Tag Archives: interest-idioms
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The Story Behind “It Was A Dark And Stormy Night”
It was a dark and stormy night when the writer turned to Dictionary.com for synonyms and definitions to make their writing pop. At least, it would be a dark and stormy night if said writer was basing a story on one of the most cliché (a trite, stereotyped expression that has lost all originality from being long overused) introductions to grace the page. If you’ve …
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These Idioms Were Turned Into Some Of TV’s Most Popular Shows
Television has a habit of repurposing and repackaging common sayings into names of shows, from Breaking Bad to Six Feet Under, and it’s easy to understand why: Idioms are packed with rich associations that resonate instantly with viewers, and when applied to titles of the small screen, they quickly communicate the sensibilities of the shows. Take a look at how some of these idiomatic phrases were …
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Why Isn’t It “Pardon my German?”
Often an idiom—an expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its parts—can seem like something from Alice in Wonderland. Pardon my French is one of the most colorful idioms that combines the profane with a language associated with love. Where does pardon my French come from? Pardon my French, or excuse my French, is an apology for the use of profanity; the expression dates …
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Are New Idioms Ever Created?
Many idioms—expressions that are not taken literally—are so old and so familiar that we don’t think twice about using them. We say, for example, “it’s raining cats and dogs” to indicate that it’s pouring outside, and “comfortable as an old shoe” to explain an easy and familiar relationship. We can trace the etymology of some idioms to books and sayings that were first used hundreds …
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