“Good Lord! Aren’t you ready yet? We’re supposed to be there in another 20 minutes!”
“I got a call some ten minutes ago saying that the event has been postponed to tomorrow.”
“Then why didn’t you let me know? You could have called, you know. You always…”
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“Hey, I did call you. Several times, in fact. So, keep your shirt on.”
“Keep my shirt on? What are you talking about? I’m wearing a kurta !
“That’s true. Anyway, when you tell someone to keep his shirt on, you’re telling him not to get upset or angry. The expression is frequently used in informal contexts.”
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“In other words, it’s another way of asking the person to chill. To calm down.”
“Exactly! Keep your shirt on, kids. I’m sure the waiter will bring the ice cream soon.”
“I’m told that during the negotiations some of the members from the Union had a tough time keeping their shirt on. How’s that?”
“Sounds good. The kids were playing a practical joke on you, Ram! No need to get upset. Keep your shirt on!”
“But tell me, what’s the connection between a shirt and not getting angry?”
“Well, in the old days, when two people decided to fight with their fists, they usually preferred to take their shirt off.”
“Was it to scare the other guy?”
“No, shirts were expensive those days. People didn’t own too many. So, removing the shirt was one way of ensuring that it didn’t get torn or dirty in the fight. Whenever a man removed his shirt in public…”
“It meant he was getting ready to fight. Makes sense, I guess. Did you hear the news about Rahul? He’s got a great job in Kolkata. He joins next month.”
“There’s no way Rahul is going to Kolkata. He’s tied to his mother’s apron strings.”
“Tied to his mother’s apron strings? Is that your way of saying that Rahul does whatever his mother tells him to?”
“It’s a little more serious than that. It means that Rahul is controlled or dominated by his mother. He’s a puppet in her hands. The idiom is mostly used with men who are dominated by a woman. Here’s an example. Rekha wasn’t keen on marrying a man who was still tied to his mother’s apron strings.”
“Many of the cousins in my family are tied to their wife’s apron strings.”
“That’s true in most households. The expression can be used with women as well. My sister, for some strange reason, is tied to Aparna’s apron strings. I’ve told her repeatedly she needs to make her own decisions.”
“But tell me, why apron strings? Why not something else?”
“I understand that in the past, a housewife sometimes tied a cord around a toddler; this cord she would then fasten to her apron strings. This was her way of making sure that the child stayed close to her, and didn’t get into any mischief.”
“A practical thing to do!”
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A man who has never made a woman angry is a failure in life. Christopher Morley
The writer taught at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. upendrankye@gmail.com