Idioms are fun

In this book you will find the origins and examples of usage for the idioms and these are also classified into categories such as animals, birds, colors, parts of the body etc. This book is designed to enrich our language with idiomatic knowledge as well as a casual and enjoyable read!

Outstanding works of universal interest

Üürk is worse than your bife

Meaning

Sounding more frightening than

you actuallyare.

ANIMALS

We keep animals as pets, we need their help to do a million things ride, hunt, plough and then we use them to add a little excitement to our language, by weaving their characteristics

and traits into idioms which have a lot of history behind them So here's for some wordplay, animal style!

Usage

Though our neighbour isforever shouting at

us, Larry says his bark is worsethan his bite.

Origin

Thissaying originates in the 17th Century

when dogs keptas pets simply guarded houses,

and a dog that barked reallyfiercely always

sounded like he would bite a bitoffyou.

Butif the dog didn't really bite,then it was said

that his bark was worse than his bite!

Bards of s feather flock together

MeaningPeople who have common interests orhabitsare usually together

This is a saying that has been used by man

for morethan 2000 years. If you observe carefully, you will findthat birds of one kind

always fly together You never see a crowflying with pigeons, do you?

Black sheep of the family

Meaning

The most different or odd one out

in a group or a family.

Usag©

As David does not study hard like his other

brothers he is considered the black sheep

of hisfamily.

Origin

The colour black is associated with

evil and a sheep that is all black is

rare, especially in a herd of

all-white sheep So a black sheep in

a white herd is definitely the odd one

out Inthe early 1800's,shepherds

thought that black sheep scared offthe

white ones and therefore favouredthem

less Slowly,this saying came to refer to

the leastfavoured person in a family or group.

Bulls are clumsy creatures, large and

graceless When they move they always knock things out oftheir way.

This idiomfound its way into speechwher

dishes and plates made out of china (porcelain)were introduced in Europe in th

1 6th Century Imagine if a bull got into achina shop what havoc it would cause?

A leopard cannot change his spots

Meaning

We cannot changethe nature of things.

Usage

Mr.Wilson could notyell at Fredfor

stealing his mangoesbecause he is a

very gentle and forgiving person This instance portrays that Mr Wilson waslike a leopardwho cannot change

hisspots.

Origin

Have you seen the spots on a leopard? The saying originates from the 'HolyBible.1Inthe book of Jeremiah in the Holy Bible there is a verse which says 'Can the Ethiopianchange his skin orthe leopard change hisspots?'which

means that the basic natureofthings does notchange,evenwith changed

Pel - I down but didnot hurt himself He

cried crocodiletears only because

he v anted hisdad to buy himsomething.

Origin

Have you ever seen a crocodile crying?

I'm sure you haven't!Therefore anyone

who is crying crocodiletears is just

pretending The ancient Romans used this

exp ession freely Renowned writers like

LordTennysonand William Shakespeare

used this expressionto mean insincere

sorrow

Cry wolf

Meaning

False warning about a dangerthat is notreal

Usage

My brother pointsto the sky and says hecan see

rocketsflying which are going to crash onto the

earth But noneof us ever look upbecause we

know he is crying wolf.

Origin

Aesop,the famed Greek storyteller,told a story

about a shepherd boywho would fool hisfriends

bysaying that a wotf hadcome to eat their sheep

After afew times, when hisfriends realised that

he was playingthe fool they stopped believing

him One day the wolf really came.The shepher

boycried out for help but they thought hewas just

trying to fool them again and so did not run to help

him and all the sheepwere eagerly devoured by the wolf

Don't look a giB horse in the rnoufh

Meaning

Don'tcomplain if a gift is not up to your

expectation.

