Questions tagged [idioms]
Idioms are a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual words. Use [idiom-requests] if you are searching for an idiom with a particular meaning.
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Origin of the idiom "a few trombones short of a marching band"
I've heard the following idiom being used a few times recently but am unsure where it's come from:
He's a few trombones short of a marching band.
I don't know exactly what it means and I can't find ...
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Easier said than done vs. Easier to say than do
As a speaker of English as a second language, I've long been curious to know why English speakers would choose to say "Easier said than done" over "Easier to say than do".
Why ...
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What is a term for the evolution of idioms through error?
At my place of work the idiom bottom-up (as in bottom-up design) is often used and debated as a way of doing things. However over the last year or so it's increasingly being expressed as bottoms-up ...
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How to use “ respectively” correctly [closed]
Is it correct to say
I had an early start on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and worked 8, 9.5 and 10 hours respectively.
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Idiomatic word or expression for a lazy and unmoral person who gets paid without working - Translation of Spanish ‘ñoqui’ [duplicate]
I'm not talking about the Italian dish. In Argentina, there's a well known expression for someone who doesn't go to work and only assists the last month's day to get paid: It's called a ñoqui. The ...
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Origin of "turn the other cheek" [closed]
I’m wondering about the origin of “turn the other cheek”. I have heard it all my life.
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Idioms with prepositions and CMS Capitalization
I am finding the CMS instructions confusing on whether one should capitalize the word under in a title when it is used as an idiom. For example,
A Park under Threat.
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Was “who’s she, the cat’s grandmother” common in Scotland? [duplicate]
My mother’s retired Scottish nanny, who was born in 1888, and grew up near Ullapool, on Loch Broom, would say this. She also took care of me when I was a child. She would correct me when I spoke of ...
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"Out of sight" to refer to something that is very good — could it be based on German?
There is a word in German, ausgezeichnet which vaguely sounds like the English phrase "out of sight" but that is usually translated as "excellent". I could see some non-German ...
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Is it idiomatic to say "call of the blood"?
I've been struggling with this one...
I'm trying to figure out whether it's okay to use the expression "call of the blood" to describe the phenomenon of doing something naturally (or coming ...
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Can I add some words into the idiom "last but not least"?
The phrase 'last but not least' is a well-established one, but I'm wondering whether I can split it and add a parenthetical bit into it:
And finally, the last but definitely not the least geocache I ...
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Idiom for unexpected solution?
Is there an idiom for an unexpected solution?
For more specificity, I want to write about how if you're sincere enough, sometimes you can find a solution in unexpected places.
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Idiomatic expressions for falsity pt. 2: the sophist falsity - Translation of Spanish: ‘versear’ or ‘chamuyar’
Introduction
According to correspondence theory, if you say or think something that does not correspond to reality then you have said something that is false. While this is an obvious concept learned ...
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Idiomatic expressions for falsity: the misconception falsity - Translation of Spanish: ‘la re flasheé’
Introduction
According to correspondence theory, if you say or think something that does not correspond to reality then you have said something that is false. While this is an obvious concept learned ...
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*Why* is "I've been to <place>" grammatically valid only in perfect constructions?
While riding my bike this morning, my mind was wandering. All of a sudden I realized that the phrase "I've been to (place)" is very strange because if you change the aspect of the verb, it ...
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Origin of "home and dry"
Cambridge says that the idiom home and dry is British English, which explains why I hear it used around me. It means:
to have successfully finished something
but I have heard it used also literally. ...
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What is the origin of the expletive "man alive!"?
There are various speculations about its origins: its being a euphemism for 'Good Lord' or a simplification of 'any living man' or again a shortened 'no matter – man alive!' (Thomas Hood 1845)
"...
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Converse phrase for "in writing" [closed]
Is there an converse phrase to "in writing", in the sense of completing a task or a calculation in-writing? This should have the sense of "in explicit thought, but not in physical ...
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What's a phrase that describes a person who keeps making attempts doomed to fail because they don't want their previous work to have been for nothing?
What's a phrase that describes a person who keeps making repeated attempts that they know are doomed to fail because they don't want all of their previous effort to have been for nothing?
They feel ...
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Is there an expression in English for saying "to make your own mistakes"? [duplicate]
In Russian, we say "to have one's bumps" when we mean that someone makes their own mistakes, thus getting experience and learning from their errors. Is there anything similar to that in ...
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Is "and no religion too" grammatically correct?
In the song, "Imagine" by John Lennon, one of the lyrics is, "and no religion too". This is certainly not how most people talk – it would normally be, "and no religion either....
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A "change in scenery" or a "change of scenery"? Are both forms of this sort of expression truly correct? I know the latter one is, but the former? [closed]
As my title says, is a "change in scenery" as correct as a "change of scenery"? I am self-conscious of how a "change in" might sound odd or off or be even absolutely ...
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Is there a phrase for when you "bite the bullet" on a logical consequence but maintain that it's not a "bullet" at all?
Opponents of a view often attempt to draw outrageous logical consequences from the view in order to discredit it: if p leads to something as outrageous as q, then that just shows that p is false. ...
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Irish expression - come with your hands hanging [closed]
South Ireland Cork-Kerry border Shliabh Luachra "don't come with your hands hanging"
“We'll be right over ... Can we bring anything?”
“No thanks. As the Irish say, 'Just come with your ...
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Is "in case of need" idiomatic British English?
