Let’s explore the origin of some common sayings. After writing three columns about sayings like, “Until the cows come home” and “Straight from the horse’s mouth,” many of you suggested a few others. I have learned that without these sayings and clichés, I wouldn’t have much to say, because I use them frequently.

For instance, “I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Back in the late 1800s, many apartment houses were built on the cheap, with paper-thin walls and floors. Late at night, an apartment dweller would hear their upstairs neighbor getting ready for bed. First they would hear the sound of a shoe hitting the floor. They would anxiously await the next shoe to drop, in hopes that the person above would then retire for the evening so they could get a quiet night's sleep.

These days, we say this phrase when we are anticipating an inevitable event to occur, and it's rarely anything good.

We have all heard someone express their displeasure by saying, “That's just not my cup of tea.” This has been in common use in the USA since the 1920s, when many Americans in Britain found that nation's favorite beverage to be, let's say, distasteful.

By the 1940s, it became a somewhat polite way to express your displeasure. You didn't say, “I can't stand that crooked Mayor Cuppenheimer.” Instead, “He's just not my cup of tea.” It was rude to say, “Heavens no, I would never be seen in public with that disgusting Roscoe!” You would soften the blow. “Let's just say, he's not my cup of tea.” Manners, you know.

When I was a kid, the baseball legend Dizzy Dean would occasionally appear as a commentator during Atlanta Braves games. His homespun dialect would often make grammar teachers wince, especially when they would hear us copy him: “He done slud into third base!” I never used that one, but I liked the way he described Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale, and his ability to escape a bases-loaded jam without breaking a sweat: “He's as cool as a cucumber.” Ol' Diz introduced me to that phrase, which was first used by a British poet in 1732.

Of course, an actual cucumber is cool and refreshing, and is often served chilled. I can’t even imagine a hot cucumber. So, being “cool as a cucumber” really just means you’re as refreshing as the crisp, green vegetable. Or maybe it's a fruit. I have no idea.

I recently heard a member of Congress say that some promises made by a fellow politician “don't amount to a hill of beans.” Personally, I like beans, so I wondered how an entire hill of them could inspire such scorn. Historians trace this one back hundreds of years, to the 13th century. The American usage is likely connected to the old English phrase "not worth a bean," which would make a hill of them equally insignificant. It really took off when Humphrey Bogart used it in the 1942 film “Casablanca.” He told Ingrid Bergman, “The problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world.”

Bogart made it sound classy, because he was wearing a trench coat and a fedora on a misty runway. Here's looking at you, kid.

I couldn't find any evidence of Bogart using our next phrase, “up the wazoo.” Or its companion, “out the wazoo.” There is nothing classy about the wazoo. What exactly, is a wazoo? It's a funnier way of saying “rear end.” This is a relatively new saying, a product of the 1960s. I remember some auto dealership commercials from that era. A classy car dealer would say, “We have a huge selection of vehicles from which to choose.” But the car dealer with the loud suit and cowboy hat would say, “Lookie here, y'all! We've got cars and trucks out the wazoo!” Now, I'm buying from THAT guy! He speaks my language.

But why “wazoo?” Well, it's pronounced just like the French bird “oiseau,” so that may have been the origin. We may never know, but one thing's for sure. The word oiseau has vowels out the wazoo.

David Carroll is a Chattanooga news anchor, and his latest book is "I Won't Be Your Escape Goat," available from his website, ChattanoogaRadioTV.com. You may contact him at 900 Whitehall Rd, Chattanooga, TN 37405, or at RadioTV2020@yahoo.com.