Understanding Idioms and Their Origins

Idioms Explained

• Idioms are phrases with meanings different from their individual words.
• They have figurative, not literal, meaning; the words' meanings don't combine to give the phrase's meaning.
• The idiom "the dog ran down the street" is literal; you understand its meaning from the words.
• The idiom "you let the cat out of the bag" is figurative; it means to reveal a secret. Its literal meaning doesn't relate to its actual meaning.

Idiom Origins

• Idioms are often cultural, passed down through generations of a group of people.
• They have interesting historical origins.
• The idiom "bite the bullet" comes from the practice of giving patients a bullet to bite during painful surgeries, when pain relief was scarce.
• Origins of some idioms are unclear, making it difficult to trace their history, like "let the cat out of the bag." One belief is that merchants would use bags also containing cats to cheat farmers, as an alternative to pigs.

Common Idioms

• Dark horse in the running: Person of unknown abilities
• Face the music: To face the consequences of an action.
• A chip on your shoulder: Holding a grudge or feeling resentment.
• Sick as a dog: Extremely ill
• When pigs fly: Something that will never happen
• Bite off more than you can chew: Taking on a task too big to manage
• Costs an arm and a leg: Very expensive
• Not playing with a full deck: A person who lacks intelligence
• Take it with a grain of salt: Not take something said too seriously.