bane of one's life (W3)

the bane of one's life

basicenglishspeaking.com
102 Common English Idioms with Meaning and Examples

102 Common English Idioms with Meaning and Examples

• Idioms about Money and Finance
• Idioms about Love
• Idioms about Happiness and Sadness
• Idioms about Health
• Idioms about Travel
• Idioms about Work
• Idioms about Friendship
• Idioms about Dreams
• Idioms about Time
• Idioms about Decisions
• Other idioms

basicenglishspeaking.com
181 Common Phrasal Verbs List
with Meanings and Example Sentences (audio lessons)

What is a Phrasal verb?

A phrasal verb includes two parts: the main verb and a preposition or an adverb. Its meaning may be totally different from the original meaning of the main verb.

For example, “to carry” means "to take something from one place to another". Can you guess the meaning of the phrasal verb “carry out”?

The Oxford Learner’s Dictionary says that it means "to do and complete a task". Does that surprise you?

Focus on common phrasal verbs first

There are thousands of phrasal verbs in English, but you don’t have to learn them all now. You just need to learn the most common ones first. In the lessons below, you will be given a phrasal verbs list which includes the most common phrasal verbs native speakers usually use in their daily life.

Each phrasal verb is well explained and demonstrated with phrasal verb meanings (definitions) together with phrasal verb examples. There are also high-quality audio recordings of the example which will definitely benefit your listening and speaking practice.

Start the first lesson now, and start speaking like a native-like English speaker.

• Phrasal verbs list with “Come”
• Phrasal verbs list with “Take”
• Phrasal verbs list with “Turn”
• Phrasal verbs list with “Work”
• Phrasal verbs list with “Pick”
• Phrasal verbs list with “Get”
• Phrasal verbs list with “Put”
• Phrasal verbs list with “Look”
• Phrasal verbs list with “Stand”
• Phrasal verbs list with “Go”
• Phrasal verbs list with “Make”
• Phrasal verbs list with “Give”
• Other common phrasal verbs

besserwisserseite.de
Englische Redewendungen

• Falling from grace
• Nerd
• How do you do
• tip (Trinkgeld)
• to water down
• to set a fox to keep the geese
• drag queen
• job
• armchair generals
• to face Morton's fork
• cotton wool
• to bite the dust
• to have a crush on someone
• at sixes and sevens
• a ploughman's lunch
• the rat race
• to eat like a horse
• fruit machine
• the three R's
• all chiefs and no indians
• the hard shoulder
• a baker's dozen
• red herrings
• carrying coals to Newcastle
• my home is my castle
• a raw deal
• pipe-dream
• willy-nilly
• Jerry-build
• rough diamond
• Hobson's choice
• hooker
• gizmo
• shu ismo
• triple-witching
• "jerries" oder "krauts"
• to be on cloud nine
• rookie
• to learn by heart
• snob
• daylight robbery
• Davy Jones' locker
• tin god
• Die Suppe auslöffeln
• to take the French leave
• I take my hook
• that takes the biscuit
• not for the life of me!
• to be as fresh as a daisy
• to see how the wind blows
• to put a hat on a hen
• to be wrong in the garret
• to drive the porcelain bus
• to temper the wind to the shorn lamb
• to teach your grandma to suck eggs
• all is gas and gaiters
• by hook or by crook
• the whole nine yards
• the real McCoy!
• dead man's hand
• Örtlichkeiten
• you are pulling my leg
• waiting 'til the cows come home
• it's raining cats and dogs.
• you're welcome
• it's not my cup of tea
• Yankee
• I wouldn't wish that on a snake.
• there ain't no such thing as a free lunch
• rosewood
• handy
• one-copy-countries
• bookkeeper
• must not
• eventually
• backdraft
• indian summer
• ain't
• white tie
• black tie
• casual
• fuzzy dice
• show-host
• buy the farm
• penny, nickel, dime, quarter
• dead presidents
• chick flick
• blue moon
• moonshine
• dead as a dodo
• OK
• Dollar
• to paint the town (red)
• fancy dan
• muzak
• drop dead
• almost
• Tinseltown
• mindless vacation
• sickie
• thunderbox
• henpecked husband
• french letter
• dutch courage
• repo-man
• the icing on the cake
• to hit the hay
• busker
• butter-finger
• Jeep
• booze
• greenback
• to be dressed to kill
• to kick the bucket
• cop
• M.A.S.H.
• He'll take a long walk on a short pier
• fair weather friend
• red-eye-flight
• to go belly up
• the Black Maria
• fortune favors fools
• He's one can short of a sixpack.
• going, going, gone
• Ready, set, go!
• It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings.
• yellow press
• like a bat out of hell
• shotgun shack
• shotgun wedding
• three-dog-night
• to be mad as a hatter
• IOU
• Hobo
• Tod
• Schlau
• Launisch/Bösartig
• Glatze
• Geizig
• Machismo
• Lügen

Dog's Life (W3)

• Laughing Gas ("Lachgas") - Stummfilm (1914)
• The Face on the Barroom Floor ("Das Gesicht auf dem Boden der Bar") - Stummfilm (1914)
• Making a Living ("Man schlägt sich durch") - Stummfilm (1914)
• Kid Auto Races at Venice - Stummfilm (1914)
• Mabel's Strange Predicament ("Mabel in peinlicher Lage") - Stummfilm (1914)
• Caught in the Rain - Stummfilm (1914)
• His New Job - Stummfilm (1914)
• Tillie's Punctured Romance ("Tillies Romanze auf Raten") - Stummfilm (1915)
• A Night Out ("Eine durchzechte Nacht") - Stummfilm (1915)
• The Tramp ("Der Tramp") - Stummfilm (1915)
• The Vagabond ("Der Vagabund") - Stummfilm (1916)
• Behind the Screen - Stummfilm (1916)
• The Floorwalker - Stummfilm (1916)
• The Immigrant ("Der Einwanderer") - Stummfilm (1917)
• The Adventurer - Stummfilm (1917)
• Shoulder Arms ("Gewehr über!") - Stummfilm (1918)
• A Dog's Life ("Ein Hundeleben") - Stummfilm (1918)
• The Pilgrim ("Der Pilger") - Stummfilm (1921)
• The Kid ("Das Kind") - Stummfilm (1921)
• The Idle Class ("Feine Leute") - Stummfilm (1922)
• The Gold Rush ("Goldrausch") - Stummfilm (1925)
• The Circus ("Der Zirkus") - Stummfilm (1928)
• City Lights ("Lichter der Großstadt") - Stummfilm (1931)
• Modern Times ("Moderne Zeiten") - Stummfilm (1936)
• The Great Dictator ("Der große Diktator") - Tonfilm (1940)
• Monsieur Verdoux - Tonfilm (1947)
• Limelight ("Rampenlicht") - Tragikomödie (1952)
• A King in New York ("Ein König in New York") - Tonfilm (1957)
• Die Geschichte meines Lebens - Autobiographie (1964)
• The Countess of Hong Kong ("Die Gräfin von Hongkong") - Tonfilm (1966)

A Dog's Life (Or Two) 2011-10-23 Cool, Cute, Dog, Dogs life, fin, man dressed as dog, Photograph, Picture, silly

[dog] See: EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY, GO TO THE DOGS, HOT DOG, LEAD A DOG'S LIFE, LET SLEEPING DOGS LIE, RAIN CATS AND DOGS.

[dog's life] {n. phr.} A life of misery, poverty, and unhappiness. * /Diogenes, the Greek philosopher, lived a dog's life inside an empty barrel./

[lead a dog's life] {v. phr.}, {informal} To live a hard life, work hard, and be treated unkindly. * /A new college student of long ago led a dog's life./

June 22, 2014
Words and Their Stories

'What a Dog's Life!'

Americans use many expressions with the word "dog." People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them good food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression "to lead a dog's life" describes a person who has an unhappy existence.
...

• "dog-eat-dog world"
• "work like a dog"
• "dog-tired"
• "sick as a dog"
• "every dog has its day"
• "you can never teach an old dog new tricks"
• "meaner than a junkyard dog"
• "his bark is worse than his bite"
• "in the doghouse"
• "let sleeping dogs lie"
• "dog days of summer"
• "rain cats and dogs"

...

Dog's Life, A

It's a dog's life
...
So "going to the dogs", "dog tired", "to die like a dog", "dog’s dinner", "dogsbody", "dog eat dog", and "a dog’s life" all refer to a state of affairs best avoided. Specifically, "a dog’s life" is first recorded in the sixteenth century and seems to have remained in the language with the sense of “a life of misery, or of miserable subserviency” ever since.
...

even a blind pig can find an acorn (W3)

Even a Blind Pig

Posted by Grant Barrett on July 23, 2012 · Add Comment

If you’re having a tough time finding something, remember that "even a blind pig can find an acorn once in a while". This encouraging idiom actually comes from ancient Rome, where the concept of a blind animal turning something up lent itself to the Latin saying that "a blind dove sometimes finds a pea". An 18th-century Friedrich Schiller play employed the blind-pig-and-acorn version, and the play’s translation into English and French may have brought it into modern English speech. This is part of a complete episode.

Flash in the Pan (W3)

Short-lived Success Is a 'Flash in the Pan'
...
Today we will talk about how to describe something that shows promise of being great, but then turns out to be…not so great.

We can call this a flash in the pan.
...
The muskets had a place for the gunpowder called a “pan.” When you pulled the trigger, a piece of flint would hit a piece of steel called a frizzen. This would cause sparks to fly into the pan – also called a flash pan. This would light the gunpowder, which would then light the main charge. This, would, finally, fire the gun.
...

for good measure (W3)

"for good measure" {adv. phr.} As something more added to what is expected or needed; as an extra. * /He sold me the car at a cheap price and included the radio for good measure./ * /She puts in the spices the recipe calls for and then adds an extra pinch for good measure./ Compare: "IN THE BARGAIN", "TO BOOT".

Limericks on "for good measure"

(do something) for good measure
...
Did you know?

"for good measure", idiom - "in addition"

(Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)

The noun "measure" stems from the Old French "mesurer" and from the Latin "mensura", meaning a thing to measure by. Among other things, the modern definition of "measure" refers to an amount of something, such as in:
...

"for good measure": in addition (as to close a deal)

for the love of Mike (W3)

• For the Love of Mike - Stummfilm (1927)
• Vor Blondinen wird gewarnt ("Platinum Blonde") - Komödie (1931)
• Es geschah in einer Nacht ("It Happened One Night") - Kinofilm (1934)
• Mr. Deeds geht in die Stadt - Komödie (1936)
• Lebenskünstler - Komödie (1937)
• Arsen und Spitzenhäubchen ("Arsenic and Old Lace") - Krimikomödie (1941)
• It's a Wonderful Life ("Ist das Leben nicht schön?") - Komödie (1947)
• Eine Nummer zu groß ("A Hole in the Head") - Komödie (1959)

