| A. Tanned their Hide: Spanked |
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1. A remote community in the woods. “What do you do for fun in this neck of the woods?” |
| B. To skate on thin ice: To speak carefully about something, to not upset someone. |
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2. Experience of catching and collecting cattle with the help of lassoes by the frontiersmen in the West. “I will need to rope someone into helping me clean up.” |
| C. Nip and tuck: Neck and neck |
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3. Hides from deer and other animals were “tanned” into leather by beating them with a stick. |
| D. Hide nor Hair: Nothing, no part of. Not seeing even a hint of something. |
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4. Ungraded sawn timber as produced by a sawmill. “The party was fun, but the food was run of the mill.” |
| E. Straight from the Horse’s Mouth: Hearing the truth from the source. |
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5. From judging a horse’s age by looking at his teeth, not by what someone says his age is.“That’s the truth, I heard it straight from the horse’s mouth.” |
| F. Hold your horses: Take it easy, be patient. |
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6. A game of skating over newly formed ice without falling through. If the ice broke, you were plunged into cold water. If you say the wrong thing, you might get an “icy stare”! |
| G. Knee high to a grasshopper: Small and young. |
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7. Holding horses to calm them before a race, or while waiting to pull a cart or carriage. “Hold your horses! It will be time for recess soon.” |
| H. Rope someone in: To include (someone); to persuade (someone) to join in doing something. |
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8. Possibly originated from sewing, ripping and folding to form quilt pieces, or from opponents being evenly matched in a fight. “The girls’ race was nip and tuck, but Laura won.” |
| I. Run-of-the-Mill: Ordinary, not special |
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9. A reference to a man who carries a piece of wood balanced on his shoulder in the hope that someone will give him an excuse for a fight by knocking it off. “After loosing the contest, she had a real chip on her shoulder.” |
| J. This neck of the woods: A particular place or part of the country |
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10. Opposite of an old English saying “Hide and Hair” meaning the whole animal, or the whole thing.
“I haven’t seen hide nor hair of him since yesterday.” |
| K. Have a chip on one’s shoulder: Grumpy, expecting to be insulted or treated meanly |
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11. Smaller than even a tiny insect. “I haven’t played tag since I was knee high to a grasshopper!” |
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