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,

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