• For the Love of Mike - Kinofilm (Regie: Frank Capra) (1927)
• The hole in the wall - Kinofilm (Regie: Robert Florey) (1929)
• The lady lies - Kinofilm (Regie: Hobart Henley) (1929)
• Young man of Manhattan - Kinofilm (Regie: Monta Bell) (1930)
• The big pond - Kinofilm (Regie: Hobart Henley) (1930)
• Manslaughter - Kinofilm (Regie: George Abbott) (1930)
• The Smiling Lieutenant ("Der lächelnde Leutnant") - Kinofilm (Regie: Ernst Lubitsch) (1931)
• Honor among Lovers - Kinofilm (Regie: Dorothy Arzner) (1931)
• Secrets of a Secretary - Kinofilm (Regie: George Abbott) (1931)
• His Woman - Kinofilm (Regie: Edward Sloman) (1931)
• The Sign of the Cross - Kinofilm (Regie: Cecil B. DeMille) (1932)
• The Wiser Sex - Kinofilm (Regie: Berthold Viertel) (1932)
• The Man from Yesterday - Kinofilm (Regie: Berthold Viertel) (1932)
• The misleading lady - Kinofilm (Regie: Stuart Walker) (1932)
• Tonight is ours ("Prinicpessa Nadia") - Kinofilm (Regie: Stuart Walker) (1933)
• I cover the waterfront - Kinofilm (Regie: James Cruze) (1933)
• Three cornered Moon - Kinofilm (Regie: Elliott Nugent) (1933)
• It happened one night ("Es geschah in einer Nacht") - Kinofilm (Regie: Frank Capra) (1934), Oscar (für "Es geschah in einer Nacht") 1935
• Four frightened people - Kinofilm (Regie: Cecil B. DeMille) (1934)
• Cleopatra - Kinofilm (Regie: Cecil B. DeMille) (1934)
• Imitation of Life - Kinofilm (Regie: John M. Stahl) (1934)
• The gilded lily - Kinofilm (Regie: Wesley Ruggles) (1935)
• She married her boss - Kinofilm (Regie: Gregory La Cava) (1935)
• Private Worlds - Kinofilm (Regie: Gregory La Cava) (1935)
• The Bride comes home - Kinofilm (Regie: Wesley Ruggles) (1936)
• Under two flags - Kinofilm (Regie: Frank Lloyd) (1936)
• The maid of Salem - Kinofilm (Regie: Frank Lloyd) (1937)
• Tovarich - Kinofilm (Regie: Anatole Lityak) (1937)
• I met his in Paris - Kinofilm (Regie: Wesley Ruggles) (1937)
• Bluebeard's eight wife ("Blaubarts achte Frau") - Kinofilm (Regie: Ernst Lubitsch) (1938)
• Drums along the Mohawk ("Trommeln am Mohawk") - Western (Regie: John Ford) (1939)
• It's a wonderful World ("Drunter und drüber") - Kinofilm (Regie: William S. Van Dyke) (1939)
• Zaza - Kinofilm (Regie: George Cukor) (1939)
• Midnight - Kinofilm (Regie: Mitchell Leisen) (1939)
• Arise my love - Kinofilm (Regie: Mitchell Leisen) (1940)
• Boom Town ("Der Draufgänger") - Kinofilm (Regie: Jack Conway) (1940)
• The Palm Beach Story ("Atemlos nach Florida") - Kinofilm (Regie: Preston Sturges) (1941)
• Remember the day - Kinofilm (Regie: Henry King) (1941)
• The skylark - Kinofilm (Regie: Mark Sandrich) (1941)
• So proudly we hail! - Kinofilm (Regie: Mark Sandrich) (1943)
• No time for love - Kinofilm (Regie: Mitchell Leisen) (1943)
• Since you went away ("Als Du Abschied nahmst") - Kinofilm (Regie: John Cromwell) (1944)
• Practically yours - Kinofilm (Regie: Mitchell Leisen) (1944)
• Guest Wife - Kinofilm (Regie: Sam Wood) (1945)
• The Secret heart ("Geheimnis des Herzens") - Kinofilm (Regie: Robert Z. Leonard) (1946)
• Tomorrow is forever - Kinofilm (Regie: Irving Pichel) (1946)
• Without Reservations - Western (Regie: Mervyn Le Roy) (1946)
• The egg and I - Kinofilm (Regie: Chester Erskine) (1947)
• Sleep my love ("Schlingen der Angst") - Kinofilm (Regie: Douglas Sirk) (1948)
• Family Honeymoon - Kinofilm (Regie: Claude Binyon) (1948)
• Bride for sale - Kinofilm (Regie: William D. Russell) (1949)
• Three came home - Kinofilm (Regie: Jean Negulesco) (1950)
• The secret fury - Kinofilm (Regie: Mel Ferrer) (1950)
• Thunder on the Hill - Kinofilm (Regie: Douglas Sirk) (1951)
• Let's make it legal - Kinofilm (Regie: Richard Sale) (1951)
• The Planter's Wife - Kinofilm (Regie: Ken Annakin) (1952)
• Si Versailles m'était conté ("Wenn Versailles erzählen könnte") - Kinofilm (Regie: Sacha Guitry) (1953)
• Destinées - Vittime della guerra - Kinofilm (Regie: Marcello Pagliero) (1953)
• Texas Lady - Kinofilm (Regie: Tim Whelan) (1955)
• Parrish ("Im Tal der heißen Erde") - Kinofilm (Regie: Delmer Daves) (1961)

This particular expression began as a substitute for an outcry of surprise or anger, namely, "for the love of God!" But the speaker decided that using God's name in this way was blasphemous and therefore decided to substitute something else for the word God.

In this case, St. Michael.

The phrase began as "for the love of Michael".

It was initially perhaps an Irish soldier's mild curse. St. Michael is the patron saint of warriors and soldiers and he looks after them on the battlefield. St. Michael the Archangel is the chief of the heavenly host, the celestial army that defends the Church. He fights the rebel angels and the dragon of Revelations. He is patron saint of knights and of all trades allied to the production of weapons and scales.
...

Entry from October 17, 2009

“For the love of Mike” ("For the love of Pete")
...

for pete's sake

7. Q&A

... "for Pete's sake" ...
...
... the expression isn't recorded before the 1920s, ...
...
The clue is that another version of the exclamation is "for the love of Pete", which seems to be slightly older (it's recorded in print from 1918). In turn that reminds us of "for the love of Mike", which is older still, from the 1880s. This last expression seems to have been a euphemistic cry to replace "for the love of God", which is known from the early eighteenth century as an irritated exclamation. It looks very much as though at some point around 1918, for no clearly discernable reason, "Pete" joined "Mike" as the person to invoke when you were impatient, annoyed, frustrated or disappointed in someone or something, both men being stand-ins for the God that it would be blasphemous to mention.

geo.de
Englische Redewendungen

• As cute as a button
• I'll be a monkey's uncle
• Straight from the horse's mouth
• In the limelight
• A piece of cake
• Out of the blue
• A leopard cannot change its spots
• A stitch in time saves nine
• Head over heels
• Fair Play
• The early bird catches the worm
• Fight fire with fire
• An apple a day keeps the doctor away
• As fit as a fiddle
• Beat about the bush
• The apple of my eye
• Can't cut the mustard
• Wet behind the ears
• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
• It's raining cats and dogs
• It's all greek to me
• A friend in need is a friend indeed

great oaks from little acorns grow
mighty oaks from little acorns grow (W3)

Acorn 2014-05-07 Acorn, Animated Short, Animation

You know the old saying but if a mighty oak is indeed going to grow from this little "acorn" then he is going to have to find a place to settle - and soon. That’s not so easy when you are in competition with all your brothers and sisters and, frankly, you don’t have much of a clue. Yet even though growing up is hard to do, it is something we all go through. This lovely extended visual metaphor by Madeline Sharafian created at CalArts is a nutty treat.

• [great oaks from little acorns grow] As great oak trees grow from tiny acorns, so many great people or things grew from a small and unimportant beginning, so be patient. - A proverb. * /Many great men were once poor, unimportant boys. Great oaks from little acorns grow./

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow

Mighty oaks from little acorns grow

horse
Redewendungen mit 'horse'

• get on one's high horse = to become offended in an angry and arrogant way = auf eine arrogante Art, höchst beleidigt zu sein; auf dem hohen Ross
• Change horses midstream = Change one's opinions in the middle of something
• Horses for courses = Each person or thing being employed for the purpose for which it is best suited.
• If wishes were horses, beggars would ride = If things could be obtained by wishing, poor people would not be poor. (This expression is often used to bring down to earth, someone who is not being particularly realistic)
• Wild horses couldn't keep me away = Nothing could keep me away.
• Horse feathers! = An exclamation of disbelief
• Horse trading = Making business deals after hard and skilful bargaining
• A one horse town = A very small, insignificant place
• The iron horse = The railway
• A war horse = A seasoned and reliable veteran
• Horse around = To fool around

I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole (W3)

wouldn't touch with a barge-pole

"Would not touch with a barge-pole" - "have nothing to do with"

Wouldn't touch it with a bargepole

barge-pole

bargepole

not-touch-something-with-a-barge-pole

lo and behold (W3)

...
2. "lo and behold"

People use this to mean something like "and then see what happened." The idiom is frequently misspelled as "low and behold". "Lo" is an old form of "look". Read more here.
...

...
"Lo" may derive from the imperative form of the verb to "look". It has been used as an interjection at least since Beowulf was written, but the tautology "lo and behold" dates only from the 19th century.

Long before that, "lo" - in the sense of "Look!", "See!", "Behold!" - was used to direct attention to something about to happen or about to be said.
...

lo and behold, 1808

...
WORD ORIGIN

"Lo and behold" is frequently used in Biblical expressions as a way of saying "look!"

"Lo" is thought to derive from "la", an Old English expression of surprise, grief or joy. "Behold", meaning "to look at something", comes from the Old English "bihaldan" ("give regard to", "hold in view"). The phrase meanwhile is more often used to express surprise.
...

...
The word "lo" as used in this phrase is a shortening of "look". So, "lo and behold!" has the meaning of "look! - behold!". "Lo" in this and its other meaning, which is more akin to "O!", has been in use since the first Millennium and appears in the epic poem Beowulf.
...

...
It seems older because both parts of the phrase are essentially archaic. It reminds us of the phraseology of early English language editions of the Bible, such as the King James version of 1611. But "lo and behold" doesn't appear in that edition (nor, as far as I can tell, in any other). But the individual words most certainly do, often close to each other:
...
"Lo" is a shortening of the Old English imperative form of the verb "look"; "behold" in such cases is also an imperative, from the verb meaning "to keep in view".

At some point - the evidence suggests that it was sometime in the eighteenth century - people began to put the two words together to make a humorously reinforced form that might be translated as "look and see". At first this was regarded as too colloquial to be used in respectable publications, which is why our earliest examples are from personal letters. The one you mention is in a letter of 1808 in the published correspondence of Lady Lyttelton, much later to become lady of the bedchamber to Queen Victoria and governess to her children: "Lo and behold! M. Deshayes himself appeared".

This is earlier by half a century:

Here was I sat down, full of Love and Respect to write my dearest Friends a dutiful and loving letter, when "lo, and behold!" I was made happy by the receipt of yours.

[In a letter by Miss N-- to the actor and playwright Thomas Hull, dated 22 July 1766. It was included in Select letters Between the Late Duchess of Somerset, Lady Luxborough, Mr Whistler, ... and Others, which Hull edited and published in two volumes in 1778.]

By the 1820s, it had become common. It's still so, though we can only utter it self-consciously as a linguistic relic. We can use it to refer to some notionally surprising event that isn't really so surprising because it has been predicted.
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long in the tooth (W3)

knoware
The Book of Cliches (W3)

Phrases to Say in Times of Trouble

Contents:

• General
• For when you feel really bad
• For when you are waiting, just waiting for something to happen
• For when you are looking for something and you don't know for what
• For when you are looking for truth
• For when you can not make a decision
• For when there is too much work
• For when life is hard
• For when someone broke your heart
• For when you feel like a loser
• For when you think you are ugly
• For when you are in pain
• For when you feel lonely
• For when you are afraid
• For when you have done something really stupid
• For when something terrible has happened to you
• For when you are trying very hard and not having any success
• For when you have to say goodbye
• For when you are dead
• Clichés on clichés
• Links to Related Sites
• Awards this site has received
• What has been written about the Book of Clichés
• Expressions I never heard before
• History of the Book of Clichés
• Other books I would like to write

silver spoon
born with a silver spoon (W3)

E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.

Born with a Silver Spoon,

or Born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth. Born to good luck; born with hereditary wealth. The reference is to the usual gift of a silver spoon by the godfather or godmother of a child. The lucky child does not need to wait for the gift, for it is born with it in its mouth or inherits it from infancy.

Silver spoon made for the Gilbert family

It's just a little silver spoon. But it was an heirloom to a family who changed the Tudor world.
...

Royal silver spoons

These were made by Sydney Walker for the 1937 Commemoration. Each spoon has the head of a member of the Royal family.

Only two or three sets were made - the Royal family has one of the other sets.

Small Bore Rifle Shooting Awards

The bronze medals and silver spoons were awards made to the late Harry Holmes (father of Phillip Holmes)who was a member of GKN Darlaston Rifle Team and also captain of the County (Staffordshire) Rifle Team. During the post-war period there were many factory rifle teams but, sadly, they became defunct when the factory closures began.

Silver spoons

These were given to the contributor each year by a godmother.

Joachim's silver spoon from Nazi Germany

I grew up eating my cornflakes with Joachim's spoon.

My mum was German Jewish and Joachim was her younger brother, born in 1935. My mum escaped to Palestine from Nazi Germany in 1939. Her parents and Joachim stayed in Nordhausen.

After the war, my mum, having married and moved to London, wrote to her former non-Jewish neighbours. They were poverty-stricken and mum sent them food parcels. In return, the neighbours sent her Joachim's spoon.

Before they were sent to Theresienstadt in 1943, mum's mum had asked the neighbours to keep the spoon until Joachim returned home. They kept it, risking arrest if the Nazi authorities found a 'Jewish' spoon in their house, but the family never returned. My grandfather died in Theresienstadt; my grandmother and Joachim, in Auschwitz, aged 8 or 9.

To me, the spoon is a symbol of hope for humanity against atrocious odds.

The Tichborne Spoons

A set of twelve silver-gilt spoons topped with sacred, historic and legendary figures. William Cawdell, 1592

Nine of the figures on the finials are an international grouping known as the Nine Worthies - historical, legendary and scriptural figures revered in the Middle Ages as the embodiment of chivalry: King Arthur, Charlemagne, Guy of Warwick, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Hector of Troy, King David, Joshua and Judas Maccabeus. The three others are Queen Elizabeth I, Christ and St Peter. The concept of the Worthies has a wider European context - they were a literary and artistic subject in France and elsewhere.

They are unique and have been described as the most important set of silver spoons in England but their early history is unknown. The spoons first came to light in 1858 when sold as part of a retiring dealer's stock. The sale catalogue claimed that they were presented to Sir Robert Tichborne when he was Lord Mayor of London in 1657. No documentary evidence of this survives but probably, as a result of the claim, they were acquired by the Tichborne family of Tichborne in Hampshire and were kept by them until 1914.

