3. Hunting dogs often chase animals up
trees, only to have the animal jump
to a branch on another tree to try to
escape. When the dog would miss
this happening it would then be
barking up the wrong tree.
9. This came from playwright John Dennis in
the early 1700s. One of his plays was not
well received, but his cutting edge sound
effects for thunder were; he soon found
that others had copied the effect and
"stolen his thunder."
11. This origin of this does not have to do
with an actual box. It is instead based on
the "9 dots puzzle" where the 9 dots are
arranged in a box shape; to solve it you
must think outside of traditional logic.
13. Food is easier to swallow with a small
amount of salt, and this evolved into
taking news with a grain of salt to make
it more palatable to receive.