Make ends meet

One of the devastating side effects of COVID-19 is that many people have been forced to rely on food banks to help them "make ends meet." But exactly what ends are supposed to meet? Where does that saying come from?

The first recorded mention of the phrase dates to a 1662 book by Thomas Fuller called "The History of the Worthies of England" (i.e., worthy men). Published posthumously, the book was the first attempt at a dictionary of national biographies. Though Fuller was studious about researching original sources, he also had a fondness for epigrams, anecdotes, puns and other linguistic amus...