Coronation Silver Spoon

A coronation spoon presented to a 'coronation baby' by Stanley Baldwin at Lucy Balwin's materinity home in Stourport-on-Severn - May 1937.

born with a silver spoon

Born wealthy, or fortunate, or both, as in Paul can afford to go to medical school; he was born with a silver spoon. Although some authorities believe this phrase alludes to the custom of godparents giving their godchild a silver spoon, affordable only by rich persons, it is more likely that the spoon has come to symbolize wealth. [c. 1700]
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Silver Spoons (a Titles & Air Dates Guide)

A playful millionaire suddenly discovers that he has a 12-year-old son who's been in military school, resulting in the broadening of each's experiences.
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To be "born with a silver spoon in one's mouth" is from at least 1719 (Goldsmith, 1765, has: "one man is born with a silver spoon in his mouth, and another with a wooden ladle").
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Silver Spoon

J 2013–2014 (Gin no Saji)

Anime

22 Folgen in 2 Staffeln

Original-TV-Premiere11.07.2013 Fuji TV (Japanisch)
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Silver Spoons

USA 1982–1987

116 Folgen in 5 Staffeln

Original-TV-Premiere25.09.1982 Syndication (Englisch)
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McLaughlin, James Fairfax, 1839-1903 ¶

The American Cyclops, the Hero of New Orleans, and Spoiler of Silver Spoons (English) (as Author)

The Project Gutenberg eBook of The American Cyclops, the Hero of New Orleans, and Spoiler of Silver Spoons, by James Fairfax McLaughlin

[born with a silver spoon in one's mouth] {adj. phr.} Born to wealth and comfort; provided from birth with everything wanted; born rich. * /The stranger's conduct was that of a man who had been born with a silver spoon in his mouth./ Compare: WELL-HEELED.

Limericks on "born with a silver spoon in one's mouth"

Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth

To be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth is to be born into a wealthy and privileged family.

This is commonly thought to be an English phrase and to refer to the British aristocracy. That may well be the case, but the earliest citation in print is from the USA.

Deb. U.S. Congress, 1801:

"It was a common proverb that few lawyers were born with silver spoons in their mouths."
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It has been a tradition in many countries for wealthy godparents to give a silver spoon to their godchildren at christening ceremonies. That may be the source of the phrase, or it may simply be derived from the fact that wealthy people ate from silver while others didn't.
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Some people have lots of money because they were born into a very rich family. There is an expression for this, too. You might say such a person, "was born with a silver spoon in his mouth".

This rich person is the opposite of a person who lives "from hand to mouth". This person is very poor and only has enough money for the most important things in life, like food.
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The phrase seems to be American in origin, and it was first used around 1800.

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ETYMOLOGY:

The phrase is often used in the construction "to be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth" meaning "one’s born in privilege and wealth". The association of "silver" with "riches" is obvious, so why not a "gold spoon"? Nobody knows, though it may have something to do with silver’s biocidal properties. Earliest documented use: 1719.
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silver-spoon
born with a silver-spoon (W3)

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ORIGIN OF "SILVER SPOON": First recorded in 1795–1805
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Born-with-a-silver-spoon-in-one-s-mouth, adjective

(idiomatic) Born rich or in a wealthy family.

spoon-feed (W3)

"spoon-fed", verb, past of "spoon-feed"

spoon-fed, adjective

• fed with a spoon.
• treated with excessive solicitude; "pampered".
• given no opportunity to act or think for oneself

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ORIGIN OF SPOON-FED: First recorded in 1900–05

"spoon-feed", "spoon-fed", verb (used with object), "spoon-feeding.

to cause to be "spoon-fed".

ORIGIN OF SPOON-FEED: First recorded in 1605–1615

"spoon-feed" (v.): "to feed (someone) with a spoon", 1610s, from "spoon" (n.) + "feed" (v.). Figurative sense is attested by 1864. Related: "Spoon-fed".

[spoon-feed] {v.}

• 1. To feed with a spoon. * /Mothers spoon-feed their babies./
• 2a. To make something too easy for (a person). * /Bill's mother "spoon-fed" him and never let him think for himself./ * /Alice depended on her mother for all decisions because she had been "spoon-fed"./
• 2b. To make (something) too easy for someone. * /Some students want the teacher to spoon-feed the lessons./

"spoon-feed", verb, "spoon-fed", "spoon-feeding", transitive verb

• 1 : to feed by means of a spoon
• 2 a : to present (information) so completely as to preclude independent thought - spoon-feed material to students
• 2 b : to present information to in this manner

Word History

First Known Use: 1615, in the meaning defined at sense 1

NOVEMBER 21, 2019

Take a Moment to 'Count Your Blessings'

Babies are spoon-fed. But they are not the only ones! Find out who else can be spoon-fed.

'Spoon-feeding' Not Just for Babies

Babies are "spoon-fed". But they are not the only ones! Find out who else can be "spoon-fed".



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In most cases, you need a spoon to eat soup. Eating it with a knife and fork would not work as well. In fact, when a way of doing something does not work, we can say it is like "eating soup with a fork". In other words, it is the wrong tool for the job.

When we "spoon-feed" babies, we give them food. But, we do not just push the food into their mouths and down their throats. Babies should be fed slowly and carefully. We don’t want them to choke or hurt themselves from eating too quickly. You may also have to "spoon-feed" others who cannot feed themselves.

However, food is not the only thing we "spoon-feed". We can also "spoon-feed" information. Usually that information is very detailed or hard to understand. So, we must explain it carefully. When explaining something complex or detailed to others, you may have to "spoon-feed" the information.

There is another way to use this expression. When you "spoon-feed" someone you can also give them so many ideas or opinions that they do not need to think for themselves. So, it’s not that the person does not understand. It is that you are "spoon-feeding" them the information you want them to have.

There is yet another meaning of the word "spoon-feed". It can also mean to "baby" or "spoil" someone by doing too much for them. If someone is always "spoon-fed", they will not learn how to take care of themselves.
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Words in This Story

• "delicious" – adj. very pleasant to taste
• "dish" – n. food that is prepared in a particular way
• "conversation" – n. an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people : the act of talking in an informal way
• "library" – n. a place where books, magazines, and other materials (such as videos and musical recordings) are available for people to use or borrow

the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree (W3)

thefreedictionary.com
Idioms and phrases

The idiom dictionary is compiled from the Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms and the Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms.

The Cambridge International Dictionary of Idioms explains over 7,000 idioms current in British, American and Australian English, helping learners to understand them and use them with confidence. The Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms, based on the 200 million words of American English text in the Cambridge International Corpus, unlocks the meaning of more than 5,000 idiomatic phrases used in contemporary American English. Full-sentence examples show how idioms are really used.

The Cambridge University Press is respected worldwide for its commitment to advancing knowledge, education, learning, and research. It was founded on a royal charter granted to the University by Henry VIII in 1534 and has been operating continuously as a printer and publisher since the first Press book was printed in 1584.
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Try it out (random idioms):

• be no laughing matter
• in style
• a leg up
• hit the hay
• offend against
• far be it from me to
• a bone to pick with
• hit the road
• finger as
• het up
• be all over the shop
• set free
• puppy love
• return the favor
• tie in with
• have fun and games
• let it rip
• to the max
• hesitate over
• More power to you!
• flee to
• go window-shopping
• be as hard as nails
• cut no ice with
• slip over on
• fit up
• be second to none
• to the gunwales
• big as all outdoors
• drive at
• hang tough
• pop out of
• broaden horizons
• get dander up
• with both barrels
• compensate for
• swimming in
• smile on
• pace around

to wash one's dirty linen in public (W3)

27.01.2010 to wash one's dirty linen in public

usingenglish.com
Dictionary of English Idioms & Idiomatic Expressions

An "idiom" is a phrase where the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words, which can make idioms hard for ESL students and learners to understand. Here, we provide a dictionary of 2,979 English idiomatic expressions with definitions.

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/a.html

~ A ~ | 168 Idioms Beginning With 'A' (17.01.2009)
A bit much | A chain is no stronger than its weakest link | A day late and a dollar short | A fool and his money are soon parted | A fool at 40 is a fool forever | A hitch in your giddy-up | A lick and a promise | A little bird told me | A little learning is a dangerous thing | A long row to hoe | A lost ball in the high weeds | A OK | A penny for your thoughts | A penny saved is a penny earned | A picture is worth a thousand words | A poor man's something | A pretty penny | A problem shared is a problem halved | A rising tide lifts all boats | A slice off a cut loaf is never missed | A steal | A still tongue keeps a wise head | A watched pot never boils | A1 | Abide by a decision | Abject lesson | About as useful as a chocolate teapot | Above par | Absence makes the heart grow fonder | Accident waiting to happen | Ace in the hole | Ace up your sleeve | Achilles' heel | Across the board | Across the ditch | Across the pond | Act of God | Act of war | Actions speak louder than words | Adam's apple | Add fuel to the fire | Add insult to injury | After your own heart | Against the clock | Against the grain | Age before beauty | Agony aunt | Ahead of the pack | Ahead of time | Air your dirty laundry in public | Albatross around your neck | Alike as two peas | Alive and kicking | All along | All bark and no bite | All bets are off | All dressed up and nowhere to go | All ears | All eyes on me | All fingers and thumbs | All hat, no cattle | All heart | All hell broke loose | All in a day's work | All in your head | All mod cons | All mouth and trousers | All my eye and Peggy Martin | All of the above | All over bar the shouting | All over the map | All over the place | All over the shop | All over the show | All roads lead to Rome | All set | All sixes | All skin and bone | All square | All talk and no trousers | All that glitters is not gold | All the rage | | All your eggs in one basket | All's fair in love and war | All's well that ends well | All-singing, all-dancing | Alter ego | Always a bridesmaid, never a bride | Ambulance chaser | Amen | An apple a day keeps the doctor away | An old flame | An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure | And all that jazz | Angry as a bear | Angry as a bull | Answers on a postcard | Ants in your pants | Any port in a storm | | Apple of your eye | Apple pie order | Apples and oranges | Apples for apples | | Argue the toss | Arm and a leg | Armchair critic | Armed to the teeth | Around the clock | Arrow in the quiver | As a rule | As cold as ice | As cold as stone | As good as new | As mad as a hatter | As mad as a wrongly shot hog | As much use as a chocolate fire-guard | As much use as a chocolate teapot | As much use as a handbrake on a canoe | As neat as a new pin | As one man | As the actress said to the bishop | As the crow flies | As you sow, so shall you reap | Asleep at the switch | Asleep at the wheel | At a drop of a dime | At a loose end | At a loss | At a snail's pace | At arm's length | At cross purposes | At daggers drawn | At death's door | At each other's throats | At full tilt | At large | At loggerheads | At loose ends | At odds | At sea | At the bottom of the totem pole | At the coalface | At the drop of a hat | At the end of the day | At the end of your rope | At the end of your tether | At the fore | At the top of my lungs | At the top of the list | At the top of your lungs | At the top of your voice | At your wit's end | At your wits' end | Average Joe | Avowed intent | Away with the fairies | Awe inspiring | AWOL | Axe to grind

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/b.html

~ B ~ | 286 Idioms Beginning With 'B' (17.01.2009)
Babe in arms | Babe in the woods | Baby boomer | Back burner | Back foot | Back number | Back the wrong horse | Back to back | Back to the drawing board | Back to the salt mine | Back to the wall | | Bad Apple | Bad blood | Bad egg | Bad hair day | Bad mouth | Bad shape | Bad taste in your mouth | Bad workers always blame their tools | Bag of bones | Bag of nerves | Bald as a coot | Ball is in your court | Ballpark figure | Balls to the walls | Banana republic | Banana skin | Bandit territory | Baptism of fire | Bar fly | Bare your heart | Barefaced liar | Bark is worse than their bite | Barking up the wrong tree | Barkus is willing | Barrack-room lawyer | Barrel of laughs | Basket case | Bat an eyelid | Bated breath | Batten down the hatches | Battle of nerves | Be all ears | Be careful what you wish for | Be on the pig's back | Be out in force | Be out in left field | Be that as it may | Be true blue | Be up the spout | Bean counter | Bear fruit | Bear market | Bear the brunt | Beard the lion in his own den | Beat about the bush | Beat someone to the draw | Beat swords into ploughshares | Beat the daylights out of someone | Beat the rap | Beat to the punch | Beat your brains out | Beating a dead horse | Beauty is in the eye of the beholder | Beauty is only skin deep | Beck and call | Bedroom eyes | Bee in your bonnet | Beeline for | Been in the wars | Been there, done that | Beer and skittles | Before the ink is dry | Before you can say Jack Robinson | Beg the question | Beggars can't be choosers | Behind bars | Behind closed doors | Behind someone's back | Behind the eight ball | Behind the times | Believe in the hereafter | Bells and whistles | Bells on | Belly up | Below par | Below the belt | Belt and braces | Belt and suspenders | Bend over backwards | Bend someone's ear | Benjamin of the family | Beside the point | Beside themselves | Beside yourself | Best of a bad bunch | Best of both worlds | Best thing since sliced bread | Bet your bottom dollar | Better half | Better late than never | Better safe than sorry | Better than a kick in the teeth | Better than a stick in the eye | Better the devil you know | Between a rock and a hard place | Between the devil and the deep blue sea | Between you and me and the cat's whiskers | Beyond a shadow of a doubt | Beyond belief | Beyond our ken | Beyond the black stump | Big bucks | Big cheese | Big Easy | Big fish | | Big girl's blouse | Big hitter | Big nose | Big picture | Big time | Bigger fish to fry | Bird in the hand is worth two in the bush | Bird-brain | Birds and the bees | Bird's eye view | Birds of a feather flock together | Birthday suit | Bit between your teeth | Bit part | Bit player | Bite off more than you can chew | Bite someone's head off | Bite the bullet | Bite the dust | Bite your lip | Bite your tongue | Bits and bobs | Bitter end | Bitter pill to swallow | Black and blue | Black and white | Black as Newgate's knocker | Black hole | Black sheep | | Blank cheque | Bleeding edge | Bleeding heart | Bless your pointy little head | Blessing in disguise | Blind acceptance | Blind as a bat | Blind leading the blind | Blind-sided | Blink of an eye | Blood and thunder | Blood from a turnip | Blood is thicker than water | Blood is worth bottling | Blood out of a stone | Blood, sweat and tears | Blow a gasket | Blow by blow | Blow hot and cold | Blow me down | | Blow out of the water | Blow smoke | Blow the cobwebs away | Blow the whistle | Blow your mind | Blow your own horn | Blow your own trumpet | Blow your stack | Blow your top | | Blue-eyed boy | Bob's your uncle | Body politic | Bold as brass | Bolt from the blue | Bone of contention | Bone to pick | Boot is on the other foot | Born to the purple | | Both ends meet | Bottom line | Bounce ideas | Bounce off the walls | Bouquet of orchids | Box and dice | Box clever | Boxing and coxing | Boys in blue | Brain surgery | Brass monkey | Brass neck | Brass tacks | Bread and butter | Breadwinner | Break a leg | Break even | Break ground | Break the back of the beast | Break the ice | Break your duck | Break your heart | Breathe down your neck | Breathe life into | Breathe your last | Bridge the gap | Bright and breezy | Bright as a button | Brighten up the day | Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed | Bring a knife to a gunfight | Bring home the bacon | Bring on board | Bring someone to book | Bring someone to heel | Bring the house down | Bring to the table | Broad church | Broad strokes | Broke as a joke and it ain't funny | Broken record | Brown nose | Browned off | Brownie points | Brush under the carpet | Buggles' turn | Bull in a China shop | Bull market | Bull session | Bull-headed | Bums on seats | Bun in the oven | Bundle of nerves | Bur under my saddle | Burn rubber | Burn the candle at both ends | Burn the midnight oil | Burn your bridges | Burn your fingers | Burning question | Burst at the seams | Bury the hatchet | Bury your head in the sand | Busman's holiday | Bust my chops | Busted flush | Busy as a beaver | Busy as a bee

