Where does that saying come from?
 

I know we have had this thread discussions before, but where do phrases like "to coin a phrase" come from. Why do you "coin" a phrase?

Another expression "It's raining cats and dogs". Someone please explain.

Please add other expressions and how it came about.

SHIT


When manure was shipped as fertilizer in Great Britain it would rot and spoil if exposed to the moisture of a ships bilges. The containers were marked Ship High In Transit, hence Shit.


PS I have not verified this, I'll check the OED later tonight...


EDIT: I was wrong, shit is simply a word from the germanic root, oh well.

Another good one:

"He bought the farm"

In WW2, if you were killed, the government would pay of your mortgage for your wife, therefore a person who died was said to have bought the farm.

You can find answers to just about every one of those sayings at this guys website: http://www.quinion.com/words/

I dont give a rat's ass.

WTF?!?!?!

I dont want to recieve a rats ass o_0