REMA’s SUMMER OF IDIOMS! Vol. 1 Issue 4
Original Release: 8/12/2009

What was said? It’s all just smoke and mirrors.

Did someone really say that? Yes, then I asked “Smoke IN mirrors?” and my teammate said “No, Smoke AND Mirrors”

What does it mean?  It’s basically bullshit / an illusion.

Origin: Smoke and mirrors is a metaphor for a deceptive, fraudulent or insubstantial explanation or description. The source of the name is based on magicians’ illusions, where magicians make objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a confusing burst of smoke. The expression may have a connotation of virtuosity or cleverness in carrying out such a deception.

In the field of computer programming, it is used to describe a program or functionality that doesn’t yet exist, but appears as though it does (cf.  vaporware). This is often done to demonstrate what a resulting project will function/look like after the code is complete — at a trade show, for example.

More generally, “smoke and mirrors” may refer to any sort of presentation by which the audience is intended to be deceived, such as an attempt to fool a prospective client into thinking that one has capabilities necessary to deliver a product in question.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_and_mirrors

SIDE NOTE: Rema’s Summer of Idioms would like to give a welcome new subscribers Jeffrey and Laura. Good luck Laura on your 1/2 marathon this weekend!
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REMA’s SUMMER OF IDIOMS! Vol. 1 Issue 3

Original Release: 8/3/2009

What was said? That company makes money “hand over fist”.

Did someone really say that? Yes, then I put my hand over my fist to see if it would make sense… but try it… it doesn’t.

What does it mean? Quickly and continuously.

Origin: The allusion in this phrase is to the action of hauling on a rope. An earlier version of the phrase was ‘hand over hand’, which dates to the mid 18th century. This is found in a paper by Cooke in the Royal Society’s Philosophical Transactions for 1736: “A lusty young Man attempted to go down (hand over hand, as the Workmen call it) by means of a single Rope.”

The term is now used to suggest speed and profusion, especially in financial dealing, e.g. ‘making money, hand over fist’. In the 18th century ‘hand over hand’ and the later ‘hand over fist’ had a different meaning though and meant ‘making steady progress’. ‘Hand over fist’ is a little more descriptive of hauling on a rope than ‘hand over hand’, after all, when we grab on a rope to pull it we do make a fist and then reach forward with our other open hand.

This term makes an appearance in William Glascock’s The naval sketchbook, 1825: “The French … weathered our wake, coming up with us, ‘hand over fist’, in three divisions.” Many of the early citations refer to slow steady progress – exactly what could be expected if a ship were being pulled closer to another by means of a rope.  The ‘making money hand over fist’ figurative use is a clear allusion to grabbing handfuls of money and pocketing it. This is later, but not much later, in Seba Smith’s The life and writings of Major Jack Downing, 1833: “They… clawed the money off of his table, hand over fist.”

Source: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/hand-over-fist.html

SIDE NOTE: Rema’s Summer of Idioms would like to give a shout out to Rob for teaching me the difference between a “call out” and a “shoutout”.
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REMA’s SUMMER OF IDIOMS! (Special Edition)
Original Release: 8/1/2009

What makes this a special edition you may ask?  Well, the following expression is brought to you by a special guest!

Special Guest: Chloe

What was said? Table Stakes (in two of Chloe’s meetings last week)

Did someone really say that? Yes (unless you think Chloe is lying).

What does it mean? In business, table stakes also refers to the minimum entry requirement for a market or business arrangement. It can refer to pricing, cost models, technology, or other capability that represents a minimum requirement to have a credible competitive starting position in a market or other business arrangement. For example, if you want to be a Wireless service provider the table stakes are the basic features you need to have in order to be in that business to achieve foundation capability – Network, Handsets, a data service, a mail server etc. Beyond that real competitive advantage comes from additional nimbleness and cost or product differentiation.
SOURCE: Wikipedia

In poker, table stakes limits the amount a player can win or lose in the play of a single hand. A player may bet no more money than he had on the table at the beginning of that hand and consequently cannot go back to his pocket for more money once a hand is dealt. In between hands however, a player is free to rebuy or add-on so long as his entire stack after the rebuy or add-on does not exceed the maximum buy-in<UrlBlockedError.aspx>.

SIDE NOTE: Rema’s Summer of Idioms welcomes new subscribers: Lindsey and Alan.
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REMA’s SUMMER OF IDIOMS! Vol.1 Issue 2
Original Release: 7/10/2009

What was said? Oh he’s sooooo Minnesota Nice.

Did someone really say that? Ya… that was seriously said to me in a meeting last week.

What does it mean? Basically… when someone is nice to your face but apparently doesn’t mean it. Who new Minnesotans were such assholes?

ORIGIN: Minnesota nice is the stereotypical behavior of long-time Minnesota residents to provide hospitality and courtesy to others. The term is also sometimes used in a derogatory way, to connote a sort of smiling stubbornness, forced politeness, false humility or passive aggressive hostility of people in the Upper Midwest region.