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/c.html

~ C ~ | 207 Idioms Beginning With 'C' (17.01.2009)
Cake's not worth the candle | Calf lick | Call a spade a spade | Call it a day | Call on the carpet | Call the dogs off | Call the shots | Call the tune | Calm before the storm | Can of worms | Canary in a coal mine | Can't dance and it's too wet to plow | Can't do it for toffee | Can't hack it | Can't hold a candle | Can't see the forest for its trees | Card up your sleeve | Carpetbagger | Carrot and stick | Carry the can | Carry the day | Case by case | Case in point | Cash cow | Cash in your chips | Cast a long shadow | Cast aspersion | Cast doubt on | Cast iron stomach | Cast pearls before swine | Cast sheep's eyes at | Cast your mind back | Cast your net widely | Casting vote | Castles in the air | Cat among the pigeons | Cat and dog life | Cat burglar | Cat fur and kitty britches | Cat got your tongue? | Cat nap | Catch as catch can | Catch hell | Catch some z's | Catch someone red-handed | Cat's lick | Cat's pajamas | Cat's whiskers | Chalk and cheese | Champ at the bit | Champagne taste on a beer budget | Change horses in midstream | Change of heart | Change tack | Change your tune | Chaps my ass | Chapter and verse | Charity begins at home | Chase rainbows | Chase your tail | Cheap as chips | Cheap at half the price | Cheap shot | Cheat death | Cheek by jowl | Cherry pick | Chew on a bone | Chew the cud | Chew the fat | Chickenfeed | Child's play | Chinese walls | Chinese whispers | Chip off the old block | Chip on your shoulder | Chop and change | | Circle the wagons | Circling the drain | Class act | Clean as a whistle | Clean bill of health | Clean break | Clean hands | Clean sheet | Clean sweep | Clean your clock | Clear as a bell | Clear as mud | Cliffhanger | Climb on the bandwagon | Climb the greasy pole | Cling to hope | Close at hand | Close but no cigar | Close call | Close shave | Close the stable door after the horse has bolted | Close to your heart | Closed book to me | Cloth ears | Cloud cuckoo land | Cloud of suspicion | Cloud on the horizon | Clutch at straws | Clutch play | Coast is clear | Cock a snook | Cock and bull story | Cock in the henhouse | Cock of the walk | Cold day in hell | Cold feet | Cold fish | Cold light of day | Cold shoulder | Cold sweat | Cold turkey | Colder than a witches tit | Collateral damage | Collect dust | Color bar | Come a cropper | Come clean | Come hell or high water | Come of age | Come on hard | Come on the heels of | Come out in the wash | Come out of the woodwork | Come out of your shell | Come rain or shine | Come to a head | Come to bear | Come to call | Come to grips | Come to heel | Come up roses | Come up smelling of roses | | Come what may | Come with the territory | Comes with the territory | Comfort zone | Connect the dots | Constitution of an ox | Cook someone's goose | Cook the books | Cook up a storm | Cool as a cat | Cool your heels | Coon's age | Corner a market | Could eat a horse | Couldn't give two hoots | Count sheep | Count your blessings | Country mile | Cover all the bases | Crack a nut with a sledgehammer | Crash a party | Cream of the crop | Cream rises to the top | Creature comforts | Crème de la crème | Crocodile tears | Crooked as a dog's hind leg | Cross swords | Cross that bridge when you come to it | Cross to bear | Crossing the Rubicon | Crunch time | Cry wolf | Cry your eyes out | Cry-baby | Cuckoo in the nest | Cupboard love | Curate's egg | Curiosity killed the cat | Curry favour | Curve ball | Cut a long story short | Cut a rug | Cut above | Cut and dried | Cut and run | Cut corners | Cut down the tall poppies | Cut it fine | Cut off your nose to spite your face | Cut someone some slack | Cut the Gordian knot | Cut the mustard | Cut to the chase | Cut to the quick | Cut your coat according to your cloth | Cut your losses | Cut your teeth on | Cute as a bug | Cuts no ice | Cutting edge

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/d.html

~ D ~ | 160 Idioms Beginning With 'D' (17.01.2009)
Daft as a brush | Damp squib | Dancing on someone's grave | Dark horse | Davey Jones' locker | Day in the sun | Daylight robbery | Days are numbered | Dead air | Dead and buried | Dead as a doornail | Dead duck | Dead even | Dead from the neck up | Dead heat | Dead in the water | Dead level best | Dead man walking | Dead meat | Dead men's shoes | Dead right | Dead to the world | Dead wrong | Deaf as a post | Dear John letter | Death of a thousand cuts | Death warmed up | Decorate the mahogany | Deep pockets | Deep pockets but short arms | Deer in the headlights | Deliver the goods | Demon weed | Derring-do | Devil finds work for idle hands | Devil is in the detail | Devil may care | Devil's advocate | Diamond in the rough | Die is cast | Different kettle of fish | Different ropes for different folks | Different strokes for different folks | Dig way down deep | Dig your heels in | Dime a dozen | Dine on ashes | Dinosaur | Dip your toes in the water | Dirty dog | Discerning eye | Discretion is the better part of valour | Dish the dirt | Do a Devon Loch | Do a Lord Lucan | Do a runner | Do as you would be done by | Do the needful | Do the running | Do their dirty work | Dodge the bullet | Dog and pony show | Dog days | Dog eat dog | Dog in the manger | Dog tired | Dog-eared | Doggy bag | Dog's dinner | Dog-whistle politics | Doldrums | Dollars for doughnuts | Done to death | Donkey work | Donkey's years | Don't bite the hand that feeds | Don't catch your chickens before they're hatched | Don't cry over spilt milk | Don't give up the day job | Don't hold your breath | Don't judge a book by the cover | Don't know whether to wind a watch or bark at the moon | Don't look a gift horse in the mouth | Don't mention the war | Don't push my buttons! | Don't shoot the messenger | Don't stand there with curlers in your hair | Don't sweat the small stuff | Don't take any wooden nickels | Don't throw bricks when you live in a glass house | Don't trouble trouble until trouble troubles you | Don't upset the applecart | Don't wash your dirty laundry in public | Doormat | Do's and don't's | Dot all the i's and cross all the t's | Double Dutch | Double take | Double whammy | Double-edged sword | Doubting Thomas | Down and out | Down at heel | Down for the count | Down in the doldrums | Down in the mouth | Down the drain | Down the hatch | Down the pan | Down the tubes | Down to the wire | Down-to-earth | Drag your feet | Drag your heels | Draw a blank | Draw a line in the sand | Draw a long bow | Draw the line | Draw the shortest straw | Dress someone down | Dress to kill | Dressed to the nines | Drink like a fish | Drive a wedge | Drive home | Drive someone up the wall | Drive you spare | Driven by a motor | Drop a bombshell | Drop a dime | Drop in the bucket | Drop in the ocean | Drop into your lap | Drop like flies | Drop someone a line | Drop the ball | Dropped like a hot cake | Drown your sorrows | Drunk as a lord | Drunker than a peach orchard boar | Dry as a bone | Dry as snuff | Dry run | Dry spell | Duck soup | Duck to water | Ducks in a row | Dull as ditchwater | Dumb as a rock | Dunkirk spirit | Dutch auction | Dutch courage | Dutch treat | Dutch uncle | Dutch wife | Dwell on the past | Dyed-in-the-wool

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/e.html

~ E ~ | 55 Idioms Beginning With 'E' (17.01.2009)
Each to their own | Eager beaver | Eagle eyes | Early bath | Early bird catches the worm | Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy wealthy and wise | Earn a living | Easier said than done | Easy as ABC | Easy as beans | Easy as pie | Easy come, easy go | Easy peasy | Eat crow | Eat humble pie | Eat like a bird | Eat like a horse | Eat like a pig | Eat my hat | Eat someone alive | Eat your heart out | Eat your words | Economical with the truth | Egg on your face | Elbow grease | Elbow room | Elephant in the room | Eleventh hour | Empty vessels make the most noise | End in smoke | Etched in stone | Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while | Even a broken clock is right twice a day | Even keel | Even Stevens | Even the dogs in the street know | Every ass likes to hear himself bray | Every cloud has a silver lining | Every dog has its day | Every man and his dog | Every man for himself | Every man has his price | Every man jack | Every nook and cranny | Every trick in the book | Everybody and their uncle | Everything but the kitchen sink | Exception that proves the rule | Explore all avenues | Eye candy | Eye for an eye | Eye- wash | Eye-opener | Eyes are bigger than one's stomach

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/f.html

~ F ~ | 144 Idioms Beginning With 'F' (17.01.2009)
Face like thunder | Face only a mother could love | Face the music | Face value | Face your demons | Facts of life | Failure is the mother of success | Faint heart never won fair lady | Fair and square | Fair crack of the whip | Fair shake of the whip | Fair thee well | Fairweather friend | Fall by the wayside | Fall from grace | Fall off the back of a lorry | Fall off the turnip truck | Fall off the wagon | Fall on our feet | Fall on your sword | Familiarity breeds contempt | Famous last words | Fast and furious | Fat cat | Fat chance! | Fat head | Fat hits the fire | Fat of the land | Fate worse than death | Feast today, famine tomorrow | Feather in your cap | Feather your own nest | Feathers fly | Fed up to the back teeth | Feel at home | Feel free | Feel like a million | Feel the pinch | Feeling blue | Feet of clay | Feet on the ground | Fence sitter | Few and far between | Fiddle while Rome burns | Fifth columnist | Fifth wheel | Fight an uphill battle | Fight tooth and nail | Fighting chance | Find your feet | Fine and dandy | Fine tuning | Fine words butter no parsnips | Finger in the pie | Fingers and thumbs | Fire away | Fire in the hole! | Fire on all cylinders | First come, first served | First out of the gate | First port of call | Fish in troubled waters | Fish or cut bait | Fish out of water | Fishy | Fit as a fiddle | Fit for a king | Fit like a glove | Fit of pique | Fit the bill | Fit to be tied | Five o'clock shadow | Flash in the pan | Flat as a pancake | Flat out | Fleet of foot | Flesh and blood | Flogging a dead horse | Flowery speech | | Fly in the ointment | Fly off the handle | Fly on the wall | Fly the coop | Fly the flag | Foam at the mouth | Follow your nose | Food for thought | Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me | Fools rush in where angels fear to tread | Foot in mouth | Foot in the door | Foot the bill | Football's a game of two halves | For a song | For donkey's years | For England | For kicks | For my money | For Pete's sake | For the birds | For the love of Pete | For the time being | Forbidden fruit | Foregone conclusion | Forest for the trees | Fortune knocks once at every man's door | Foul play | Four corners of the earth | Four-eyes | Four-square behind | Fourth estate | Free rein | Free-for-all | French leave | Fresh from the oven | Freudian Slip | Friendly footing | Frog in my throat | From a different angle | From Missouri | From pillar to post | From rags to riches | From scratch | From soup to nuts | From the bottom of your heart | From the get-go | From the horse's mouth | From the sublime to the ridiculous | From the word go | Full as a tick | Full bore | Full circle | Full Monty | Full of beans | Full of hot air | Full of oneself | Full of piss and vinegar | Full of the joys of spring | Full swing | Full throttle | Fullness of time | Fur coat and no knickers | Fuzzy thinking

