Idioms

"Let the Cat out of the Bag" ORGIN

centuries ago in England you might have bought a costly pig at a farmer's market. But if the merchant was dishonest and put a worthless cat into the bag instead of a piglet, you might not find out until you got home and let the cat out of the bag

"Mad as a Hatter" MEANING

completely crazy, strange, or eccentric.

"Nutty as a Fruitcake" MEANING

crazy or extremely strange in behavior or dress

"Out of Sight, Out of Mind" MEANING

if you don't see something for a long time, you'll eventually stop thinking about it

"Red Herring" MEANING

something deliberately misleading to divert your attention form the main subject; something irrelevant that confuses an issue.

"Make Heads or Tails out of Something" ORGIN

the head is the front or top of something. the tail is the end or bottom. so if you can make heads or tails out of something, you can understand it from the beginning to the ned, from top to bottom. This expression is usually used in the negative "they cant make...." because there are many things in this world that are difficult to understand.

"Point of No Return" MEANING

the position or time after which it is impossible to go back, change your mind, or do something different.

"More than One Way to Skin a Cat" MEANING

there are several different ways of reaching the same goal.

"Live High off the Hog" ORGIN

this African-american expression suggests that eating pork chops and ribs, which comes from the upper parts of a hog, are better than eating pig feet, chitlins (intestines), and other things that come from the lower part.

"More than One Way to Skin a Cat" ORGIN

this American idiom has been in use since the mid-1800s, when removing animals pelts was more common than it is today. Each person who skinned a cat or animal had his or her own particular way of doing it. Over the years the saying took on broader meaning, and now it can refer to the many methods of accomplishing goals. The original British expression was "there are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream"

"Lay An Egg" ORGIN

this expression came from Britain, where cricket has been a popular game for centuries. If a team failed to score a single point, people said it had laid a duck's egg, an object that has the same shape as the 0 on the scoreboard. In the US, the saying "laid an egg" was applied to performers in vaudeville shows who bombed in front of an audience.

"Out in Left Field" ORGIN

this expression came from one of the field positions in baseball. Left field is a long way from home plate and is one of the farthest outfield positions to which fewer balls are hit. "left field" means something far from what is considered normal.

"On the Ropes" ORGIN

this phrase was first used in the 1800s and referred to boxers who were almost knocked out. They hung onto the ropes around the boxing ring so they wouldn't totally collapse. Later the saying was expanded to include any person, business, or situation that was in great difficulty or nearly ruined.

"Nutty as a Fruitcake" ORGIN

this saying originated in America in the 1920s. "Nutty" was slang for crazy; a "nut" was an eccentric person who seemed abnormal in the way he or she appeared or dressed. Fruitcakes are made with plenty of nuts, so if a person is as "nutty as a fruitcake" he or she is really strange.

"Keep a Stiff Upper Lip" MEANING

to be brave and not show emotion in a time of trouble

"Lay An Egg" MEANING

to give an embarrassing performance

"Let the Cat out of the Bag" MEANING

to give away a secret

"Live High off the Hog" MEANING

to live in a rich style and own lots of expensive things

"Keep Your Shirt On" MEANING

to remain cool; to not become angry; to be patient

"Make Heads or Tails out of Something" MEANING

to understand how something works; to figure something out

"Out in Left Field" MEANING

unusual; crazy; totally wrong

"On the Double" MEANING

very quickly; immediately; at a fast pace

"Keep Your Shirt On" ORGIN

when this saying first came into use, a man who was going to get into a fistfight with someone often took his shirt off. It wasn't easy to fight in a stiff, starched shirt, and if you took it off, it wouldn't get wrinkled, dirty or bloody.

"Point of No Return" ORGIN

During WWII pilots knew that they had only enough fuel to fly a certain number of miles. The point when they would reach a crucial mark was called the point of no return. If they continued to fly on, they would not have enough fuel to return to their home base.

"Out of Sight, Out of Mind" ORGIN

Homer, an Ancient Greek poet, used this proverb in his famous epic Odyssey in about 850 BC. The saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder: states the opposite idea.

"Mad as a Hatter" ORGIN

Lewis Carroll created the character of the Mad Hatter in. his classic book Alice in Wonderland. The expression "mad as a hatter: comes from the early 1800s. One possible organ is a snake head called an adder. People in England thought that if you were bitten by an adder, its poison would make you insane. Some people pronounced "adder" as "atter" so if you acted crazy, you were as "mad as an atter," which later became "hatter." Another explanation of the expressions organ is that people who worked in felt-hat factories in the 1800s inhaled fumes of mercuric nitrate, and , as a result, developed twitches, jumbled their speech, and grew confused. The condition was sometimes mistaken for madness and may have given birth to the saying "mad as a hatter"

"On the Double" ORGIN

This is an old army command. When the person in charge wanted the soldiers to march twice as fast as normal, he'd holler, "On the double!" which meant to double the speed. Today, anyone can use this expression when he or she wants someone to hurry up.

"Keep a Stiff Upper Lip" ORGIN

When a person is frightened or angry or ready to burst into tears, his or her lips often tremble. You may wonder why the idiom refers only to the upper lip and not to both lips. It might have to do with the fact that in the 1800s, when many men grew mustaches, a trembling lip was more noticeable.

"Jack-of-all-Trades" MEANING

a person who can do many different kinds of work well

"Red Herring" ORGIN

a red herring is a fish that has pickled in such a way that it turns reddish. It has a strong smell. Centuries ago it used to teach hunting dogs to follow a trail. It was dragged on the ground, and the dogs followed its scent. later people who hated hunting dragged a red herring across the path of the fox the dogs were chasing. The dogs would get confused, stop following ht egos, and follow the smell of the herring. Sometimes escaping crooks also used red herrings to cover up their own scents so the bloodhounds couldn't find them.

"Jack-of-all-Trades" ORGIN

a worker who is capable of doing many craft-type tasks well (painting, electrical work, plumbing, and so on) has been called a "jack of all trades" since the 1600's. "jack" is an informal word for "trade laborer". A longer version of this expression is "A jack of all trades and a master of none," which means someone who knows how to do a lot of things pretty well but who is not an expert at any of them.

"On the Ropes" MEANING

almost failing; on the verge of collapse; nearly ruined