A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - Q - R - S - T - U - V - W - X - Y - Z
Origin of Phrases - R
Read Between the Lines
Meaning: Listen to what is implied, not what is explicitly stated.
Example: If your girlfriend told you that you are a good friend, you need to read between the lines. It's over.
Origin: In the 16th century, it became common for politicians, soldiers, and businessmen to write in code. To a person ignorant of the code, a secret paper was meaningless. Ordinary folk fascinated with this mystery concluded that the meaning was not in the lines of gibberish, but in the space between them.
Early in the days of sending secret messages people would write in substances that would only be revealed on plain paper with the use of a re-agent. For instance, lemon juice is normally transparent on paper, but when heated (say over a candle flame) it becomes discolored. Many people will probably remember the "Secret Agent" pens, which had a writing tip at one end and a revealer at the other.
Obviously a courier delivering a blank piece of paper was a bit of a give-away, so the author of the message would write a seemingly innocuous letter in ink and then write the secret message in the spaces in between. The recipient would then have to treat the letter and read between the lines of the letter to get to the real message.