Metaphorical phrases

I've heard these phrases many times and I know what they mean but I didn't know WHY. Now I know and so do you.

PIPE DREAM:
The allusion is to the dreams experienced by smokers of opium pipes. More here:

IN THE TANK:
The expression is related to the concept of a corrupt prizefighter being "in the tank," meaning that he's been paid ahead of the fight to pretend that the other fighter knocked him out. Such an act is called "taking a dive," a metaphor related to swimming. And "tank," as Safire and others observe, is ancient slang for swimming pool.

GOODY TWO SHOES:
It comes from the title of a rather twee and moralistic nursery tale called "The History of Goody Two Shoes," which is thought to have been written by Oliver Goldsmith, and which was published in 1765 by John Newbery, one of the earliest London publishers of children's stories. Goody owned only one shoe. When she was given a pair of them, she was so pleased that she showed them to everybody, saying "Two shoes". The phrase now refers to a self-righteous, smugly virtuous person.

FACE THE MUSIC:

To accept the inevitable. Originates from the British Military practice of playing the drums when someone was court marshaled.

SAVED BY THE BELL / GRAVEYARD SHIFT
England is old and small. When they started running out of places to bury people they would dig up coffins after so many years and reuse the graves. In reopening these coffins about 1 in 25 were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realised they had been burying people alive. So they tied a string on the decease's wrist and led it through the coffin lid and up through the ground and tied it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night and listen for the bell. 'Graveyard shift' also refers to the practice of sitting there overnight to guard against the grave robbers digging up the bodies!

BEAT IT / BEAT A HASTY RETREAT
Many people now would say 'beat a retreat' but originally it was 'beat the retreat'. A retreat wasn't just a generalised withdrawal but a specific military procedure established by the British Army. Back in the 16th century war may have been a brutal hand-to-hand affair but it was conducted under rules of engagement that seem now somewhat quaint. These were laid out in some detail by the British Army's "Rules and Ordynaunces for the Warre", dated 1554, and also by Robert Barrett in his "Theorike and Practice of Moderne Warres", dated 1598.

One of the niceties that present-day combatants don't enjoy is the custom that, at sunset, all hostilities ceased and the soldiery went back to their camps to bed. The signal for this was a pattern of drum beats known as The Retreat. So, a retreat wasn't a signal to fall back and give up occupied land as it is now but a signal to retire to bed.

When I was in the service they played retreat at the end of each day (while they took the flag down.) You had to stop what you were doing (even if you were driving) and face towards the headquarters and salute until retreat finished playing. This is what it sounds like.



There are a lot of metaphorical phrases like this. Everyone uses them all the time but they often don't understand the origin.