This is an I-Heart podcast.

And we continue with our American stories.

And now it's time for our recurring series with author Andrew Thompson. His book

is Hair of the Dog to Paint the Town Red, the curious origins of everyday sayings and fun phrases.

He continues here to share another slice from his ultimate guide to understanding these baffling mini-mystries of the English language.

A dark horse is a competitor that is unknown or wins unexpectedly.

And that expression originated with the writer Benjamin Disraeli,

who was also a 19th century British politician, who became Prime Minister twice.

In his 1831 novel, The Young Duke, he describes a horse race where two favourites are beaten by a rank outsider,

which is described as a dark horse which had never been thought of, rushed past the grandstand in sweeping triumph.

It was common in the racing industry at the time for owners to conceal their fastest horses

until the day of the race, and because of Disraeli's book, they became known as dark horses.

A dead end is an expression which means an impasse or allowing no progress and whilst many may think it relates to

the dead end of an alley it actually relates to the english game of lawn bowls which has been

played for centuries in bowling an end is one stage of a game where all players have bowled towards

the jack which is the small white target ball if the jack is driven out of the playing area by one of the player's balls,

the end cannot be continued and must be replayed.

It is considered a dead end.

If someone calls you a dead ringer, it means that you very closely resemble another person.

And while the origins of that expression are very disputed, some sight horse racing, it means that you very closely resemble another person.

And while the origins of that expression are very disputed, some sight horse racing,

it actually has a perverse beginning in the comers of medieval Britain.

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