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03-04-2014, 16:17
Idioms, Their Meanings and Origins
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Meaning: You love a person more when they are away.
Origin: This line was first read in Davison’s ‘Poetical Rhapsody’ in 1602.
Brand spanking new
Meaning: A new or unused object.
Origin: This idiom originates from doctors spanking a newborn baby to make it cry to start breathing.
Break a leg
Meaning: To wish good luck.
Origin: This idiom has its origins in a superstition about believing in Sprites. Sprites are the spirits of ghosts, who were known to create a havoc. Thus asking someone to ‘break a leg’ meant fighting the spirits.
The cat bird seat
Meaning: To be at a vantage point.
Origin: Mocking birds are known as cat birds who usually sit on the tree top to get a broad view.
Clear as bell
Meaning: To be understood clearly.
Origin: The bells, like the ones used in churches have a loud and clear sound which can be heard over a great distance. Thus, the idiom originates from the clear and single note sound of the church bell.
Cold Turkey
Meaning: To quit something abruptly and experience severe withdrawal symptoms.
Origin: When one quits something abruptly, the skin resembles the pale blue color of a dead turkey.
Get up on the wrong side of the bed
Meaning: To start the day on a less happy note.
Origin: This phrase owes its origin to a popular belief in the Roman times. It is believed that in those times, getting up on the left side of the bed was considered to bring bad luck.
At the end of my tether
Meaning: To reach the end of your patience or endurance.
Origin: This phrase originates from the fact that a tether rope is tied to grazing animals with one end around their neck and the other to the ground. This is done to prevent them from wandering away into the wild.
Apple of my eye
Meaning: An object of affection, which is valued above everything else.
Origin: This idiom has Biblical origins. It finds a mention in Deuteronomy 32 “He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye”.
Go back to the drawing board
Meaning: To start the venture from scratch.
Origin: This phrase originates from the actual need of architects, designers, draftsmen, and each and every person who plans and needs a space to do so. The space here is essentially a drawing board. This use of this phrase increased after the World War II.
I’ll take a rain check
Meaning: It is a polite way of turning down a proposal or an invitation, and to promise that the same will be fulfilled at another time.
Origin: This phrase owes its origin to the fact that not many people like doing things when it is raining.
Bone of contention
Meaning: A topic which remains a dispute for discussion amongst parties.
Origin: The Oxford English Dictionary states that this phrase was coined back in the 1500s. It was seen in the sentence, “The diuell hath cast a bone to set stryfe betweene you”. It could refer to two dogs fighting over the same bone.
Kick the bucket
Meaning: To die.
Origin: The idiom is derived from the twitching slaughtered pig which is hung on the bucket bar. Sometimes, the slaughtered pig develops muscle spasms and the twitching appears as kicking the bucket bar.
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Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Meaning: You love a person more when they are away.
Origin: This line was first read in Davison’s ‘Poetical Rhapsody’ in 1602.
Brand spanking new
Meaning: A new or unused object.
Origin: This idiom originates from doctors spanking a newborn baby to make it cry to start breathing.
Break a leg
Meaning: To wish good luck.
Origin: This idiom has its origins in a superstition about believing in Sprites. Sprites are the spirits of ghosts, who were known to create a havoc. Thus asking someone to ‘break a leg’ meant fighting the spirits.
The cat bird seat
Meaning: To be at a vantage point.
Origin: Mocking birds are known as cat birds who usually sit on the tree top to get a broad view.
Clear as bell
Meaning: To be understood clearly.
Origin: The bells, like the ones used in churches have a loud and clear sound which can be heard over a great distance. Thus, the idiom originates from the clear and single note sound of the church bell.
Cold Turkey
Meaning: To quit something abruptly and experience severe withdrawal symptoms.
Origin: When one quits something abruptly, the skin resembles the pale blue color of a dead turkey.
Get up on the wrong side of the bed
Meaning: To start the day on a less happy note.
Origin: This phrase owes its origin to a popular belief in the Roman times. It is believed that in those times, getting up on the left side of the bed was considered to bring bad luck.
At the end of my tether
Meaning: To reach the end of your patience or endurance.
Origin: This phrase originates from the fact that a tether rope is tied to grazing animals with one end around their neck and the other to the ground. This is done to prevent them from wandering away into the wild.
Apple of my eye
Meaning: An object of affection, which is valued above everything else.
Origin: This idiom has Biblical origins. It finds a mention in Deuteronomy 32 “He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye”.
Go back to the drawing board
Meaning: To start the venture from scratch.
Origin: This phrase originates from the actual need of architects, designers, draftsmen, and each and every person who plans and needs a space to do so. The space here is essentially a drawing board. This use of this phrase increased after the World War II.
I’ll take a rain check
Meaning: It is a polite way of turning down a proposal or an invitation, and to promise that the same will be fulfilled at another time.
Origin: This phrase owes its origin to the fact that not many people like doing things when it is raining.
Bone of contention
Meaning: A topic which remains a dispute for discussion amongst parties.
Origin: The Oxford English Dictionary states that this phrase was coined back in the 1500s. It was seen in the sentence, “The diuell hath cast a bone to set stryfe betweene you”. It could refer to two dogs fighting over the same bone.
Kick the bucket
Meaning: To die.
Origin: The idiom is derived from the twitching slaughtered pig which is hung on the bucket bar. Sometimes, the slaughtered pig develops muscle spasms and the twitching appears as kicking the bucket bar.
PROSOURCE VIỆT NAM
SỐ 18, ngõ 67, phố Chùa Láng, Đống Đa, Hà nội
Hotline: 046.680.3010 hoặc Ms Thư 0944.266.006/ 0949.268.855