Let’s explore the origin of some common sayings. After writing two columns about sayings like, “Until the cows come home” and “Straight from the horse’s mouth,” many readers 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.

Some of them contradict themselves. If you ask me if I will ever run a marathon, I might reply, “Fat chance!” Or I could say, “There’s a very slim chance of that ever happening.” So which is, fat or slim? Somehow, in this context, they both mean the same thing.

A slim chance means exactly what it says. Tonight’s game is likely to begin at 8 o’clock, but there’s a slim chance of rain. But if it starts pouring at 7:45, and you ask me if the game will start on time, I might sarcastically answer, “Fat chance!”

If you have ever been called a “smart cookie,” or you have been described as being “smart as a whip,” you know it’s a good thing. But what is so smart about cookies and whips?

During much of 20th century America, women were often referred to as chicks, skirts, dames, dishes, and other words, some less flattering than others. During the British music invasion of the 1960s, we heard the Beatles and other Brits call their female fans “birds.” For a while in the 1920s, the term “cookie” was sometimes used to describe a girl. “She’s quite a cookie!” was not uncommon in early films. Evidently, that caught on, and by the 1950s we had lots of smart cookies.

“Smart as a whip” goes back to the 19th century, as well as the description of an intelligent person as being “whip-smart.” Most sources say this saying originated from the era of the horse-driven vehicle period, and a whip’s sharp crack, which implied quickness and sharpness. I should note here that I’ve been described in many ways, but never “smart as a whip.”

A fellow baseball fan asked me about the origin of a common farewell term: “So long.” My late father-in-law, a Pennsylvania native who was born in 1926, would depart our house using those two words. And to this day, many a sports announcer will end a broadcast with a cheerful, “So long, everybody!” Where did that come from? No one seems to know for sure. Some point its origins to the German phrase “adieu so lange,” loosely translated to “farewell until we meet again.” Others think it came from the Hebrew greeting (and goodbye) “Shalom.” Credit is also given to the American poet Walt Whitman, who used “so long” in his 1860 poem of the same name. Whoever coined it first would be proud that is has endured into the 2020s, at least when sportscasters are signing off.

When I was a kid, my Dad would tell me to “straighten up and fly right,” and I had no idea that was the title of a popular song. He was in the Coast Guard during World War II, and perhaps he heard the song performed by the Cole Trio, and written by Nat King Cole. It had become a call to arms for the men popularly known as the Tuskegee Airmen. As they went into battle, one airman would say “Straighten up,” and another would add “and fly right.” And so they did.

Another reader quizzed me about the term “happy as a clam.” That’s a real puzzler. As the reader pointed out, “Who knew clams had emotions? Certainly not me!” My first reaction would be that open clams do indeed look like they are smiling.

But the phrase was once a bit longer – ‘as happy as a clam at high water.’ During high tide, clams are submerged and safe from being dug up by humans, so they are surely happy to be undisturbed. This goes back almost 200 years. The first literary reference was in 1833, and it was said to be a favorite expression of General Robert E. Lee.

I enjoy researching these sayings, and it has definitely influenced my writing. As you may have noticed, I avoid using clichés like the plague.

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.