Secrets of My Legacy

Why do we say that someone who inherited wealth was “born with a silver spoon in his mouth”?

If someone is “born with a silver spoon in his mouth,” it means that he was born into wealth rather than having had to earn it. The expression comes from an old custom of godparents giving the gift of a spoon to a child at its christening to signify their responsibility for its nourishment and well-being. If they were wealthy, the spoon was usually silver, and if not, it would be pewter or tin.

Why do we call a cowardly person “yellow”?

Yellow, meaning cowardly, is actually an abbreviation of yellow dog, an American insult that first appeared in the nineteenth century to describe a cowardly or worthless person. In the early twentieth century, when employers were fighting trade unions, they insisted that new employees sign a pledge never to join a union. This pledge was called a “yellow dog” contract by union members with the implication that anyone signing it was “yellow.”