The curious origins of four English expressions – including will-o’-the-wisp and against the grain

By Francesco Perono Cacciafoco, Associate Professor in Linguistics, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

The origins of English expressions are often obscure and require deep linguistic and documentary research to be explained. Being phrases, not single words, their intrinsic meanings can be reconstructed by studying old texts and their earliest use.

Once the intricacies of their origins are unravelled, they can tell us a lot about how our language has developed over centuries. In the end, they often unveil to us fascinating and unexpected stories. Let’s try to briefly analyse four of them.

1. So long

Though now considered dated, “so…

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