{"id":1392,"date":"2013-10-10T13:35:00","date_gmt":"2013-10-10T13:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/?p=1392"},"modified":"2014-09-23T11:08:22","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T11:08:22","slug":"the-idiots-guide-to-idioms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.listenandlearn.org\/blog\/the-idiots-guide-to-idioms\/","title":{"rendered":"The Idiot’s Guide to English Idioms"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SayingsVic1\"<\/a>There are many phrases and idioms we bandy about in every day conversation, but have you ever wondered how they came to be in common parlance? <\/em><\/p>\n

Some are as you imagine, some are not, so here are a few examples as a case in point.<\/p>\n

Case In Point<\/b><\/h3>\n

Derived from the Anglo-Norman French term en point<\/i> and became in point<\/i> meaning to be pertinent. It then became common in legal terminology, hence the case reference.<\/p>\n

Mum\u2019s The Word <\/b><\/h3>\n

This has nothing to do with mums, although the phrase meaning to keep quiet is something they probably say often! It actually refers to a sound made while keeping your mouth shut, such as mmmm or humming, and the word miming has also come from this 14th<\/sup> century word.<\/p>\n

The Hair Of The Dog<\/b><\/h3>\n

This is a saying that seems to have derived from apothecary circles that prescribed eating the hairs of the dog that bit you to avoid worse consequences. It was applied as a cure for hangovers around the 16th<\/sup> century with Shakespeare making it a common phrase. Funnily enough a similar idiom is used in Hungary, and Mexico, and in Costa Rica the same phrase is used, but with a pig replacing the dog as the central character.<\/p>\n

Having Your<\/b>\u00a0Guts For Garters<\/b><\/h3>\n

The serious consequences of \"having your\u00a0guts for garters\"\u00a0does appear to be quite a literal threat with many references to it in historical documents. The earliest known example occurred in Robert Greene's\u00a0The Scottish Historie of James the Fourth<\/em>, in the late 16th<\/sup> century: \u201cIle make garters of thy guttes, Thou villaine.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Raining Cats And Dogs<\/b><\/h3>\n

Unfortunately, we often say <\/b>it\u2019s\u00a0<\/b>\"raining cats and dogs\"\u00a0<\/b>in the UK, but the origin of the phrase appears to have come about in the 17th<\/sup> century when heavy rain would result in dead animals on the roofs being washed onto the street \u2013 let\u2019s be thankful we just have to deal with a bit of rain these days!<\/p>\n

Mad As A Hatter<\/b><\/b><\/h3>\n

\"Mad as a hatter\"\u00a0<\/b>is a rare thing, an idiom with its foundations endorsed by science. The use of mercury was regularly used to make hats in the 19th<\/sup> century, and the constant exposure \u00a0eventually gave the hat-makers mercury poisoning, symptoms of which included shaking, aggressive behaviour, and anti-social tendencies, hence the term coming to fruition.<\/p>\n

Saved By The Bell<\/b><\/h3>\n

My favourite is \"saved by the bell\", <\/b>and although there are many theories related to boxing bouts, I\u2019m going with the popular notion that people were rescued from being buried alive in ye olden days by having a string attached to a bell outside of the coffin, in the more-often-than-we-care-to-imagine case of them being mistaken for dead. In fact, Frederic Chopin\u2019s famous last words were \"Swear to make them cut me open, so that I won't be buried alive.\"<\/i><\/p>\n

There are hundreds of phrases we use every day, and of course, Shakespeare was responsible for many of them: much ado about nothing; all that glitters is not gold; too much of a good thing; wear your heart on your sleeve; rhyme nor reason; in a pickle; green-eyed monster; hearts content<\/i> \u2013 in fact the list goes on. Different cultures have different phrases with different origins, what are your favourites?<\/p>\n

If this list has made you that much more interested in the English language, why not see how well you know it with our English level test<\/a>?<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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