UsageWhen Aunt Lara boughtCynthia a beautiful

dress, she said she didn't like dresses withfrills Ireallythink she shouldn't look a gifthorse inthe mouth

Origin

In the olden days, when horseswere used for morethan just riding,peoplewould examine thei teeth to check whether it was a young strong

horse or an old one But if you were gifted ahorse by someone andyou examined its teeth by

lookingat its mouth,then you would be hurtingthe feelings of the person who gifted it to you In

other words, it is better not to betoo choosy orfuss about anything that comes to you as a gift

Eqger bg®y®r

MeaningHardworking, industrious

the beaver for its hardworking nature.The beaver swims in rivers and buildsdams madeof tiny wooden sticks across them Come rain or shine, the beaver is

always hardat hiswork This saying

became popular in the 1 7th Century.

Go to the dogs

Meaning

To beruined,tofall froma great position.

Usage

Our rich neighbour'sfortune went tothe dogs

when hisson spent all his money.

Origin

Inthe medieval times, food that was spoilt

or considered unfit for man, was given to

the dogs Soonmanstartedascribingthis

stateto i'ellow beings,to indicatethat a

person's state had becomevery bad, like

thatofa dog

e

Hold <yj©yr tu©rs@s

Meaning

Slow down, be patient

Usage

When I am impatientlyeating the ice cream,

Grandpa tells me to hold my horses

Origin

Horse carts were used for travel in

19th Century America. When you

wanted the cart driverto slow down,

you hadto tell himto rein in his steeds,

in other words,"Hold your horses." Soon

this expressioncame to beappliedto life

too, and if you want anybodyto slow down

or be a littlepatient allyou needto say is "Hey!

Holdyour horses!"

Lei the cat out of the beg

Meaning

To give away or let out a secret.

Usage

We were planning to bake a cake as a

surprise for my mother's birthday, but

littleTimtold my mother and let the cat

out of the bag.

Origin

This is what happened in a marketmany centuries ago in England A favourite countrytrick usedto betosubstitute a catfor a pig at markets If

you let the cat out of the bag, you

disclosed the trick and peopleavoided buying the pig.From then on, if anybodylet the cat out of the bag, it was said that

they were spilling a secret!

Make a mountain out of a molehill

Meaning

To makeanything sound or look

largerthan itactually is.

UsageWhen UncleBennycatches a cold

he says he has a ragingfever He's always making a mountain out of

a molehill

OriginThis saying originated in ancient Greece but not in its presentform.When people began using it in

England much later,they put inthewords beginning with 'm' just so that itwould be easy to remember

and funto use.

donkey business

Meaning

Foolinc around, silly behaviour

Usage

When Harry wasfooling around in class,the

teacher looked sternly at him andsaid,"No

more monkey business young man, or you

will beout ofthe class!"

Origin

Haveyou seen a monkey? Italways jumps

around and acts like it is mad Nobody knows

where this saying comes from but to

under : and its meaning just look at a monkey

Didyo also knowthat this expression

also meantdoing something that is

dishor ? So if you caught somebody

cheating, you couldsay to them, "That's

enoug iow! No more monkey business!"

Raining cafe and dogs

Meaning

To rain very heavily

Usage

Johnny cannot go out to play today

because it is raining cats anddogs.

Origin

In the 17th Century in England,therewere

heavyrainstorms andsometimes cats and

dogs would drown and would befound lying

dead on the roadsafter the rains Italmost

lookedlike it had been raining cats anddogs.

Rate abandoning a sinking ship

MeaningDisloyal people

UsageWhen the company startedto lose

money,the employees resigned and lei

like rats abandoning a sinking ship.Origin

Inthe 16th Centurysailors had many

superstitions. Oneofthemwas that if you saw rats leaving a ship when it

was docked inthe harbour, it meant

that the ship would drown on its journey In the sailors' minds the rats

were supposed to be loyalto the ship,

as it had providedthem with a homeandfood Anyone who changes sides

or becomesdisloyal isthereforereferredto as a rat abandoning asinking ship

On observing the thief's actions,the

policeman smelt a rat and realised thatthe thief was lying and up to somethingfoul

OriginThis saying was usedas early asthe 16th

Century Man has always considered rats

asdirty, smellycreatures Even a cat,

which suspects that a hole is occupied, wilsmell to see if it housesa rat. Soonthispractice of the cat caught on to imply that

ifyou sniff out something bad,you could

My uncleis planningtotake us out to the

beach and hastold no one about the

plan, besides me So, I have got it

straight from the horse'smouth

Origin

The bestway to find a horse's age is

to takea lookatthehorse'steeth and

mouth So, rather than askingthe

seller ofthe horse about the beast's

condition, health,ageetc.,allyouneed

to do isto look straight intothe horse's mouth

Jeremy caught the bull by its horns

when he dived intothe well to

save the drowning dog.

