When.com Web Search

  1. Ad

    related to: common idioms and their origins and meanings

Search results

  1. Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
  2. English-language idioms - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_idioms

    An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words (although some idioms do retain their literal meanings – see the example "kick the bucket" below).

  3. List of proverbial phrases - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_proverbial_phrases

    If known, their origins are noted. A proverbial phrase or expression is a type of conventional saying similar to a proverb and transmitted by oral tradition. The difference is that a proverb is a fixed expression , while a proverbial phrase permits alterations to fit the grammar of the context.

  4. Idiom - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiom

    An idiom is a phrase or expression that largely or exclusively carries a figurative or non-literal meaning, rather than making any literal sense.Categorized as formulaic language, an idiomatic expression's meaning is different from the literal meanings of each word inside it. [1]

  5. List of English-language idioms of the 19th century - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English-language...

    This is a list of idioms that were recognizable to literate people in the late-19th century, and have become unfamiliar since. As the article list of idioms in the English language notes, a list of idioms can be useful, since the meaning of an idiom cannot be deduced by knowing the meaning of its constituent words. See that article for a fuller ...

  6. Category:English-language idioms - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:English-language...

    Glossary of English-language idioms derived from baseball; Bed of roses; Belling the Cat; Best friends forever; Between Scylla and Charybdis; Bill matter; Birds of a feather flock together; Black sheep; Blessing in disguise; Blood, toil, tears and sweat; Born in the purple; The Boy Who Cried Wolf; Bread and butter (superstition) Break a leg ...

  7. The Surprising Origins of 'Break a Leg'—and Why Performers ...

    www.aol.com/surprising-origins-break-leg-why...

    The phrase could also come from the idea of race horses "breaking their legs" (AKA how they're standing) at the starting line, which some riders believed was good luck and would lead to a good race.

  8. List of sports idioms - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports_idioms

    The "punch-drunk" meaning OED cites to 1936; the "dizzy" meaning appears two years later. The "carefree…etc" connotation appears in 1937; [76] it appears the evolution of the idiomatic meaning was influenced by the element "happy" over that of "slap". sparring partner Boxing: A person with whom one routinely argues or enjoys arguing.

  9. List of idioms of improbability - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_idioms_of...

    Hindi - The common phrases are (1) सूरज पश्चिम से उगा है ("sun has risen from the west") and (2) बिन मौसम की बरसात ("when it rains when it's not the season to rain"). The second one is also used to denote something unexpected/untimely as much as improbable.