Where words and phrases come from is a fascinating subject, full of folklore and historical lessons (continuing phrases beginning with D)

Devils’ advocate - person who presents, usually for the sake of argument, an opposing view (which he does not himself hold)

Origin - During the canonization process of the Roman Catholic Church, the Devil’s advocate was a canon lawyer appointed by Church to argue against the canonization of the candidate. It was their job to take a sceptical view of the candidate’s character, to look for holes in the evidence, to argue that any miracles attributed to the candidate were fraudulent and more. The office was established in 1587 during the reign of Pope Sixtus V and abolished by Pope John Paul II in 1983.

Die-hard - fierce or resilient

Origin - The Die-hards were the British 57th Foot regiment, so called after their Colonel Inglis addressed them before the (victorious) battle against Napoleon’s French on May 16 in 1811, ‘Die hard my lads, die hard’. Only one officer of 24 and 168 men of 584 survived. The regiment later became the West Middlesex.

The die is cast - irrevocable decision or step has been taken

Origin - The die here is the little-used singular of ‘dice’, which is actually a plural word though usually used as a singular. In gaming, when the die/dice is thrown or cast the players must accept the consequences.

Dog in the manger - selfishly depriving others of something one has no use for oneself

Origin - From the Aesop’s fable of the dog which lay in a manger, unable to eat the barley but refusing to allow the horse, which could eat it, to come near it.

Dog’s life - a wretched existence

Origin - An expression that reflects the times when dogs held a much less privileged domestic position than they now do, thus, ‘a dog’s life’ (a wretched one) and ‘not a dog’s chance’ (no chance at all). Someone or something, ‘going to the dogs’, is heading towards ruin.

Donkey’s years - a very long time

Origin - It is said to be an illiterate form or misunderstanding of ‘as long as a donkey’s ears’. There is a simpler explanation: donkeys are long-lived - 40 years has been known or alleged - and so donkey’s years may mean no more than ‘the number of years a donkey may live’.

Don’t look a gift-horse in the mouth - do not find fault with a gift or chance benefit

Origin - A young horse is a more desirable gift than an old one. A horse’s teeth reveal its age, just as old people without dental care suffer from receding gums. The sense of the expression, therefore, is that if you receive a horse as a gift it is bad manners to look in its mouth to establish its value.

If something is ‘straight from the horse’s mouth’ it is from a reliable source. This again has to do with looking at teeth to establish age and therefore value; this information is likely to be more accurate than any other, such as that provided by a dishonest horse-trade