I've been shown an Out of Office template, and one of the sentences in it asks the sender to contact someone else within the company "in case of need", as the email will not be forwarded.
I'...
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Equivalent idiom for "When it rains in [a place], it drips in [another place]"
In Dutch we have an expression
Als het regent in Parijs druppelt het in Brussel.
When it rains in Paris it drips in Brussels.
meaning that (political) events in Paris affect Belgian politics.
Is ...
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"Don't rock the boat" attitude [duplicate]
When someone tends to hesitate to acknowledge a problem and avoid involving trouble even if needed, is it ok to say in a negative nuance that
He/She always has a "don't rock the boat" ...
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Looking for idioms [closed]
Is there an idiom for someone who's doing you a favor with someone else’s property or money?
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Proper Usage of "Too" in the Middle of a Sentence
I'm curious about the acceptability of using the adverb "too" in the middle of a sentence right after the contraction "there's." Specifically, I want to know whether "too"...
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Idiom "Catches Me Out"
According to MW "catch me out" means:
caught out; catching out; catches out
transitive verb
1
: to detect in error or wrongdoing
caught him out committing perjury
2
: to take unawares or ...
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Plural for "under one's belt"
How would we use the phrase "under one's belt" if the subject is 'us'? Would it be "under our belts" or "under our belt" because it is an idiom?
For example
With a year ...
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"The" together with comparative degree [duplicate]
For me English is the second language, so when I was taught about the comparison degrees, there were positive (normal), comparative (beyond normal) and superlative (taken to the extreme) degrees of ...
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Is the phrase 'get me started' in the idiom "don't get me started" an example of causative?
To me, the boldfaced part of 'don't get me started' looks like a causative because of the form:
get + object + past participle
and the meaning:
More often, the intent is negative and the expression ...
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An English equivalent to the Spanish phrase «Me pasó a un amigo»?
In Spanish we sometimes say something like «Me pasó a un amigo». For example, you could be telling someone to be careful when doing something because otherwise something bad and possibly embarrassing ...
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The Phrase "You're brazen" [closed]
Is the phrase "you're brazen" used frequently in American English? If so, could I respond to someone who isults me with it?
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Word, term or phrase for idioms, proverbs, figure-of-speech that lose their true meaning due to being from a different time or due to translation? [duplicate]
In various language literature, there could be idioms, proverbs, figure-of-speech that lose their true meaning because
it meant something in a different time period
Or
it was being translated from ...
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Is there a connection between "Having a chip on one's shoulder" and "Knock it off"?
After reading the Wikipedia article I was wondering about a possible connection between these two idioms.
Quoted from Wikipedia: Chip on shoulder
This idiom traces its roots back to a custom that was ...
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What's the name for saying "no" but not meaning that?
What is it called when someone says no, but actually doesn't mean that?
Imagine this situation: when two lovers have had an argument then one of them is trying to apologise but the other one (usually ...
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you could do worse than + -ing
Merriam-Webster defines "could do worse" as an idiom:
used to say that a particular choice, action, etc., is not a bad one
You could do worse than to vote for her.
Although I would have ...
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How did "excited for" come about?
I really don't like the phrase "excited for" which seems to have become very common in recent years, as in "I'm excited for the weekend...". My sarcastic reply would be "I ...
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Do I say "Hear the voice of reason" or "Listen to the voice of reason" or either? [duplicate]
Although I say "Listen to reason," if I insert "voice of," do I use "Listen to the voice of reason" or "Hear the voice of reason," or can I use either? The ...
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Another name for Plants [closed]
Can I write 'blood-lacking living beings' instead of just plainly writing 'plants'? P.S: I have this assignment where creative names are appreciated!
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Use of "hill to die on"
I recently heard this expression for the first time, and I'm wondering what's the correct way/s of using it, when it comes to constructing a sentence that includes it. I would like to know how "...
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"Only the time can/will tell" : a rare variant of "Only time can/will tell"?
In this video on the aftermath of the first launch of SpaceX Starship, at "6m27s" can be heard this apparently unusual sentence: "Only the time can tell."; personally, I've never ...
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Participial phrase with a subject unomitted [duplicate]
I wonder this sentence is both grammatically and idiomatically correct.
"That movie having a pretty big budget, filmmakers did not need to have one in order to succeed."
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Where and when did "booby prize" originate, and in what context did it become popular?
Merriam-Webster's Eleventh Collegiate Dictionary (2003) has this entry for the term "booby prize":
booby prize n (1889) 1 : an award for the poorest performance in a game or competition 2 : ...
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Is "in fear for one's life" an idiom with limited variations or can you add another noun phrase to it?
Re: "in fear for his future and his life" (the actual quote, emphasis mine)
With a fair amount of certainty, before today, I would've stated that "in fear for his future" is not ...
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An idiom or a saying like "give a dog a bone" or "throw someone a crumb"
This expression is often used to describe situations where someone is given a small reward or token gesture to keep them content, while the larger, more significant prize or benefit is kept hidden or ...
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"over someone's house" vs. "over at/to someone's house" [closed]
I'm curious about this because it seems like I've heard both versions but am not completely sure. This is in reference to American English (I'm in the US).
Which is correct/incorrect?
We were invited ...
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Can "sitting down" be both an act and a state?
This is in reference to American English (I'm in the US).
Obviously the following is common usage: "I sat down.", indicating an act.
But is the following also correct:
I don't like to stand ...
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