Everyday expressions

Where does the phrase “close, but no cigar” come from? 8 idioms' origins

Image: Pisit Heng

Idioms are a rare breed, aren’t they? They confuse non-native speakers to no end, as they can’t simply be deduced from the meaning of individual words. After all, who in their right mind would accuse someone of stealing their intangible thunder? Or complain about having to burn lamp oil at midnight?

English speakers use these idioms all the time but rarely stop to figure out where they come from. If you were ever curious about how spilling beans might connect to confessing a secret, then this article is exactly what you need.

Image: Michał Mancewicz

The very literal origin of this idiom comes from the play "Appius and Virginia," written by English dramatist John Dennis in the early 1700s. For the production of his play, Dennis created a new method to imitate the sound of thunder. Sadly, "Appius and Virginia" had disappointing attendance and was canceled shortly after. However, Dennis soon after discovered that a production of Macbeth was using his thunder device, to critical acclaim. According to literary scholar Joseph Spence, Dennis angrily exclaimed, "Damn them! They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder."

Image: Yohan Cho

This idiom has a surprising lighthearted aspect to it. While its meaning entails soul-crushing defeat, one can’t help but also imagine a Groucho Marx-looking character chewing on a big cigar. And this lightheartedness might not be completely accidental: After all, this idiom comes from the cheerful world of carnival games.

In the late 19th century, carnival games were targeted for adults, not children. Therefore, instead of handing out oversized stuffed animals of undefined species, winners might receive objects like cigars as prizes. The idiom "close but no cigar" was born from those players that almost won, but didn’t earn a prize.

Image: Tyler Hilton

The most widely accepted use of this idiom comes from America’s very own national pastime: baseball. In 1916, the New York Giants (now known as the San Francisco Giants) had an incredible winning streak of 26 consecutive games. The Giants believed that, if they were in the lead during the last inning of a game, moving a bag filled with extra baseballs off the field would secure their victory. They had "captured" the game in the bag. This team’s superstition has now evolved into an everyday idiom that means secured and complete success.

Image: Milada Vigerova

Picture this: You are at work, hanging by the water cooler, and you are trying to get your favorite coworker to reveal a piece of office gossip that promises to be huge. We have all been there, but did you know that by asking your coworker to "spill the beans", you might be referencing one of the very first instances of democracy?

The origins of this idiom are still debated, but the consensus is that it most likely comes from a voting system from Ancient Greece. This process involved placing colored beans in a vase (white for yes, black for no). Tallying up the votes would then literally require someone to spill the vase and count each bean that was cast.

Image: Ritabrata Das

Almost every student can attest to spending many sleepless nights burning the midnight oil in front of a seemingly endless pile of textbooks. While the origin of this idiom comes from oil lamps used in the 17th century, students all across the world still refer to this expression when talking about working late into the night.

The first known use of "burning the midnight oil" comes from a book written by English poet Francis Quarles in 1635. More recently, in 1972, country music legends Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner recorded a collaborative studio album titled The Right Combination • Burning the Midnight Oil.

Image: Leimenide

While turning a blind eye might make us think about that lenient schoolteacher who occasionally gave us a pass on our missing homework, the most commonly accepted origin of this idiom comes from the nautical world. Specifically, from the iconic 18th century British Admiral Horatio Nelson.

In 1801, Nelson led the British attack alongside fellow Admiral Sir Hyde Parker in the Battle of Copenhagen. Nelson, who was blind in one eye, received a flag message from Parker that urged him to retreat. However, Nelson believed that the British fleet should continue to push forward, so he held his telescope to his blind eye and pretended he hadn’t seen Parker’s message.

Image: Raimond Klavins

Weirdly enough, another unexpected nautical term has found its way into this list! While nowadays feeling "under the weather" means feeling ill, the origin of this idiom dates back to slang used by sailors as far back as the 19th century.

The term "under the weather bow" was used to refer to the side of the ship that was exposed the most during storms. Sailors would seek shelter in their cabins to avoid getting seasick, literally going under the ship’s deck to escape the weather. The first literary use of this term was by American author Donald Grant Mitchell in his 1855 book Fudge Doings. In the book, a character describes a nasty experience in a steamer as feeling "a little under the weather."

Image: Carlos Felipe Ramírez Mesa

Throughout the years, countless parents have repeated the same question to their misbehaving children at the dinner table: "Were you raised by wolves?" And, while the current intention of these parents is to highlight bad manners and improper etiquette, it might hurt their case to learn that several outstanding characters from myths and literature were, in fact, raised by wolves.

Perhaps the first and most famous story of children raised by wolves is that of the founders of Ancient Rome, Romulus, and Remus. In the myth, the brothers are abandoned on the bank of a river, where they are found and nurtured by a she-wolf, before being eventually adopted by a shepherd. Furthermore, the protagonist of Rudyard Kipling’s 1894 novel The Jungle Book is a boy named Mowgli who is raised in the jungle by wolves.

Secret uses

There’s a hidden microphone in your phone, and here’s where it is

You’ve probably twisted a bread bag closed, filled up your car, or pulled a sheet of aluminum foil from the box thousands of times without giving it a second thought. But many of the everyday objects we’ve used for decades have clever features that most people never notice. From the tiny pocket on blue jeans to the little arrow next to your gas gauge, these hidden designs have practical stories behind them, and once you know them, you’ll never look at these familiar items the same way again.

