligence), so the origins of the idiom "one smart cookie" are not as clear-cut as we would like.

However, while we can’t give you a definitive answer, most linguists agree that this idiom comes from America during "the Roaring Twenties". According to this theory, the term "cookie" was used to describe someone particularly delightful and sweet, as you would expect from this sugary snack. Therefore, a smart cookie is someone who is not only appealing and lovely, but who also shines through its intelligence.

Image: Luke Pennystan

Is it really surprising that pancakes made it to this list twice? They are the quintessential breakfast comfort food and have evolved into an American cultural icon. Bearing that in mind, this next idiom perfectly capitalizes on pancakes' popularity: Whenever something is extremely successful and profitable, you can say it is "selling like hot cakes".

Apparently, this idiom comes from church bake sales: Known as "hot cakes" or "Johnny cakes", these pancakes sold extremely fast since they were much better eaten hot. This phrase can be traced back to at least the 1830s when it was used in an article published in The Buffalo Bulletin.

Image: Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦

This one seems to come straight from the world of "Snow White". This fairy tale princess is not the only one who should be wary of apples, at least according to this idiom. You might be surprised to learn that the phrase "one bad apple" is actually an abridged version of another idiom, which states "One bad apple spoils the whole barrel".

This is rather interesting because, in modern times, this idiom is used to signify that the actions of a single individual don’t reflect the actions of the rest: A single "bad apple" is not a faithful representative. However, what’s curious is that this idiom’s original intent seems to suggest the exact opposite, and it rather describes how someone’s bad behavior can influence everyone in a group.

Image: Henry & Co.

This idiom is a rather roundabout way to suggest that someone is pregnant. The imagery is quite clear: In this picture, the "bun" represents the baby growing metaphorically in the "oven" that is a woman’s womb. Should you want to tell someone about a pregnancy while avoiding the ears of a noisy child listening, this phrase is perfect for you.

Curiously, the very first recorded use of this idiom comes from literature. In his 1951 novel The Cruel Sea, British author Nicholas Monserrat uses this phrase to describe the pregnancy of a sailor’s wife.

Image: Nathan Dumlao

We’ll end with what we believe to be the most interesting origin story in this list. The idiom "to butter someone up" means to flatter and treat someone nicely, often with an ulterior motive. At first glance this phrase is utterly flabbergasting: How could covering someone with this greasy milk product award you anything but their contempt? However, many historians suggest it might actually originate from an ancient Indian custom.

According to this theory, many believers throw balls of ghee (a type of clarified butter used in Indian cooking) at the statues of Hindu gods to gain their favor. While this origin has not been completely confirmed, it appears this literal act may have inspired the popular idiom.

CITY OF MANY NAMES

Why Is She The "Windy City"? 11 Stories Of Chicago Nicknames

Image: Sawyer Bengtson

Chicago is not even that windy. Anyone who’s also been to Amarillo, Texas, or Boston, Massachusetts can tell you that. So, why and when did we start referring to Chicago as "the Windy City"? Or "Second City"? Or Chiberia, Chitown, or the City of Big Shoulders? Chicago is the third largest city in the U.S. and has a long-standing history as a beacon of culture, architecture, industry, and technology. Let’s explore the origin of the many names that journalists, artists, and residents have come up with throughout the decades.

Image: Rezal Scharfe

Did you know that Chicago wasn’t the first "Windy City"? No, the first city to be given that title was Green Bay, Wisconsin. It was called that as early as 1856. However, twenty years later, a great rivalry between Cincinnati and Chicago was unfolding. In an effort to mock the town that was its sports and meatpacking rival, Cincinnati’s press started to repeatedly refer to their neighbor town as "that windy city".

The nickname stuck, even though Chicago isn’t even among the 10 windiest cities in the U.S. The top spot is said to belong to Amarillo, Texas, which has an annual average wind speed of 12.9 miles per hour.

Image: Gautam Krishnan

There is a misconception that Chicago gave itself this nickname after successfully rebuilding and recovering from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Historians insist that this is not where the name originated and that there are no documents to back that story.

"Second City," just like "Windy City," was born out of mockery. Towards the end of the 19th century, after having annexed neighboring suburbs, Chicago had, in fact, become the second-largest city in the U.S. by population. The title fluctuated over time to refer to Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and then back to Chicago. But in 1952, a publication by New Yorker writer A.J. Liebling settled it forever. He had lived in Chicago for a few months, which was long enough for him to decide he hated it. Lebling wrote a humorous recollection called Chicago: The Second City, poking fun at it, and the text became so popular that the moniker stuck.

Image: Sawyer Bengtson

The first recorded use of this term appears in the1890s. Back then, a trend was to call important cities by their first letter or letters and add "town". Thus words like O-Town (for Orlando), H-Town (for Houston), and Chi-Town (for Chicago) were formed.

