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.

The expression fair game means a legitimate target for attack or pursuit.

And it's an expression that began in the 18th century in England.

King George III was a keen hunter and introduced a raft of new laws in an attempt to reduce poaching and protect livestock that the upper-class landowners had.

The king wanted to keep the hunting as a privilege of the aristocracy and he made it illegal for anyone, apart from the landowner and his eldest son, to kill any game animals such as pheasants or deer.

The punishments were severe for breach.

Only certain animals were exempt and allowed to be killed by others, such as vermin or birds that were harmful to the landowner's crops.

These animals were referred to in the laws as fair game.

Feather in your cap means a symbol of honour or achievement

and its origins are owed to the times of early warfare.

In medieval England, knights who exhibited battlefield bravery

were awarded feathers to be worn on their helmets.

These were considered symbols of status similar to modern day medals

that soldiers receive. In the first major battle of the Hundred Years' War in 1346, Prince Edward,

the Prince of Wales, showed bravery. He was known as the Black Prince, and he was only 16 years old

when he was awarded the crest of John of the Bohemia, his defeated enemy.

The crest consisted of three ostrich feathers, which remains the crest of the Prince of Wales

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