Quick – what’s the source of the following expressions?

• To everything there is a season
• In the twinkling of an eye
• Gave up the ghost
• By the skin of my teeth

If you guessed the Bible, you’re correct.

In recognition of the 400th anniversary of the King James Version of the Bible, Glen Scrivener, a minister in the Church of England, decided to search scripture for phrases that have found their way into common parlance over the centuries. He found more than 300 and is blogging about them at “The King’s English – through the Bible phrase by phrase”. Interesting – and edifying. Notably, most the phrases we’re familiar with were spoken by… Jesus:

“It seems that, in all the bible, it’s the words of Jesus that tower over all others. He speaks around 5% of the bible’s content but provides most of it’s enduring sayings.”