If you own an iPhone, you’ve probably noticed the tiny black dot next to the rear camera. It’s small, so people tend to assume it’s another camera sensor or even part of the phone’s design. The small hole found near the camera bump on every iPhone is actually a rear microphone.

It captures clearer audio when you’re recording videos and helps reduce background noise during FaceTime and regular phone calls. If you own an iPhone Pro model from the iPhone 12 Pro onward, you'll also see a larger dark circle. That’s the LiDAR scanner, which sends out invisible infrared light to create a 3D map of your surroundings. It helps the camera focus faster in low light, powers Apple’s Measure app, and makes augmented reality features much more accurate.

Whether it's a holiday dinner, an anniversary, or simply a nice meal with friends, you’ve probably held a wine bottle and noticed the deep indentation in the bottom. Many people tend to think the deeper the indent, the fancier the bottle.

That indentation is called a punt, and it’s been a part of the bottle-making for centuries. Originally, it helped strengthen hand-blown glass bottles, making them less likely to crack under pressure. Today, it still adds structural stability, particularly for sparkling wines, while also giving servers a comfortable place to rest their thumb when pouring, though some say it helps collect the sediment as wines age. In any case, a deeper pun doesn’t automatically mean a better or more expensive bottle.

Almost every driver has experienced that awkward moment at the gas station. You pull up to the pump, step out of the car, and suddenly realize the fuel door is on the opposite side.

To help prevent exactly that situation, many modern vehicles include a small arrow next to the gas pump symbol on the dashboard’s fuel gauge. The arrow points towards the side of the vehicle where the fuel filler door is located. It’s a small detail on the dashboard, yet once you notice it, you’ll never have to circle the pump again.

All elevators look pretty much the same. Bigger or smaller, they all look similar, a gray box with a mirror and buttons. But if you pay close attention, you may notice there’s a small round opening near the top of the door.

That opening is a keyhole used by trained maintenance technicians and emergency responders. With a special elevator key, they can manually unlock the landing doors when repairs are needed or if passengers become trapped inside. The system allows professionals to reach the elevator safely without damaging the doors or relying solely on electrical controls. Hopefully, most of us will never need to see it in action. But in an emergency, that tiny opening becomes one of the most important parts of the system.

If you’ve ever stood in the bread aisle comparing loaves, you’ve probably noticed the colorful plastic clips or twist ties holding the bags shut. Contrary to what many think, they’re not simply a part of the packaging.

For many bakeries and grocery stores, the colors indicate the day a loaf was delivered or baked. While the exact color schedule can vary between bakeries and regions, employees use the system to quickly spot older inventory and rotate fresher bread to the back of the shelf. That way, customers are more likely to pick up the freshest loaf available.

Whether you wear jeans every day or only pull them out for yard work, you’ve probably noticed the tiny extra pocket tucked inside one of the front pockets. It’s too small for a phone and not very useful for loose change, but there’s a reason for it.

Back in the 1800s, when Levi Strauss & Co. created rugged denim pants for miners, ranchers, and cowboys working across the American West, pocket watches were commonplace. Workers needed a safe place to carry their watches while riding horses, so that little pocket was designed specifically to protect the watch from damage. Pocket watches disappeared, but the tiny pocket became such an iconic part of blue jeans that manufacturers have continued including it for well over a century.

Almost everyone has had the same frustrating experience. You pull on a sheet of aluminum foil, and suddenly the entire roll slides out of the box and lands on the kitchen counter.

That’s exactly why major manufacturers such as Reynolds introduced the small side tabs, known as end locks, in the mid-1990s. By pressing the tabs inward, they hold the cardboard roll in place like built-in axles. This keeps the roll from sliding out of the box, makes it much more stable as you pull, and helps the serrated edge cut a cleaner, straighter sheet. It also reduces waste by preventing the foil from bunching up or tearing unevenly. It’s a simple design, yet useful as it can get.

Every household has pens lying around for all kinds of purposes. And most of them have a common feature, a hole in the cap, which isn’t simply part of the design.

BIC and other pen manufacturers included the opening as a safety feature. If someone, especially a child, accidentally swallows a pen cap, the hole can allow a small amount of air to pass through, reducing the risk of complete airway blockage while emergency help is on the way. The design became part of border efforts to improve consumer product safety after choking incidents drew attention to the danger of small plastic objects.

If you grew up sewing or watching somebody do it, you probably remember the classic tomato-shaped pincushion sitting beside the sewing basket. Hanging from it was a tiny red strawberry that looked like nothing more than a cute finishing touch.

In reality, that little strawberry has its own job. Instead of soft stuffing, it’s filled with emery, a gritty material made from crushed abrasive minerals. Running pins and needles through it helps polish away tiny spots of rust, smooth rough edges, and keep the points sharp enough to glide through fabric more easily.

Think back to the first time you learned to type. Maybe it was at work, or on a family computer. Wherever it was, someone probably told you to keep your fingers on the "home row." That’s exactly why the F and J keys have tiny raised ridges.

The bumps let your index fingers find the correct starting position by touch alone, allowing you to type without constantly looking down at the keyboard. The technique, known as "touch typing," is widely credited to American court stenographer Frank Edward McGurrin, who demonstrated it in 1888. As typewriters became more common, manufacturers experimented with different ways to help typists orient their hands, and by the mid-20th century, companies such as IBM standardized the subtly raised plastic bars that remain on nearly every keyboard today.