That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles

I found myself using the phrase “tide her over” yesterday, and started wondering about the origin of the phrase. Is it only nerdy librarians that wonder about these types of things? I found an interesting weblog that gave me the information I was looking for, and I also browsed through some of the library’s collection of books on word and phrase origins. These books are not only good reference sources but they are also just plain ole entertaining. Who wouldn’t want to know the origin of the phrase “put the kibosh on (something)", which can be found in The Whole Ball of Wax and Other Colloquial Phrases by Laurence Urdang. The Word Detective by Evan Morris includes all kinds of interesting words and phrases—you could say everything from soups to nuts (page 187). The Yankee Dictionary by Charles F. Haywood is full good old New England sayings (many that I have never heard of). Ahhhh…I just love looking at these books—it just makes me as happy as a clam at high tide.