Best thing since sliced bread: how idioms are formed
Last week, I decided I was tired of egg and toast for breakfast, so I ate muesli for five days. This week I ran out of bread and it would…
Madness
Black Friday and bargain idioms
When Game of Thrones captured the imagination of millions of fans to an obsessive degree, I used to say, “You get two kinds of people – those who watch Game…
Picture by David Hellman - Unsplash
How to tackle intelligence: word meanings
At university our syndicate was referred to as 'The Brains Trust' and in other groups I was touted as 'Brainiac'. Thus, I thought I had intelligence – quite a bit of…
pic by Joel Muniz
Keep the ball rolling with these idioms
This week I received a rather disturbing SMS from my bank. In fact, this was the second time the bank was sending this alarming message. The first time, I checked…
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…
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…
Japanese armpit model in Tokyo
Seasonal snag for armpit advertising
I was intrigued and a little disgusted to read that Japan is using women’s armpits as an advertising medium. In disbelief, I asked Google and got more than 8 million…
