Author Topic: Lights Out? (Read 1795 times)

DDO · « **on:** April 14, 2004, 07:20:28 AM »

Most of us have heard the expression "....put his lights out!" I'd always assumed it dirived from the act of blowing out a candle or turning off an electric light.
Then quite awhile ago I read something about eating "lights". Found out that "lights" use to refer to lungs and people actually ate, maybe still do, them. I believe the orginal expression was, ".... let his lights out!" meaning that some one had been shot or stabbed through the lungs. Can any of you confirm or refute this?
Another expression I use to be confused about was "Lock, Stock, and Barrel" Before I realized it referred to the lock, stock and barrel of a gun I thought it derived from a merchant selling his business including, the lock to the door, the stock of goods and even the rain barrel.
Can you come up with other expressions that have evolved over the years that may have a different meaning now than when they were orginated?

Holiday · « **Reply #1 on:** April 14, 2004, 09:30:52 AM »

Yep, gotta good one. A lot of folks use the term"To the bitter end" and take it litterally, as to say "to the unpleasant end". But the reality is, the term origionated with the Navy. The Bitter End is the last bit of an anchor chain that attatches to the ship, or to the "Bitter". So, to "Hang on to the bitter end" REALLY means to hang on to the VERY end. In the long run, both phrases convey the same intent, but I always cringe when I hear it used wrong, and I'n not even Navy!

Shorty · « **Reply #2 on:** April 14, 2004, 03:46:58 PM »

Holiday,
Well, I was Navy, and I'd forgotten that term. If you're dropping anchor in a storm and you run out to the "bitter end" you're screwed.

Shorty · « **Reply #3 on:** April 14, 2004, 03:54:59 PM »

Maybe not western, but the "dashboard" on a car originally refered to the board at your feet on a wagon or sleigh that protected you from the mud or dung thrown up by the horses.
My father always refered to the "fenders" on a car as "mudguards". He drove a wagon as a teen.

Capt Hamp Cox · « **Reply #4 on:** April 16, 2004, 06:23:08 AM »

Speakin' of "boards", 'member when cars had "running" boards? How about a starter button on the floor, operated with your foot? vacuum windshield wipers 'stead of 'letric (as I recall, they slowed down when you accelerated)? A hole in the grille so you (if the battery was dead)could insert a hand crank and start the engine? Station wagons with real wood trim? $0.16 per gallon gas? Gas, oil, and tire rationing? No seatbelts? Hudsons? Studebakers? Desotos?

Back to the original topic - I always heard of "puttin' someone's lights out" in regard to that person being knocked out, as in a boxing match or a fist fight. Lock stock and barrel means "every thing", as it describes all the parts of an old muzzle loading rifle or shotgun.

Shorty · « **Reply #5 on:** April 16, 2004, 03:43:24 PM »

Capt,
In ref. to your first paragraph, I remember ALL of those!

We must BOTH be old f-rts! :lol:

Capt Hamp Cox · « **Reply #6 on:** April 17, 2004, 01:54:32 AM »

May be, but I betcha you're older than me. I'm still a young whippersnapper (at heart).

williamlayton · « **Reply #7 on:** April 17, 2004, 02:27:04 AM »

All that lyins not gonna look good on your resume in tha book. You was with me back in Mexico, you remember :oops: me n you an RIP.
Blessings

HWooldridge · « **Reply #8 on:** April 17, 2004, 03:20:32 PM »

I've heard that lungs were called "lights" because the tissue is much lighter than other tissue in the body. "Too many irons in the fire" is a blacksmith's term that meant you might be heating several pieces and burn one, thereby ruining your work.

DDO · « **Reply #9 on:** April 19, 2004, 05:34:38 AM »

Hell Bent For Leather! I know how it is used, but what does it mean literally?

Dewight

Capt Hamp Cox · « **Reply #10 on:** April 19, 2004, 05:46:42 AM »

Don't know if this is "THE" answer, but it sounds good to me.

"Hell bent for leather seems to be a very recent usage in which two phrases: hell-bent and hell for leather have been run together. The bent in hell-bent means "determined" or "resolute", as in "bent on revenge", so hell-bent means "intent on going to hell".

"Hell for leather, on the other hand, means "fast". It occurs twice (1889, 1893) in Kipling's stories of the British Army in India. In both cases it refers to horse-riding and leather probably refers to the saddle. It may have originated as Army slang or it could possibly have been one of Kipling's inventions.

"For the meaning, we can only suggest that you ask the next person who uses it in conversation with you. It is understood to mean "as fast as possible", having retained the meaning of hell for leather with the extraneous bent. "

http://www.takeourword.com/TOW154/page2.html

williamlayton · « **Reply #11 on:** April 19, 2004, 11:50:50 PM »

The English and Americans are two common people seperated by a common language.
We slaughter the language part by using phrases out of contex and asking folks to interpret what we are thinking. I'm really good at this, know what I mean.
Blessings

Chargar · « **Reply #12 on:** April 23, 2004, 05:08:23 PM »

I am under the impression that "putting his lights out" refers to what happens to an oil lamp when a firearm is discharged in a closed room. At the first shot anywhere near a lamp..the lights really do go out.

bearblade · « **Reply #13 on:** July 18, 2004, 04:07:45 PM »

I thought "hell-bent for leather" was a reference to drawing a gun. The leather in question was the holster. I thought it meant dead-set on getting in trouble. I don't use the phrase myself, but usually leather refers to a gunslinger's holster.

williamlayton · « **Reply #14 on:** July 24, 2004, 12:29:38 AM »

Tha King has spoken well bout the hell-bent and that is as I understood, well without all the history, which I appreciated.
Lungs have been know as lights fer a long time.
Blessings

Ga.windbreak · « **Reply #15 on:** August 10, 2004, 11:43:57 PM »

"The whole nine yards" came from the fact that in WWI the plane's machinegun ammo links were made of cloth and it was nine yards long, when shot out "the whole nine yards"

Glanceblamm · « **Reply #16 on:** September 21, 2004, 08:41:13 PM »

First Post Here

Couldnt pass this one up as I thought you were talking about my Coyote
Rifle.

Can be verified by date by visiting the Bolt Action Rifle forum with the post being Nicknames For Guns.

My favorite gun writer recon's that Lights Out signifies instant demise and I tend to agree.

There was a story though told by Terry C Johnston in which Scratch took an Arapaho arrow low on his left side. Scratch told Jerimia "Didnt Tickle My Lights Near As I Can Tell."
This might suggest that the Lights are the Heart/Lung area or the Boiler Room even!
CORRECTION
Scratch took the arrow high in the right shoulder area. He did recieve a wound low on the left side but it came from Coopers pistol.