Rest On Your Laurels

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

This is Betty. I’m calling from Christiansburg, Virginia.

We’re delighted you called, Betty. What’s going on?

I remember as a child growing up, my grandfather had a farm,

And there were a lot of older folks at the time. I’m probably their age now.

But at the time, they seemed old to me. You know what I’m saying?

And I remember hearing some of the ladies, they would say, okay, someone would ask, where is Uncle John or where is Grandpa?

And one of them would answer, oh, he’s out back resting on his laurels.

And I just figured that he was out somewhere, you know, taking a rest somewhere.

But I just wondered what that meant, where that might have came from and how long it’s been around.

-huh. Well, it goes back to ancient Greece, actually, where the Greeks used to crown victors in athletic competitions with wreaths on their heads of bay leaves.

Oh, cool.

Yeah, the same kind of bay leaves you cook with.

And those are laurel trees?

Yeah, yeah, they’re from the bay laurel tree.

And so if you were being honored, then you had a crown on your head made out of leaves.

You’ve seen pictures of this kind of thing, I’m sure.

Oh, yeah, definitely.

Yeah, and so later on in English in, oh, the 16th century or so,

People would talk about winning one’s laurels,

And then later on they’d talk about reposing on one’s laurels

Or retiring on one’s laurels or resting on one’s laurels,

Meaning that they’re just kind of goofing off after having accomplished something.

But I sense that these women, when they’re talking about your uncle,

They were perhaps suggesting that he had no laurels to rest on, but he was taking a break anyway.

Yeah.

And, you know, actually, I never heard a man say that about a woman.

So that’s what was kind of fascinating to me also, that the women said it about the men.

So maybe they hadn’t done anything that was that great, huh?

Yeah, that’s funny. That’s pretty funny.

So that’s a long history, though, right?

Yeah.

That’s great.

Yeah, it goes way back.

That’s really fascinating to me, and I’ve just always wondered about it.

And I still hear once in a great while someone around here say that,

And I say it even though I just figured you were going somewhere to rest is what I figure.

-huh.

All right.

Well, Betty, thank you so much for calling.

I hope you’ll keep listening.

I will, and I love your program.

Oh, thank you very much.

Thank you for clearing that up for me.

It was our pleasure.

Call again sometime, will you?

Okay.

Bye-bye.

Give us a call with your questions about where words and phrases come from.

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