The Thanksgiving holiday offers a little extra “down time” from the ebb and flow of parish life. It offers time to accomplish things, let the mind wander, read a book, or spend time thinking about a random assortment of words and phrases. With the Thanksgiving dinner complete, the refrigerator brimming with leftovers, one wonders about the phrase “cold turkey.”

There are many theories for the origin of the expression, but the one that is most convincing to me is a combination of two other slang-like sayings. The expression “talking turkey” meant to speak plainly. The expression “cold” found in the phrase “give it to me cold” meant to say it straight forwardly and as a matter-of-fact. The combined phrase, “cold turkey” captured the initial dread and discomfort of the news that was about to be delivered. More modern use has come to be associated with quitting something to which one has become accustomed (or addicted).

What else is in the refrigerator this Friday morning? Possibly pie, which makes one think of the expression “easy as pie.” Clearly the etymology stems from the one eating the pie rather than the baker.

Is there left over gravy? Does that have anything to do with the expression “gravy train?” The idiom gravy train means to do a job easily or make money with little effort, which is outside my own experience. The origin seems to be an American phrase dating back to the early 1900s. It is popularly believed to have originally been a railroad term referring to a train run that paid well with little effort on the part of the crew.

What’s in your refrigerator this morning that makes you wonder about the origin of words and expressions?