Language is constantly evolving, everyone knows that. You're minding your own business, and then suddenly "alright" is one word. But what's not as well-known is that some super-popular phrases -- and even beloved traditions -- started out in really dark places. Their original meanings were, to say the least, troubling.
A surprising number of these involve “making it easier to shoot somebody" or “maying sure neither of you were going to short each other.” But don't worry! We threw in a bunch of racism and evil spirits, too! It's about to get linguistically wild up in here! And buddy, if you've never gotten linguistically wild, well…let us get you a sweater vest and more than one version of the dictionary, because we are going to party like a bunch of grad school students who never figured out how to work the stereo because it would just muffle the words anyway.
For example...
Source: Etymology Online