Modern idioms originating from milling

1. Damsel in distress

Origin (milling): In a traditional grist mill, the “damsel” is a mechanical part — a small rotating device that shakes grain into the millstones. When it wasn’t working properly (i.e., in “distress”), the milling process stopped or failed.
Modern meaning: Now refers to a woman in trouble who needs rescuing, especially in stories or films. The mechanical origins have been forgotten in popular use.

2. Run of the mill

Origin (milling): Originally referred to goods (like flour or fabric) that were ungraded, average quality — straight from the mill without selection or refinement.
Modern meaning: Ordinary, not special or exceptional.

3. Grist for the mill

Origin (milling): “Grist” refers to grain brought to the mill to be ground. Any grain — good or bad — was useful because it could be milled.
Modern meaning: Anything that can be turned to advantage or used for one’s purpose, especially information or experience.

4. Keep your nose to the grindstone

Origin (milling): Possibly from mill workers needing to stay close to the grindstone to monitor the grinding process — or from sharpening tools on grindstones. In either case, it implies hard, close, focused work.
Modern meaning: Work hard and stay diligent.

5. Millstone around one’s neck

Origin (milling): Millstones are heavy stones used to grind grain. A biblical reference and metaphor — something that weighs heavily on someone, as in a burden or source of guilt or hardship.
Modern meaning: A heavy burden or ongoing problem.

6. Put through the mill

Origin (milling): Suggests being ground down or processed roughly, like grain in a mill.
Modern meaning: To undergo a difficult, exhausting, or punishing experience.

7. It’s all grist to the mill

Variant of #3, but worth mentioning separately. It emphasizes that anything can be useful, just as any grain brought to the mill was useful.

8. Milling about

Origin: While not directly from wheat milling, the term “milling” also came to mean chaotic or aimless movement, like grains or people swirling around — possibly linked to the way flour dust or grain moves in a working mill.
Modern meaning: People wandering around without clear direction.

9. Chatterbox

Possible origin (milling):
The term may have originally referred to the “chatter” of a mill’s mechanism, designed to shake the grain down onto the millstone. The damsel was a wooden device that vibrated or “chattered” as it turned, shaking grain into the millstones. The noise it made — a constant clacking — was familiar and distinctive.
Over time, “chatter” became associated with constant talking, and “chatterbox” came to mean a person who talks a lot, often endlessly.

10. First come, first served:

Possible origin (milling): This was the law for millers in many countries. Farmers would have their grist milled in the order they arrived at the mill.
Modern meaning: Usually associated with a limited offer where the first to pay have first choice.