Origin

Sometimes at the end of a

the bullfighter will wrestle the bull

bytaking hold of its horns.A very

braveand daringact indeed!

This sayingtherefore, originated

from the landof bullfights,i.e Spain!

©

Wolf in sheep's clothing

MeaningSomeone who looks harmless but

may actually be very dangerous.Usage

Never trust strangers on the street, for they may be wolves in sheep's

clothing!

Origin

In a story byAesop,the famousGreek storyteller, a hungrywolf

killeda sheep and wore itsskin to

get to the flock of sheep and kill

some more.The sheep all thought that the wolf was also one of them The dangerous wolf hid underthe sheep's skin and managed to fool the flock!

Birds have fascinated us from time immemorial Winged creatures

that take flight, smooth as silk, flapping their wings, soaring, chirping, singing no wonder that we have taken a close look

at their antics and captured their personalities in our language

A bird in hand Is worth fw© in the bush

Meaning

Be content with what you have, because sometimes

ifyou seek more, you mightlose what you already have.

UsageJohnny hadtwo cookies, butwas greedyfor more When he

reachedfor the cookie jar, hisdog ate the cookies he had and also the ¡arslipped from his hands and broke Now, he had

no cookies He should haveknown that a bird in hand is

worth two inthe bush

Origin

This saying is from ancient Greece and the great storytellerAesop used it in one of hisfables to explainto people how

greed canonly leadto sorrow. The Romans used it too.

It must havecome from the bird hunting parlance - where a

bird you had caught was worth more than the twothat were

still sitting inthe bush

Albatross around your neck

Meaning

A burdenor a weight that's hardto get rid of

Usage

Mybag is likeanalbatrossaround my neck

and haveto carry it around everywhere.

Origin

Firstly,analbatross is a large bird with long wings.

Haveyou read the poem'The Rime ofthe Ancient

Mariner"bythe British poet Samuel Taylor

Coleridge? Inthis poem, a sailor shootsan albatross

and i1brings hiswhole shipa lotof badluck His

angry shipmatestie the albatrossaround his neck inthe

hope that allthe badluck will stayonly with him.

Bats in your bellfry

Anthony wanted to straightenhis dog's

tail He surely had bats in his belfry.Origin

A belfry is a tower with bells in itthatare rung to warn the rest ofthe village

of danger or to call a village meeting.

A couple of centuries ago, even people'shouseshad a belfry. Since it is dark in the belfry,bats conveniently made this

their home It drove people crazy,asbatsare nocturnal creatures and by

flying about in the night inadvertently

rang the bells!

As the crow flies

Meaning

The shortest distance, in a straight line

Usage

The museum, though it seems far away is only

hundred metresfrom my houseasthe crow

flies!

Origin

You must have noticed that birds alwaysfly

from one pointto another in a straight line

because that's the sho'rtest distance When we

walk or run we haveto go around curvesand

bends dueto many man-made obstacles

our pathand it's quite a roundaboutway!

idiomtherefore came into usageafter observing

the unobstructedflight of birdsinthe sky

OriginThe cheapest thing on a farm isthe

food theyfeedthe chickens.So,

if someone is paying you chickenfeed for the work you do for him

or her,then they mustbe paying you a really small sum of money.

Cold turkey

Meaning

To suddenly quit an old habit

Usage

My grandfather usedto smoke

a lot butnow he hasturned cold

turkey and kickedthe habit!

