Blow ones own trumpet

"The term in its present form is 19th century. Anthony Trollope, in his work Australia and new Zealand, 1873 observed:

'In the colonies... when a gentleman sounds his own trumpet he 'blows.'

That is clearly commenting on what must already have been a well-known phrase, although there aren't known printed citations to support that from before 1873." Read more about it here.

When people use the phrase they are saying the person is being boastful and self-promoting.

Comments

Butter someone up

There are two probable origins for this idiom and I think both are equally plausible. The first one is that when you spread butter on bread you are buttering it up like one would do when trying to flatter someone. The second is in ancient India there was a practice of throwing balls of butter at statues to ask for favor, i.e. buttering them up. ( source ) When we use the phrase today we generally mean that extreme flattery is used to gain information or favor. It's not always necessarily a compliment.

Call it a Day

The literal use of this phrase hails from 1838 when the phrase originally was "call it half a day" to mean leaving work early. (source) The modern use of the phrase is to indicate ending something due to false sense of accomplishment.

More bang for your buck

This phrase was used a lot in 1953 but an earlier citation puts it at 1940 in a Metals and Plastics Publications advertisement. Read about it here . The phrase means you get more for your money.

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