This is an I-Heart podcast.

And we continue with our American stories and up next our recurring series about the

curious origins of everyday sayings.

Here to join us again is Andrew Thompson as he continues to share another slice from his

ultimate guide to understanding these many stories, these many mysteries of the English language.

To run a mock means to engage in wild or erratic behaviour,

and it dates from the 16th century in Malaysia.

The Amuco were a band of Malay warriors,

and they believed that warriors who died in victorious battles

became favourites with the gods,

while warriors that failed were dishonoured and killed.

This led the men to fight with extreme frenzy, and this frenzied fighting fascinated the European explorers of the 18th century. Captain

James Cook, in fact, wrote about them and said to run a mock is to get drunk with opium,

to sally forth from the house, kill the person or person

supposed to have injured the amok, and any other person that attempts to impede his passage.

A mock then officially became a psychiatric medical condition in 1849 and is still considered one today.

Run of the mill means average or ordinary, and that expression originated in the early milling towns of england

these great mill towns mass produced wool and cotton which was exported all over the world it was an

extremely large industry and a mill's reputation and profitability was primarily based on the

quality of the material it produced quality control checks are essential before the material could be sold,

but anything coming directly from the mill without having been inspected and graded

was known as a run of the mill and was considered inferior.

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