by thenewgreen

Recently, I was in a conversation where someone referred to a person as a "blowhard." I'm well aware of the definition, and if you ask some people, I'm also well acquainted with the affliction. However, I was curious about the words origins. What is the etymology of blowhard? I assumed it had something to do with "tooting your own horn," so to speak.

All I could dig up on-line was this:

blowhard (n.) Look up blowhard at Dictionary.com also blow-hard, 1840, a sailor's word (from 1790 as a nickname for a sailor), perhaps not originally primarily meaning "braggart;" from blow (v.1) + hard (adv.). An adjective sense of "boastful" appeared c.1855, and may be a separate formation leading to a modified noun use.

What's a phrase that you are interested to know the origins of? OR... what's a word or phrase whose origins you find interesting?