Talking the hind legs off a donkey: How idioms originate
Last night while watching an excellent wildlife programme, I saw an antelope give birth, apparently a two-hour stint, to get the eager youngster out. While I was engrossed in the…
Last roll of the dice: how idioms are used
It’s all fair in love and war and friendship too. I felt I was losing ground with a friend and that we would soon be going our own separate ways,…
Photo by Hector Bermudez - Unsplash
Money in my salad: slang in language
This week while working on a copy assignment for a bank, I looked up other words that mean money. I was surprised by what Google returned. In addition to a…
Of Smoke and Mirrors and other idioms
A good friend told me this week – her ship had come in. This means a change in luck, a sudden shower of good fortune or a great success. When…
Making mountains out of molehills: idioms
If you’re from a family who tends to exaggerate, you will be familiar with the term making a mountain out of a molehill. This may come about in a number…
poker is the perfect example of not showing your hand (photo by Raymond Tan)
Chinese Wall is moral dilemma: How idioms originate
As I contemplate my next travel destination, my enthusiasm starts with a trip to Russia, then Egypt and Morocco and finally India, again. Then it occurs to me, having just…
Dual opinions come to blows: how words are misused
Working as a writer and copy editor, I have noticed how the brain tricks you, or me. If the word sounds right in the mind it's easy for it to…
Chinese mourners wear sackcloth
Of Sackcloth and Ashes: How idioms originate
This week I discovered a ‘delightful’ idiom in the novel Sophie’s Bakery for the Broken Hearted by New York Times Best Selling Author, Lolly Winston – sackcloth and ashes. I’ve…
Picture credit: Suzanne Tucker
A pig in a poke
Should you be interested in investments to the point that you start reading books about them, don’t be surprised to find the term ‘a pig in a poke’. When you…
Picture by Ishant Mishra - Unsplash
Know your whopping from your whooping: word usage
In my days as a sub-editor, on seeing the word ‘whopping’ I would strike it out immediately. This was for two reasons: it was usually placed before an amount; adjectives…
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