Hearty
phrases
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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Here are some encouraging phrases for use when you can’t think of anything else to say in what may be a difficult situation.
Adopt a ‘hearty’ voice for these phrases!
‘Best foot forward’ is a strange expression, since it implies one has more than two feet. There is a suggestion that it stems from a time, probably in the 1700s, when prospective suitors were judged on the comeliness of their legs. Apparently, men would add padding to their calves to make them appear fuller and better muscled. At the same time, footmen in grand houses were appointed for their appearance and needed to look attractive in knee breeches.
Today, putting one’s best foot forward means trying one’s best in attitude and apparel to make a good impression, particularly in job interviews. It can mean, simply, ‘buck up’.
‘Buck up’ originated in the 1800s. A buck is a male deer, handsome, strong and virile. Young men were often referred to as young bucks, in their fine clothes. To buck up would mean to dress smartly and adopt a confident posture. Now, it’s often used in the sense of ‘getting a move on’; ‘It’s later than I thought – we’d better buck up.’ It is also used as a more robust alternative to ‘cheer up’.
‘That’s the ticket’ means all is well and you’re going in the right direction, making the correct decisions. It is a corruption of the French, ‘C’est l’étiquette’, meaning that’s the right way. ‘L’étiquette’ also means ‘the ticket’. In 16th century Spain the phrase was adopted and adapted to ‘etiqueta’. It referred to the written rules of precedence and practice for the correct behaviour at court.
‘Worse things happen at sea’ is an idiom intended to make an unhappy person realise that circumstances could be much harsher. Obviously, disasters at sea often have tragic consequences, but it is difficult, in the throes of misery, to contemplate the misfortune of others.
In fact, all these hearty motivational expressions do more to reassure the speaker than the person to whom they are addressed. Nonetheless, rather than refraining from speaking, something seems to drive the urge to encourage. ‘Foot in mouth syndrome’ usually follows!
