Recently, I fell down stairs. Like an on-my-back-looking-up-at-the-stars-and-wondering-when-I’d-be-found kind of fall. The recovery of my torn-up ankle has been arduous to say the least.
So, when I recently heard a friend say they were feeling, “fit as a fiddle,” I not only turned green with envy (hmm, perhaps another phrase to research, why green?), I wondered why we use that expression.
What does being fit have to do with violins? Do violins go to the gym and eat healthy, with low cholesterol numbers? I imagined violins in full Jane Fonda mode.
SAYING: Fit as a fiddle
EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
“I just got back from the doc,; she said my numbers are as good as someone half my age, and I’m ‘fit as a fiddle.’”
WHY WE SAY IT:
The phrase was first used in a play written by William Haughton in 1616 entitled, “Englishmen for My Money, or, a Pleasant Comedy Called, a Woman Will Have Her Will.” The play is about a Portuguese Jew living in London who tries to marry his three daughters to a Frenchman, Italian, and a Frenchman. The daughters outwit him and marry Englishmen instead. (I can see the Hollywood casting now!)
The phrase refers to the fact that in order for a fiddle to have a beautiful sound, it must be maintained well.
Today, I circumnavigated my beautiful garden in a walking boot and a walker, and soon I hope to be able to say I’m fit as a fiddle as well!
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Sources: IdiomOrigins.org, Jstor.org