Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

The English language has spawned a number of clichs and expressions associated with hair. Today we'll examine some of these "hairy" words.

When was the last time you let your hair down, in other words, relaxed and abandoned formality? This is a phrase that's long outlived the custom that inspired it. Letting the hair down alluded to the carefully tended, old-fashioned tresses atop a woman's head that were allowed to fall loosely only in the informal atmosphere of the home.

When you get in someone's hair, you're being an annoyance. Though the origin of the phrase is uncertain, to get in one's hair may suggest the intrusive irritation of head lice. The expression was certainly in use by the mid 19th century, and probably much earlier.

The phrase bad hair day is of more recent vintage. First appearing in print in 1991, this expression literally describes unruly hair, and, by extension, refers to a day when everything seems similarly unmanageable. The phrase showed up in 1993 in Glamour, Time and Science magazines, and soon made its mark in popular culture. In 1994, complaints about the bad hair day were featured on the Oprah Winfrey show.

Radio Script > Hair Expressions I