This column studies the history of words and phrases and their origins.

Bald as a coot - extremely bald

Origin - Coots are water birds whose heads have the appearance of baldness. This doesn't refer to the lack of feathers on the bird's head, but to their white markings

On the ball - alert

Origin - A football player is said to be on the ball when having control of the ball and looking for a scoring opportunity or someone to pass to. Thus on the ball has come to mean alert, efficient: but if the ball is in one's court (the initiative or responsibility has passed over to one) the allusion is to tennis, in which one can only strike the ball if it is in one's own half of the court.

Balls to the wall - push to the limit, go all out, full speed

Origin - This is an expression from the world of aviation. On an aeroplane, the handles controlling the throttle and fuel mixture are often topped with ball-shaped grips, referred to by pilots as (naturally) balls. Pushing the balls forward, towards the wall of the cockpit, is to apply full throttle and the highest possible speed.

Bank on - count or depend on

Origin - The first banks were in medieval Venice, then a prosperous centre for world trade. They were no more than benches set up in main squares by men who both changed and lent money. Their benches would be laden with currencies from the different trading countries.

The Italian for bench or counter is banco and the English word bank comes from this. Banks have always had a reputation for dependability and from this sense arrives the expression to bank on.

Eager beaver -An exceptionally zealous person,

Origin - The beaver is remarkable for its industry (and skill) in constructing its habitation and creating dams to preserve its water supply. This gave rise to the verb beaver away for someone who works very hard and to the phrase eager beaver for a person who is keen to succeed.

Bells and Whistles - non-essential features, visual or functional, that are only enhancements.

Origin - The term comes from the theatre organ. These mighty instruments augmented their basic repertoire by all sorts of sound effects to help the organist accompany silent films, among them car horns, sirens and bird whistles. These effects were called toys, and organs often had toy counters with 20 or more noisemakers on them, including bells and whistles. When talkies arrived, theatre organs continued to be used for quite a time, and these fun features must then have been considered no longer essential to the function of the organ, but frivolous add-ons.