Prolog:

My research into the caste system is taking longer than planned. It may take another week or two before my history series resumes. Meanwhile, i thought i will write on some lighter topics.

Phrase Origins

I have always been interested in phrase origins because most often there is a very interesting story behind these phrases. In the past we have covered – To fight like Kilkenny Cats , Drinking the Kool Aid and the Red Carpet treatment. Ganesh had pointed to this site word detective a while ago.

Bangalore Torpedo

Recently I came across this phrase “Bangalore Torpedo” from a client. If you think about it, it is an unlikely combination of words because Bangalore is a land locked place and Torpedo is a naval weapon.

Well, it turns out that a british military officer by the name Captain McClintock invented the Bangalore Torpedo while he was stationed in Bangalore. And the weapon is used till date to destroy land mines from a distance without having to go near the land mine.

A1

This one has been ringing in my ears for a while now. A1 is used heavily in Chennai. If you served someone a cup of coffee and asked them later how the cuppa was, they would immediately say “The coffee was A1″. In general, whenever you want to say something is nice, you say it is A1 in Chennai. Not sure if this phrase is used elsewhere in India? Maybe the readers can comment.

Again, when you think about this, A by itself stands for A class and 1 stands for No.1. The question is, why use both A and 1 together? Is it just a tautology or is there something more to it?

Well, my research didn’t lead me anywhere. Then i asked Priya Raju to help and she came up with this A1 from the Wikipedia and this one. A1 seems to be a designation given to a ship of high quality construction and high quality material. Given that Chennai is a port and both the British and Indian Navy had/have operations here, this seems like the most likely origin for this phrase. Interesting, isn’t it?

Epilog: 

Are there other phrases that pique your curiosity? Would love to hear.