Out on a limb 

The theme should make itself clear…

Tote that bale!

Above board – Early trading ships would hide illegal cargo below the ship’s deck.  Legal cargo could be placed in plain view on deck, or “above boards” of the deck.  Therefore, anything that was legal was called “above board”.

If two ship pass in the night, can you see the flag colors?

Pass with flying colors – the phrase comes from sailing ships that, when passing other ships at sea, would fly their colors (flags) if they wanted to be identified.  You could tell friend or foe by the color of the flag, so to pass uncontested with flying colors meant you passed the “test” successfully.

No wonder it’s a happy gesture!

Thumbs up – This one comes from the thumbs up hand gesture attributed to the ancient Romans and the gladiators who fought in the Coliseum.  When one gladiator had emerged victorious in a fight, the spectators would get to decide if the loser should live or die.  If they felt the loser had fought bravely enough, his life would be spared, otherwise he would be killed.  The spectators signaled their vote with a thumbs up for life and a thumbs down for death.

If you gave this week’s installment two thumbs up, check out some previous posts:

Color me green! – http://jeffreymdaniels.com/blog/?p=1571

Bad boy! – http://jeffreymdaniels.com/blog/?p=1508

Clothing makes the man – http://jeffreymdaniels.com/blog/?p=1413

For the birds – http://jeffreymdaniels.com/blog/?p=1349

Dangerous words – http://jeffreymdaniels.com/blog/?p=1240

Animals and their skins – http://jeffreymdaniels.com/blog/?p=1135

A hodge-podge of stuff – http://jeffreymdaniels.com/blog/?p=1063