“Are you ready to go to the party?”
“I’m more than ready. I’m raring to go!”
In the early 1800’s this saying increased in popularity, but its origins come from those who worked with horses. When a horse wants to move forward but is held back, they often will go up on their hind legs and stand up in a manner to resist the hand that is holding them back. The more excited the horse is to go forward, the higher they might go up, or they will hop up and down over and over again.
This action among horses is called “rearing,” but often cowboys called it “raring” instead, and the words became interchangeable. Excitement, exuberance, youth, fear—all of these can be driving factors that cause the horse to stand on its hind legs if they are stopped from going forward when they desperately want to.
Over time, this phrase became used to show that the person is very excited and prepared to move forward on whatever action when asked if they are ready.
Have you ever heard this saying before? Used it yourself? Could you see yourself using it now? Let me know in a comment!
We have correctly used the phrase here in our home, but had no idea of its origin.
ReplyDeleteI love learning this kind of thing.