A collaboration between Lewis McLain & AI
Language is a museum of human experience, and idioms are its most portable artifacts. Expressions like “from pillar to post,” “run ragged,” “at sixes and sevens,” and “passed around like a hot potato” have survived centuries because they express a universal, timeless sensation: the feeling of being pushed around by forces larger than yourself.
These sayings were not created in classrooms or dictionaries. They were born in medieval tennis courts, gambling halls, farmyards, naval ships, industrial mills, American circuses, and children’s playgrounds. They reflect the physical worlds their speakers inhabited—worlds full of storms, livestock, spinning wheels, dice, ropes, maps, and relentless motion.
What follows is a historical journey through twelve idioms that describe disorder, confusion, displacement, or helpless motion. Together, they show how generations have described the chaos of life through the imagery of movement.
I. “From Pillar to Post”: The Medieval Tennis Court as Life’s Metaphor
The earliest root of this expression lies in real tennis, the indoor ancestor of modern tennis played in medieval Europe. Real tennis courts were complex architectural spaces with pillars, posts, galleries, buttresses, and windows. Balls struck wildly between these structures forced players to run helplessly back and forth.
By the mid-1500s, English writers were using “from pillar to post” to describe people being:
- harassed
- shuttled
- confused
- ordered around
- battered by fate
The metaphor left the court and entered common speech as a vivid illustration of helpless movement.
II. “Run Ragged”: Exhaustion in the Age of Industry
During the 18th and 19th centuries, as industrial machinery reshaped labor, the phrase “run ragged” captured a new kind of fatigue.
- “Ragged” meant torn or frayed, like cloth worn thin by constant use.
- In factories, both equipment and people were pushed past durability.
By the Victorian era, newspapers described servants, clerks, and factory workers as being “run ragged,” connecting the phrase permanently with overwork and depletion.
III. “Thrown for a Loop”: America’s Century of Motion
This distinctly American idiom appeared in print around 1908–1920. Two likely origins exist:
- Circus acrobatics, where aerial performers spun in loops.
- Railroad switching loops, where sudden track diversions jolted trains.
Either way, the idiom’s sense is clear: a sudden shock that leaves a person disoriented, spun around by surprise.
IV. “Led Around by the Nose”: Medieval Bulls and Human Gullibility
Farmers controlled bulls using metal nose-rings, allowing even a small handler to direct a massive animal. The image was so striking that by the Middle Ages, English writers were already applying it to people who were easily manipulated.
To be “led around by the nose” was to be:
- dominated
- controlled
- deceived
- pushed into decisions without autonomy
It is one of the oldest metaphors for human manipulation.
V. “All Over the Map”: When Geography Became Daily Life
As maps spread across the 19th century—into schoolrooms, boardrooms, war rooms, and the public imagination—“all over the map” developed as a figurative description of mental or organizational chaos. The idiom reflects:
- military campaigns
- colonial administration
- railroad expansion
- bureaucratic planning
- commercial networks
If you were “all over the map,” your thoughts, plans, or actions were scattered across wide distances, unanchored and unfocused.
VI. “At Sixes and Sevens”: A Medieval Gamble with Failure
Perhaps the most ancient idiom on this list, “at sixes and sevens” appears in Chaucer (1380s). Its origin lies in the medieval dice game hazard, where the riskiest and most reckless throw involved six and seven.
Gamblers who staked everything on such a roll were said to be in disorder, danger, or confusion.
Over the centuries, the meaning broadened to describe any situation of:
- chaos
- confusion
- disarray
- being out of alignment
VII. “Hither and Yon” / “To and Fro”: The Rhythm of Old English
These expressions derive from Old English directional words:
- hider → here
- þider → there
- to and fro → forward and back
They appear in sermons, poems, and everyday conversation from the earliest centuries of English. These paired-direction expressions once helped listeners follow movement in oral storytelling, and they survive today as elegant descriptions of wandering or restless motion.
VIII. “Sent Packing”: The Abrupt Dismissals of Tudor England
This expression dates to the 1500s and is often associated with Shakespeare.
To “send someone packing” meant to order them to gather their belongings and leave immediately, usually in disgrace. Soldiers, servants, and apprentices knew the term well.
It conveys humiliation, rejection, and sudden displacement.
IX. “Driven from Stem to Stern”: From Maritime Hardship to Total Thoroughness
The expression originally described sailors forced to run the entire length of a ship during storms or combat.
- Stem = the very front of the ship
- Stern = the very back
To be driven “from stem to stern” was to be swept or pushed across the whole vessel, usually under duress.
Modern Meaning (Important Clarification)
Today, the phrase is more commonly used metaphorically to mean:
- completely
- thoroughly
- from top to bottom
Example: “They cleaned the house from stem to stern.”
The nautical origin gave way to the broader sense of total coverage, which is now far more common.
X. “Passed Around Like a Hot Potato”: Childhood Games Become Social Commentary
In the 19th century, children played a simple game: toss a hot potato quickly so you don’t get “burned.”
Adults adopted the metaphor to describe:
- unwanted responsibilities
- bureaucratic avoidance
- political buck-passing
The imagery stuck because it perfectly describes tasks no one wants to hold onto.
XI. “Chasing Your Tail”: Animal Behavior Meets Human Futility
This modern idiom emerges in the 20th century from observing dogs spin in circles attempting to catch their own tails. By the mid-1900s, the metaphor applied to people caught in cycles of:
- pointless activity
- circular effort
- wasted motion
It is humorous, but underneath lies a sense of exhaustion and futility.
XII. “Batted About”: The Universal Fate of Anything That Can Be Hit
This idiom appears in the 1600s–1700s, originally describing balls or objects knocked repeatedly in games or fights. But by the 18th century it was used to describe people “batted about” by:
- events
- arguments
- authorities
- responsibilities
It is perhaps the closest cousin to “from pillar to post,” capturing the physical sensation of being knocked repeatedly by forces stronger than oneself.
Conclusion: Why These Idioms Endure
Though they arose in wildly different surroundings—monastic tennis courts, medieval gambling tables, naval decks, farms, factories, railroads, and playgrounds—these expressions survive because they illustrate a shared human experience.
Each idiom is a miniature story about:
- being overwhelmed
- being scattered
- being manipulated
- being worked too hard
- being in disorder
- being helpless in motion
- being pushed from place to place
Physical movement became our metaphor for emotional dislocation. And so these sayings, worn smooth by centuries of use, continue to describe the ancient human feeling of being swept along by life’s turbulence.
Let's Talk About It, Lewis! 