Editor's Corner

A couple of weeks ago, one of you said that you were talking to your kids and said, “Well that really opens up a can of worms.” Your children responded dumbfounded with, “What!?” I agree with your kids that it is such an odd turn of phrase. Then today, as my husband was performing a demo, he responded to a client’s question with, “Answering that now would really open a can of worms.”

Okay. I give in. Let’s talk about it today!

From Merriam-Webster, to open a can of worms means:

To create a complicated situation in which doing something to correct a problem leads to many more problems.

Example: Our boss is reluctant to change the policy now because she doesn’t want to open a can of worms.

But where does the phrase come from? Worms are good creatures. Why put them in a can?

Nobody knows the exact origin of the phrase, but most people think it comes from the United States, around 1950. Back in the ’50s, if you wanted to go fishing, you’d get up early, drive to your favorite spot, and take your fishing pole along with a metal can full of worms.

The website Today I Found Out says:

The fisher folk… (W)ould set the metal can down and open it. What was inside was alive and if the top was left open for too long or the can was tipped over, well, your biggest problem would no longer be catching fish. It would be catching your bait that’s wriggling away.

The articles I read both launched into an extensive discussion of Pandora’s box and how the Greek story has a similar message as “opening a can of worms.” I’ll try to give you the concise version of Pandora.

The Greek gods were fighting, as they often did. Zeus ended up having Hephaestus, the craftsman, create the first woman out of dirt and water. All of the other gods gave her a flourish or two and sent her to earth. Her name was Pandora. (In Greek, pan means “all” and dora means “gift,” so Pandora was all of the gods’ gifts.)

Pandora was also given a box (which was actually a jar) and she was told never to open the jar. Of course, there’s no story if she obeys, so she opened the box, and all the evil things in the world came out: sickness, suffering, death, squirrels, etc. In the version I learned as a kid, there was a question about whether “hope” flew out of the jar—since some people look at hope as positive, but others see it as negative, since it can string you along in bad circumstances.

And there you have it, how Pandora’s gift jar and a can of worms seem like a great thing at first, but when opened, you unleash many other problems.

Hmm…did they have pull tops like this in the 1950s, or is this a “modern” can of worms?

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

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