The Meaning Behind “Red Flags” and Other Common Phrases

4) Don’t tread on me

In the pre-Revolutionary War era the idea that the British government would send their convicts to the American colonies outraged many people. The concept was stood on its head when, in 1751, Benjamin Franklin’s Pennsylvania Gazette published an article arguing that fair play would be to send rattlesnakes to live in the gardens of the British nobility (rattlesnakes are native to the Americas).

The phrase “Don’t Tread on Me” was then adopted for anti-British causes, as the rattlesnake supposedly only strikes if provoked. The coiled rattlesnake was featured on flags for the Continental Navy and have ever since been a symbol of deep patriotic intent.

3) Forty winks

The usage of the number 40 to mean a large amount predates The Bible and was a Hebrew storytelling convention.

40 of something meant a lot of what ever it was and this convention was borrowed for use in The Bible: think 40 days and 40 nights. The first time that “40 winks” was used to mean a good nap was in the 1820s, though the number 40 to mean a lot has been used for many centuries.