HHp

Noone actually knows how this saying

cameto be! All we know is that it is an

American saying that meansto stop a

bad habit.Any bad habit! And if you

stopitcoldin itstracks, you'veturned

cold turkey!

Dead cluck

Meaning

A person who is cleaned out or is aboutto

get caught for a mistakethey made

Usage

Gary's mothertold him to watch the milk,

but he's a careless boyand it boiled over.

Now,when his mother finds out, heis

going to be a dead duck

Origin

This saying is about two centuries old and

originated in Europe.What would happen

duck if it werecaught? Itwould be cooked

eaten Similarly, anyonewho made a mistake

would bea dead duck, ifthey got caught.

thinking his Grandmawould give him more,

butshe did not Maybe heshouldn't havecounted his chickens beforethey hatched?

OriginThis idiom originates from thefamous fable by Aesop, about thewoman on the way to the

market carrying a basketfull of eggs Shethenstarts daydreaming about how many chickensshe would have, if allthe eggs hatched.And

how many eggs they would lay and then howmuch money she would make and howrichshewould be And guess what! She tripped

and dropped her basketand broke all hereggs.That's why you shouldn't dream about

anything blindly

Early bird catehes the worm

Meaning

To achieve your goal by starting out early.Usage

Suzy scored high in her exams because

she started preparing long before herclassmates- The early bird does catchthe worm!

To make more moneyfaster, Joethe farmer,

overworked his horseto such an extent that it

Heshouldn't have killed the goose that laid the

goldeneggs.

Origin

This idiomoriginates from Aesop'sfamous fable

about a goose that laid a golden eggfor its

mastereveryday, till oneday the farmer got

greedy and wanted allthe eggs at once So,

thefarme cut open it'sstomach to get allthe

e9gs and inthe end all he hadleftwas adead

gooseanc no eggs.

Kill two birds with one stone

Meaning

To accomplish twodeeds with one action.

Usage

Ivan is a smart man When hetakes his

children to the park, he also takes his

book along so that he can read as

as keep awatch over his children In

this way, he killstwo birds with one

stone.

Origin

Inthe olden days man hunted

with stone weapons He hunted

birds in the trees by throwing

rounded stones and if hewas lucky

that there were many birds inthe tree,

the stone would hit more than one bird.

Today, this saying refersto trying to

accomplish morethan one thing at a time.

a hen's teeth in the summer!

stomachs. So, anythingthat's

as impossible asfinding a hen

with teeth, is expressed this way.

Sifting duck

Meaning

In a position where one can be easily hurt.Usage

The deer ran out of the tall grass Inthe

open, it was like a sitting duck for the lion.Origin

To huntducksone hasto be reallyquiet and patient Then, onetakes aim at

a sitting duck because it is easier to shoot

at it than a duck that is flying So, anyone who is in a positionsimilar to the duckthat is going to be shot, is called a sitting

Ifwo nen are not allowed to fly planes then

neither shouldmen.What's goodforthe

goose is good for the gander!

Origin

A gander is a malegooseand whatever the

gander gets, the goose should also get since they

are boththe same specie It just meansthat

there should be no partiality In the early days

this could haveimpliedequality of the sexes,

but now it just means any two people.

Wild goose chase

Meaning

- A uselessor hopeless search for something

that cannot befound

Usage

Trying to find the ringthat Cynthia lost

inthe garden was a real wild goose

chase.

Origin

William Shakespeare, the famous

playwright, used this saying in one

of his plays.Trying to catch a wild

goose by chasing itaround is very

difficult It's like trying "tofind a needle

in a haystack!"Now, thafs another

idiomfor you!

Ugly cflu skiing

MeaningAnything that starts out looking ugly butturns out to bebeautiful

Usage

Ashley was a shabby child and was referredto

as an uglyduckling However, he is allgrown

up nowand looks so handsome

OriginHeardthe story of the uglyduckling? Therewas an ugly duckling that was very sad

because itsfriendswould not playwith it One day, it looked intothe water and foundthat it had grown into a beautifulswan. This

tells usthat we shouldn't judge anything too

soon We should wait andwatch and it might grow into something very beautiful!

