In William L. Shirer's 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich', numerous speeches and documents are quoted as using the idiom "to pull one's chestnuts out of the fire." Was this an editorial flourish by Shirer, or was this really a common saying?

by Bhangbhangduc

As the title says, the phrase appears in Shirer's translations of Soviet documents, of some of Hitler's speeches, in British and American diplomatic missives, and in other places besides. It seemed peculiar to me that this term should show up in so many places.

Cmdte

If allowed, I would like to point out that "die/seine Kastanien aus dem Feuer holen" (literally translated as the above Phrase) is a turn of phrase in use in today's german, and would like to extend the question to the phrase's origins.

If not allowed, please alert me of the removal, dearest nods. <3