Chicago’s shortened version can also be found as "Chi-Town" or "Chi-town". Even though some official organizations have adopted the tag and run with it (for events like the Chi-Town Rumble or the Chi-Town Rising), some citizens of Chicago dislike it and cringe at its use.

Image: Josh Howard

In 1914, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Carl Sandburg published his poem "Chicago." This one was the first in a long series titled Chicago Poems, which celebrates and praises the industrial and cultural endeavors of Sandburg’s chosen home.

"City of Big Shoulders" appears in the fifth line of the free verse poem, right after describing the city as "Stormy, husky, brawling." That is only one of the names Sandburg uses throughout the text. Another of the nicknames that stuck through time is the one that opens the poem: "Hog Butcher for the World," referring to the city’s iconic meatpacking industry.

Image: Nimisha Mekala

You might have guessed that "Chiberia" is a portmanteau of "Chicago" and "Siberia", and you might have guessed why. Chicago is not the coldest city in the country. However, in 2014, it came close to breaking its cold temperature record which had been in place since 1983, when it had reached −57°F (−49°C).

During that historically low cold wave of 2014, Richard Castro, a National Weather Service meteorologist, coined the term online. On his way to work one February day, Castro came up with that term and tweeted it. The tweet went viral, and other news media picked it up. Soon, "Chiberia" flooded gift shops appearing in sweatshirts and mugs. The nickname has been used since then as a reminder of Chicago’s harsh weather.

Image: Nancy Bourque

This name is a direct translation of the motto adopted by the government of Chicago in the 1830s: Urbs in Horto. In Latin, this means "City in a Garden," and it is written on the city’s seal. In the 19th century, however, the motto did not refer to the present or future, but to the past. It was a nod towards the prairies and beaches that existed in the Chicago area before the expansion of the city.

Nowadays, the green spaces in Chicago have expanded to cover 8,000 acres. That is 8.3% of the city’s size. The largest ones are Lincoln Park and Burnham Park.

Image: Trace Hudson

This name is the reference that appears in the state anthem of Illinois: "...Till upon the inland sea, stands thy great commercial tree." The words were written by Civil War veteran Charles H. Chamberlin in 1890. That year, a campaign was in place to host the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, and composing the Illinois State Song was one of their strategies. The campaign was successful and the event is now remembered as the Chicago World’s Fair.

The song features plenty of references to nature, including the prairies, rivers, and wilderness found in the state. Within it, Chicago stands out in the second verse, referenced in the lines "Till upon the inland sea, stands thy great commercial tree, turning all the world to thee, Illinois, Illinois."

Image: Phil

This tagline is beloved by tourism agencies promoting the city. Its origin is in a tune sung by Frank Sinatra in the 1964 movie Robin and the 7 Hoods. In the film, Sinatra’s character, Robin, is greeted by a cheering crowd when he comes out of jail. In celebration and gratitude, he sings, "This is my kind of town, Chicago is."

Interestingly, some years earlier, Sinatra had popularized another song referencing the city: "Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town)." The name references Toddle, a dance style that had been famous in the city in the 1920s when the song was first published. Since the release of Sinatra’s version of that song, "That Toddling Town" has become another nickname for Chicago.

Image: Muzammil Soorma

We know that Chicago is not on the East Coast or the West Coast. It is instead on what is sometimes colloquially called the Third Coast of the U.S., referring to the area of the Great Lakes. Even though Michigan is the state with the longest shoreline of the 48 lower states, Chicago has earned this nickname for being the largest city in the Great Lakes region.

What helped further solidify the nickname for Chicago was the book The Third Coast: When Chicago Built the American Dream, published by author Thomas Dyja in 2013.

Image: Matt & Chris Pua

This nickname was born from the aforementioned 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition (Chicago World’s Fair). The same fair also gave rise to the label "The City Beautiful." That was the name given to an architectural and urban planning movement that sought to beautify the main cities of the countries.

The fair was an opportunity to display some of the principles proposed by this movement. For this purpose, an exposition was directed by architect Daniel Burnham. His team built a modern city showcasing classical uniform buildings, all painted in white, in a style that would become known as monumentalism. This model city was called the "White City." Both this and "The City Beautiful" have become enduring references to Chicago.

Image: Gautam Krishnan

This last nickname comes from the notion shared by some writers that Chicago is the last Great American City. Yes, even greater than New York, they claim. Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Norman Mailer made that grand statement in his book Miami and the Siege of Chicago (1968).

Something similar was declared by Robert J. Sampson’s 2012 study Great American City: Chicago and the Enduring Neighborhood Effect. In this study, he proposed that Chicago was "arguably the most quintessential American city." Chicagoans, of course, were proud of these labels, and some have used the term to crown the city ever since.