® Op ÿ

Meaning

At once, immediately.

Usage

All the runners were crouched, ready

to run atthe drop of a hat

Origin

Races have beenstarted in many

ways, sometimes the firing of a gun

and at other times thewaving of a

handkerchief.A longtime ago, it was

Hiedrcoping of a hat that signaled

ÿhe startof a race At the drop of a

Our team hasn't scored a single goal till now,

and our coach is still smiling I think the coach

has an ace uphis sleeve that will help us win the game.

Origin

Have you seen a magician perform? Hepullsout everything from rabbits to cards from hissleeves! Even incard games, players hide a

few cards uptheir sleeves to cheat and win a

game Having an ace up your sleeve is like

having a secret weaponthatyou can use when the time comes.

CLOTHES

Down the ages, man has attired himself in as muchfinery as he can

afford We all love clothes, with frills and ruffles, bibs and bell

sleeves, capes and cloaks so ifs no wonder that just as clothes

enrich our lives, they add a little class to our language too in a

manner of speaking, that is!

Ac© up your sleeve

Bee in your bonnet

Meaning

A crazy idea

Usage

Lewis thinks that hanging upsidedown

can make him taller He has a bee in his

bonnet about growing taller this way.

Origin

A long time ago, in Britain,women wore

colourful decorated hats called bonnets

The bonnets would be decoratedwith

flowers and as we all know where there

are flowers,there will be buzzing bees

So, if you hada crazy idea in your head,

it was like having a beein your bonnet

Cloak and dagger

Meaning

Mysterious.

Usage

Nobody in town knows what goes on

in Mr. Hyde's house It is believedthat

he is into some cloak and dagger

daggers andswords. Sincethey

lookedvery mysterious dressed in

cloaks,anything that was mysterious

and unknownwas then referredto as

cloak anddagger

Dressed to kill

MeaningDressedto attract attention.

Usage

The prince was dressed to kill and

as he walked into the ball,everyone

was eyeing him

Origin

Even today people give a lotofimportanceto clothes Sometimes they also judge others bythe way they are dressed In times gone by, if

someone was reallywell dressed and

lookedsmart,people considered

that his or her clothes were so good

that they had killedeveryone else's

looks Like hewas dressedto kill!

Eat your hat

Meaning

Sayingthat you will do something

impossible if your words are

proven wrong.

Usage

The prince sworethathe would

win the princess' hand inmarriage

or eat his hat

Origin

It's impossibleto eatyour hat!

So, it's ikesaying thatyouwill do

something impossiblesuch as eating

your he if the words youhave

spoken are provedwrong.

Y

Feather in your cap

Meaning

A great achievement

Usage

WhenAunt Elsiegotthe awardfor

inventing her newmachine,it was

like a feather in her cap.

Origin

InAmerica, native American Indians

still wear head-dressesto respect their

old traditions And the morethe number

of feathers in an Indian warrior's

cap,the more hisachievements had

been Having a feather in your cap

means having achieved something great.

©iv@ someone the shirt off your bmk

Origin

If you were walking down a street and saw

a manwho was cold and shirt-less, what would you do? Would you give him your

shirt to wear and leaveyourself cold? Sincethis is a very generous act and very fewpeoplewould do it,"giving the shirt off

your back" means beingextremely generous.

Goody two shoes

Meaning

Anyone who thinks that they are perfect

Usage

Frankiealways acts like heis superior

to allof us It's because he issuch a

goody two shoes that no one likes him.Origin

Do you knowthe story of the girl withone shoe on herfoot? She wanderedaround wearing one shoe, so that

anyone who noticed, pitied her and gave her another shoe.Then, as soon

as she put on both shoes, she started

showing them offto everyone she met

and thought that she was just perfect

Ever since, anyone who showsoff is

called a goodytwoshoes

HandS® wiifo kid gloves

Meaning

To treat very carefully and gently.

