It is an expression used about four hundred years ago by British writer William Shakespeare in his play "Othello."

VOA: special.2010.05.23

But beans are used to describe something of very little value in the expression, not worth a hill of beans.

VOA: special.2010.01.31

You can see the wisdom and experience in her face, which is very different from the baby's wondering expression.

VOA: special.2009.03.23

It is a very old expression. Hot water was used five hundred years ago to mean being in trouble.

VOA: special.2009.05.10

The expression was first used in the southern part of the United States to describe the use of force to win an election.

VOA: special.2009.02.15

A popular expression used at the time was MGM had "more stars than there are in heaven."

VOA: special.2009.05.31

The "six" in the expression comes from the six feet that make up a fathom which is a little less than two meters.

VOA: special.2009.05.24

Other experts say the word cheese in this expression was really an incorrect way of saying chief.

VOA: special.2011.05.08

But in the nineteen sixties, the expression rolling stone became famous in the world of rock-and-roll music.

VOA: special.2010.10.17

A writer for the magazine "American Speech" said he first saw the expression used in nineteen seventy-one.

VOA: special.2010.05.16

Nothing much can stop it. Americans still use the expression "to bulldoze" but mainly in political situations.

VOA: special.2009.02.15

The "six" in the expression comes from the six feet that make up a fathom -- which is a little less than two meters.

VOA: special.2011.03.06

One of Washington's officers, Royall Taylor, used the expression in a play about Daniel Shay's rebellion.

VOA: special.2009.01.25

There was a sweetness and softness in the woman's expression that I had never seen before.

VOA: special.2009.07.04