With us you don't have to search for eggs! Because just in time for Easter, we're providing you with a series of appropriate phrases with the corresponding origin stories. Have fun with the Easter bunny hunt.
"Knowing how the hare runs"
Allegedly, this statement has already appeared in a source of the 13th century. Reference is made to the excellent technique of the long-eared hunters to hit their hooks and thus enjoy a decisive advantage over the opponent. Experienced hunters (be it human or animal) were able to anticipate the rapid changes of direction of Master Lamp and therefore had a higher catch rate. They were able to find out the main direction of the hare and oriented themselves to it. For this reason, it is still said today that someone who knows exactly the core of a problem or all the important details about it "knows how the hare runs".
"The Egg of Columbus"
This expression is used when a seemingly unsolvable problem can be eliminated with an amazingly simple solution.
The expression can be traced back to - who would have thought it - the well-known Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. According to a story by Girolamo Benzoni, historian and author of the work 'Historia del Mondo nuovo', the anecdote originated during a dinner at Cardinal Medoza's in 1493. Christopher Columbus had just returned from America to Spain, where his discovery was gladly devalued by various people. After all, anyone else could have done it, was the prevailing opinion at the table as well. Thereupon Columbus requested the present ones to put up an egg on its top. Easier said than done. The table neighbors also had to admit this and gave up after several failed attempts. Columbus was asked to try it himself, whereupon the Italian explorer took the egg, lightly banged the tip on the table, and finally placed the oval on the depressed spot on the table. When those present protested that they could have done the same, Columbus replied, "The difference, gentlemen, is that you could have done it, whereas I did!"
"Performing an egg dance" ("bumbling around")
When someone performs an egg dance, it means nothing less than that the person is either behaving very carefully or acting in an exceedingly awkward manner. We have the German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to thank for this metaphorical expression. One day he watched in amazement as a girl laid dozens of eggs in a certain pattern on a carpet and then danced blindfolded among them without damaging a single egg. Full of enthusiasm, Goethe scribbled down what he had just experienced in his notebook. The story then met with a great deal of popular approval and, together with the expression "performing an egg dance," spread rapidly among the people.
"Being an old hand"
The hopping long-eared animal (especially the rabbit) has become a popular pet in recent decades. But this was not always the case. In the past, rabbits were a welcome change on the plate, which is why the cute rompers were also hunted heavily. Consequently, the life expectancy of this animal was on average very low. Accordingly, old hares were said to be extremely cunning because they could escape the hunter for so long. An old hare is colloquially someone who has been washed with all the waters.
