Idioms are driving me up a wall.

Some folks don't know they're called that, those cliches we use in everyday conversations. I wonder where and when they got started. Well, come hell or high water, I'm going to ramble out over 20 of these common expressions while defining them in context, too.So let's play it by ear. In the 16th century, someone who couldn't read music might have played an instrument by sound. Once a bad note or three was played, boos rained down from a displeased audience like cats and dogs, a phrase that didn't originate until the 17th century when dead animals washed up from their graves onto the streets after a flooding rain.I can't play tennis to save my life. In 1848, Anthony Trollope wrote that he couldn't perform the duties of a curator if his life depended on it. I would turn a blind eye though if Trollope decided to try his best. After all, in 1801, English naval hero Horatio Nelson placed his telescope up against his blind eye so that he could not see the orders to cease fire from his commanding officer. There's a fat chance or a slim chance, that heroes like Nelson would obey orders against their own instincts.Who am I to determine the fine line between stupidity and courage? It would be like the pot calling the kettle black during medieval times when pots and kettles turned black after repeated uses in the kitchen.Once in a blue moon I put my head in the clouds and lose all sense of logic. The blue moon is so rare, Catholics used to believe it was an order from God to fast another month during Lent.You think I'm barking up the wrong tree by now, don't you? A 19th century pooch failed to tree his hunter's quarry only to find out that he bit off more than he could chew, enough to give him an upset stomach because he couldn't find the pack of his canine buds after he ran off on his own.That dog was trying to blow his own trumpet. This phrase is of unknown origin, but when certain people yak, yak until my ears bleed, it's time for me to call it a day and leave the scene like they did in 1919 when workers departed their jobs after a half day's work, yet still counted it as a full day on their work sheet.For Pete's sake, this is getting ridiculous. That's for St. Peter, although he's really a replacement for Christ in the expression. Now I let the cat out of the bag because I brought up religion. Will Rogers once said it's easier letting the feline out rather than putting it back in, but nobody knows when or where the first bag was used. So what. No one should cry over spilt milk anyway. If you do spill some, consider it to be an offering to the fairies. Those cute little winged creatures are nothing to get upset about.So have you jumped on my bandwagon about idioms? In 1848, a circus clown named Dan Rice would play music from his wagon during a parade. Politicians found it to be an advantage to their campaigns if they rode on the wagon and waved at the crowd.When it comes to politics, I sit on the fence and take everything with a grain of salt. George Washington had asked a prominent New Jersey judge whether he favored the Loyalists or the Revolutionaries. The judge's slave told George the judge was sitting on the fence because he had not yet made his decision. Take all this with a grain of salt. My guess is the judge needed to add some flavor to his food so the issues of the day were easier to swallow. By George, I think I got that one right.Your guess is as good as mine about other idiom origins unless we hear it straight from the horse's mouth. Understanding them is a piece of cake, but here I tried to kill two birds with one stone while talking out of both sides of my mouth.