Malcolm X stirred up a hornet's nest when he said this about John F. Kennedy after the President was assasinated, probably alluding to alleged C.I.A. attempts on Fidel Castro's life But the saying is an old one, dating back to atleast 1810 in the form of "Curses are like young chickens; they always come home to roost," which appears to have been the invention of English poet laureate Robert Southey as the motto of his poem, "The Curse of Kehama". The idea, ofcourse, is that every curse or evil act returns to it's originator as chickens return to their roost at night.
Chippendale:
Thomas Chippendale (ca. 1718-79) worked primarily in the French rococo, Chinese and Gothic styles, sometimes combining them without incongrous results. Setting up his factory in London in 1749, he later published The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Directory, in which he illustrated some 160 designs. Chippendale managed to combine comfort, grace and solidity in his wide variety of furntiture, which is highly valued today. So many of his designs were slavishly copied during the latter half of the 18th century that it has always been difficult to identify his own work. Dealers generally use the term Chippendale to designate a large variety of furniture in his style.
Clay Pigeon:
George Ligowsky of Cinncinati, Ohio, was in spirit an early conservationist who deplored the practice of using live birds in target shooting. One afternoon while watching boys skipping flat stones over the surface of a pond, he got the idea of making a clay target that could be released and shot at in place of a live pigeon, or other birds. Ligowsky patented his invention in 1881, calling them flying targets, but because they took the place of pigeons, they quickly came to be known as clay pigeons. Since then, for obvious reasons, clay pigeons, has also become widespread American slang for an easy target, someone who is easily duped, a sucker.
Cliff Dwellers:
Prehistoric people of the Southwest who were ancestors of the Pueblo Indians and were named Cliff Dwellers because they built their homes in caves or on the ledges of cliffs. The name now is humorously applied to residents of tall apartment houses in large cities.
Cowabunga!
Cowabunga! has recently come to be used as a general cry of delight, due to the popularisation of it by the cartoon character Bart Simpson of television fame. Originating in Australian surfing sometime in the 1960's, cowabunga! is still shouted by surfers at the beginning of a good ride or wave.
Cuckold:
Instead of building it's own nest, the cuckoo eats other birds' eggs and lays it's eggs in their place. The cuckoo's eggs are then hatched by the sparrow, wagtail or whatever. For this reason the bird's name became the basis for the derisive word cuckold , " a husband whose wife has been unfaithful"., a term that dates back more than a century before Chaucer's time. How cuckold came to be applied to the husband instead of the adulterer isn't clear, though Dr. Johnson believe that "it was usual to alarm the husband at the approach of an adulteress by calling out "cuckoo", which by mistake was applied in time to the person warned.
Curtain Lecture:
This is a reproof of lecture given in private of secret. Curtain Lectures date back to t he 18th century, when beds were oftened curtained and within the privacy of them wives often scolded or lectured their husbands, or vice versa.
