Idioms are a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words.
22
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15answers
3k views
Opposite of 'Midas touch'?
I'm wondering what word or phrase could be used for the counter examples of 'Midas touch' effect.
The Midas touch, or the gift of profiting from whatever one undertakes, is named for a legendary ...
3
votes
2answers
351 views
Is ‘anything in a skirt” a popular idiom? Does it have special overtones?
I came across the words, ‘anything in a skirt” in the following sentence of Jeffery Archer’s “The Fourth Estate”:- Page 202.
“(Captain Armstrong is entitled to a car and driver) if the brigadier
...
4
votes
3answers
4k views
Is “kicking ass and taking names” an offshoot of an older idiom?
Is this idiom an offshoot of an older idiom? I have heard something that sounds similar to this, but the words were slightly different.
16
votes
4answers
21k views
Which is correct: coming down the “pike” or “pipe”?
Is the expression "coming down the pike" or "coming down the pipe"? I've always used pike, but I've heard a few people use pipe recently. I can see how both could make sense, but which is correct?
2
votes
1answer
43 views
usage of “Made for”
eg. I would've made for a bad lawyer.
conveying the meaning that if I had been a lawyed, I would have been a bad one.
is it correct usage?
3
votes
2answers
40 views
Suit Yourself origins?
The young daughter of a friend of mine said, "I think 'suit yourself' comes from a lazy tailor," which cracked us up. It also got me wondering.
I did the obligatory google search and came up with ...
-2
votes
1answer
66 views
Meaning of “as it was” in context
What does it mean "as it was" in this context?
She was awakened by a shock, so sudden and severe that if Dorothy had not been lying on the soft bed she might have been hurt. As it was, the jar ...
2
votes
1answer
126 views
What does ‘play the pill’ mean?
There was the following sentence in Maureen Dowd’s article titled “Taxing Times for Obama” in the New York Times May 18 issue. - ...
1
vote
0answers
77 views
What does 'trout-shouldered' mean?
In an episode of the television show Archer one character refers to another as being "trout-shouldered."
“This pathetic, trout-shouldered excuse for a boom operator is Chet Manly."
What might this ...
3
votes
2answers
49 views
“best thing since X”
If you were to read some news like “Movie X is the highest-grossing since (earlier) Movie Y” or “Earthquake X is the deadliest since Y” or “Gold prices are highest since the spike in year Y” or ...
0
votes
0answers
72 views
What does 'What kind of mischief are you up to?' mean?
One of my US users asked the following questions when she got information about my resignation from my manager.
What is this rumor I hear? What kind of mischief are you up to?
I am not sure ...
5
votes
2answers
111 views
How did the term “to favor” come to signify a limp? [closed]
Often in athletics, horse racing and when you encounter a person with an injured limb or other thing it will be said "He seems to be favoring his right leg" by which a person/commentator/etc means "He ...
8
votes
1answer
1k views
Etymology of “here goes nothing”?
I was reading my child a manga story today and one character said, "here goes nothing." I hadn't heard that expression since I myself was a kid, and I always took it to mean "here goes my best try." ...
-2
votes
0answers
56 views
Whose window? - What's the idiom for unpredictable unknown beneficial opportunities that might come up?
I've heard an idiom that contains the word 'window' and I think it is of the form, somebody's window. Pandora's window or something. I don't remember the somebody.
It applies to beneficial unknown ...
7
votes
5answers
17k views
Is being “low on the totem pole” good or bad?
The background for this question is that I'm watching the latest episode of NCIS, and in this episode it is mentioned that the term "Low on the totem pole" actually is a good thing, reserved for the ...
10
votes
3answers
3k views
What are the jimmies that are being rustled?
This rustles my jimmies
seems like a commonly used idiom recently to denote being annoyed, angered, touched. Still, every idiom has some origin, and I wonder what is the original meaning of this ...
3
votes
1answer
76 views
Can “Call it a career” be applied only to celebrities and successful people?
I saw the idiom, “Call it a career” in the article of New York times (May 12) announcing Barbara Waters’ planned retirement in 2014:
...
-1
votes
1answer
87 views
Meaning of 'take it to the hoes'
I came across the following sentence:
You can just take it to the hoes on Broadway if you need to get your freak on.
And not only can I not understand the phrase 'take it to the hoes' but I also ...
1
vote
1answer
64 views
Beating them “with my gloves on”
This is a comment made on a discussion on a roadrage incident,
Anyone attacks me in traffic while I'm on my bike, I'm beating the f-ck out of them with my gloves on.
What does he mean by "with ...
2
votes
1answer
50 views
What are “shrewd turns”?
In John Webster's play, The Duchess of Malfi, Antonio says of the Duke:
He never pays debts unless they be shrewd turns,
And those he will confess that he doth owe.
I really don't understand ...
2
votes
2answers
147 views
“it's all in the wrist”
What is the meaning and origin of this idiom?
Internet searches are confounded by the many headlines and jokes that allude to the phrase superficially (e.g., “repetitive strain injury – it's all in ...
4
votes
2answers
104 views
What's a useful replacement idiom for “money shot?”
I'm afraid I have been somewhat innocently causing offense by using the term "money shot" in its general, non-pornographic sense. My coworkers either have dirty minds or lack awareness of the other ...
3
votes
1answer
94 views
Why is one “sent to Coventry”?
I was reading in the paper today of some hapless wight who had been sent to Coventry (meaning ostracised and given the silent treatment) by his colleages. It then occurred to me to wonder why Coventry ...
0
votes
1answer
51 views
Is “ill at ease” perfectly interchangeable with “uncomfortable”?
