The literal translation in Latin is 'advocatus diaboli.' In medieval Europe, Devil's advocate wasn't seen so negatively; it was a job title. Read more about its fascinating history here . The modern use of the phrase today is someone who takes a contrary position for the sake of testing an argument, or just to be perverse.

This phrase shows up, in print, in the book authored by John Heywood. The proverb reads, "Plentie is nodeintie, ye see not your owne ease. I see, ye can not see the wood for trees." The grammatical structure of the phrase is a bit off-putting in today's language but back in Heywood's day the word "for" was used as the words "because of". Tweaking it to today's grammar it would read, "Can't see the forest because of the trees." ( source ) I confess, this phrase has always made me scratch my head. I think I was getting hung up on the word "for" and now that I know a bit more about the etymological information it makes a little more sense. But I still don't like it, I'm not keen on it. Maybe it's just because it is nature based and I'm an indoors girl. *wink* Another way to think about the phrase is, "to be overwhelmed by detail to the point where it obscures the overall situation." And then ...

To ensure accuracy Bakers back in the day (the medieval days) would add an additional loaf or slice of bread to an order for a dozen to make sure they weren't short selling on weight. Thus, a bakers dozen was born. For more about this practice, and the origin of the term, click here . Today a bakers dozen refers, most commonly, to 13 of something. Kids, food items, etc.   Now my mouth is watering for all sorts of baked goods. Hmmmm....

Back in the day it was a perk of being a sailor to haul some wood off the boat you just worked for firewood or building. The pieces of wood were called chips. So the sailors had chips on their shoulders. And yes, I'm being serious!  Read more about it here . At some point it came to mean what we know it as today - having a negative attitude or holding a grudge. 

This one is self-explanatory and no origin has been found for it. It literally means, "Your guess is as good as mine!" 

This term is similar, if not exactly the same in meaning, to walking on thin ice or broken glass. The implication is walk carefully and cautiously. That meaning has evolved to include avoiding confrontation with someone. ( source )

I've heard this term but rarely used it. When someone goes up a blind alley it means they have gone up an alley that has no exit. It dead ends. To go up a blind alley is to follow a course of action that has no good outcome. ( source )