Day 128: Beginnings

It's admittedly kind of lame that I am pulling the "beginnings" card on the first day of a new year but it's my blog and I can do what I want, even be lame if that's what I choose! :) Last year, when the 365 focus was different, I also did something on beginnings. Just call me predictable. But doesn't the first day of a new set of 365 days make *you* think of beginnings? Well regardless.
I am grateful for beginnings. They provide us with fresh chances to do things differently. They give us new opportunities, new relationships, perhaps even new life. The beginning of something is always a bit painful at first. You have to settle into new things and figure out what needs to begin. But once you do that the beginning of something holds a sweetness that is enhanced by people and experiences. Sometimes beginnings are tough and not so sweet, and sometimes they never turn sweet. I'm still grateful for even those because I know I have something to learn in them as well.

Comments

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.

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.

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