Alternate Obscure Phrase for tonight:

[Robb]

Tell me, where do you think the term "balls to the wall" comes from originally? :)

Winner gets, well, nuthin' but bragging rights!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. I have no clue but it reminds me of the song

UP AGAINST THE WALL MOTHERFUCKER!

[GOPisEvil]

5. Udo Dirkschneider and Accept!

:bounce:

[Redneck Socialist]

2. glory holes?

Judas Priest did a song by that name.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. Flying, I think. When you dive and go fast, yourangle indicator

is stuck at the bottom of the gauge.

Just a vague rememberance.

[Robb]

4. Sorry to post and run last night:

Mrs. Robb came home early. ;)

Anyhoo, "balls to the wall":

Locomotive steam engines in the 19th century had mechanical governors (like California! Da-dum-dum!). Says Virgil Jose:

"These governors consisted of two weighted steel balls mounted at the ends of two arms, jointed and attached to the end of a vertical shaft that was connected to the interior of the engine.Ê The entire assembly is encased in a housing.Ê

"The shafts and the weighted balls rotate at a rate driven by the engine speed.ÊÊ As engine speed increases, the assembly rotates at a faster speed and centrifugal force causes the weighted balls to hinge upward on the arms.Ê

"At maximum engine speed - controlled by these governors - centrifugal force causes the two weighted balls to rotate with their connecting shafts parallel to the ground and thereby nearly touching the sides - the walls - of their metal housing.Ê

"So, an engineer driving his steam locomotive at full throttle was going "balls to the wall".ÊÊ The expression came to be used commonly to describe something going full speed."

:)