Usage

Junior was a very weak child andfell sick

easily,therefore he hadto be handled with

kid gloves,to protect him from falling sick

Origin

I'msure you know that a young goat is

called a kid Its skin is very soft and smooth

If you were wearing gloves madefrom its

skin, you wouldn't damage anything that

you touch In a similar way, when we have to

handle something in life very carefully, it is

referred to as to handle with kid gloves

Puf on the wooden overcoat

Meaning

To die

Usage

My cat Tom was very sick as he

was very old- Yesterday, hefinally

put on the wooden overcoat and

Iburied himin the garden.

Origin

Now surely ifthere were an overcoat

madeout of wood no one would be

ableto put it on.The-wooden overcoat

inthis idiom refers to thewood of a

coffin It is a gentle way of saying that

one is dead When people died,they

were buried in coffins, and hencetermea

as having put on their wooden overcoats.

to fight. Thankfully,the referee mediatedand told them to keep their shirts on.

Origin

I'm sure you have noticed that whenpeople fight, they take their shirts off

because it's very hardto move your hands

to punch if you are wearing a shirt. That's

why boxersfight bare-chested Keeping your shirt on is to keep calm and not get into a fight

BÍB íilll i

Make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

look new Now isn't that trying to makea

silk purse out of a sow's ear?

Origin

A female pig iscalled a sow,and manyof

us still think that a pig is a very dirty

creature To makea silk purse, one needssilk which is very valuable One definitely cannot makea silk purse out of a sow'sear! So, making a silk pursefrom a sow's

ear iswhatwe say to anyonewhotries to

make something extraordinaryfroma

Mom saidwe would go to the beach

this summer, because a mountain

campwas suchold hat

Origin

An old hat is dusty, dirty and is not very

fashionableto wear. Peopleusually

prefer replacingold and unfashionable

thingswith new ones. So,we say that

anythingwhich is not new and now

thanto pass the hat around andget moneyfrom others.

Origin

Entertainers on the streetsstill passtheir hats aroundto collect moneyfromthe crowd of spectators In some places,people beggingonthe street also hold

outtheir hatsfor othersto drop some

money into Passing the hataround is a

way of asking for help in a desperatefinancial situation.

Meaning

Surviving a longerperiod with meager means.

Usage

The woodcutter and hiswife built

their little house on a shoestring

budget.

Origin

A shoestring just means a shoelace

It is not given much importanceand

doesnt cost very much Like buying

a shoestring isn't a veryexpensive

affair and anything that involves very

little money is referredto inthis way.

This idiomoriginated inAmerica in

the 1800's

Anyone who acts asifthey are

very important and expectsothers

to pay them attention,iscalleda

stuffed shirt But, whafsthe shirt

stuffed with? Ifsstuffedwith prideand self-importance!

Tek« fF your hat to someone

Meaning

To admire or appreciate someone.

Usage

Myfather is anexcellent cook, evenafter

a hardday at work,he comeshomeand

cooksfor all of us I take my hat off to him

Origin

The most important part of the attire

in the 18 hand the 19thCenturywas

the hat And ifyou liftedyour hatto

someone, it meant that you were greeting

him or h< warmly or that you appreciated

somethin they haddone Nowadays, it's

much simpler;wejust smileorexpress

Throw in the towel

Meaning

To give up, to admitdefeat

Usage

After running twenty laps,the ace runner

was still trailingfar behind- Hethen threw

in thetowel and walked off disappointed

Origin

In a boxing match,each boxer has a

second, a manwho is standing around

holding towels and-sponges Inthe latter

part ofthe 19th Century,when one ofthe

boxers had hadenoughof the fight and

could not go on anymore,his manager

or second would throw something into

the ring, like a sponge or atowel, to indicate

that hewas quitting.

