“Separating the Wheat from the Chaff”

Meaning: To Single out Good Stuff from the Bad or Useless
Origin: Farming.

The saying, to separate the wheat from the chaff is a very old idiom, meaning to single out or separate something good from a mass of something that was bad, or useless. It comes from the age-old profession of wheat-farming.

Farming wheat goes through several different stages – Ploughing, sowing, reaping, threshing, and then winnowing.

Threshing and winnowing separates the grains of wheat from the stalks, and then the grains from the husks, leaving behind pure grains of wheat, which are crushed and ground up into flour. Everything that’s left behind is chaff, which is generally used as animal feed. To separate the wheat from the chaff was to separate useful parts of the crop from the less useful parts of the crop.

Traditionally, this was a slow, backbreaking process which took weeks to do. A harvested wheat-crop was first threshed (beaten repeatedly with a flail to separate the wheat from the stalks), and then winnowed, where the gathered wheat-grains were put into a basket and then tossed repeatedly into the air. Winnowing worked by having wind blow away the husks, and leaving the pure wheat-grains left in the basket.

“Making Hay while the Sun Shines”

Meaning: To get the most work done when the situation is best.
Origin: Farming.

Hay is dried grass, and a traditional feed for farm-animals. As grass would not grow through winter months, it was essential for farmers to make as much hay as possible during warmer months, to store in their barns and hay-lofts so that their animals would not starve during wintertime. As hay was often the only thing that the animals had to eat, it was vital that there was an abundant supply of it. So any and all opportunities to make hay ‘while the sun shines’ were taken advantage of.

Good hay can only be made out of grass that has been sun-dried. Wet grass just rots because of the heavy water-content, and it’s useless as animal-feed. So making as much hay while the sun was shining (and therefore, drying the hay) was essential.

“Keep several irons in the fire”

Meaning: Give yourself some options.
Origin: 18th Century.

You’ve probably heard your parents, or grandparents tell you to keep several irons in the fire, which is an idiom meaning to give yourself options.

This phrase comes from the 18th century, when people used to iron their clothes with heavy, cast-iron…irons! Made of solid lumps of iron, heavy antique flatirons were used to iron out the wrinkles and creases in clothing, well into the 1900s. They were usually sold in sets of three, four or even more, depending on how much ironing was required.

These irons were placed on top of the coal-fired range-stove in the kitchen, or around a special flatiron stove, to absorb the heat from the fire and to warm up.

An antique ironing stove, used to heat up old-fashioned cast-iron flatirons

The heat in the irons would only last for a certain amount of time before it cooled off and had to be replaced on the stove to reheat. To have ‘several irons in the fire’ meant that you didn’t have to wait for ages and ages for the same iron to heat up again before continuing with your housework – you simply put down one cold iron, picked up the hot iron next to it, and went back to your work!

“To Strike while the Iron is Hot”

Meaning: To act while the best results can be obtained.
Origin: Blacksmithing.

Not to be confused with the other ‘iron’ one above, this refers to taking advantage of something when it is the easiest to do so. It comes from the craft of blacksmithing.

To shape metal, blacksmiths would heat iron-stock in a furnace until it was yellow-hot. At that heat, the iron is malleable and could be beaten into shape using the smith’s hammer and tongs. As the heat would only last a few seconds, to ‘strike while the iron is hot‘ was to do as much work as possible in the time allowed, and to take as much advantage of the situation as possible, before the iron had to be reheated for further working.

“Beyond the Green Baize Door”

Meaning: To go beyond a certain boundary.
Origin: England, 18th Century.

If you go ‘beyond the green baize door’, it means that you’re entering a place, or have crossed a boundary which few people are allowed to go beyond. But what is baize? And what’s the door? What does it all mean?

This term dates back to the Regency era of the early 1800s. The green baize door was the traditional dividing line in a household with masters and servants.

Servants quarters, such as the butler’s pantry, kitchen, servants’ hall, store-rooms, larders, pantries and servants’ bedrooms were usually at the bottom of the house, or housed in a separate wing of a larger house. Dividing the servants quarters from the rest of the house was a door with green baize cloth tacked onto it. Baize was used to the muffle sounds and absorb smells created by the servants, which might irritate the family of the house.

Being allowed to go beyond this barrier meant being allowed to meet and mix and mingle with those of a higher social status or standing. Therefore, to go ‘beyond the green baize door’ meant to be given privileged access to an exclusive world.

“Up to Scratch”

Meaning: Up to standard. Quality-control.
Origin: England, 1700s.

If something is “up to Scratch”, it means that it has passed quality-control tests and that it is ready for the open market. But why would you want to scratch something that you want to sell?

In England, the centers of the English silverware trade, London, Birmingham and Sheffield, had the tasks of ensuring that all the silver products they produced – cutlery, silverware, plates, flagons, pots, candlesticks, trays and anything else made of silver – were certified as being made of real silver.

Having a bunch of pretty hallmarks punched onto the bottom of granny’s silver teapot was not considered sufficient to pass the test. All items had to be tested for silver content before hallmarks were hammered onto the item.

This was traditionally done using an acid touchstone test.

It still works today.

It’s done in the following manner:

An item made of silver is scratched against a touchstone. The mark left on the stone is then treated with nitric acid. If the mark on the stone is silver metal, the acid reacts with it, turning the mark creamy white.

If the item passes this test, it has literally said to be “up to scratch”.

“Drawn Out”

Meaning: Extended or prolonged.
Origin: Blacksmithing

We’ve all experienced instances where something has been ‘drawn out’. Some long, boring, mind-numbing, brain-melting event which just seems to go on, and on, and on. And you end up falling asleep because it’s just so damn boring!

But why is it ‘drawn out’? Where does this come from?

‘Drawing out’ or to be ‘drawn out’ was originally a blacksmithing term. Metal which is heated and then beaten out longer and thinner, is said to be ‘drawn out’, to increase its length, or to decrease its thickness (usually both).

“Jumped Up”

Meaning: Inflated, arrogant, bigger than he really is.
Origin: Blacksmithing.

If someone’s said to be ‘jumped up‘, like some jumped up bastard, we generally mean that someone’s an arrogant, show-offy prick. Trying to make himself look bigger, or more important than he really is!

This is another term which has its origins in smithing.

Also called ‘upsetting‘, the process of jumping something up meant to compact or compress a piece of metal, to give it a thicker profile. This was usually done by heating up the piece of iron, placing the hot end against the anvil, and then beating or ‘jumping’ (due to the vibrations) the cold end with a hammer.

The force made the hotter, softer end of the iron-stock (pressed against the anvil) more compact. This made it look thicker or larger than the rest of the bar. Hence, one end of iron bar-stock which was made thicker (through compacting) than the other, was said to be ‘jumped up‘.