Skip to main content

Sixth sense



The first mention of the term 'sixth sense' occurred in 1712, in William Whitson’s Primitive Christianity Reviv’d, Volume V: ”Then said Peter, That is false; for there is a sixth Sense, that of Prescience: for the other five Senses are capable only of Knowledg; but the Sixth of Foreknowledg; which Sense the Prophets had.” (source)

And how we use it today is not different from Whitson's observation. Sixth sense is indeed a foreknowledge of sorts - your gut instincts.


Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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. 
Post a Comment
Read more

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.
Post a Comment
Read more

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. 
Post a Comment
Read more