Some Hairy Expressions

Some Hairy Expressions Some Hairy Expressions Some Hairy Expressions By Maeve Maddox Warning: This post may offend some readers. Words, however, are just words and thats what DWT is all about. Curious minds want to know! DWT reader Jess received an email in which the sender said I got a wild hair about me. Jess says that the expression was used in the sense of acting impetuously. However, the expression for which wild hair is a shortening is to have a wild hair up ones ass. The meaning of this vulgar expression is to have an obsession or fixation about something. Garrison Keillor conveys this sense in his August 2, 2008 News from Lake Woebegone segment. In this instance its not a hair but a quarter, and its not up anything, its between the butt cheeks. Hes talking about a woman who is very angry about something and is going to confront her brother about it: she stalked across that farmyard like somebody whos carrying a quarter in their butt. If you go around carrying a quarter in your butt, you wont think of anything else. Disagreement exists as to why a hair should cause such single-minded discomfort, but I suppose there could be such a thing as a painful ingrown hair. The word wild in this context refers to the fact that the hair in question is not going where it is wanted. The meaning implied in the email, to act impetuously or in an uncharacteristic manner, doesnt seem as apt. Some other hairy idioms: to split hairs to dissect a subject down to the most trivial and unimportant details. I want to give the go ahead and all you want to do is split hairs about what color the tags should be. hair-brained foolish, ditzy. The expression originates from the erratic behavior of hares and is more properly spelled harebrained. However, the spelling hair-brained is quite common. I never heard of a more harebrained idea in my life! hair of the dog short for hair of the dog that bit you. In modern usage it refers to the notion that a person with a hangover can cure himself by drinking in the morning what he was drinking the night before. The expression originates in an ancient homeopathic cure for the bite of a mad dog. Pliny the Elder gives several remedies, one of which is to rub into the wound ash, prepared by burning, from the hair under the tail of the mad dog itself. by a hairs breadth by a narrow margin. He escaped death by a hairs breadth. Possible origin: a formal unit of measurement called a hairbreadth, equal to one-forty-eighth of an inch. hair-trigger a trigger that requires very little effort to release. The term can be used figuratively: Her husband has a hair-trigger temper. to let ones hair down to relax and be at ones ease with people. Come on, Charlie! Let your hair down and dance! The term originated in the 1850s and probably first applied to women who wore their hair up in public. hair-raising frightening and exciting. Follow Indiana Jones in another hair-raising adventure. a hairy situation something fraught with difficulty. The conversation became a bit hairy once he mentioned Alison. hairpin curve a curve in the road that goes back on itself. Younger readers may not know what an old-fashioned hairpin looked like. The curve at the joined end was much wider than the curve of a mere bobby pin. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:36 Adjectives Describing LightFlier vs. FlyerWood vs. Wooden

Usman dan Fodio and the Sokoto Caliphate

Usman dan Fodio and the Sokoto Caliphate In the 1770s, Uthman dan Fodio, still in his early 20s, began preaching in his home state of Gobir in Western African. He was one of the many Fulani Islamic scholars pushing for the revitalization of Islam in the region and the rejection of allegedly pagan practices by Muslims. Within a few decades, dan Fodio would rise to become one of the most recognized names in nineteenth-century West Africa. Hijra and Jihad As a young man, dan Fodios reputation as a scholar grew quickly. His message of reform and his criticisms of the government found fertile ground in a period of growing dissent. Gobir was one of several Hausa states in what is now northern Nigeria. There was widespread dissatisfaction in these states, especially among the Fulani pastoralists from whom dan Fodio came. dan Fodios growing popularity soon led to persecution from the Gobir government, and he withdrew, performing the hijra- a migration from  Mecca to Yathrib- as the Prophet Muhammad had also done. After his hijra, dan Fodio launched a powerful jihad in 1804, and by 1809, he had established the Sokoto caliphate that would rule over much of northern Nigeria until it was conquered by the British in 1903. Sokoto Caliphate The Sokoto Caliphate was the largest state in West Africa in the nineteenth century, but it was really fifteen smaller states or emirates united under the authority of the Sultan of Sokoto. By 1809, leadership was already in the hands of one of dan Fodios sons, Muhammad Bello, who is credited with solidifying control and establishing much of the administrative structure of this large and powerful state. Under Bellos governance, the Caliphate followed a policy of religious tolerance, enabling non-Muslims to pay a tax rather than try to enforce conversions. The policy of relative tolerance as well as attempts to ensure impartial justice helped earn the state the support of the Hausa people within the region. The support of the populace was also achieved in part through the stability the state brought and the resulting expansion of trade. Policies toward Women Uthman dan Fodio followed a relatively conservative branch of Islam, but his adherence to Islamic law ensured that within the Sokoto Caliphate women enjoyed many legal rights. dan Fodio strongly believed that women too needed to be educated in the ways of Islam. This meant he wanted women in the mosques learning. For some women, this was an advance, but certainly not for all, as he also held that women should always obey their husbands, provided that the husbands will did not run counter to the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad or Islamic laws. Uthman dan Fodio also, however, advocated against female genital cutting, which had been gaining a hold in the region at the time, ensuring that he is remembered as an advocate for women.