Everyday phrases with surprisingly dark origins
Running amok: Captain James Cook wrote about it in 1772: “To run amok is to … sally forth from the house.
Running amok: You know, when things get a little wild, crazy, or out of control.
Meet a deadline: Probably one of the most popular phrases you'll hear throughout your entire life.
Meet a deadline: A deadline was an actual line drawn on Civil War prisons.
Diehard: The term "diehard" dates back to the 1700s. But it wasn't quite used to describe a huge fan of something.
Diehard: A few years later, the term became popular after its use in 1811’s Battle of Albuera.
Wash one’s hands: To "wash one's hands" is to discard any kind of responsibility in a given situation.
Wash one’s hands: This is literally what Pontius Pilate did, when he condemned Jesus Christ to die on the cross.
Bite the bullet: The phrase essentially means doing something/making a difficult decision that we've been hesitant to make.
Bite the bullet: It can be traced back to soldiers in the battlefield who would have to go under emergency procedures without anesthesia.