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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).
The origin of cross-language idioms is uncertain. One theory is that cross-language idioms are a language contact phenomenon, resulting from a word-for-word translation called a calque . Piirainen says that may happen as a result of lingua franca usage in which speakers incorporate expressions from their own native tongue, which exposes them to ...
The idiom was used three more times in the Mitchell Commercial over the next seven years, in the forms give him the whole nine yards (i.e., tell someone a big story), [5] take the whole nine yards (i.e., take everything), [6] and settled the whole nine yards (i.e., resolved everything). [7]
"Bob's your uncle" is an idiom commonly used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries that means "and there it is", or "and there you have it", or "it's done". Typically, someone says it to conclude a set of simple instructions or when a result is reached.
"The pot calling the kettle black" is a proverbial idiom that may be of Spanish origin, of which English versions began to appear in the first half of the 17th century. It means a situation in which somebody accuses someone else of a fault which the accuser shares, and therefore is an example of psychological projection , [ 1 ] or hypocrisy . [ 2 ]
An essay of 1724 emphasizes not the fact of being the last cause, but rather of being a least cause, that is, a minor one: . Every thing must be at rest which has no Force to impell it; but as the least Straw breaks the Horse's Back, or a single Sand will turn the Beam of Scales which holds Weights as heavy as the World; so, without doubt, as minute Causes may determine the Actions of Men ...
Some theater history buffs think "break a leg" might be a cousin of the German phrase "Hals- und Beinbruch," which means "neck and leg break." Others connect it to the Hebrew blessing "hatzlakha u ...
Eating crow is a colloquial idiom, [1] used in some English-speaking countries, that means humiliation by admitting having been proven wrong after taking a strong position. [2] The crow is a carrion -eater that is presumably repulsive to eat in the same way that being proven wrong might be emotionally hard to swallow. [ 2 ]