Phrases such as “saved by the bell” and “close but no cigar” may pepper our daily discourse, but have you contemplated how these sayings originated?
Area residents will have a chance to find out when the Midlothian Public Library hosts Strange, Dark & Funny: The Origins of Everyday Sayings on Oct. 8, presented by Dale Obrochta.
Known in some circles as “Magical Balloon-dude Dale,” Obrochta – an Orland Hills resident who grew up in Oak Forest – will explore the history behind such familiar sayings and how discourse about war, medicine, entertainment and everyday life shaped our language over the past several centuries. Usually known for his kid-focused presentations, Obrochta gears this session more toward adults.
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“I’ve always been fascinated by history, especially the chain reaction of events — something changes, a pattern gets disrupted, people react and sometimes the effects are still with us hundreds of years later,” Obrochta said. “We use these expressions without thinking about them, but many are little pieces of history hiding in plain sight. Once I started looking into where they came from, I realized there were some strange, dark and very funny stories behind the words we still use today.”
One of the challenges in researching the origins of language, Obrochta said, is separating documented history from a good story.
“Many sayings were passed from person to person long before anyone bothered to write down where they came from,” he said. “So, I look at books on language and history, old dictionaries, historical accounts and other sources, and then compare the different explanations.”
While sometimes the origin is clear, often there are competing theories. “I actually think that makes the research more interesting because you begin to see how language evolves along with the people using it,” Obrochta said.
The age of some sayings surprised Obrochta the most. “People tend to think our common expressions came from relatively modern times, but some have roots going back centuries,” he said.
For example, “by the skin of my teeth” comes from the Bible’s Book of Job, he explained, with wording that appeared in the 1560 Geneva Bible and later in the 1611 King James Bible.
“These expressions survived long before radio, television, social media or the internet. Somehow a combination of words gets passed from generation to generation until, hundreds of years later, we’re still saying it without giving its history a second thought,” he said.
What seems to surprise Obrochta’s audiences most is the age of a saying or discovering what everyday life may have looked like when the expression developed.
“Kick the bucket” is a good example, he says. “Today, everybody understands it to mean someone died. One of the leading explanations for its origin goes back to an older meaning of the word ‘bucket’ — a beam or yoke from which animals could be suspended during slaughter. The theory is that an animal’s final movements would cause it to kick against that beam.”
While the exact origin is still debated, he says, that’s part of what makes these expressions so interesting. “You suddenly realize that a harmless phrase we joke about today may have grown out of a very different and sometimes much darker part of everyday life.”
Obrochta’s life as an entertainer dates back to his days as an IT teacher at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills.
“At the same time, I became involved with professional family and children’s entertainment. I discovered that I loved both — the challenge of teaching somebody something and the joy of entertaining a room full of people,” he said. “Programs such as Strange, Dark & Funny allow those two parts of my background to come together. I get to research and teach something, but I can present it through humor, storytelling and audience interaction rather than simply giving a lecture.”
Obrochta credits his upbringing for his rapport with multiple generations.
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“I was the youngest in my family. My sister is seven years older than I am, and many of my cousins were 10, 15 or even 20 years older. Because of that, I became comfortable talking with adults at a very young age,” he said. “I loved listening to their stories — especially the stories about growing up, family, work and things that happened before I was born. Those stories had personality, humor and sometimes a little colorful language. … I’m comfortable talking with a kindergarten student, a teenager or an 80-year-old because I’m interested in the person in front of me. The material changes, but that connection doesn’t.”
The balloons, however, are reserved for the kids.
“Balloons are one of the tools I use as an entertainer, but they aren’t what makes me an entertainer,” Obrochta noted. “The same skills carry over — timing, storytelling, reading an audience, humor, energy and knowing how to hold people’s attention.”
Ultimately, Obrochta wants folks to walk away from his presentations feeling entertained and knowing something they didn’t know before they came.
“Maybe they leave with a funny story to tell somebody else or a completely different way of looking at an expression they’ve used their entire life,” he said. “I also like putting history into context. Things that seem strange or even barbaric to us today were sometimes considered perfectly ordinary at another point in history. … Understanding that context doesn’t mean judging the past one way or another. It means understanding how people lived, and that often helps explain how some of our language developed.”
For Obrochta, the best part of performing, regardless of the audience, is what happens when something in one of his presentations connects with someone’s own life.
“That’s when a presentation becomes more than somebody standing in front of a room talking,” he said. “The stories create connections. One story reminds someone of another story, which reminds somebody else of a memory they haven’t thought about in years. That’s one of the things I enjoy most about doing these programs.”
Jim Dudlicek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
If you go
Dale Obrochta presents “Strange, Dark & Funny: The Origins of Everyday Sayings,” on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 6 p.m. at the Midlothian Public Library, 14701 Kenton Ave. The program is free and open to all, regardless of municipality of residence or library card ownership. Registration is suggested. To register, visit www.midlothianlibrary.org or call (708) 535-2027. Learn more about Obrochta at https://libraryballoonshow.mbd2.com/.