Top Dog, Underdog
Meaning: Favored, unfavored person
Origin: Before electric saws, all lumber had to be cut by hand with manual saws.  Logs were placed over a pit.  The “top dog” stood at the top of the pit and guided the saw as it cut; the “underdog” had to stand in the pit and get covered with sawdust.

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That’s the Ticket!
Meaning: That’s the right thing
Origin: This phrase stems from the mispronunciation of the French word “etiquette.”  Saying “that’s uh-tik-et” eventually became what it sounded, “that’s the ticket.”

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Top Drawer
Meaning: The best
Origin: In the past, jewels and other valuables were stored in the top drawer of dressers.

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Beside Oneself
Meaning: Overcome with worry or anger; distraught
Origin: Ancient Greeks believed that when the body was under great emotional pressure, the soul actually left the body and stood beside itself.

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To Run Amok
Meaning: To behave in a wild, uncontrolled manner
Origin: The Malaysian word for “a person who has gone crazy” is “moq.”  The first English settlers in that area associated the word with the occasional insane people they saw—and brought the word home with them.

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Too Many Irons in the Fire
Meaning: Too many things at once
Origin: This comes from the blacksmith’s forge.  If there were too many irons heating in the fire, the blacksmith would not be able to use them all without having some either cool down or melt, therefore not completing his job correctly.

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To Give Someone the Cold Shoulder
Meaning: To act unfriendly toward or reject someone
Origin: This phrase actually refers to food.  In old England, an important traveler would be served a delicious hot meal.  However, a guest who had overstayed his welcome or was an ordinary traveler would receive a cold shoulder of mutton.

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Frog in One’s Throat
Meaning: To have a hoarse throat from a cold
Origin: This phrase does not come from the fact that the sick person’s voice sounds like a frog’s.  This actually comes from a Middle English practice, where live frogs were put headfirst down a patient’s throat.  The inhaling of the frog was believed to suck out the sickness.  Though the practice became (happily) obsolete, the saying remained.

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Loose Cannon
Meaning: Dangerously out of control
Origin: On old warships, cannons were mounted on wheeled carriages.  After being used, the cannon would be tied down.  Now imagine the ship tossing in a storm.  A loosely tied cannon could break free, careening around the deck crippling sailors and breaking the wooden sides.  “Loose cannon” eventually referred to any out-of-control person.

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The Bitter End
Meaning: The (often unpleasant) end
Origin: This has nothing to do with taste, as commonly thought.  It is actually a sailing term.  It refers to the end of a line or mooring that would be attached to the bitts, a sturdy, upright piece of wood or metal.