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/g.html

~ G ~ | 168 Idioms Beginning With 'G' (17.01.2009)
Game on | Game plan | Garbage fee | Garbage in, garbage out | Gardening leave | Gather pace | Gather steam | Get a grip | Get a handle on | Get a sheepskin | Get along famously | Get away scot-free | Get away with murder | Get back on the horse that bucked you | Get in on the act | Get in on the ground floor | Get it in the neck | Get it off your chest | Get my drift | Get off the ground | Get on like a house on fire | Get on your nerves | Get on your soapbox | Get out of bed on the wrong side | Get the axe | Get the ball rolling | Get the green light | Get the monkey off your back | Get the nod | Get the picture | Get the show on the road | Get to grips | Get up and go | Get wind of | Get your ducks in a row | Get your feathers in a bunch | Get your feet wet | Get your goat | Get your hands dirty | Get your head around something | Get your teeth into | Get your wires crossed | Ghost of a chance | Ghostly presence | Gift of the gab | Gild the lily | Gilded cage | Girl Friday | Give a big hand | Give a dog a bad name | Give and take | Give as good as you get | Give it some stick | Give me a hand | Give me five | Give someone a leg up | Give someone a piece of your mind | Give someone a run for their money | Give someone enough rope | Give someone stick | Give someone the runaround | Give the nod | Give up the ghost | Give your eye teeth | Given the day that's in it | Glory hound | Gloves are off | Glutton for punishment | Gnaw your vitals | Go against the grain | Go awry | Go bananas | Go blue | Go bust | Go by the board | Go by the boards | Go down like a cup of cold sick | Go down like a lead balloon | Go down swinging | Go down without a fight | Go Dutch | Go fly a kite | Go for broke | Go for the jugular | Go fry an egg | Go hand in hand | Go nuts | Go off on a tangent | Go over like a lead balloon | Go overboard | Go pear-shaped | Go play in traffic | Go round in circles | Go south | Go spare | Go tell it to birds | Go the distance | Go the extra mile | Go the whole hog | Go through the motions | Go to seed | Go to the wire | Go to your head | Go under the hammer | Go west | Go with the flow | Going concern | Going Jesse | Going overboard | Golden handshake | Golden rule | Golden touch | Gone fishing | Gone for a burton | Gone pear-shaped | Gone to pot | Gone to the dogs | Good antennae | Good as gold | Good egg | Good fences make good neighbours | Good hand | Good Samaritan | Good shape | Good spell | Good time | Good to go | Good walls make good neighbours | Goody two-shoes | Go-to guy | Grab the bulls by its horns | Grain of salt | Grasp the nettle | Grass may be greener on the other side but it's just as hard to mow | Grass roots | Grass widow | Graveyard shift | Gravy train | Grease monkey | Grease someone's palm | Grease the skids | Greased lightning | Great guns | Great Scott | Great unwashed | Great white hope | Greek to me | Green around the gills | Green fingers | Green light | Green thumb | Green with envy | Green-eyed monster | Greenhorn | Grey area | Grey Cardinal | Grey cells | Grey matter | Grey pound | Grey suits | Grin and bear it | Grin like a Cheshire cat | Grinds my gear | Grist for the mill | Guinea-pig | Gunboat diplomacy | Gung ho

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/h.html

~ H ~ | 169 Idioms Beginning With 'H' (17.01.2009)
Hail-fellow-well-met | Hair of the dog | Hairy at the heel | Hale and hearty | Half a loaf is better than no bread | Half a mind | Half-baked | Hammer and tongs | Hand in glove | Hand in hand | Hand that rocks the cradle | Hand to mouth | Hands down | Handwriting like chicken scratch | Hang by a thread | Hang in the balance | Hang out to dry | Hangdog expression | Hanged for a sheep as a lamb | Happy medium | Happy-go-lucky | Hard as nails | Hard by | Hard cheese | Hard of hearing | Hard on someone's heels | Hard sell | Hard to come by | Hard up | Haste makes waste | Hat trick | Hatchet job | Have a ball | Have a bash | Have a blast | Have a crack | Have a go | Have a heart | Have a ripper | Have a trick up your sleeve | Have no truck with | Have the floor | Have the guts | Have your cake and eat it too | Have your collar felt | Have your fill | Have your lunch handed to you | Have your moments | Have your tail up | Have your work cut out | Having a gas | Hay is for horses | He that travels far knows much | He who hesitates is lost | Head for the hills | Head is in the clouds | Head is mince | Head nor tail | Head on a spike | Head on the block | Head over heels in love | Head south | Heads will roll | Headstrong | Healthy as a horse | Heap coals on someone's head | Hear a pin drop | Hear on the grapevine | Heart in the right place | Heart in your boots | Heart in your mouth | Heart isn't in it | Heart misses a beat | Heart of glass | Heart of gold | Heart of steel | Heart-to-heart | Heaven knows | Heavenly bodies | Heavy-handed | Hedge your bets | Hell for leather | Hell in a handcart | Herding cats | Here today, gone tomorrow | Hide nor hair | Hiding to nothing | High and dry | High and low | High and mighty | High as a kite | High on the hog | High-handed | Highway robbery | High-wire act | Himalayan blunder | Hindsight is twenty-twenty | Hit a nerve | Hit and miss | Hit me with your best shot | Hit rock bottom | Hit rough weather | Hit the airwaves | Hit the books | Hit the bull's-eye | Hit the ceiling | Hit the fan | Hit the ground running | Hit the hay | Hit the mark | Hit the nail on the head | Hit the road | Hit the roof | Hit the sack | Hive of worker bees | Hobson's choice | Hoist with your own petard | Hold all the aces | Hold the baby | Hold the bag | Hold the fort | Hold the torch | Hold water | Hold your horses | Hold your own | Hold your tongue | Holier-than-thou | Hollow leg | Hollow victory | Holy smoke! | Home and hearth | Home is where you lay your hat | Home stretch | Home sweet home | Home, James | Honest truth | Honor among thieves | Honours are even | Hook, line, and sinker | Hop, skip, and a jump | Hope against hope | Hope in hell | Hornets' nest | | Horse of a different color | Horse trading | Horses for courses | Hostile takeover | Hot air | Hot as blue blazes | Hot as Hades | Hot button | Hot foot | Hot ticket | Hot to trot | Hot under the collar | Hot water | Hot-blooded | Hot-headed | Hour of need | House of cards | How come | How do you like them apples | How long is a piece of string | How's tricks? | Hue and cry | Hung the moon | Hungry as a bear | Hunky Dory

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/i.html

~ I ~ | 133 Idioms Beginning With 'I' (17.01.2009)
I hereby give notice of my intention | I may be daft, but I'm not stupid | I should cocoa | Icing on the cake | Idle hands are the devil's handiwork | If at first you don't succeed try try again | If I had a nickel for every time | If it ain't broke, don't fix it | If Mohammed won't come to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed | If the cap fits, wear it | If wishes were horses, beggars would ride | If you are given lemons make lemonade | If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen | If you fly with the crows, you get shot with the crows | If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas | If you lie down with the Devil, you will wake up in hell | If you will | | Ill at ease | I'll cross that road when I come to it | I'll eat my hat | Ill-gotten gains | In a cleft stick | In a fix | In a flash | In a fog | In a heartbeat | In a jam | In a jiffy | In a nutshell | In a pickle | In a rut | In a tick | In a tight spot | In all honesty | In an instant | In another's shoes | In apple-pie order | In broad daylight | In cahoots | In cold blood | In dire straits | In donkey's years | In dribs and drabs | In droves | In for a penny, in for a pound | In full swing | In high gear | In high spirits | In his cups | In hot water | In light of | In like Flynn | In my bad books | In my book | In my good books | In one ear and out the other | In over your head | In perfect form | In rude health | In so many words | In someone's pocket | In spades | In stitches | In tandem | In that vein | In the bag | In the ballpark | In the black | In the cards | In the catbird seat | In the clear | In the clink | In the club | In the dock | In the doghouse | In the driver's seat | In the face of | In the family way | In the flesh | In the gravy | In the hole | In the hot seat | In the know | In the long run | In the loop | In the lurch | In the making | In the offing | In the pink | In the pipeline | In the red | In the saddle | In the same boat | In the short run | In the soup | In the swim | In the swing | | In the twinkling of an eye | In the zone | In turn | In two minds | In your blood | In your element | In your face | In your sights | Indian file | Indian giver | Indian summer | Ins and outs | Into each life some rain must fall | Into thin air | Iron fist | Irons in the fire | Is Saul also among the prophets? | It cost an arm and a leg | It cost the earth | It never rains but it pours | It takes a village to raise a child | It takes two to tango | Itch to | Itchy feet | It's an ill wind that blows no good | It's no use crying over spilt milk | It's not the size of the dog in fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog | It's not the size of the man in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the man | I've got a bone to pick with you | I've got your number | Ivory tower

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/j.html

~ J ~ | 39 Idioms Beginning With 'J' (17.01.2009)
Jack Frost | Jack the Lad | Jack-of-all-trades | Jam on your face | Jam tomorrow | Jane Doe | Jekyll and Hyde | Jersey justice | Jet set | Jet-black | Job's comforter | Jobs for the boys | Jockey for position | Jog my memory | John Doe | John Q Public | Johnny on the spot | Johnny-come-lately | Joined at the hip | Judge, jury and executioner | Juggle frogs | Jump down someone's throat | Jump on the bandwagon | Jump the gun | Jump the shark | Jump through hoops | Jump to a conclusion | Jumping Judas! | Jungle out there | Jury's out | Just around the corner | Just as the twig is bent, the tree's inclined | Just coming up to | Just for the heck of it | Just for the record | Just in the nick of time | Just off the boat | Just what the doctor ordered

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/k.html

~ K ~ | 71 Idioms Beginning With 'K' (17.01.2009)
Kangaroo court | Keen as mustard | Keep abreast | Keep at bay | Keep body and soul together | Keep in touch | Keep it on the Q T | Keep it under your hat | Keep mum | Keep posted | Keep someone at arm's length | Keep someone on their toes | Keep the wolf at bay | Keep up with the Joneses | Keep your chin up | Keep your cool | Keep your ear to the ground | Keep your eye on the ball | Keep your eye on the prize | Keep your eyes peeled | Keep your fingers crossed | Keep your hair on | Keep your head | Keep your head above water | Keep your nose clean | Keep your nose to the grindstone | Keep your options open | Keep your pecker up | Keep your powder dry | Keep your shirt on! | Keep your wig on! | Kettle of fish | Kick a habit | Kick away the ladder | Kick in the teeth | Kick something into the long grass | Kick the ballistics | Kick the bucket | Kick up your heels | Kick your heels | Kicked to touch | Kid gloves | Kill the goose that lays the golden egg | Kill two birds with one stone | Kindred spirit | King of the castle | King's ransom | Kiss and tell | Kiss of death | | Kissing cousin | Kitchen-sink | | Knee-jerk reaction | Knickers in a twist | Knight in shining armour | Knit your brows | Knock 'em dead | Knock on wood | Knock something on the head | Knock the pins from under someone | Knock your block off | Knock your socks off | Know a hawk from a handsaw | Know full well | | Know where all the bodies are buried | Know which side one's bread is buttered on | Know which way the wind blows | Know your onions | Know your place

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/l.html

~ L ~ | 130 Idioms Beginning With 'L' (17.01.2009)
Labor of love | Labour of love | Lame duck | Land of nod | Landslide victory | Lap dog | Lap of the gods | Larger than life | Last hurrah | Last laugh | Last straw | Last-ditch | Laugh a minute | Laugh to see a pudding crawl | Laugh up your sleeve | Laughing stock | Laughter is the best medicine | Law unto yourself | Lay down the law | Lead someone up the garden path | Lead with the chin | Lean and mean | Learn the ropes | Leave no stone unturned | Leave well alone | Left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing | Left in the dark | Left to your own devices | Left-handed compliment | Legend in your own lunchtime | Lend an ear | Leopard can't change its spots | Lesser of two evils | Let alone | Let bygones be bygones | Let sleeping dogs lie | Let the best be the enemy of the good | Let the cat out of the bag | Let the chips fall where they may | Let the devil take the hindmost | Let the genie out of the bottle | Let the grass grow round your feet | Let your guard down | Let your hair down | Let's call it a day | Letter of the law | Level playing field | Lie like a rug | | Lie through your teeth | Life and limb | Life is just a bowl of cherries | Light at the end of the tunnel | Light bulb moment | Light on your feet | Light years ahead | Lightning rod | Like a bat out of hell | Like a beached whale | Like a bear with a sore head | Like a bull at a gate | Like a cat on hot bricks | Like a cat that got the cream | Like a duck to water | Like a fish needs a bicycle | Like a fish out of water | Like a hawk | Like a headless chicken | Like a kid in a candy store | Like a moth to a flame | Like a rat deserting a sinking ship | Like Chinese arithmetic | Like clockwork | Like father, like son | Like giving a donkey strawberries | Like it or lump it | Like lambs to the slaughter | Like no one's business | Like peas in a pod | Like pulling teeth | Like taking candy from a baby | Like the back of your hand | Like the clappers | Like there's no tomorrow | Like two peas in a pod | Like watching sausage getting made | Like white on rice | Like wildfire | Lily-livered | Lines of communication | Lion's share | Lip service | | Little strokes fell great oaks | Live high off the hog | Live wire | | Loan shark | Lock and load | Lock horns | Lock the stable door after the horse has bolted | Lock, stock and barrel | Long face | Long in the tooth | Long shot | Long time no hear | Long time no see | Look after number 1 | Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves | Look before you leap | Look on the bright side | Look out for number one | Look what the cat dragged in | Loose cannon | Loose lips sink ships | Lord love a duck | Lord willing and the creek don't rise | Lose face | Lose the plot | Lose your bottle | Lose your lunch | Lose your marbles | Lose your shirt | Love is blind | Lower than a snake's belly | Lower than a snake's belly in a wagon rut | Lower the bar | Lower your sights | Low-hanging fruit | Luck of the draw

