We carry around our favorite expressions like loose pocket change and plunk them into conversation as idly as we do quarters in a vending slot.

But like those coins, this has flip sides. On the one, the heavy usage bonds us, even helping to establish our membership in a group or culture. On the other, it shows we're lazy, stifling originality in our speech and writing.

We rely on them because "it's easier," noted Joan Wines, longtime English professor and current chairwoman of the English department at California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks.

Our pet phrases are also fun. Often, their back story is as interesting as the actual saying. Every so often, a book comes along that examines their origins.

One of the latest, released this summer, is "Let's Talk Turkey," by Oregon resident Rosemarie Ostler, a former University of Iowa professor who has a doctoral degree in linguistics.

In it, Ostler admits: "The exact moment of an expression's birth is seldom discoverable. Slang often exists in the culture for years or decades before being captured in writing."

But once it hits print, that cements its usage, Wines noted.

The phrase gets adapted to other situations and many times ends up with meanings miles away from its original usage.

"Everyone knows what a bat out of hell is, except a bat," said Simon Waltzer, chairman of the language arts department at Ventura College. "A lot of them don't really describe the issue or the action, but there is a common understanding of what these phrases mean, even if they don't really mean that."

Wines agreed on that commonality, adding, "People latch on to these phrases because they are so colorful and interesting and out of the norm."

Academies that rule out words and phrases, as well as language mavens such as William Safire, might sniff at our expressions. But then there was author-editor H.L. Mencken, who wanted the language to be as unfettered, robust and full of life as life itself.

Wines likes the Mencken philosophy but also said, "We don't think as carefully as we should about our use of language."

It's a fascinating subject, she said, adding: "When cultures change, expressions change. There are a lot of things you can examine through our expressions."

Waltzer, who conceded such academies are at times "too elitist," said he appreciates that language changes but also thinks repetitive use of phrases is a detriment.

"It's OK to use them if you have the vocabulary in the first place," he said, "but if these are what you rely on, then you're not thinking enough. It's just patter, I think."

Maybe it's best to continue this at a dinner-table or coffeehouse debate.

In the meantime, here are summaries of some of the more than 150 familiar figures of speech in Ostler's book:

Pass the buck: Frontier poker players typically passed a buckhorn knife around the table to keep track of whose turn it was to deal. The phrase became popular in the 1840s gold rush days, when a game wasn't hard to find, and in the early 20th century became a broader metaphor for shifting responsibility onto someone else.

Paint the town red: This stems from Western frontier towns; the theory goes the color red refers to red-light districts that sprang up in them. Brothels advertised their business by burning a red light in the window, and saloons typically were located in such "wilder" districts, so the term came to mean to celebrate boisterously or riotously.

Spill the beans: It's widely held that this one stems from the ancient Greek practice of electing members to secret societies by dropping beans into a jar; the process stopped if someone accidentally tipped over the jar, spilling the beans — though Ostler casts some doubt on the story's veracity. By the 20th century, the phrase was gangster slang for betraying cronies under pressure and now means telling a secret others want kept under wraps.

Talk turkey: Etymologists, Ostler writes, are unsure why turkeys came to be associated with talking; maybe, their gobbling noises reminded people of conversations they'd heard. A widely repeated origin theory is that an Indian and a colonist went hunting and bagged several birds, including a turkey. When it came time to divide the day's spoils, the colonist wanted the prized turkey and the Indian supposedly replied, "You don't talk turkey to me, but I'll talk turkey to you." Ostler thinks this story is unlikely. The phrase later shifted from making general conversation to discussing cold, hard facts or detailed negotiations.

Waiting for the other shoe to drop: This stems from an old Mark Twain story about a tipsy boardinghouse lodger who comes home late. He staggers around getting undressed, pulls off one shoe and lets it drop noisily; later, a tenant below loudly asks when he's going to drop the other shoe, as he can't get to sleep waiting for it to happen. It became a standard vaudeville joke and by the 1930s, it came to mean waiting for the inevitable result or logical conclusion of any event — typically signaling bad news.

Change horses in midstream: This owes its popularity to Abraham Lincoln, who during a speech on his nomination to a second term as president alluded to an old Dutch farmer saying that it's best not to swap horses in midstream. Similarly, people may not have liked his handling of the Civil War but thought it best not to change horses during such a monumental time because things might be botched worse, Lincoln surmised. To this day, the expression conveys the idea that changing tactics in the middle of something could be momentous.

Take the cake: In the antebellum South, slaves held dance-walking contests called cakewalks; whomever had the most stylish strut won a cake, often a cornmeal cake. Cakewalks then went mainstream as a popular ballroom dance, and the phrase became used as a general term for winning a prize. Later in the 19th century, it was twisted into meaning the most egregious example of something, often as a negative, as in, "Of all the bubble-headed flakes I've met, she takes the cake."