Its so muchfun when you go campingand

sit around the campfiretelling each other

stories! Well,throwing a wet blanketover the campfire naturally puts it out! It's

almost likespoiling all the fun you were

havingaround the fire So, a wet blanketis the name you give to someone who spoilsall the fun

ara 'ton i

COLOURS

Everwondered what the world would be likewithoutcolour? Imagine

noblue sky, nored tomatoes, no green leaves, andnoyellowsun

Ah! What a dullplaceitwould be no wonder that colour has

crept into our language too, brightening every sentencewespeak or

write giving our language every hue underthe sun!

A longtime ago in Spain, people who were very richlike kings andqueens, hada test to determineif someone was of noble birth They would look at the

arms and legs and see iftheir blood was blue.Actually

ifyou havevery fair skin, your veinswill show through

the skin and veins are blue.Sincethese people were

not used to working inthe sun and lived a life of luxury

insidetheir palaces, their skin would beextremelyfairand their veins very blue!

Meaning

Something sudden or unexpected

Usage

When the messenger broughtthe news

ofthe king's sudden death,it hit the queen

and the people of the nation like a bolt

from the blue

Origin

Imagine,il you were looking peacefully

at aclear je skyandwithout a warning

0 boltof liejhtning cracked right in front

of you. Woi ¡n'tthat be unexpected?

Catch someone red-handed

Meaning

Catch someone atthe time when they are

doing somethingwrong.

Usage

Jeremy was caughtred handed by his

mother,while he was stealing some cookies

from the jar.

Origin

Imagine being caughtwhile you

were murderingsomeone. Your hands

would be redwith blood andthat

would prove your guilt. Catching

someone exactly when they are doing

something wrong, iscalled catching

them red-handed!

Every cloud has a silver lining

vLwlonItM#

MeaningThere is something good in anysituation,

no matter how badit may seem.

Usage

Even after missingthe bus to school, Rita

reached school on time asthe bus hadabreakdown onthe way. Therefore, we say

that every cloud hasa silver lining!

slipto indicate thattheir serviceswere

no longerneededand that theycouldcollectthe moneydue tothem andleave.So gettinga pink slip just means

losing your job

Oreen thumb

Meaning

To hav< a talent for gardening

Usage

My aunfsgardenisfilledwith

colourful flowers Iguess she's got

a green thumb

Get a pink slip

Origin

It is saidthat ifyoutouch your

plants lovingly and rubtheir leaves

gently, give thema lot of affection

andcare, they grow fastandwell

By touching your plants often,

your thumbs andfingerswould

turn gree » with the pigment ofthe leaves

andthat howthis idiomoriginated!

Oreen with envy

Meaning

, To bejealous.

Usage

When Sarah saw my brand-new

shoes, shewas green with envy!

Origin

Sincethe time of drawing on thewalls

of caves, man has used colour to

describe his emotions. Like red

for anger, bluefor sadness,

blackfor fear, pinkfor happiness

andgreen for jealousy. Shakespeare

also referred to jealousy as "the

greensickness" in one of his

old, he's still in the pinkof health.Origin

When we see someone with rosypink cheeks,we tend to associate

themwith good health In reality, what makes the skin look pink is the

bloodflowing under it.And if thebloodflow is good,then the person is really healthy.So, pinkcheeks are a sure sign of good health

Once In a blue moon

I am sure you have seen a white

moon and sometimes a yellow moon

and maybe a slightlygreyish moon.

Buttell me haveyou ever seen a bluemoon? Most probably not! Inthe

same way, anythingthat happens

very rarely is said to be happening

once in a blue moon.

Ou-'i of the olear blue sky

Meaning

Without any warning.

Usage

Maria's missing uncle came

home one day, as if out of

the clear blue sky!

%

Origin

We have discussed a similar kind

of saying before. Boltfrom the

blue.Anyway, they bothmean

the samething To be shocked

or surprised without a warning!

Red carpet treatment

Meaning

To treat specially, giving a lotof respect.

Usage

Mr. Hendricks must be a very

important person. No matter

where he goes, he gets a

redcarpet treatment.

Origin

Duringthe times of kings and

queens, whenever someone

important arrived at the palacea

redcarpet would be rolledout from

their carriage to the door of the palace

to show everyone how important

they were It meantwelcoming someone

warmly andtreating him or her with respect.