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/m.html

~ M ~ | 139 Idioms Beginning With 'M' (17.01.2009)
Mad as a badger | Mad as a bag of hammers | Mad as a cut snake | Mad as a hornet | Mad as a March hare | Made in the shade | Made of money | Mailed fist | Major league | Make a better fist | Make a clean breast | Make a killing | Make a meal | Make a mint | Make a monkey of someone | Make a mountain out of a molehill | Make a pig's ear | Make a pitch | Make a request | Make a song and dance | Make a virtue out of necessity | Make an enquiry | Make bets in a burning house | Make ends meet | Make hay | Make headway | Make money hand over fist | Make my day | Make no bones about it | Make or break | Make out like a bandit | Make waves | Make your blood boil | Make your flesh crawl | Make your hair stand on end | Make your toes curl | Make yourself scarce | Man Friday | Man in the street | Man of his word | Man of letters | Man of means | Man of parts | Man of straw | Man of the cloth | Man on the Clapham omnibus | Man proposes, God disposes | Man upstairs | Man's best friend | Man's man | Many a slip twixt cup and lip | Many hands make light work | Many happy returns | Many moons ago | March to the beat of your own drum | Mark my words | Mark someone's card | Marked man | Matter of life and death | Mealy-mouthed | Meat and drink | Meat and potatoes | Meet someone halfway | Meet your expectations | Meet your Maker | Meet your match | Megaphone diplomacy | Melt your heart | Melting pot | Memory like a sieve | Memory like an elephant | Mend fences | Mess with a bull, you get the horns | Method in his madness | Mexican standoff | Mickey Mouse | Midas touch | Middle of nowhere | Might and main | | Millstone round your neck | Mince words | Mind over matter | Mind the gap | Mind your own beeswax | Mind Your P's and Q's | Mind your P's and Q's | Mint condition | Misery guts | Miss is as good as a mile | Miss the boat | Mom and pop | Monday morning quarterback | Money burns a hole in your pocket | Money doesn`t grow on trees | Money for jam | Money for old rope | Money laundering | Money makes many things | Money talks | Money to burn | Monkey business | Monkey see, monkey do | Moot point | Moral fibre | Moral high ground | More front than Brighton | More haste, less speed | More heat than light | More holes than Swiss cheese | More than meets the eye | More than one string to their bow | More than one way to skin a cat | More than you can shake a stick at | Mountain to climb | Move heaven and earth | Move mountains | Move the goalposts | Mover and shaker | Much ado about nothing | Muck or nettles | Mud in the fire | Mud in your eye | Muddy the waters | Mud-slinging | Mummy's boy | Mum's the word | Murder will out | Murky waters | Music to my ears | Mutton dressed as lamb | My dogs are barking | My eye | My foot! | My hands are full | My hands are tied | My heart bleeds | My heart goes out to someone | My way or the highway

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/n.html

~ N ~ | 93 Idioms Beginning With 'N' (17.01.2009)
Nail in the coffin | Nail-biter | Nature abhors a vacuum | Nature of the beast | Neck and neck | Neck of the woods | Need no introduction | Needle in a haystack | Neither fish nor fowl | Neither here nor there | Neither use nor ornament | Nerves of steel | Nervous Nellie | Nest egg | Never a rose without the prick | Never darken my door again | New blood | New brush sweeps clean | New kid on the block | New lease of life | New man | New sheriff in town | New York minute | Newfangled | Nice as pie | Nick of time | Nickel tour | Night owl | Ninth circle of hell | Nip and tuck | Nip at the bit | | No bed of roses | No can do | No go | No good deed goes unpunished | No great shakes | No harm, no foul | No holds barred | No ifs or buts | No laughing matter | No love lost | No pain, no gain | No quarter | No question | No questions asked | No skin off my nose | | No spine | No spring chicken | No strings attached | No time for | No time like the present | No time to lose | No two ways about it | No use to man or beast | Noddy work | Nod's as good as a wink | None so blind as those who will not see | Nose in the air | Nosy parker | Not a snowball's chance in hell | Not all there | Not bat an eye | | Not cricket | Not enough room to swing a cat | Not give a fig | Not give a monkey's | Not have the heart | Not have two pennies to rub together | Not hurt a fly | Not know beans about | Not know you are born | Not much cop | Not my cup of tea | Not on my watch | Not our bag | Not the only pebble on the beach | Not to be sneezed at | Not wash | Not worth a red cent | | Notch on your belt | Nothing to crow about | Nothing to write home about | Nothing ventured, nothing gained | Now and then | Null and void | Number cruncher | Nuts and bolts | Nutty as a fruitcake

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/o.html

~ O ~ | 139 Idioms Beginning With 'O' (17.01.2009)
Object lesson | Odds and ends | Off colour | Off the beaten track | Off the chart | Off the cuff | Off the grid | Off the hook | Off the mark | Off the rails | Off the record | Off the scale | Off the shelf | Off the top of your head | Off the track | Off the wall | Off your chump | Off your rocker | Off-hand | Oh, my goodness! | Old chestnut | Old flames die hard | Old friends and old wine are best | Old hat | Old wive's tale | Oldest trick in the book | Olive branch | On a fishing expedition | On a roll | On a silver platter | On all fours | On Carey Street | On good terms | On hold | On ice | On pins and needles | On tenterhooks | On the ball | On the blink | On the blower | On the carpet | On the case | On the cheap | On the dot | On the factory floor | On the fiddle | On the flip side | On the fly | On the game | On the ground | On the hoof | On the house | On the lam | On the level | On the line | On the make | On the map | On the never-never | On the nod | On the nod | On the nod | On the nose | On the rebound | On the right foot | On the ropes | On the run | On the same page | On the same wavelength | On the shelf | On the skids | On the sly | On the stump | On the take | On the tip of your tongue | On the trot | On the up and up | On the wagon | On the wallaby track | On top of the world | On your high horse | On your last legs | On your soapbox | On your tod | On your toes | Once bitten, twice shy | | One bad apple | One fell swoop | One for the road | One good turn deserves another | One hand washes the other | One man's loss is another man's gain | One man's meat is another man's poison | One man's trash is another man's treasure | One over the eight | One swallow does not make a summer | One-man band | One-off | One-trick pony | Oops a daisy | Open all hours | | Open old sores | Open old wounds | Opening a can of worms | Opportunity knocks but once | Other fish to fry | Other side of the coin | Out and about | Out in the sticks | Out like a light | Out of hand | Out of my league | Out of pocket | Out of sight, out of mind | Out of sorts | Out of the blue | Out of the box | Out of the frying pan, into the fire | Out of the gate running | Out of the left field | Out of the mouths of babes | Out of the woods | Out of this world | Out of your hair | | Out of your own pocket | Out on a limb | Out to lunch | Out-and-out | Over a barrel | Over and over | Over my dead body | Over the counter | Over the hill | Over the moon | Over the top | Over your head | Over-egg the pudding

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/p.html

~ P ~ | 169 Idioms Beginning With 'P' (17.01.2009)
Packed like sardines | Paddle your own canoe | Pain in the neck | Paint the town red | Paint yourself into a corner | Painted Jezebel | Pandora's box | Paper over the cracks | Paper tiger | Par for the course | Parrot fashion | Part and parcel | Pass muster | Pass the buck | Pass the hat | Pass the time of day | Pastoral care | Patience of Job | Pay on the nail | Pay the piper | Pay through the nose | Pay your dues | Pecking order | Peeping Tom | Pen is mightier than the sword | Penny ante | Penny pincher | Penny wise, pound foolish | People who live in glass houses should not throw stones | Pep talk | Perfidious Albion | Perish the thought | Pet peeve | Photo finish | Pick up the tab | Pick-up game | Picture perfect | Pie in the sky | Piece of cake | Pieces of the same cake | Pig in a poke | Pigs might fly | Pin down with a label | Pin money | Pinch of salt | Pink pound | Pink slip | Pipe dream | Piping hot | Place in the sun | Plain as a pikestaff | Plain as the nose on your face | Plain Jane | Plain sailing | Plan B | Plastic smile | Play by ear | Play fast and loose | Play for keeps | Play for time | Play hard to get | Play hardball | Play havoc | Play hooky | Play into someone's hands | Play it by ear | Play out of your skin | Play possum | Play second fiddle | Play the field | Play the fool | Play with fire | Playing to the gallery | Please revert | Pleased as punch | Poacher turned gamekeeper | Poetry in motion | Point the finger | Pointy-heads | Poison pill | Polish the apples | Polishing peanuts | Politically correct | Poor as a church mouse | Pop the question | Pop your clogs | Pork barrel | Pot calling the kettle black | Pound of flesh | Pour oil on troubled waters | Powder your nose | Powers that be | Practical joke | Practise what you preach | Preaching to the choir | Presence of mind | Press the flesh | Pressed for time | Prick up your ears | Prim and proper | Prince charming | Problem is thirty | Proclaim it from the rooftops | Prodigal son | Proof of the pudding is in the eating | Pros and cons | Proud as a peacock | Pull a rabbit out of your hat | Pull in the reins | Pull no punches | Pull out all the stops | Pull out of the fire | Pull rank | Pull someone's leg | Pull strings | Pull the fat from the fire | Pull the other one, it's got brass bells on | Pull the trigger | Pull the wool over someone's eyes | Pull up your socks | Pull your chain | Pull your finger out! | Pull your punches | Pull your weight | | Punching bag | Puppy love | Pup's chance | Push comes to shove | Push the envelope | Pushing up the daisies | Put a bug in your ear | Put a cork in it! | Put a sock in it | Put all your eggs in one basket | Put it on the cuff | Put lipstick on a pig | Put more green into something | Put on airs | Put or get someone's back up | Put some dirt on it | Put some mustard on it! | Put somebody's nose out of joint | Put someone on a pedestal | Put someone out to pasture | Put that in your pipe and smoke it | Put the carriage before the horse | Put the kybosh on | Put the pedal to the metal | Put to the sword | Put two and two together | Put up or shut up | Put you in mind | Put you in the picture | Put your best foot forward | Put your cards on the table | Put your foot down | Put your foot in it | Put your foot in your mouth | Put your hand on your heart | Put your heads together | Put your money where your mouth is | Put your shoulder to the wheel | Put your thumb on the scales | Put yourself in someone's shoes | Putting the cart before the horse |

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/q.html

~ Q ~ | 19 Idioms Beginning With 'Q' (17.01.2009)
Quarrel with bread and butter | Quart into a pint pot | Queen bee | Queen of Hearts | Queer fish | Queer Street | Queer your pitch | Question of time | Queue jumping | Quick as a flash | Quick buck | Quick fix | Quick off the mark | Quick on the trigger | Quids in | Quiet as a cat | Quiet as a mouse | Quiet before the Storm | Quitters never win; winners never quit

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/r.html

~ R ~ | 109 Idioms Beginning With 'R' (17.01.2009)
Rack and ruin | Rack your brain | Ragged blue line | Rags to riches | Rain on your parade | Raining cats and dogs | Rainy day | Raise Cain | Raise eyebrows | Rake over old coals | Rake someone over the coals | Rank and file | Rat race | Rather you than me | Raw deal | Read between the lines | Read from the same page | Read someone the riot act | Real deal | Real McCoy | Real plum | Real trouper | Rearrange the deckchairs on the Titanic | Recharge your batteries | Red carpet | | Red letter day | Red light district | Red mist | Red rag to a bull | Red tape | Reds under the bed | Reduce to ashes | Reinvent the wheel | Renaissance man | Rest is gravy | Rest on your laurels | Revenge is sweet | Rewrite history | Rhyme or reason | Rice missionary | Rich as Croesus | Rich man's family | Ride for a fall | Ride high | Ride roughshod | Ride shotgun | Ride with the tide | Right as rain | Right out of the blocks | Right royal | Right up my alley | Right up your street | Ring a bell | Ringside seat | Rip van Winkle | Rise and shine | Rise from the ashes | Road to Damascus | Rob Peter to pay Paul | Rock the boat | Rocket science | Roll out the red carpet | Roll with the punches | Roll your eyes | Rolling in money | Rolling in the aisles | Rome was not built in a day | Root hog or die poor | Rooted to the spot | Rose-colored glasses | Rose-tinted glasses | Rough and ready | Rough around the edges | Rough diamond | Rough edges | Rough end of the stick | Rough-hewn | Round the bend | Round the houses | Rub shoulders | Rub someone up the wrong way | Rudderless ship | Rue the day | Ruffle a few feathers | Rule of thumb | Rule the roost | Run a mile | Run amok | Run around the bush | Run before you can walk | Run circles around someone | Run into the sand | Run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes | Run off your feet | Run out of gas | Run rings around someone | Run something into the ground | Run the gauntlet | Run the show | Run to ground | Run your mouth off | Run-of-the-mill | Running on empty | Running on fumes | Runs in the family | Russian roulette | Rusty needle

