"SEPARATED BY A COMMON LANGUAGE..." Idioms of English Speaking Countries

Can anyone here explain the the "let/rent" origin to me?

A
R
T

Just like any other tag ending, eg innit/arencha/idknee/inchi/... .

You have to be very careful about word origins, FA. As you obviously know words have been invented countless times over the centuries and how they develop is often lost.

I think it might have started with, 'I will LET you live in my property if you pay me RENT.

This weekend I was with a friend and it got a little chilly and he said, 'Do you have a jacket?' I said, 'Yes, it's in the car' and he went to find it and he said,'I didn't see a jacket - I only saw this little 'wind cheater'.
I thought that was so funny - he said 'What's so funny?' and I said, 'Wind cheater - that's so cute - I'll be cheating the wind.
Then he asked, 'What do you call it? I said, 'I call it a wind breaker' and then he really started laughing and said, 'Oh no, you mean you'll be breaking the wind?'

As soon as we get the difference between "Rooms to Let" and "Rooms to Rent" decided, can we please resolve the mad/angry controversy.

We did one of those 10 second news-breaks years ago and the reporter said
"Coming up on News8 at 10: Congress fails to pass a budget and the President is mad."

I asked him a few minutes later if he didn't mean to say "angry" and he didn't understand the difference.

Joe(Is there one?)Nation

I didn't know there was any controversy, Joe. What's it all about, Joe?

Not to answer for Joe, but when I used to say things like, 'I was so mad,' when I was a teenager, I had a very intelligent friend who told me I should say that I was so angry - not mad- or people might think I meant that I was insane.

I think another interesting difference is in the use of the word 'estate'.
If you live on an estate in the US - you're one of the upper crust.
If you live on an estate or 'housing estate' in the UK - you're most definitely not.

I remember when Thomas (our/your Thomas) was nearly laughing when he noticed (in London, at an A2K-meeting, years ago) those signs saying "Flat to let". And as far as I remember, it wasn't rent which amused him most ...

That's mad, Aidan.

For this context, it doesn't sound quite right, does it, to suggest that that's an insane idea?

[I'm using this just as a pointed example, not with any intent to malign you or Joe.]

There are lots of "intelligent" friends, teachers, grammarians, ... who say the silliest things about language and lots of intelligent folk who believe them. But if those folks did a bit of thinking they'd realize that these canards/old wives tales/prescriptions are nonsense.

Yes, 'mad' carries the meaning insane but it also, frequently, holds the meaning of angry. Adjectives can mean many things, black/white/blue are examples just off the top of my head. Check any dictionary and you'll find that 'mad' has a number of meanings too.