Red herring

MeaningAnything that misleadsyou.

UsageThe Prince plantedobvious clues onthe road leadingout of the country to act as a red herring,while he fledfrom another route.

4m

Origin

Long ago,when hunting was a sport,

peopletrained their dogs with pieces

of red herring,which is a fish with a

very strong smell Dogs were also

used to track down criminals who

hadescaped Sometimes criminals

would use the red herring to misleadthe dogs Ever since,this saying hasbeen used to mean anythingthatmisleads

Red-letter day

Meaning

An important or very special day.Usage

The 14th of May is a red-letter day

for my aunt because she got married

onthat day.

Origin

Ever sincethe advent of calenders

holidays,festivals, etc were always

marked in red So,a red-letter day

was a special day Nowadays, if wetalk about any important day, we say it's a red-letter day!

ÿSb m yew fro© ©©¡©urn

Meaning

To showwhat youreallyare.

Usage

Johnny boastedto hisfriends that

he hadfought lionsandtigers but

histrue colourswere shown, when

hegot scared of a small fox

Origin

In days gone by, pirate ships

would hoist a colourfulflag that

was not their own, to cheat other

shipsto come closer.After the

ship came close,they would hoist

their own flag and robthem Only V

afterthe piratesboardedthe ship

would their true identity be revealed

® couov)ÿ

Tickled pink

Meaning

To be very amused.

Usage

Grandmawas tickled pink when

she saw her dog walking on its

hind legs.

Origin

When you are laughing

really hard or when you are very

happy, your face turns slightly pink

or red because the blood rushesto

your face and neck! Tickled pink

means you are reallyamused.

True blue is the name of a dye from

England, usedto colour thread It was in use until very recently,though

now synthetic dyes are used Thisparticular dye was so good that no matter how long you usedyour

clothes,the colour would never fade.Since it was so loyalto the cloth,any great loyalty is referredto as true blue

f-OODFood,glorious food! We eatthreesquare meals a day and what

a variety we eat! Vegetables, meat, cereal, lentils fried, stirred,

roasted, baked, steamed, grilled and when it's time for

something special, what a spread we have on our tables it's

the samespread that we have brought into our language too!

Thus we use all the goodness of food to nourish our language inmore

ways than one!

Apple of your eye

Meaning

A thing that is very preciousto you.

UsageRobbie is such a fine child It's nowonderthat he'sthe apple of his mother's eye.

Origin

Inthe past,the coloured round portion of our eyes that we call the pupil,was called the apple of the eye. Thiswas due to its

shape,which is like an apple.We would

beblind without our pupils Sincethepupil issuch an important part ofthe eye, anything that is very dear to us is

called the apple of our eye.

Bsfe off more iban you cam ©hew

Meaning

To try to do something that is beyondyour

capability

Usage

Joan declaredthat she would head all the

committees for the school play. She always

bites off morethan she canchew.

Origin

Evertried to puta large piece of food inyour

mouth? Firstof all you would choke and even

you didn't choke you surely wouldn't be

°bleto chew it It is like trying to do something

Cool as a cucumber

Meaning

Not nervous, very calm.

Usage

Eventhough Barry is scared of performing

infront of a crowd, today he was as

coolas a cucumber onthe stage.

Origin

Layingslicesof cucumbers on your eyes

or eatingthem inthe summer gives a

very cool feeling Beingcool is

associated with beingcalm So,if you

saythat someone iscool as a cucumber,

it meansthat they are not a bit nervous.

Crying over spilled milk

Meaning

To worry aboutsomething that you

cannot change.

Usage

Ted is worried about thefish bowl

that he accidently broke but there is

no use now crying over spilled milk.Origin

Ifyou forget to keep an eye on the

milk boiling in a vessel, then it wil

boil over and spillonthe floor You cannot put it back into the vessel by worrying or crying about it.So,this

saying tells us to stop crying overmistakes that we cannot undo

vIobSoti I(5