19 Sinister Origins Behind Common Expressions And Customs

Language is constantly evolving, everyone knows that. You're minding your own business, and then suddenly "alright" is one word. But what's not as well-known is that some super-popular phrases -- and even beloved traditions -- started out in really dark places. Their original meanings were, to say the least, troubling.

A surprising number of these involve “making it easier to shoot somebody" or “maying sure neither of you were going to short each other.” But don't worry! We threw in a bunch of racism and evil spirits, too! It's about to get linguistically wild up in here! And buddy, if you've never gotten linguistically wild, well…let us get you a sweater vest and more than one version of the dictionary, because we are going to party like a bunch of grad school students who never figured out how to work the stereo because it would just muffle the words anyway.

For example...