Why Do We Say That?

Book Details

57.1% complete

Author(s):

Scott Matthews

First Pub:

2021

Genre(s):

Non-Fiction

First Read:

2024

Times Read:

1 time

Rating:

Chapters:

See 102

1 - To Turn a Blind Eye

2 - Straight From the Horse's Mouth

3 - Caught Red-Handed

4 - To Eat Humble Pie

5 - To Pull Out All the Stops

6 - The Writing Is on the Wall

7 - To Let the Cat Out of the Bag

8 - To Bite the Bullet

9 - To Break the Ice

10 - Rule of Thumb

11 - A Grain of Salt

12 - To Run Amuck

13 - To Butter Someone Up

14 - To Cost an Arm and a Leg

15 - Cat Got Your Tongue?

16 - Burning the Midnight Oil

17 - Off the Record

18 - To Paint the Town Red

19 - To Bury the Hatchet

20 - Riding Shotgun

21 - To Give the Cold Shoulder

22 - To Let Your Hair Down

23 - Chew the Fat

24 - To Pull Someone's Leg

25 - To Steal One's Thunder

26 - A Bigwig

27 - Red Herring

28 - One for the Road

29 - Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth

30 - To Kick the Bucket

31 - A Different Kettle of Fish

32 - A King's Ransom

33 - To Read the Riot Act

34 - Once in a Blue Moon

35 - A Fly in the Ointment

36 - Blue Blood

37 - Fly Off the Handle

38 - Resting on Laurels

39 - White Elephant

40 - To Learn the Ropes

41 - A Feather in One's Cap

42 - A Bird in Hand

43 - It Rained Cats and Dogs

44 - A Shot in the Arm

45 - To Use a Sledgehammer to Crack a Nut

46 - A Red Rag to a Bull

47 - Till the Cows Come Home

48 - To Go the Whole Nine Yards

49 - Achilles Heel

50 - To Spill the Beans

51 - Ace in the Hole

52 - The Acid Test

53 - Abracadabra

54 - Hold a Candle to Something

55 - Rub the Wrong Way

56 - A Baker's Dozen

57 - Cut to the Chase

58 - Above Board

59 - Wet Blanket

60 - Not for All the Tea in China

61 - All at Sea

62 - Namby Pamby

63 - Beat Around the Bush

64 - To Pass with Flying Colors

65 - As Dead as a Dodo

66 - To Get Cold Feet

67 - As Mad as a Hatter

68 - As Happy as a Clam

69 - As Easy as Pie

70 - Dead Ringer

71 - As the Crow Flies

72 - To Give Something a Wide Berth

73 - As Thick as Thieves

74 - At Loggerheads

75 - The Whole Shebang

76 - Young Turks

77 - Bells and Whistles

78 - Below the Belt

79 - Have Your Work Cut Out for You

80 - Basket Case

81 - Sleep Tight

82 - Put a Sock in It

83 - Goody Two Shoes

84 - Crocodile Tears

85 - Ball and Chain

86 - In the Limelight

87 - Bail Out

88 - Show Your True Colors

89 - The Walls Have Ears

90 - Push the Envelope

91 - Badger to Death

92 - Saved by the Bell

93 - Armed to the Teeth

94 - To Go Haywire

95 - Barking Up the Wrong Tree

96 - Hear Something Through the Grapevine

97 - Hands Down

98 - Run of the Mill

99 - Break a Leg

100 - Get on a Soapbox

101 - Honeymoon

Bonus

Internal ID:

13469

Series:

No series

Copyright:

First Sentence:

The phrase "to turn a blind eye," which means to ignore something, comes from a British admiral who actually had one blind eye.

Last Sentence:

May contain spoilers

CAPTCHAs are sometimes called "Reverse Turing Tests" because while traditional Turing Tests are administered by humans to a computer, CAPTCHAs are administered by a compuuter to a human.

Comments:

No comments on file

Extract (may contain spoilers)

TO STEAL ONE'S THUNDER

Back in the early 18th century, a man named John Dennis tried his hand on producing plays, but they weren't very successful as they didn't resonate with audiences. For one play called Appius and Virginia, Dennis devised a technically advanced method of producing the sound of thunder on stage. His thunder was certainly dramatic and brilliant, but that wasn't enough to make people like his play, so he had to shut it down. A while later, when Dennis went to the theater to see a production of Macbeth, he was astonished to realize that they were using his method to produce the sound of thunder. While expressing his dismay, Dennis is quoted as having said "Damn them! They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder!" That's how the expression "to steal one's thunder" came about. It means to use someone's ideas or creations for one's own advantage, or to prevent someone from getting well deserved success or recognition for their work.

Added: 28-Dec-2022

Last Updated: 04-Nov-2024

01-Sep-2021

Picasso's Publishing

Trade Paperback

Date Issued:

01-Sep-2021

Format:

Trade Paperback

Cover Price:

$11.99

Pages*:

111

Read:

Once

Reading(s):

1) 19 Aug 2024 - 2 Nov 2024

Cover Link(s):

amazon.com

Internal ID:

12972

Publisher:

Picasso's Publishing

ISBN:

1-922-53125-1

ISBN-13:

978-1-922-53125-4

Country:

United States

Language:

English

Why do you "call shotgun" when you want the front passenger seat? What does "letting the cat out of the bag" have to do with divulging secrets? Why do you ask people to "cut to the chase"? How come you hear all those juicy rumors "through the grapevine"?

Like many people you've probably used idioms or phrases like these without giving them a second thought. But if you were to take a moment to step back and learn about them you'll be pleasantly surprised to discover the mesmerizing and sometimes outright bizarre origins to these fun sayings!

In "Why do we say that," we have curated 101 of the most regularly used idioms, proverbs, turns of phrases, and colloquial terms that have the most fascinating backstories. For each phrase, we have explained how it was coined, how its use evolved through the ages, and how it gained its contemporary use.

Inside you will discover:
- What the sanitary conditions of 17th century London have to do with it's "raining cats and dogs"today.
- Why taking things "with grain of salt" has to do with an ancient remedy for poison.
- What Southeast Asian warrior traditions have to do with the term "to run amuck." - Why "to break a leg" became something worth aspiring to in the Elizabethan theatres.
- And many many more

Come inside and let's unravel the mysteries behind popular English idioms!

Cover:

Notes and Comments:

Got this for my birthday 2022 from my mother.

01-Sep-2021
Picasso's Publishing
Trade Paperback

Book Links

Search Library of Congress

Author(s) Links

Find Scott Matthews on Good Reads

Find Scott Matthews on IMDB

Find Scott Matthews on The ISFDB

Find Scott Matthews on Library Thing

Author(s)

Scott Matthews

Awards

No awards found

I try to maintain page numbers for audiobooks even though obviously there aren't any. I do this to keep track of pages read and I try to use the Kindle version page numbers for this.
Synopses marked with an asterisk (*) were generated by an AI. There aren't a lot since this is an iffy way to do it - AI seems to make stuff up.
When specific publication dates are unknown (ie prefixed with a "Cir"), I try to get the publication date that is closest to the specific printing that I can.
When listing chapters, I only list chapters relevant to the story. I will usually leave off Author Notes, Indices, Acknowledgements, etc unless they are relevant to the story or the book is non-fiction.
Page numbers on this site are for the end of the main story. I normally do not include appendices, extra material, and other miscellaneous stuff at the end of the book in the page count.