For Your Edification

As part of my first Major Paper in linguistics, I have to research the histories of several idioms. Since I don't have a lot of time to work up a decent post, you lucky folk get to see some of the fruits of my labors.
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"Losing Face:"
This idiom originated with the Chinese expression tiu lien, which was used to describe “losing dignity before others.” Late in the 19th century, English traders translated the phrase directly into English, resulting in to lose face, and the phrase has been around ever since. It is interesting to note that the English invented the phrase to save face, “to maintain one’s dignity,” by copying the Chinese.

"Hit It Off:"
People have been using dogs in their hunts for hundreds of years. “Hit it off” was originally a hunting expression meaning “to strike the scent.” When a dog found the scent (and thus the trail) of the prey, it was said to have “hit it off.” In the modern usage, two people “find they have something in common, ‘hit the scent’—and are off!”

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Random Thought of the Day:

I had my first experience with "Self-Check-Out" counters at Wal-Mart today. For those of you who have yet to partake of this New-World revolution, I shall provide a brief description:

1) Choose your language: English or Spanish (Klingon edition coming soon)
2) Scan your item: wave the barcode on the tag over the little Scanner-Thingy.
3) Weigh the item: Place just-scanned item in a plastic bag, which rests on an electronic scale. In this way, They help make sure that you aren't scanning one thing and walking out with another.
4) Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for each item you wish to purchase.
5) Select your payment method: cash, check, debit card, credit card, arm and leg, or firstborn child. (Yeah, right. Like anyone uses cash anymore these days.)
6) Collect your stuff and your receipt.

Now, some people might say that this shows an improvement in Society's moral conduct, since we can trust citizens to be honest. I say it shows an improvement in Society's technological finesse and heralds the dawn of the Robotic Age, wherein humans lose the jobs of "cashier" to the Automated Security Drones who patrol the check-out counters of the future.