Feeling Cheesed Off?

Have you ever had one of those days? You know, when nothing really goes the way you want it to? When meetings you have been dreading are just as bad as you were anticipating? When you waited and waited for that one signature (that never came) to complete a project and get it out the door? When you got the eggs home after a miserable shopping trip only to find a couple broken with egg goo all over the bag? Ya, me too.

How do you feel on those days? Miserable? Crappy? Fed up? Cheesed off? Really? Why would anyone want to equate feeling crabby with cheese? Doesn't everyone feel happier when they eat cheese?

From what I've been able to glean from various internets, including Merriam Webster and "World Wide Words", the phrase is British in origin, and strangely Merriam Webster lists its year of origin as 1942. And darn those Brits, but apparently in olden times, they didn't like their cheese stinky (though they do make amazing Cheddar and other tasty cheese). Sadly, the phrase "cheesed off" refers to the delightful "stinky" smell of cheese. I have this vision of a miserable Brit having a bad experience with a washed rind cheese that had just been patiently waiting for someone to come and love it, sending its fumes off into the world looking for a friend, only to run across this crabby patty, who wrinkles up his nose, and the rest of his day is ruined. To his mind, that complex, charming cheese was "off," and from that day on, whenever he was having a really miserable day, with his quirky British sarcasm firmly in place, he would tell people he was cheesed off. Somehow, it caught on.

Anyway, that's just my version of events. Please feel free to share your own version of events!

Sleep on it. Wake up happy, and try always to eat cheese not get cheesed off!