Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Line in the sand is an idiom, a metaphorical (sometimes literal) point beyond which no further advance will be accepted or made. Related terms include unilateral boundary setting , red lines and ultimatums to define clear consequences if a line is crossed.
Nulla dies sine linea is a Latin phrase meaning "no day without a line". The idea was originated by Pliny the Elder (Natural History, XXXV, 84), [1] where the idea applies to the Greek painter Apelles, who did not go a day without drawing at least one line.
The Thin Red Line (1881) by Robert Gibb, depicting the 93rd Regiment of Foot of the British army fighting off Russian cavalry at the Battle of Balaclava in 1854. From British English, an entirely different figure of speech for an act of great courage against impossible order or thinly spread military unit holding firm against attack, or the "thin red line", originates from reports of a red ...
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).
Some sources indicate that, while not part of official procedure, some uninformed investigators may occasionally draw chalk outlines, particularly in non-homicide accidents. [3] The term "chalk fairy" is occasionally used to describe an officer that makes the chalk outline, often without authorization and while unwittingly contaminating the scene.
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 ]
Maryland: Old Line State Before becoming the first U.S. president, George Washington was a lauded Revolutionary War general, commanding one battle that led to Maryland being dubbed the Old Line State.
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1981) gives the full phrase as "Drawing a red herring across the path", an idiom meaning "to divert attention from the main question by some side issue"; here, once again, a "dried, smoked and salted" herring when "drawn across a fox's path destroys the scent and sets the hounds at fault."