There was the following sentence in a series about the art and craft of writing in New York Times (April 29) written by Tim Kreider under the title, “The Power of ‘I Don’t Know’”:
I’m always ill ...
2
votes
5answers
155 views
Use of the term “Sharia Law”
I understand that Sharia is the religious law of Islam. Is the term “Sharia Law” redundant? I hear and read it all the time.
9
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3answers
3k views
What is difference among “a tad,” “a bit,” “a little?” Why do you use “a tad?”
I came across the word “a tad” which is unfamiliar to me in today’s New York Times’ article, titled “Yankees Bracing for Cold in Opener and in April.”
The article starts with the following line:
...
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3answers
132 views
Meaning of “I'm a disaster” [closed]
What does disaster mean in the following sentence?
I'm a disaster.
6
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4answers
3k views
Is heart-rendering correct?
I have seen people use heart-rendering. Is there a usage like that? Is it used wrongly for heartrending?
1
vote
6answers
928 views
What does “don't shoot yourself in the foot” mean? [closed]
What does "Don’t shoot yourself in the foot" mean?
Unfortunately, most salary decisions are based on perceived performance, not on actual performance. Don’t shoot yourself in the foot.
8
votes
10answers
594 views
“You get what you deserve nothing more nothing less”
In this world we reside, what we acquire depends on what we can acquire. In other words, if we have the money to, we can buy a house; if we have the necessary educational qualifications to, we can get ...
2
votes
2answers
230 views
What does Pope Francis “called out him (Pope Emeritus Benedict) on it” mean?
There was the following sentence in the article titled “Pope Francis tells Pope Benedict to stop rolling his eyes in meetings” in May 2nd New Yorker magazine - ...
0
votes
1answer
102 views
What is the origin of the idiom “like pulling teeth”?
I would like to know more about the idiom "like pulling teeth". For example, does anyone know its origin and first usage?
1
vote
4answers
20k views
What does the phrase “I’m down with” mean?
I was wondering about the meaning of:
I am down with something.
Also, I was wondering whether people say:
I am up with something.
If so, what does it mean?
2
votes
2answers
178 views
Where does the “I brake for” idiom come from? [closed]
I am familiar with how I brake for is being used nowadays, but am puzzled as to where this idiom comes from.
I can imagine a possible origin, say a particularly popular campaign where stickers with a ...
7
votes
13answers
2k views
Idiom, word, or expression meaning an easy-to-do task
I am looking for a term, expression, word, or idiom to describe a task as an easy one to do or to go through.
What I’d normally say is:
Actually it’s not difficult, it’s as easy as drinking a ...
13
votes
6answers
3k views
Where did “There, there” (in consoling) come from?
I never understood why "There, there" is supposed to cheer someone up. Does anyone know?
1
vote
2answers
129 views
Meaning of 'I don't swing at soft balls'
In an episode of Cougar Town, I noticed one of the characters told her friend 'I don't swing at soft balls'. First I thought it was an idiom, but I couldn't find it anywhere when I started looking it ...
-3
votes
0answers
41 views
Lying down vs Lying [closed]
John is lying down in a white floor. His eyelids are closed, but his eyes are moving.
It should be lying down or lying? Lying down is like a idiom?
1
vote
4answers
255 views
Why should “be” come after “neither a borrower nor lender,” not before them?
I came across the maxim, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be” in the following sentence of Jeffery Archer’s fiction, “The Fourth Estate” (P.54), and found that the maxim came from Lord Polonius’ ...
1
vote
2answers
138 views
Usage of 'on the brink of'
(Talking about a chimp): "In human age, he would have been on the brink of puberty."
I was told that this sentence is odd because 'be on the brink of' is usually used for something negative: ...
8
votes
2answers
3k views
Origin of “More X than you can shake a stick at”
What is the origin of the phrase "more X than you can shake a stick at"?
Every website I've seen on this basically says the same thing (e.g., http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-sha2.htm):
Recorded ...
2
votes
8answers
6k views
Indirectly saying “I love you”
I want tell to someone "I love you", but not in that manner (indirectly but to get that idea). How can I do it in a modern way?
0
votes
2answers
57 views
Ambiguous usage of “got”
I read this sentence:
I'm glad I got to know her.
"Got" can be used like permission, like "I was allowed/able to", but it can also be used like the ongoing status of something, as in
When ...
1
vote
2answers
64 views
Evolution of “push somebody's buttons” and “know what buttons to push”
Colloquially speaking, "to push somebody's buttons" means to irritate or annoy the person. And, "know what buttons to push" means to know what to do to get people to act the way you want.
I can't ...
1
vote
2answers
88 views
Differences between “Pay attention to” and “Keep an eye on”
What is the difference in meaning between "Pay attention to" and "Keep an eye on"? Can I use both in the same way? Or is one of them stronger than the other?
4
votes
3answers
3k views
What's the difference between a proverb and an idiom?
I think I have a notion what is what but maybe you know a good definition what is what? For example "Hindsight is always 20:20" - is that a proverb or an idiom?
2
votes
1answer
69 views
Meaning of “leave on a full basis”
When I was reading News of Real Madrid - Di Maria set to be released, I saw following sentence:
Real Madrid management seem to have decided to let Di Maria leave on a full basis.
What does this ...
12
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1answer
1k views
-2
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1answer
158 views
what does the expression “my five cents” mean? [closed]
I saw this in an informal email but I don't understand it.
Can you help me with the meaning and the context in which it is used (if used at all or if it simply a mistake from the sender)
Thank you!
14
votes
3answers
4k views
“On the other hand” without the first hand
I have been criticized by colleagues in the past for using "on the other hand" as an alternative to "however" at the beginning of a sentence, because they said that you could only use it if a previous ...
