The Origin of Everyday

Sunday

The specialized wing structure that allows modern birds to fly is believed to have evolved from early theropods, the same dinosaur line that included T-Rex and velociraptor.

Monday

Those little wings pictured on angels and cherubs may be cute, but just wouldn’t be functional. A prehistoric bird similar in size to a modern human male needed a wingspan over 20 feet wide to fly, and even then likely just glided. Humans would need chest muscles far larger than a pro bodybuilder just to work those wings, not to mention lighter bones and other major anatomical adaptations.

Tuesday

The term “winging it” for improvising with little preparation comes from live theater. It referred to an unrehearsed actor who delivered his lines as prompted by an assistant in the sides or “wings” of the theater, unseen by the audience, or an actor who had just recently learned the lines while in the wings himself.

Wednesday

Likewise, the term “waiting in the wings” has theatrical origins. Someone waiting on these sides of the stage, just behind the curtain, is waiting for their opportune moment to enter.

Thursday

The term “wingman” for a supportive or protective person originates with combat airplane formations, where a wingman flies outside and just behind the lead plane for support and protection.

Friday

A mother hen famously shelters her chicks under her wing for protection, hence the very old idiom “to take under my/your/his/her wing” for protective tutelage.

Saturday

A bird cannot fly with certain feathers of it’s wings trimmed, so the allusion to restricting someone’s freedom by “clipping their wings” has been around since ancient Roman times.

Sunday

Originally, “graveyard” and “cemetery” were not interchangeable terms. For centuries, the deceased members of congregations were buried in crypts under their church or plots around the church in areas known as graveyards. However, as these filled up and populations grew, separate tracts of burial land unconnected with any particular church known as cemeteries became common.

Monday

A gravely ill person may seem closer to the grave, but notably, “grave” the adjective comes from the Latin “gravis” meaning heavy, weighty, and important, while “grave” the noun derives from Germanic with its current meaning: holes dug for the deceased.

Tuesday

East-facing graves are common around the world, so that the dead can face the rising sun or for various religious reasons both ancient and more modern.

Wednesday

The Egyptian pyramids are among the worlds most enduring grave markers. They stand above tombs of pharaohs, but also included supplies for the afterlife and the journey to it, as well as pictures and information about life at the time of the pyramids’ building.

Thursday

Increasingly, burial plots are not full of bodies, but ashes. In the US, the 63.3% of people are expected to choose cremation by 2025, up from a mere 3.6% in 1960. The location of burial spots for ashes (if they are buried at all) is less regulated, and thus far more flexible.

Friday

In some places, traditional burials are simply impractical. New Orleans, for example, is located below sea level where the Mississippi River meets the Gulf of Mexico, and hence floods frequently. Since coffins contain both bodies and air, they would often rise to the top of saturated soil, sometimes even floating around on floodwaters, creating an obvious (and gruesome) health hazard. Accordingly, New Orleans began to require either cremation or above-ground tombs for the deceased.

Saturday

The first use of the term “graveyard shift,” a work shift which typically begins at midnight, did not come from graveyards at all, but references to overnight shifts in mines. Besides both places being dark and spooky, there is no obvious connection.