Shut up

Posted by R. Berg on June 21, 2005

In Reply to: Shut up posted by Anne Woodward on June 21, 2005

: What is the origin of the phrase "shut up"? I have been told that it refers to the visor being shut down/no further discussion and enter the battlefield; please help because I do not buy this definition.

It's mouths, not visors. From the Oxford English Dictionary, two early uses:

1826
"Let them answer the question, or shut up their mouths upon this subject."

1852
"Well, his mouth's shut up at last."