Stereotypes of Minnesotans often overlap with qualities of other people from the Upper Midwest, including the perception that many are quiet and do not wish to offend others or cause a disruption, even if it’s for their own benefit. Writer Garrison Keillor played with this image in a piece written for the radio program A Prairie Home Companion called “Wobegonics”, the supposed language of Minnesotans which includes “no confrontational verbs or statements of strong personal preference, you know.” Sometimes area residents who move away, or otherwise come in contact with others who don’t subscribe to the ideal, say that they have to shed their “Minnesota nice” in order to interact properly with others or get out of troublesome situations. The generosity of state citizens has gained respect—the heavily-reported influenza vaccine shortage of fall 2004 did not strike the state as hard as elsewhere since many people willingly gave up injections for others.

Minnesota Nice is also the title of a 2003 28-minute documentary by Jeffrey Schwarz about the Coen brothers’ movie Fargo, a movie that displays some of the stereotypical behavior.

Another definition of “Minnesota nice” is to be passive aggressive. Ex: “I’m Minnesota nice. When I’m angry at someone, I don’t let them know. I just smile pleasantly to his or her face and then proceed to talk about them behind their back. I will most likely hold a grudge too. ”

SOURCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_nice
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=minnesota%20nice

SIDE NOTE: Rema’s Summer of Idioms welcomes new subscribers: Lauren, Kelly and Sharon.
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REMA’s SUMMER OF IDIOMS! Vol.1 Issue 1 

Original Release: 6/17/2009

What was said? I’m gonna “GET YOUR GOAT”!

Did someone really say that? Ya… that was seriously said to me in a meeting today.

What does it mean?  basically… to annoy someone… and let me tell you… he was successful

ORIGIN:
1. This apparently refers to an old English (Welsh?) belief that keeping a goat in the barn would have a calming effect on the cows, hence producing more milk. When one wanted to antagonize/terrorize one’s enemy, you would abscond with their goat rendering their milk cows less- to non-productive.

2.  There is one theory, espoused by H.L. Mencken among others, that ties the phrase to the world of horse racing. It used to be common practice, goes this theory, to stable goats with race horses, trainers believing that the mere presence of the goats would help keep the excitable thoroughbreds calm. If an unscrupulous gambler were to arrange for the removal of a certain goat from a certain horse’s stall the day before a race, the horse might be so flustered by the absence of its hircine pal that it would lose the race. The gambler would thus have “gotten the horse’s goat.”

Unfortunately, the first occurrence of the phrase in print, according to the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, was in 1908. Since goats are no longer (if they ever were) housed with race horses, the practice must have arisen near the beginning of the 20th century — and been abandoned shortly thereafter — for that theory to be true.

A more likely origin of the phrase lies in an earlier (1904) citation in the Random House dictionary, for “goat” as prison slang for “anger.” I think this may be the key. After all, goats do, with much provocation, get angry. To bring out the “goat” in someone may take some doing, but will eventually have dramatic results.

QUESTIONABLE: Some people say “Get your GOAD”, “Get your GUT”…..

A goad is a pointed rod used to urge on livestock. A modern equivalent of a goad is the cattle prod.  To goad is to stimulate into action. The phrase “goad you on” comes to mind. To “get your goat (goad)” then is to be successful in stimulating a response. Alternative: The word ‘gut’ down through the years was altered to goat. When something gets your gut, it upsets you and ties your stomach in knots. Alternative: Hyperactive racehorses were often given goats as stablemates because their presence tended to have a calming effect on the horses. After the horse became attached to the goat, it got very upset when its companion disappeared – making it run poorly on the track. In the 19th century, when a devious gambler wanted a horse to lose, he would get the horse’s goat and take it away the night before the race, thus agitating the horse.

SOURCES:

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~genepool/sayings.htm
http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/10/messages/1015.html
http://www.joe-ks.com/phrases/phrasesG.htm
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“Harsh My Mellow” Definition, Origin, etc. Volume 1.1

Original Release: 3/17/2009

Dear Subscribers to Rema’s: “I grew up in this country and still don’t know their Idioms.”

HARSH MY MELLOW:
First heard: In cab en route to the Kill Bill restaurant in Tokyo with Chloe, Chris and Rob.
Context: Rob was about to summarize the readings for global strategy class he did earlier on the computer and Chloe said, you better do it now before dinner and drinks rather than “harsh my mellow.”

BASIC DEFINITION: buzzkill (when used with “don’t harsh my mellow” intention is “don’t be a buzzkill”)

ORIGIN: From Worldwideworlds.org: The longer expression seems to have originally been West Coast drug and hacker slang of the middle 1990s. It became more widely known in 1997 when it turned up in The Online Adventures of Ozzie the Elf on ABC television. When Ozzie is criticized by an elf in Santa’s workshop, he says, “Don’t harsh my mellow”. Since then, as you’ve discovered, it has begun to appear from time to time in mainstream newspapers and magazines; I’ve seen it in Time magazine and also in the issue of Fortune for March 2003: “That guy really harshes my mellow, and I don’t appreciate it”.

SOURCES:
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-har2.htm
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Harshing+my+mellow

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