Take a rain check: The first rain checks literally were checks — or tickets — issued that allowed holders to attend a future baseball game in lieu of one that was postponed due to rain. The practice appears to have started in the 1880s; eventually, tickets were made with perforations so the stub could be kept in the event of rain. The phrase now takes the general meaning of postponement or future possibility, as in, "I'll take a rain check on that."

Sing like a canary: Singing has equaled betrayal since at least the 16th century, Ostler writes. By the 19th century, singing was criminals' cant for snitching to police; canary became slang for a police informer by the 1920s. By then, canaries were synonymous with the earlier-used "stool pigeons."

Eat crow: The legend goes that during the War of 1812, an American soldier went hunting during an armistice, crossed into British-held territory and bagged a crow. A British soldier came upon him, took the American's gun by trickery and forced him to take a humiliating bite of crow. The American then got the gun back and forced the Englishman to eat crow. Ostler thinks this story is likely untrue, writing that the origin stems from the idea that 19th-century Americans simply considered crows bad eating — but we like the legend better. The phrase later came to mean admitting you were wrong on any subject, usually in public to increase the humiliation.

Like a bat out of hell: Bats have long been associated with the underworld; the play "The Birds" by the Greek dramatist Aristophanes refers to a bat from hell. Bats move quickly through total darkness without hesitation, Ostler notes, so the phrase became a common description for someone moving with speed and confidence, at times recklessly. Ostler also notes that many think the singer Meat Loaf's similar-titled 1977 album might have revived the phrase's popularity.

Go the whole nine yards: Ostler writes that this is the one about which etymologists get the most inquiries. No, it doesn't come from football. One theory goes that it stems from the exact length of Browning machine-gun ammunition belts, so using it up would mean going the distance. But others discredit that, noting such belts vary in length. The phrase also has been linked to a standard measurement for cloth shrouds, the phrase "to the nines" and its connotation of the ultimate, the number nine's importance in various mythology, and even to Vietnam War-era hill people slangily called "yards" who were used in special operations and often came in groups of nine. In any case, the phrase means to go all-out, do everything possible or push things to the limit.

Clean someone's clock: Clock has been slang for someone's face since the early 20th century. The clean part, Ostler writes, suggests wiping the smirk off someone's face or rearranging its features. So the phrase came to mean punching someone and, later, defeating someone by a wide margin.

Drink the Kool-Aid: It has one of the more modern origins, tied to the Jim Jones-led People's Temple religious cult members who committed mass suicide in 1978 in Guyana by drinking poisoned Flavor Aid, a beverage similar to Kool-Aid. Soon, metaphorical references to drinking Kool-Aid as a term for following something blindly began to appear. The phrase also can refer to a true believer's wholehearted commitment to a political or social cause — or to any kind of bogus claim or argument the hearer is expected to swallow. "Don't drink the Kool-Aid" often is used to warn someone against being too gullible.

Behind the eight ball: This phrase for being in trouble comes from billiards and the black ball numbered eight. In one game, players must hit either all the solid balls or all the striped ones into pockets, avoiding the eight ball until last. If they accidentally knock it in before that, they lose. In other variations, the eight ball cannot be hit before other balls, so one located behind (or near) the eight ball becomes very tricky to hit first. Thus, having a ball behind it became associated with being in a bind.

Fly off the handle: The handle refers to an axe handle; in 19th-century rural America, axes were used to chop wood needed for fireplaces and stoves. At times, the axe heads would loosen and fly off in midswing. Not only was it dangerous, it was sudden and startling — like a person's explosive temper. Considered country talk then, it became part of standard speech in the 20th century.

Knock someone's socks off: Originally, this 19th-century expression was an exaggeration for hitting someone so hard that it would cause them to rise out of their own footwear. The threat conveyed intent to do serious damage, and later also was used to mean to defeat someone soundly. At some point, the phrase turned into a good thing to do, as in "flooring" or impressing someone. It can also mean to surpass, as in, "He can knock the socks off me at marbles."

Don't take any wooden nickels: This derives from an earlier phrase "don't take any wooden nutmegs," which alludes to spice peddlers substituting nutmegs carved from any wood for the costlier and scarcer genuine article. Around the turn of the 20th century, many everyday things cost a nickel — candy bars, paperback novels, bus rides, cigars, a movie. As the popular nickels were made from metal alloys and not wood, the phrase jumped over to them.

Will it play in Peoria? This comes from vaudeville days, when performing troupes often would test their acts in Peoria, Ill. In those days, Peoria — a midsized city between Chicago and St. Louis — represented a cultural line between East and West and a historic one between North and South. So the thought was if they loved the act in Peoria, it'd go over big anywhere.