Loading...
Have you ever wondered why we say 'he/she pulled out all the stops on this one'? Of course everyone knows what it means; to go to every length to accomplish a given task. But why do we say it?
The reason comes from pipe organs back in the 1500 and 1600's. The organs have things called stops that control the air that's let in. By pulling out a stop you allow more air to flow in, thus increasing the volume. When church's would get especially crowded they needed to play louder so everyone could hear.
So, by pulling out all the stops the organist would achieve the loudest possible volume. It is easy to figure that if someone missed church (or perhaps a concert performance) and asked a neighbor or friend how the performance was, they would respond 'oh it was great, he had to pull out all the stops'.
I am currently taking suggestions for any other sayings or idioms that people would like to know about -- looking forward to your responses!!
Short Link:
Full Link:
Digg
Facebook
Del.icio.us
Myspace
Twitter
FriendFeed
