Where words and phrases come from is a fascinating subject, full of folklore and historical lessons. (Today, we continue with phrases beginning with H)

Holy Grail - uniquely prized object of search or quest; high idealOrigin - According to legend, the Holy Grail was Christ's cup (or plate) at the Last Supper. It was then used by Joseph of Arimathea to catch some of Christ's blood at the Crucifixion and was brought by Joseph to North Wales, where it disappeared. Manifesting itself from time to time to a chosen few, the Grail became the object of sacred quest by the Knights of the Round Table. Grail, an old word for bowl, cup or platter, now exists only in this context.

Home sweet home - There is no place like homeOrigin - The title of an immensely popular song taken from the melodrama Clari, or the Maid of Milan (1823) written by the American John Howard Payne (1791-1852) - who never had a home in his life - with six musical numbers composed by Sir Henry Bishop (1786-1855), a noted home-wrecker. The words do not actually occur in the body of the song, though 'home, sweet sweet home' does.

Hook, line and sinker - believe, accept, etc. completelyOrigin - From angling: the hook, which carries the bait, is attached to the fishing line, and the sinker is the weight that keeps the hook beneath the surface. A fish that swallows all three shows unusual, even improbable, greed.

Hue and cry - public outcry of alarm, protest, etc.Origin - The modern meaning goes back to part of English common law in the centuries after the Norman Conquest. At that time, there was no organized police force and the job of fighting crime fell mostly on ordinary people. If someone robbed you, or you saw a murder or other crime of violence, it was up to you to raise the alarm, the hue and cry. Everyone in the neighbourhood was then obliged to drop what they were doing and help pursue and capture the criminal. If the criminal was caught with stolen goods, he was summarily convicted, while if he resisted arrest he could be killed. The word hue is from the first part of the Anglo-Norman French legal phrase hu et cri.

It seems that hue could mean any cry, or even the sound of a horn or trumpet - the phrase hu et cri had a Latin equivalent, hutesium et clamor, 'with horn and with voice'.

Hydra-headed - variously and persistently troublesome or evilOrigin - The hydra was an enormous nine-headed serpent in Greek mythology.

It lived in a marsh in the Peloponnese, ravaging herds and crops and killing people with the poison of its breath.

One of the 12 labours of Hercules was to destroy it; when Hercules attempted to do so he found that if he cut off one head, two grew in its place, but he finally succeeded with the help of red-hot brands.

In modern imagery, the hydra is used of any multi-faceted problem or wickedness that presents fresh difficulties as soon as one is solved.