Hey.  Pipe down.

That means be quiet… not that I want you to actually be quiet.  It is just one of those phrases that we use quite frequently, but how often do we really think about what it means… or how it got started.

My first guess is military.  Yep.  Probably a couple of hundred years ago, a bunch of troops were marching along through enemy territory, and the little dude with the bandage on his head was just tooting away on his little flute.  Probably some silly song, like R-E-S-P-E-C-T… or something.  But then the captain heard a snapping sound in the bushes over yonder.  He couldn’t really hear what the heck it was… for the likes of the the fella with the fife.  So he yells… Hey!!! Pipe DOWN!!!!  Meaning put that little pipe down so I can hear how badly we are going to get ambushed here in a minute.  Turns out it was a couple of squirrels frolicking in the oak trees, so no worries.  Pipe back up and away they go.

I know what you are thinking…. I am “off my rocker.”  Because this totally “came out of left field.”  But, as much as I’d like my writing to always be “better than sliced bread”,  sometimes I go “colder than a well-digger’s rear.”

None-the-less…….you probably should either…..”Put that in your pipe and smoke it,” OR “Pay the piper.”   And remember…”He who pays the piper calls the tune.”  Fife tunes.