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/s.html

~ S ~ | 294 Idioms Beginning With 'S' (17.01.2009)
Sacred cow | Safe and sound | Safe as houses | Safe bet | Safe pair of hands | Safety in numbers | Saigon moment | Sail close to the wind | Sail under false colours | Salt in a wound | Salt of the earth | Salty dog | Same old, same old | Save face | Save someone's bacon | Save your skin | Saved by the bell | Saving grace | Say uncle | Say when | Saying is one thing; doing is another | Say-so | Scales fall from your eyes | Scare the daylights out of someone | Scarlet woman | Scattered to the four winds | Scent blood | Schoolyard pick | Scot free | Scotch Mist | Scraping the barrel | Scream blue murder | Screw loose | Screwed if you do, screwed if you don't | Sea legs | Seamy side | Searching question | Second thoughts | Second wind | See eye to eye | See red | See the elephant | See the light | See which way the cat jumps | See you anon | See you later | See you on the big drum | Seed money | Seeing is believing | Seen better days | Sell down the river | Sell like hot cakes | Sell like hotcakes | Sell your birthright for a mess of pottage | Sell your soul | Send someone packing | Send someone to Coventry | Separate the sheep from the goats | Separate the wheat from the chaff | Serve time | Serve your country | Set in stone | Set the Thames on fire | Set the wheels in motion | Set your sights on | Seven sheets to the wind | Seventh heaven | Shades of meaning | Shaggy dog story | Shake a leg | Shanks's pony | Shape up or ship out | Sharp as a tack | Sharpen your pencil | Shed light | She'll be apples | Shifting sands | Shilly-shally | Ship came in | Shipshape and Bristol fashion | Shoe is on the other foot | Shoestring | Shoot down in flames | Shoot from the hip | Shoot the breeze | Shoot your wad | Shoot yourself in the foot | Shooting fish in a barrel | Shop floor | Short end of the stick | Short horse soon curried | Short shrift | Short-change | Shot across the bow | Shot in the dark | Shotgun marriage | Show me the money | Show someone a clean pair of heels | Show someone the ropes | Show your true colors | Shrinking violet | Sick and tired | Sick as a dog | Sick as a parrot | Sick to death | Sight for sore eyes | Sight to behold | Signed, sealed and delivered | Silence is golden | Silly season | Silver bullet | Silver screen | Silver surfer | Since time immemorial | Sing for your supper | Sing from the same hymn sheet | Sing like a canary | Sink or swim | Sit on the fence | Sit pretty | Sit well with | Sitting duck | Six feet under | Six of one and half-a-dozen of the other | Skate on thin ice | Skeleton in the closet | Skin and bones | Skin in the game | Skin someone alive | Skunkworks | Sky is the limit | Slap leather | Slap on the wrist | Sleep like a baby | Sleep like a log | Sleep well- don't let the bedbugs bite | Sleight of hand | Slim chance | Sling your hook | Slip of the tongue | Slip through one's fingers | Slippery customer | Slippery slope | Slough of despond | Slow and steady wins the race | Slow boat to China | Slow but sure | Slower than molasses going uphill in January | Slowly, slowly catchy monkey | Sly as a fox | Smack in the face | Small beer | Small dog, tall weeds | Small fry | Small-time | Smart Alec | Smart as a whip | Smarty pants | Smell a rat | Smoke and mirrors | Smoke like a chimney | Smoke the peace pipe | Smokestack industry | Smoking gun | Smooth as a baby's bottom | Smooth sailing | Snake in the grass | Snake oil | Snake oil salesperson | Snug as a bug in a rug | So it goes | So on and so forth | Sod's law | Soft soap someone | Some other time | Something nasty in the woodshed | Sound as a bell | Sound as a pound | Sour grapes | Sow the seeds | Sow your wild oats | Spanish practices | Spanner in the works | Spare the rod and spoil the child | Speak of the devil! | Speak to the organ grinder not the monkey | Speak volumes | Speak with a forked tongue | Spend a penny | Spend like a sailor | Spice of life | | Spill the beans | Spin a yarn | Spinning a line | Spinning a yarn | Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak | Spirit of the law | Spit blood | Spit it out | Spit the dummy | Split hairs | Split the blanket | Spoil the ship for a ha'pworth of tar | Spot on | Sprat to catch a mackerel | Spring to mind | Spur of the moment | Sputnik moment | Square meal | Square Mile | Square peg in a round hole | Square the circle | Squared away | Squeaky clean | Squeaky wheel gets the grease | Squeeze blood out of a turnip | Stand in good stead | Stars and stripes | Stars in your eyes | Start from scratch | State of the art | Status quo | Steal a march | Steal someone's thunder | Steer clear of | Stem the tide | Step on it | Step on someone's toes | Step up to the plate | Stew in your own juices | Stick in your craw | Stick out like a sore thumb | Stick to your guns | Stick your neck out | Sticking point | Stick-in-the-mud | Sticky end | Sticky fingers | Sticky wicket | Stiff as a poker | Stiff upper lip | Stiff-necked | Still in the game | Still waters run deep | Stir the blood | Stitch in time saves nine | Stone dead | Stone deaf | Stone's throw | Stool pigeon | Stop cold | Storm in a teacup | Straight face | Straight from the shoulder | Strain every nerve | Strange at the best of times | Straw man | Straw poll | Straw that broke the camel's back | Streets ahead | Strike a chord | Strike while the iron is hot | Stroll down memory lane | Strong as an ox | Stubborn as a mule | Stuffed to the gills | Succeed in the clutch | Suck hind teat | Sunday driver | Sure as eggs is eggs | Sure-fire | Swansong | Swear like a sailor | Swear like a trooper | Sweat blood | Sweat like a pig | Sweep off your feet | Sweep things under the carpet | Sweet as a gumdrop | Sweet tooth | Swim against the tide | Swim with the fishes | Swim with the tide | Swimmingly | Swing the lead | Swinging door | Swings and roundabouts

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/t.html

~ T ~ | 234 Idioms Beginning With 'T' (17.01.2009)
Tables are turned | Tackle an issue | Take a hike | Take a leaf out of someone's book | Take a nosedive | Take a punch | Take a raincheck | Take a straw poll | Take by the scruff of the neck | Take for a test drive | Take for granted | Take forty winks | Take guts | Take it in your stride | Take it on the chin | Take no prisoners | Take sand to the beach | Take someone down a peg | Take someone for a ride | Take someone to task | Take someone to the woodshed | Take someone under your wing | Take stock | Take the biscuit | Take the bull by its horns | Take the chair | Take the fall | Take the fifth | Take the flak | Take the floor | Take the heat | Take the Mickey | Take the plunge | Take the rough with the smooth | Take to your heels | Take up the torch | Take your breath away | Take your eye off the ball | Take your hat off | Take your hat off to somebody | Taken as read | Tale of the tape | Talk a blue streak | Talk a glass eye to sleep | Talk is cheap | Talk nineteen to the dozen | Talk of the town | Talk out of the back of your head | Talk out of your hat | Talk shop | Talk the hind legs off a donkey | Talk turkey | Talking to a brick wall | Tall drink of water | Tall order | Tall story | Tally ho! | Tar baby | Tar with the same brush | Taste blood | Taste of your own medicine | Teach your grandmother to suck eggs | Teacher's pet | Tear your hair out | Tears before bedtime | Teeny-weeny | Teething problems | Tell them where the dog died | Tempest in a teapot | Tempt providence | Ten a penny | Test the waters | That and 50 cents will buy you a cup of coffee | That dog won't hunt | That makes two of us | That ship has sailed | That's all she wrote | The apple does not fall far from the tree | The ball's in your court | The be all and end all | The bigger they are, the harder they fall | The common weal | The grass is always greener | The line forms on the right | The more the merrier | The Mountie always gets his man | The penny dropped | The plot thickens | The rough and tumble | The sands of time | The short straw | The sun might rise in the west | The whole shooting match | The world and his wife | Their bark is worse than their bite | There are many ways to skin a cat | There's never a road without a turning | There's no such thing as a free lunch | There's the rub | Thick and fast | Thick as mince | Thick as thieves | Thick-skinned | Thin as a rake | Thin blue line | Thin end of the wedge | Thin line | Think outside the box | Think the world of | Thin-skinned | Third degree | Third rail | Third time's the charm | Thorn in your side | Those who live by the sword die by the sword | Three sheets in the wind | Three sheets to the wind | Thrilled to bits | Through gritted teeth | Through the ceiling | Through the floor | Through thick and thin | Throw a curve | Throw a monkey wrench into the works | Throw a sickie | Throw caution to the wind | Throw down the gauntlet | Throw in the towel | Throw pearls to the pigs | Throw someone a bone | Throw someone a line | Throw someone in at the deep end | Throw someone to the wolves | Throw someone under the bus | Throw the baby out with the bath water | Throw the book at someone | Throw your hat in the ring | Throw your toys out of the pram | Throw your weight around | Thumb your nose at | Thumbs down & thumbs up | Tickle your fancy | Tickled pink | Tidy desk, tidy mind | Tie the knot | | Tight rein | Tight ship | Tighten your belt | Till the cows come home | Till the pips squeak | Till you're blue in the face | Tilt at windmills | Time and again | Time and tide wait for no man | Time does sail | Time flies | Time is on my side | Time of your life | Time-honoured practice | Tip of the iceberg | Tipping point | Tired and emotional | Tit for tat | To a fault | To a man | To a T | To all intents and purposes | To be as thick as two bricks | To be dog cheap | To err is human, to forgive divine | To have the courage of your convictions | To little avail | To the end of time | Toe the line | Tomorrow's another day | Tongue in cheek | Too big for your boots | Too big for your britches | Too many chiefs and not enough Indians | Too many cooks spoil the broth | Too many irons in the fire | Toot you own horn | Top dog | Top notch | Touch and go | Touch base | Touch wood | Touch-and-go | Tough as old boots | Tough luck | Tough nut to crack | Tough row to hoe | Trade barbs | Trail your coat | Train of thought | Tread on someone's toes | Tread the boards | Tread water | Tried and tested | True blue | True colours | | Truth will out | Tug at the heartstrings | Turf war | Turn a blind eye | Turn a deaf ear | Turn a new leaf | Turn something on its head | Turn the corner | Turn the crack | Turn the other cheek | Turn the tables | Turn turtle | Turn up like a bad penny | Turn up one's toes to the daisies | Turn water into wine | Turn your nose up | Turn-up for the books | Twenty-four seven | Twinkling of an eye | Twist someone's arm | Twisting in the wind | Two cents | Two heads are better than one | Two left feet | Two peas in a pod | Two sides of the same coin | Two-edged sword | Two-faced

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/u.html

~ U ~ | 46 Idioms Beginning With 'U' (17.01.2009)
Ugly as a stick | Ugly duckling | Uncalled for | Uncharted waters | Uncle Sam | Under a cloud | | Under false colours | Under fire | Under lock and key | Under someone's heel | Under the radar | Under the table | Under the weather | Under the wire | Under your belt | Under your breath | Under your nose | Under your skin | Under your thumb | Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown | Unwavering loyalty | Up a gum tree | Up a river without a paddle | Up for grabs | Up in the air | Up sticks | Up the ante | Up the creek | Up the duff | Up the spout | Up the stick | Up the wall | Up the wooden hill | Up to scratch | Up to snuff | Up to speed | Up to the eyes | Up to the neck | Up to your eyes | Up to your neck | Up with the lark | Upper crust | Upper hand | Upset the apple cart | U-turn

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/v.html

~ V ~ | 7 Idioms Beginning With 'V' (17.01.2009)
Vale of tears | Velvet glove | Vent your spleen | Vicar of Bray | Vicious circle | Virgin territory | Volte-face

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/w.html

~ W ~ | 143 Idioms Beginning With 'W' (17.01.2009)
Wag the dog | Wait for a raindrop in the drought | Waiting in the wings | Wake up and smell the coffee | Wake-up call | Walk a fine line | Walk a mile in my shoes | Walk a tightrope | Walk in the park | Walk on eggshells | Walk the green mile | Walk the plank | Walking on air | Walking on broken glass | Walking time-bomb | Wallflower | War chest | War of words | Warm and fuzzy | Warm the cockles of your heart | Warpath | | Wash your hands of something | Waste not, want not | Waste of skin | Watch grass grow | Watch your six | Watching paint dry | Water off a duck's back | Water over the dam | Water under the bridge | Watering hole | Watery grave | Weak at the knees | Wear sackcloth and ashes | Wear your heart on your sleeve | Weather a storm | Wedge politics | Weight off your shoulders | Well-heeled | Well-oiled | Well-oiled machine | Were you born in a barn? | Wet behind the ears | Wet blanket | Wet your whistle | Whale of a time | What can sorry do? | What can you expect from a hog but a grunt? | What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? | What goes around comes around | What goes around, comes around | What will be will be | Whatever floats your boat | What's cooking? | What's good for the goose is good for the gander | What's up? | What's your poison? | What's your take on that? | Wheels fall off | When hell freezes over | When in Rome, do as the Romans do | When it rains, it pours | When pigs fly | When the chickens come home to roost | Where the rubber meets the road | Where there's a will, there's a way | Where there's smoke, there's fire | Whet your appetite | Which came first the chicken or the egg? | While the cat's away, the mouse will play | Whistle for it | Whistle-stop tour | Whistling Dixie | Whistling in the dark | Whistling past the graveyard | White as a sheet | White as snow | White elephant | White feather | White lie | White-bread | Who wears the pants? | Who wears the trousers? | Who will ring the bell? | Whole ball of wax | Whole kit and caboodle | Whole new ball game | Whole nine yards | Whole shebang | Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free | Why keep a dog and bark yourself? | Wide berth | Wide of the mark | Wild goose chase | Will never fly | Will-o'-the-wisp | Win by a nose | Window dressing | Window to the soul | Wing and a prayer | Winner takes all | Wipe the floor with | Wipe the smile of someone's face | With a heavy hand | With child | | With friends like that, who needs enemies? | Wither on the vine | Within a whisker | Without a hitch | Woe betide you | Woe is me | Wolf in sheep's clothing | Wood for the trees | Word of mouth | Word of the law | Words fail me | Work like a charm | Work like a dog | Work the system | Work your fingers to the bone | Work your socks off | Work your tail off | World at your feet | World is your oyster | Worm information | Worm's eye view | Worse for wear | Worse things happen at sea | Worth a shot | Worth your salt | | Wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole | Wrap yourself in the flag | Wrench in the works | Writ large | Writing on the wall | Written all over your face | Written in stone | Wrong end of the stick | Wrong foot

