Project 1 FINAL

The host of the podcast "Idiot's" explores the origins and meaning of the expression "the wolves are at the door." The phrase dates back to the late 15th century and was originally used to refer to avoiding destitution and poverty. The idea behind it was that if you had enough to provide for your family, you could leave food for the wolves outside your home to keep them away. The phrase has evolved over time and now refers to any unpleasant or threatening situation that should be avoided. The host gives himself a 7 out of 10 for his interpretation. Welcome to Idiots, I'm your host, Michael Kornick. Each episode, I'll be looking at an expression or idiom still in use today, and try to find out where it came from, as well as what the original meaning was, and comparing that to its current meaning and usage. If you were listening closely to the intro music, there was a clue as to the topic of today's episode. So let's get started, shall we? Today's idiom, the wolves are at the door. Well, that's a menacing way to kick off a new podcast, isn't it? It's an expression I've heard countless times before, but I never really thought about where it came from. Whenever I would hear it, I always thought it referred to some immediate impending threat. The wolves have been at the door all night, but Hellebuck has been brilliant in turning away scoring chance after scoring chance. Or we are facing unprecedented threats from multiple fronts, but when it comes to climate change, the wolf is already at the door. So was I close? Did I nail the meaning? Or was I so far off base it's ridiculous? Let's dig in. According to multiple sources, this expression has been around since at least the late 15th century, first appearing in a work by the English chronicler John Harding. Some have traced the origins of Harding's expression to either a French saying that translates to, eat like a wolf, or the German idiom, wolf's stomach, which means having a keen appetite. Harding's phrase was slightly different than the current expression. He wrote, the wolf were from the gate, which fairly soon after morphed into, keep the wolf from the gate. By the 1500s, it had been tweaked a little more into, keep the wolf from the door. The more familiar, the wolf is at the door, is just a further evolution of this expression. So what was Harding referring to when he penned this idiom for the ages? Well, it seems that it was in reference to avoiding destitution. The wolves Harding was referring to were starvation and poverty. Historically, wolves have had it pretty rough reputation-wise. Ravenous eaters that wouldn't hesitate to start munching on a human drumstick, thigh, wing, or neck if they couldn't find a comparable poultry part to chow down on. One theory of the original meaning of the expression is that if you were able to provide well enough for your family, you'd have enough food that you could leave scraps at the side of the road, away from your home, for the wolves to eat in order to keep them happy and away from your home, thus keeping the wolves from the door. If they couldn't find anything by the road, the wolves would just come up to your door. And at that point, well, for whoever's on the other side of that door, it's a bad day. The idea of wolves being malevolent has roots that reach back into the Bible. Matthew 10.16 reads, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Well, that sure sounds like fun, doesn't it? So was my meaning close? I guess. Kinda. Sorta. A wolf at the door in modern times often refers to something unpleasant that has presented itself, often bringing with it some sort of threat of harm or undesired consequences. The wolf at the door refers to something to be desperately avoided or overcome. And that does line up with the original usage. Although when the phrase was first used, it referred specifically to poverty, today it can mean any sort of anxiety-inducing interaction or outcome that would best be avoided. Now on a scale of 1 to 10, how closely do I think my interpretation lines up with the original intent of the expression? Well, I'd give myself a 7. Hey, it was my first episode, and I'm an easy grader. I was on the right track, but I really didn't have a sniff of what the original expression was specifically referring to, namely poverty. Oh yeah, one last thing. I did find one source who said keeping the wolf at the door is a euphemism for delaying one's sexual gratification, but there's no need for giggling at that. Anyway, thanks for taking the time out of your day to check out the show. If you learned something new, sweet. That's what I was hoping for. And I hope to see you again next time on Idiom See.