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“One for the money,
Two for the show,
Three to get ready, and
Four to go.”
"One for the Money" is an English-language children's rhyme. Children have used it as early as the 1820s to count before starting a race or other activity.
From there it spread to popular music in the 1950s, starting with Bill Haley and the Comets:
One, two, tree o'clock, four o'clock rock
Five, six, seven o'clock, eight o'clock rock
Nine, ten, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock rock
We're gonna rock around the clock tonight
- Bill Haley, Rock Around the Clock
One for the money
Two for the show
Well watcha gonna do when your lovers gone away
- Bill Haley, What’cha Gonna Do?
Well, it's one for the money,
Two for the show,
Three to get ready,
Now go, cat, go.
But don't you step on my blue suede shoes.
You can do anything but lay off of my Blue suede shoes.
- Elvis Presley, Blue Suede Shoes
By the way:
The local news station was interviewing an 80-year-old lady because she had just gotten married for the fourth time. The interviewer asked her questions about her life, about what it felt like to be marrying again at 80, and then about her new husband’s occupation.
“He’s a funeral director,” she answered. “Interesting,” the newsman thought. He then asked her if she wouldn’t mind telling him a little about her first three husbands and what they did for a living.
She paused for a few moments, needing time to reflect on all those years. After a short time, a smile came to her face and she answered proudly, explaining that she had first married a banker when she was in her 20’s, then a circus ringmaster when in her 40’s, and a preacher when in her 60’s, and now – in her 80’s – a funeral director.
The interviewer looked at her, quite astonished, and asked why she had married four men with such diverse careers.
She smiled and explained, “I married one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, and four to go.”
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Three Dog Night:
Three Dog Night is an American rock band formed in 1967 which had 21 Billboard Top 40 hits between 1969 and 1975, with three hitting number one.
The commentary included in the CD set Celebrate: The Three Dog Night Story, 1965–1975 states that vocalist Danny Hutton's girlfriend, actress June Fairchild (best known as the "Ajax Lady" from the Cheech and Chong movie Up In Smoke) suggested the name after reading a magazine article about Aboriginal Australians, in which it was explained that on cold nights they would customarily sleep while embracing a dingo, a native species of wild dog. On colder nights they would sleep with two dogs and, if the night were freezing, it was a "three dog night".
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I’ve got your six:
This expression originated in World War I when fighter pilots referenced the rear of a fellow pilot’s plane as the six o’clock position. It meant “Don’t worry – I’ve got your back.”
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Deep six something:
The term, which means to eliminate something, has a nautical origin. It refers to six fathoms underwater (36 feet, or 10.97 meters), the depth at which something that was thrown overboard would be difficult to recover.
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Eighty Six:
Eighty-six or 86 is American English slang used to indicate that an item is no longer available.
The term eighty-six was initially used in restaurants and bars according to most late twentieth-century American slang dictionaries. It is often used in food and drink services to indicate that an item is no longer available or that a customer should be ejected. Beyond this context, it is generally used with the meaning to 'get rid of' someone or something.
There are many theories about the origin of the term but none is certain. It seems to have originated in the 1920s or 1930s and possible origins include:
Rhyming slang for nix.
Part of the jargon used by soda jerks. Walter Winchell wrote about this in 1933, in his syndicated On Broadway column. In this, the code 13 meant that a boss was around, 81 was a glass of water and 86 meant "all out of it". Professor Harold Bentley of Columbia University studied soda jerk jargon and reported other numeric codes such as 95 for a customer leaving without paying.
Author Jef Klein theorized that the bar Chumley's at 86 Bedford Street in the West Village of Lower Manhattan was the source. His book The History and Stories of the Best Bars of New York claims that the police would call Chumley's bar during Prohibition before making a raid and tell the bartender to "86" his customers, meaning that they should exit out the 86 Bedford Street door, while the police would come to the Pamela Court entrance.
Chumley's, 86 Bedford Street, West Village
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Dressed to the Nines:
To be ‘dressed to the nines’ is to be dressed flamboyantly or smartly.
The origin of the phrase “dressed to the nines” is uncertain. Some popular theories suggest that it is derived from the number of yards of fabric used to make a suit, or from the uniforms of the 99th (Lanarkshire) Regiment of Foot. However, there is no evidence to support these claims.
A more likely explanation is that the phrase is simply an extension of the earlier phrase “to the nines,” which meant “perfectly” or “the highest standard”. This shorter phrase was in use in the 18th century, before “dressed to the nines” was first used.
The number nine has long been used as a superlative in English. For example, there are the Nine Worthies and the Nine Muses. It is likely that the phrase “dressed to the nines” is simply a way of saying that someone is dressed as well as possible
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The Whole Nine Yards:
(From the vault).
There are numerous explanations for how the phrase developed:
- tests (walking 9 yards over coals);
- clothing (using 9 yards of material in suits and kilts);
- ammunition (the length of machine gun ammunition belts in World War 2 fighter planes was nine yards (about 3 metres) and that to empty one’s ammunition belt at a target was to “go the whole nine yards”);
- construction (the amount of concrete carried by concrete trucks).
Nonetheless, experts are unable to explain how the phrase originated.
Snopes.com, the authoritative site on urban myths, origins and electronic spam, suggests that “the best candidate for the origin of the expression might lie with a risque story of uncertain age” concerning a young Scot and his kilt. The item appears at:
Rather than quote the story, I will set out the lyrics of a song which tell the same tale. It is called Angus and his Kilt:
Well, Angus was a happy lad, for soon he would be wed.
He'd found a brisk and bonnie lass to take him to his bed.
And happier still his mother was that he had found a wife,
For, truth be told, she'd often feared she'd be stuck with him for life.
Chorus:
It's a fine thing, a bonnie thing, the grandest ever seen.
(Repeat last line of verse)
In honor of the grand affair that wedding day would be,
She set about to weave a kilt, the finest ever seen.
The night before the wedding, when the kilt was finally done,
She called young Angus over and she tried it on her son.
She wound the kilt about him and she wound, and wound, and wound,
And when she finished winding, it was still eight yards too long.
"Never fear, my bonnie boy. We'll simply cut it off,
And to your blushin' bride we'll give the extra length of cloth."
Now Angus was so pleased, y'know, his heart had swelled with pride.
He felt that he must rush right out and show it to his bride.
'Twas raining, so he grabbed a cloak to shield him on the moor,
But in his haste to be away his kilt slammed in the door.
Well, Angus was in such a rush to show off for his bride,
He never really noticed that he had left his kilt behind.
He knocked upon her door and cried, "Oh, let me in, I pray!
I've something that you've got to see before our wedding day."
Now, Bridget let him in, y'know, but said, "Ye cannot stay.
For I've got to have my beauty sleep before our wedding day."
"I'll only be a moment, love, but it's so grand, my dear,
Ye've really got to see what I'm a-hiding under here."
Now, when the cloak was thrown aside and Angus stood quite bare,
We must admit she was impressed and tried hard not to stare.
"Oh, love, I'll ne'er see finer, though far and far I roam!"
"Well, lass," he cried, "that's nothing! I've got eight more yards at home!"
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