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/x.html

~ X ~ | 3 Idioms Beginning With 'X' (17.01.2009)
X factor | X marks the spot | X-rated

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/y.html

~ Y ~ | 36 Idioms Beginning With 'Y' (17.01.2009)
Yah boo sucks | Yank my chain | Yellow press | Yellow streak | Yellow-bellied | Yen | Yes-man | | You are what you eat | You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar | You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family | You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink | You can say that again | You can't fight City Hall | You can't have cake and the topping, too | You can't have your cake and eat it | You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear | You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs | You can't take it with you | You can't unring a bell | You could have knocked me down with a feather | You do not get a dog and bark yourself | You get what you pay for | You reap what you sow | You said it! | You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours | You what? | Young blood | Young Turk | Your belly button is bigger than your stomach | Your call | Your name is mud | Your sins will find you out | You're toast | You've got rocks in your head | You've made your bed- you'll have to lie in it

(E?)(L1) http://www.usingenglish.com/reference/idioms/z.html

~ Z ~ | 5 Idioms Beginning With 'Z' (17.01.2009)
| Zigged before you zagged | Zip it | Zip your lip

Almond, Jordan
Dictionary of Word Origins
A History of the Words, Expressions and Cliches We Use

Format: Paperback | 286 pages
Dimensions: 136 x 208 x 22mm | 299.37g
Publication date: 01 Oct 2000
Publisher: KENSINGTON PUB CORP
Language: English
Edition statement: Reprint
ISBN: 100806517131
ISBN: 139780806517131

Dictionary of Word Origins

A History of the Words, Expressions and Cliches We Use

by Jordan Almond

Götz, Dieter / Lorenz, Gunter
Collins Cobuild Englische Idioms von A - Z
The Cobuild Series from the Bank of English

Kurzbeschreibung
Mit ca. 4.400 Idioms und über 8.500 Beispielen aus der "Bank of English". Neben den Erläuterungen zu den einzelnen Einträgen und Erklärungen der Hintergründe der Idioms sowie den Hinweisen auf Sprechabsichten finden Sie zusätzlich Angaben zur Häufigkeit der verwendeten Idioms.

Über das Produkt
Die deutsche Bearbeitung des "Dictionary of Idioms" enthält ca. 4.400 englische und amerikanische Idioms und über 8.500 Beispiele aus der Bank of English. Neben Erläuterungen der Bedeutung finden sich Erklärungen der Hintergründe dieser Redewendungen und Hinweise auf ihre Verwendung. Tipps zu ihrer Häufigkeit erleichtern dem fortgeschrittenen Lernenden das Verständnis und den korrekten Gebrauch.

Gulland, Daphne M.
Langenscheidts Bildliche Redewendungen

Kurzbeschreibung
Bildliche Vergleiche, nach Sachgebieten geordnet
Übersetzungen und Andwendungsbeispiele aus Zeitungen und Erzählliteratur erleichtern das Lernen
Witzige Illustrationen helfen beim Einprägen der englischen Wendungen
Extra: Alphabetisches Register ermöglicht schnelles Nachschlagen.

Hendrickson, Robert
The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins

The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins

by Robert Hendrickson

In this entertaining compendium, Robert Hendrickson, author of numerous popular works on language and literature, traces the sometimes bizarre and always fascinating origins and developments of more than 9,000 words and phrases, including slang, proverbs, animal and plant names, place names, nicknames, historical expressions, foreign-language expressions, and more. The emphasis throughout is on words and expressions with origins that are not adequately explained-or not addressed at all-in standard dictionaries. This greatly expanded and revised version of the critically acclaimed 1987 original offers more than 2,000 new entries, including:

"paparazzi": Director Frederico Fellini named a hyperactive photographer in his film La Dolce Vita Signore "Paparazzo", after Italian slang for "mosquito". The popularity of Fellini's film led to the widespread use of the term "paparazzi" for relentless swarms of celebrity-chasing photographers.

The Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins
Facts on File Series
by Robert Hendrickson
Book Review

Hendrickson, Robert

The Facts on File Encyclopedia of
Word and Phrase Origins
Fourth Edition

Definitions and Origins of More Than 15,000 Words and Expressions

Kirkpatrick, Betty
Kirkpatrick, E. M.
Cliches
Over 1500 Phrases Explored and Explained

The cliché is " ... the bad guy of the English language. Furthermore it is the worst kind of bad guy - the bad guy that used to be a good guy before it suffered a fall from grace or, in the case of the cliché, a fall from freshness."
Was this always so? Is originality of usage a classic value or a more recent one? In an exhaustive, 10-page introduction to Clichés: Over 1,500 Phrases Explored and Explained, lexicographer Betty Kirkpatrick presents a fascinating history of the classification of this linguistic category as well as of various aspects of language, illustrating its elasticity and ongoing evolution.

For the literal thinker, it may be satisfying to know that the word "cliché" comes from the French "clicer", meaning "to stereotype" (a printing term), but a succinct and consensual definition? No can do. Clichés are, Kirkpatrick contends, "impossible to pigeonhole."

Designating such categories as "quotations" and "misquotations", "euphemistic clichés", "catchphrases", "vogue expressions", or "buzzwords", Kirkpatrick has assembled 207 pages of commentary on the subject. For all of the wrath and ridicule expended on it, the cliché, to coin a phrase, is as old as the hills.

Look up as old as the hills in Betty Kirkpatrick's Clichés and you'll find the phrase, its history, and examples of its usage. You'll want to keep this entertaining dictionary in your reference library for when your dinner guest asks, "What is the shape of things to come?" You'll be able to provide two thought-provoking answers, the first of which will come from your copy of Clichés; the second may come from your tarot.

Kirkpatrick, Betty
The Usual Suspects and Other Cliches
Names and Shames More Than 1,500 Familiar Words and Phrases

Brings together more than 1,500 of the most commonly used English cliches, outlining the meaning of each expression, its origins and the reason for its creation. Cliches have never been flavour of the month with school teachers, editors or literary connoisseurs, and are potential banana skins for journalists and students. For most of us, preventing these old-hat expressions from punctuating our everyday conversations and writing is more easily said than done. In this new edition of the popular Dictionary of Cliches Betty Kirkpatrick once again spills the beans on the most commonly used cliches. It is up to the reader to decide whether the use of cliche is flogging a dead horse, or exploiting a valuable means of cutting a long story short. "the Witchfinder-General of Rhetorical redundancy, the Lynne Truss of stylistic staleness. A doughy lexicographer... no one is better qualified... A cracking read." Scottish Sunday Herald "A goldmine for lovers of words and language." Writing Magazine

Langenscheidt
And pigs might fly

Bildhaft sprechen mit 250 englischen Redewendungen

mit Redewendungen und Quiz spielerisch lernen

Diese 250 thematisch sortierten Redewendungen helfen Ihnen, bildhafte Alltagssprache zu verstehen. Beispielsätze veranschaulichen die richtige Verwendung, Quizfragen & Fettnäpfchen garantieren Spaß beim Lernen. So haben Sie bei Ihrem Gegenüber sicher bald "einen Stein im Brett".

ISBN: 978-3-468-43125-8, 128 Seiten, kartoniert, 218g, 11x191x126mm

Manser, Martin H. (Author)
I Never Knew That Was in the Bible
The Ultimate A to Z Resource to Common Expressions and Curious Words That Come from the Bible
(Nelson's A-Z)

Synopsis
An A-Z guide to common expressions and curious words from the Bible. It shows how hundreds of today's colourful expressions come from the Bible, such as "by the skin of my teeth", "a fly in the ointment" and many more.

Manser, Martin H. (Author)
King James Bible Word Book

Synopsis
This updated text explains the meanings of some 1,100 words and phrases in the 16th century English used in the King James version of the Bible, and indexes some 2,500 equivalent words/phrases used in modern translations. E.g., the KJV's "suburbs" later became "pastureland" or "countryside." Originally published as The Bible World Book

O'Dell, Felicity (Autor)
McCarthy, Michael (Autor)
English Idioms un use - Advanced
Edition with answers

Sampson, Rodney
Smith, Colin
And now for something completely different

Wer gelegentlich englische Zeitungen liest, oder wer schon einmal zeitgenössische britische Unterhaltungsliteratur gelesen hat, kennt wohl das Phänomen: Man versteht einen Absatz Wort für Wort, keine unbekannte Vokabel darin, aber der Sinn des Ganzen bleibt nebulös. Auch ein Wörterbuch mit vielen idiomatischen Wendungen hilft nicht weiter. Klar ist nur: Hier wird auf irgend etwas angespielt, das jeder Engländer kennt. Auf irgendeine historische Person, eine literarische oder Filmfigur, ein Zitat, das in keinem Zitatenlexikon verzeichnet ist, usw. usw... Manches erkennt man zufällig; wer den Pu-Bären kennt, kann immerhin die "heffalump trap" umkurven -- aber weiß man dann auch, dass und warum sich hinter einem "Harry" der typische Sportreporter verbirgt? Dass der "Essex man" die britische Version unseres Mantafahrers ist und für gewöhnlich Kevin heißt? Dass mit "Gorbals" eine Art Klein-Chicago gemeint ist? Und worauf spielt an, wer einen Satz mit "My husband and I" beginnt? Jeder der vielen Einträge eine neue Offenbarung über die Alltagskultur der Insel.

Rodney Sampson und Colin Smith haben mit "And now for something completely different" ein nützliches kleines Wörterbuch von gediegenem Unterhaltungswert herausgegeben; das Monty-Python-Zitat im Titel gibt die Richtung vor. Sicher, einige Einträge braucht's nicht unbedingt; einen "Sherlock Holmes" oder "Jack the Ripper" etwa hätte man auch ohne Hilfe entschlüsseln können. Aber das meiste kennt man eben nicht. Nützlich sind auch die Anhänge "Geographical and social markers", "Numbers" und "Linguistic play".

Dadurch, dass die Herausgeber jeden Eintrag kurz erläutern, ggf. auch auf die Entstehung der jeweiligen Phrase eingehen, hält man hier nicht nur ein Wörterbuch in Händen, sondern auch eine Art linguistische Landeskunde.

Sellner, Alfred
Englisch im Alltag
Floskeln, Redewendungen, Sprichwörter, Zitate, Formeln, Phrasen

Theissen, Siegfried
Englische und amerikanische Redewendungen
mit Erläuterungen, Etymologie und Beispielsätzen

2020. 255 Seiten, 978-3-96769-012-5. kartoniert, EUR 19,90

Nachschlagewerke zu englischen Redewendungen gibt es in Hülle und Fülle, aber ihrer Herkunft wird selten Beachtung geschenkt. In diesem Band werden mehr als 1.500 englische und amerikanische Redewendungen aufgeführt mit ihrer deutschen Übersetzung, ihrer Etymologie (insofern sie zu ergründen war), einer wörtlichen Umschreibung oder der Übersetzung ihrer Kernwörter und einem Beispielsatz..

Zielgruppe:

Anfänger und Fortgeschrittene, die unterrichtsbegleitend oder im Selbststudium ihren aktiven Sprachgebrauch systematisch verbessern möchten. Anglistikstudierende; Übersetzerinnen und Übersetzer.

Konzeption:

Bei vielen Redewendungen wird auf ähnliche verwiesen. So findet man unter "in the blink of an eye": Siehe "drop of a hat, flick, Jack Robinson, knife, twinkling, in a trice". Somit ist dieser Band auch eine Art Synonymwörterbuch.

Bei Redewendungen, die eine sehr ähnliche deutsche Entsprechung haben (wie "to play for time / auf Zeit spielen" oder "to kick the dog and mean the master / den Sack schlagen und den Esel meinen") wurde auf einen Beispielsatz verzichtet.

Aus der deutschen Übersetzung wird jeweils ersichtlich, ob es sich um gehobene Sprache, Umgangssprache oder Slang handelt.

Sprichwörter wurden nur dann aufgenommen, wenn sie nicht direkt „durchsichtig“ sind, wie "discretion is the better part of valour".

Amerikanische Redewendungen, wie "to be all hat and no cattle" werden durch US gekennzeichnet. Dies ist auch der Fall, wenn die englische und die amerikanische Redewendung voneinander abweichen, wie in "to be left holding the baby (UK), to be left holding the bag (US)".