O plutarch, you have piqued my curiosity! (or as a friend of mine would put it, "you have peeked my curiosity!" - mind you, she also signs her emails, "chow!" )

Do tell about the wool-pulling and the cat-getting-tongue. The only one I know is the origin of "don't fly off the handle" - or at least, I heard that it comes from warnings about loose ax heads and the damage they can do when they come flying off....(I'm open to correction on this one!)